Food Bloggers Against Hunger: Cheesy Egg Muffin Sandwich

This past summer, with the help from Nicole of The Giving Table, bloggers joined together and dedicated their posts to fight for slave-free tomatoes.  After posting a Gluten-Free Tomato Tart last July, we were asked to participate in the Food Bloggers Against Hunger event.  Of course, we couldn’t wait to participate!

Nearly 1 in 4 children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table.  Millions of Americans who participate in the nation’s food stamp program are limited to an average of $4 per person, per day to supplement their food budget.  As a result, they struggle with hunger at some point during the year.  Rates of food insecurity are substantially higher than the national average among households with incomes near or below the federal poverty line, and among households with children headed by a single parent.  In Washington D.C., 30.7% of children experience limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods at some point during the year.

For a little homework, we watched A Place at the Table.  It’s a documentary that examines hunger in America by focusing on 3 families which struggle to put food on the table for their children.  It discusses how U.S. government subsidies favor products that require processing (e.g., soy beans, wheat, and especially corn) over fresh fruits and vegetables that can be consumed with little or no processing.  As a result, the most affordable food is often calorically dense, processed food, lacking nutritional value.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s food stamp program, is at risk for severe cuts that would impact millions of families and children who rely on school meals and food stamps to survive.  A number of anti-hunger organizations: Share Our Strength, Bread for the World, Feeding America, The Food and Research Action Center– are asking supporters to spread the word.

Our nations policies need to change in order for this problem to be solved.  Here are a few ways you can help and participate:

1) Send a letter to Congress asking them to support anti-hunger legislation.  The more letters we send, the better.  Send this letter, it’ll take less than 30 seconds to fill out.

2) Go see A Place at the Table!  Screenings will be held in select cities through mid-June.  You can also view it on iTunes and Amazon.  Spread the word on what you have learned from the documentary.

3) Volunteer with Share Your Strength‘s Cooking Matters program.  The No Kid Hungry campaign educates and empowers low-income families to stretch their food budgets.

The documentary points out that many children and adults do not have access to low-cost, healthy breakfasts, and many go to school or work without eating anything.  With that in mind, Sam and I decided to post our favorite breakfast- it’s easy, fast, healthy, and low-cost.  Over 200 bloggers are participating in this event, check out what recipes others have posted.

I stopped by a local Safeway to pick up food for our breakfast, and to make sure we were on budget:

 Old Tyme English Muffins: $1.29 for 6; $0.22/English Muffin
 Lucerne Grade A Eggs: $2.49 for a dozen; $0.21/egg
 Lucerne Extra Sharp Cheddar: $4.39 for 16 oz; $0.27/ounce
 Green Onions: $1.39 for a bunch (approx. 8); $0.17/onion

Total Cost for one Cheesy Egg Muffin Sandwich: $0.87

 Total Calorie and Fat content per sandwich:
 Calories: 341*
 Fat: 17

*We used unsalted butter, but feel free to substitute with cooking spray.  We are assuming that everyone has one of these two items in their kitchen.

Cheesy Egg Muffin Sandwich
A Fifth Floor Kitchen blog
Servings: 2

2 English Muffins (preferably whole wheat)
2 eggs
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 tsp butter or cooking spray
1-2 green onions, chopped
2 oz cheddar cheese, sliced or shredded

The trick with making omelets is to use a smaller pan, so that the omelet has enough depth to allow for folding over.  An 8-inch, non-stick pan is perfect for this.

While cooking the eggs, toast 2 English muffins in a toaster.

Crack two eggs into a small bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and beat with a fork until well incorporated.  Coat the pan with butter or cooking spray, and put it over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, pour in the scrambled egg mixture.  Sprinkle green onions on one half of the egg mixture, wait until it begins to firm up.  When the omelet is firmed up, and only slightly liquidy on top, add the cheese slices on top of the green onions.  With a rubber spatula, gently fold the omelet in half.  Turn the stove top off, wait for about a minute to allow the cheese to melt.  Then cut the omelet in half, and serve each half on an English Muffin.

Mexican Meatballs with Rice

When I was making our grocery list over a week ago, I mentioned to Sam that I was planning to make meatballs.  To his surprise, they were Mexican-flavored meatballs.

These were a great alternative to enchiladas or tacos.  Something a little different, but still having the spicy, Mexican flavors.  Rather than using breadcrumbs, I used oats (the same one’s we use of oatmeal)- and it was still just as tasty.  Feel free to play around with the heat items (jalapeño, habañero or red pepper flakes) to your preferences.  We didn’t have fresh cilantro, which definitely would have made this dish better, but I used some dried cilantro and it worked out fine.

Mexican Meatballs with Rice
Adapted from: Branny Boils Over
Serving: 5 (5 meatballs; 1 1/2 cups of rice)

1 cup of dried rice
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup oates
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 tbsp olive oil
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
1 habañero, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 can of 12 oz black beans
juice of 1/2 lime

In a small pan, heat up water and add rice.  Heat up the rice until it is soft.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, eggs, onion, garlic and oates.  Then add 1/4 tsp of each: chili powder, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes.  Then add 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.  Mix all of the ingredients well, and shape them into individual meatballs.  I had made about 25 of them, each were the size of golf balls (or smaller).

