Veggie Packed Freezer Ready Breakfast Sandwiches

Well, here we are on the last day of July.  Personally, it was not a great month for me, though there were definitely high points (thank God!), as there are in even the worst times.  It was way too hot and humid for too many days (nearly all of them) during the month, so that didn't help.  But I made it, you made it, and that is always a good thing, right?

I decided to end the month by sharing another recipe.  I found this at Budget Bytes, and if you have some time to make it, you'll thank yourself on mornings when you are either rushed, or just uninspired.  I feel like it's an excellent template to use with whatever ingredients you might want to add, but it's also really really yummy if you just follow this recipe.  Even The Tim, who thinks making egg things ahead is silly, "because how long does it take to cook an egg?" finds these tasty, though I think he'll mainly leave them for me to eat since fixing something like this for myself on a weekday morning would be way more effort than I'm willing to make!

*****

Veggie Packed Freezer Ready Breakfast Sandwiches 
(recipe makes 6)

6 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly cracked pepper
1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach
1/2 of a 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers*
6 English muffins
6 slices cheese**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.

Thaw the spinach, then squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible.  Take the peppers out of the liquid in the jar, and slice into smaller pieces.  Stir the spinach and peppers into the egg mixture.

Coat an 8 x 9 or 8 x 12 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.  Pour the egg and vegetable mixture into dish.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center is set and the outer edges are slightly browned.

Allow the eggs to cool completely, then slice into six pieces.

Build the sandwiches by adding one piece of the baked eggs and one slice of cheese to each English muffin.  Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap or a fold top sandwich bag, then place all sandwiches into a gallon sized freezer bag.  Freeze for up to 2 months.

To reheat, unwrap the sandwich, place on a microwave safe plate, and microwave on the defrost setting (or for 1 minute if you don't have that setting).  Then heat on high for 30 seconds at a time until heated through.*** Or, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and microwave on high until heated through.

Notes from me:

* I used the entire jar of roasted red peppers, because they are a fave of mine
** I didn't have pre-sliced cheese, so just sliced up as much cheese as I thought would work and added it to the sandwich
*** In our microwave, the sandwiches take ~ 1 1/2 minutes to heat through completely

ALSO:
> I used an 8 x 9 inch pan, and I think that the resulting pieces are the perfect size for the English muffins
> I really like honey mustard on my egg sandwiches. I added it when I was making them, which I think worked much better than having to add it when they are hot.  So I would suggest adding any condiments at the sandwich-building stage. :-)

*****

Let me know if you try this, and if you liked it.  Enjoy, and I'll see you in August!

Politicalfest 2016

Last weekend, we had out-of-town company.  Our friends Dave and Dixie came for the weekend.  It's been a while since we've seen them.  We usually catch up when we are home in WV, but we have not been home for a while - this Memorial Day we'd planned to go, but Dug wasn't doing that great, so we stayed put.  We were excited they decided to come, since  we always have a good time with them, and they haven't visited for a long while.  We met Dave in college and became friends.  He had a job and a car, so of course he was a good person to know!  :-)  Then after college, he met and married Dixie, and we have been close with them and with their kids (now adults) since.

It was HOT here last weekend!  As in, 90+ degrees plus oppressive humidity (with "feels like" temps of 100+).  Ugh.  We weren't sure what we wanted to do, since none of us were anxious to spend time outside.

Enter Politicalfest 2016.  As you likely know, the Democratic National Convention is in Philadelphia this week.  Well, Politicalfest is a week-long event, where you pay a single fee ($15.00 for adults), and you have access to each of the events for the whole week.  There are seven different locations that have created special exhibits related to the race for President and political history, and shuttle buses to take you from one place to the next.  Fortunately, our guests wanted to go (they chose it from a list of choices we'd given them), so we started off bright and early.

Here are some of the highlights from the various locales.

The first handwritten draft of the Constitution, by James Wilson.

(Sadly, the photo of the card describing it turned out, and the document photo didn't).

 The first draft of the Articles of Confederation, by John Dickinson.

One exhibit was about the fight for voting rights and the Civil Rights Movement.

I remember seeing this kind of thing as a child, once on vacation, and being so confused.

The Tim ... making people wonder about Feeling the Bern ...

Chairs!  We saw lots of chairs. 

George Washington's fan chair.  A foot treadle activated a fan above!

Lincoln's rocking chair.

FDR's "public" wheelchair.  It was specifically made to fit into the opening of his desk.

JFK's rocking chair.

We saw one of Mary Todd Lincoln's inaugural dresses.  Apparently, she spilled a drink on her first dress, so this was made as a replacement overnight!

There was the car provided to JFK and Jackie on their trip to Texas.

Also, a replica of Air Force One that brought the Kennedys to Texas on November 22, 1963; and the room where the body of JFK was on the flight back to DC.  

The cockpit

This photo of Gerald Ford kicking a soccer ball with Pele amused me greatly!

We posed with our friends in front of the DNC "Rocky" donkey.

And then The Tim and I got our DNC "Rocky" on ... 

(makes the Gerald Ford photo above look downright boring, no?)

On our way out, a local reporter interviewed us before we got on the shuttle bus.  I talked to her first, and then The Tim - who apparently used the time I was talking to collect his thoughts.  He ended up being on the news that night, and then told us that a) they left out his most important talking points, and b) in the print article, he was misquoted!  We decided we were going to start calling him Local Man, a la The Onion ...

It was a blast, it was interesting, and it was a wonderful way to spend the day.  I would have wanted to go, even if we had not had company, but I think they are likely to remember it for a while.  It would have been hard for us to cover so much ground and visit so many places in one day otherwise.

And they never would have been able to experience the wisdom of Local Man ...

Short and Sweet Q &A

Ugh.  To quote my mother, "It's hotter than Billy be d*mned."  I don't know who Billy was, or why he was in that situation, but that's just how hot it is.  For Ten on Tuesday, Carole wanted to know 10 ways to keep cool in the heat.  I'm not participating this week, because the heat and the humidity make me so incredibly miserable and cranky that all ten of my answers are GO BACK TO WINTER.

But, as usual, Kathy has some questions that just cry out to be answered.  There are just a few this week, but I still wanted to play along.  :-)

1.  You are getting yarn in the mail today as a gift.  Tell us about it.

Well, if it is a gift, it is most likely sock yarn.  But the best gifts are also surprises, so that's all I can tell you ...

2.  You are knitting poolside.  What are you ordering from the cabana boy.

A margarita.  That also means I'll have to stop knitting though, if I don't want to tear it out and re-knit it later!

3.  You are asked to give a 5 minute presentation about any aspect of knitting at all.  What is your topic?

Why/when I use double-pointed-needles.

4.  You can ask a knitter to finish any of your WIPs.  Which one is it?

I would have to decide between my Custom Fit sweater or a shawl I have on the needles.  Mistakes were found in both after I'd knitted way beyond said mistakes, and I have lost the will to pull out and/or re-knit after that, at least for now.

5.  You take good care of your hands.  Are your nails short or long?

I try to take good care of my hands, as they are one of the first things I notice about a person.  My nails are short, and currently painted turquoise. :-)

Join along in the comments, if not on your own blog, and let us know what your answers are to these questions.  It's fun!

Try to keep cool, everyone.

On the Street Where You Live ...

Well ... after a fashion.

For this week's Ten on Tuesday, Carole wants us to list 10 Songs About Where You Live.  She mentions that we might have to get creative, and she wasn't kidding!

I decided that I would include songs about where I live now (city AND state), and also where I was born and spent much of my growing up years (again, city AND state).  Fortunately, my love of musicals and having parents who sang and listened to a lot of old songs and liked sports helped out here.

PHILADELPHIA and PENNSYLVANIA

1.  Sit Down, John! (from "1776").  Fun fact:  When we lived in Chicago, The Tim was in a local production of this show.  He played James Wilson, the Pennsylvania delegate whose vote was pivotal.

2.  Philadelphia Freedom, by Elton John.

3.  On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe (from the movie, "The Harvey Girls")

4.  There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays (this is the Perry Como version)

5. PEnnsylvania 6-5000 (yes, technically it's about a NYC phone exchange, but it has the state name, and I'm using it!)

6. There's a Pawn Shop on the Corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (my mother used to sing this song when I was growing up, whenever someone said they were going to Pittsburgh for the day.  We were seldom amused.)

7.  Hail to Pitt (the University of Pittsburgh fight song. Where I grew up, most people were Pitt or WVU fans (or both).  So you knew this song whether or not you wanted to.)

8.  Allentown, by Billy Joel.  (It's in Pennsylvania - see, I'm being creative!)

WHEELING and WEST VIRGINIA

9.  Country Roads, by John Denver.  (Yes, I know that some of the geography in this song is messed up, you won't need to tell me in the comments ...)

10.  Wheeling, West Virginia, performed by the Girls of Petticoat Junction.  (This was ALWAYS awful, there is so much wrong going on here.  I can't believe Neil Sedaka wrote it ... and then - The Girls of Petticoat Junction????!!!  God help us.)

*10a.  Out of fairness, I must include the fight song for WVU (West Virginia University), if I'm including the Pitt fight song, and again, you ended up knowing this whether or not you wanted to.

I guess I would have had an easier time coming up with things if I had taken songs about other places I've lived (and there have been many!), but I have to say it was fun being "creative" ... ;-)

June Harry's Hundred Update

Personally, June was one of the worst months this year for me personally.  I barely knit a stitch of anything, and sadly made nothing to contribute to this project.

But - fortunately, two lovely people kept their needles clicking away, and added to the total for Harry's Hundred.  I have to say, they are both "repeat offenders" and I am grateful for their contributions.  Not just so that the number of items increase, but because it means that people will be receiving items that they would otherwise not have, that can keep them warm, and hopefully make them feel that someone cares.

Without further ado, I present the additions from June.

Kim is not just a dear friend and a wonderful person, but a prolific knitter and someone who will make many people feel the love with her knitted items.  She sent me these photos so I could add the items to the overall tally.

A beautiful pair of gauntlets (with fancy button detail!), and a hat and scarf (the scarf has some of my most fave colors, btw).  I think we can agree that these will bring a smile to some faces, right?

Next, a woman I now only know via Ravelry, but whose contributions are making a really big difference each month in the totals, GringaTurista (Rav profile link).  More cozy mittens!

She calls these "Mitten Pox" which I love, and is quite possibly the only pox I think worth spreading. :-)

Thanks to these ladies for their efforts and continued contributions.  I really and truly cannot express how happy it makes me to learn that others are participating.

I have plans for July and especially for August, since that is the actual month of my dad/Harry's 100th birthday.  But even if nothing else happens on the part of me or anyone else, I think Harry's Hundred has already been successful - anything at all that has been made and contributed or will be contributed is a commitment to help our fellow humans.   And these days, every little thing makes more of a difference than ever.

So here's' where we are, halfway through the year:

Goal:  100

Tally so far:  36

Hooray!