In a cast iron skillet or large saucepan, heat up about 4 tbsp of olive oil.  Add about 10 meatballs at a time (if you have smaller pan, don’t add as many meatballs).  Let them sit on each side until they brown, for about 3 minutes.  Cook it on all sides until they feel firm.  When you take them out of the pan, place them on a plate with a paper towel (soaks in the extra olive oil).

In a separate saucepan, heat up about 2 tbsp of olive oil.  Add the tomatoes, cilantro,  habañero, jalapeño, black beans and rice.  To give it some flavor, add 1/4 tsp of each: chili powder, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes.  Then add 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.  Heat it up for about 3-5 minutes, until most of the tomato juice is absorbed.  At the end, add the lime juice and stir it into the mixture.

Finally, serve the rice mixture on a place, and add some meatballs on top.  Feel free to add cheese if you’d like, although we enjoyed it without.

Hurricane Irene Frittata

Hurricane Irene’s rains are creeping into DC, so today is gloomy and dreary.  The kind of morning that makes you want to stay in bed and read a good book (or browse food blogs for new recipes!).

We braved the grocery store yesterday (against Sam’s better judgement) after work since we had nothing in our fridge.  I know, it sounds crazy, but I didn’t want to live the weekend eating plain rice.  So as many people were picking up toilet paper and batteries, we got eggs, veggies and Corona’s.  Clearly, we didn’t have the same priorities.  (But don’t worry, we do have flashlights, toilet paper, water, etc just in case.)  Safeway was packed, and the lines were long (about 30 minutes) but we came out alive.

This morning we decide to make a frittata with some mushrooms, shallots and Gruyère.  If you’ve never tried a frittata, you should give it a chance.  It’s the lighter, fluffier version of a quiche.  And it’s very simple.  So if you’re stuck at home due to the hurricane, and your power isn’t out, enjoy a new breakfast dish.

Mushroom Shallot Frittata
Serves: 4-6 portions

8 eggs
2 shallots, diced
1 cup crimini (baby portabella) mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Gruyère cheese, shredded (goat cheese would also be delicious!)
¼ cup half-and-half
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

Sauté mushrooms and shallots in butter on medium heat until soft.

Once those are cooked, add all of ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until everything is well incorporated.

Coat a 9-inch, stainless steel pan (do not use a nonstick pan!) in butter or cooking spray, then pour in the mixture.

Add the pan to a preheated, 375° oven for 30 minutes, until the frittata has risen and has taken on a nice golden color.

Egg Salad with Whole Wheat Bread

Let me tell you, it’s hot here in DC…and it’s going to get hotter.  And more humid.  And more uncomfortable.  Those are the days where I wish we could walk out of our home and into our air conditioned car, and that car would drive me right next to the front door of my work, so I could step into another air conditioned building.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it is.  I hold my breath before taking a step out of our building, where I hope and wish it’s not too hot and humid.  You see, the news keeps telling us that the Midwest is hot and uncomfortable (100°F or higher), and I’m dreading the day this heat wave rolls into DC.  Since we don’t have air conditioned cars, we have the metro cars that “sometimes” might be air conditioned (it’s a gamble).

So, as you can tell with my little rant, the idea of turning on the oven this week is unbearable.  So sandwiches for dinner!  Easy, delicious and no oven required- the perfect dinner when it’s still 95°F at 8pm.

Egg Salad with Whole Wheat Bread
Adapted from: Bella Eats

6 eggs
4 tbsp capers, rinsed & drained
3 tbsp green onions, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp chili poweder
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp dijon mustard
4 stalks of celery, diced

Add the eggs into a pot filled with water.  Turn on the water until it boils, then turn off the burner.  Leave the eggs in the warm water for 10 minutes.  Then remove the eggs, and soak them in an ice-cold bath.

Once the eggs are cooled, peel the shells and chop the eggs coarsely.  In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs and the rest of the ingredients together.  Mix well, and serve on whole wheat bread.

Arugula Salad with Eggs & Mushrooms

When the weather starts to warm up (such as yesterday), no one wants to hang around the kitchen too much.  Or even turn on the oven.  We all want to be outside, enjoying the weather (or at least the first couple of weeks of spring and summer before the humidity skyrockets). 

Here, we turn to salads- arugula is our favorite.  There is something about it that is 100 times better than any other salad leaf.  It’s earthy, peppery, with hints of a nutty flavor.  Definitely adds a little spunk to a boring salad!

This one is a simple salad.  The mushrooms can be substituted for anything else you might have in your fridge (peppers, olives, tomatoes, tofu, zucchini).  And this is a great salad that can be a dinner on it own- very filling.  A slice of fresh bread and a glass of wine perfect the meal!

Arugula Salad with Eggs & Mushrooms
Adapted from: Easy Vegetarian

4 eggs
2 tsp butter
4 cups arugula
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 onion, chopped (shallots can also be used)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp olive oil

In a food processor, blend 1 cup of arugula, mushrooms and onion.   Crack the eggs into a bowl, mix with fork.  Pour the eggs, and the vegetable mixture into a frying pan.  Let it cook, making an omlette.  Once cooked, place on cutting board, and divide into pieces (strips or circles). 

Finally, divide the 3 cups of arugula between 2 large plates.  Add pieces of the omelette to the salad, mix.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and drizzle with olive oil.