the "leftovers" cheesy breakfast scrambler

Who knew leftovers could be so good?  

But they can be.  Here is the best.  breakfast.  ever.

Also possibly the easiest.  (ok, besides just pouring another bowl of cereal.)  It only takes about 15 minutes to throw one of these together...the chopping, shredding, cooking...everything!  

Here it is...the Leftovers Cheesy Breakfast Scrambler.  Every few weeks or so I will make one of these with whatever perishable products I have leftover in the fridge that would otherwise go bad from not being used.  For example, this week we had about 1/3rd of a block of sharp cheddar cheese leftover from a recipe I'd made about a month ago.

So that got shredded up, and in it went.  Also had some BBQ pork sticks that we had bought from the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago.  There were only a few left, so I sliced them really thin and they became part of this concoction as well.  I usually like to add in a vegetable (peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc. all work well) but I had been a good girl and used up all our produce in other meals this week.

Veggies and/or meat, scrambled eggs, and whatever cheese you have sitting around.  Every time ends up being a little bit different, but always tasty.  


Leftover Cheesy Breakfast Scrambler*
Serves 2


leftover veggies and/or meat
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I use non-fat milk)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. oregano
leftover cheese


1.)  Heat skillet over medium heat.  Add veggies, if using.  Sometimes I also add a little butter or salt and pepper for extra flavor.  Saute veggies until tender.  Add meat, if using.
2.)  Meanwhile, whisk eggs with milk in small bowl.  Add salt, pepper, and oregano (my mom's secret to irresistible scrambled eggs!) and whisk together.  Add egg mixture to skillet.
3.)  Scramble eggs, mixing to incorporate meat/veggies throughout.  Continue until eggs are cooked through.
4.)  Top with cheese.  Heat until melted, about 1-2 minutes.  Serve and devour!


*Recipe is approximate.  Above are really good guesses but I never really measure anything...

Super simple, and, in the words of my hubby, "WAY delicious"!  

"You(r) _____ need(s)..."

Picking up groceries last night, I inevitably wandered to the baking aisle.  Found a brownie mix with MARSHMALLOWS in it which I had never seen before.  That's all it took to sell that delectable-looking box to this girl.


As I got home and was putting the groceries away, I picked up said brownie mix to put in the cupboard and caught a glimpse of the directions.  At the very top, in big, fancy letters, it said:

"Your wife needs..."

followed by the list of ingredients/supplies.  

I was appalled.  Confused.  Furious.  What on earth?  I don't consider myself much of a feminist, but this crossed a line, and all of those repressed feminist instincts came to the surface as I tried to figure out what advertising genius thought it was a good idea to put THAT on the box.  This is 2011 people!  Why the assumption that the WIFE would be the one purchasing and doing all of the baking!?!  Never mind that that's the way it is, always has been, and ever shall be in this household (I would definitely faint from shock and surprise if my hubby ever even suggested that he would bake up some tasty treats).  But even so-the nerve!  Honestly!

Anyway, after all of these crazy thoughts (and more!) went swirling around in my head (which really only took about 1.409876 seconds) I looked at the box again to see:

"You will need..."

Oh.  Carry on.

The Anniversary

Hard to believe that JUST a year ago (ok, a year and a day.  With all the adventure of celebrating this weekend, I'm a day late.) we were doing this...

...and this...

...and a whole lotta this!

Fast forward to this weekend, where we journeyed to Chicago to celebrate our first amazing, crazy, busy, fun, hard, incredible, ordinary, ridiculous, loving, surprising, wonderful year of marriage.

And while going to Chicago was a much-needed get-away for the two of us, my biggest surprise came as we were leaving the city.  That's when I got to open my present to find...

...this.  
(click to enlarge)  

Yup, a present I have to work for.  As if I haven't done ENOUGH to earn TRUCKLOADS of gifts for the unselfish and loving wife* I have been during this past year.  (*Also selfish and unloving at times, but hey, we've all got our flaws.)

Here goes nothin...

Found: book #6, in the linen closet.  I actually thought of this hiding spot on my way home, so I was happy to find my first book here.

Found:  book #3, underneath the bookshelf.

Found:  book #4, behind all the DVDs.  Fun fact: #4 is the only one we also own the DVD of, so book #4 was hidden behind it's corresponding movie.

Found:  book #5, underneath the shoe shelf in the front closet.  Note: ignore the ugly, terrible, over-flowing, honey-you-need-to-take-out-the-recycling, recycling bag.

Found:  book #7, in the upstairs bathroom that we don't really use.  Also notice my shape-shifting appearance change since this was getting dangerously close to the time we needed to leave for church.

Found:  book #2!  Really, honey, really???  

So there you have it.  I even managed to restore my hubby's soul just in time to leave for church.  

Happy FIRST Anniversary, Honey!

Our (slightly chilly) carriage ride in Chicago.  

the commute

Afternoon commute 2 Wednesdays ago:  
4:45-5:18 pm = 33 minutes


Morning commute 2 Thursdays ago:
8:32-8:59 am (including a pit stop at Caribou) = 27 minutes


Morning commute TODAY:
8:50-8:54 am = 4 FREAKING MINUTES!!!!!


Conclusion:  The only way my commute could be any better is if there were still a Caribou along the way.

Moving. Boo.

Hubby and I are moving this weekend.  

Moving sucks. I've moved 12 times in the past 6 years (back and forth between Iowa and Minnesota, and then to Madison).  Hasn't made me like it any better.  Packing, trying to eat up food, more packing, cleaning, packing, moving boxes, packing, etc., etc., etc.  Boo.  

Not that I'm not excited to move.  I'm just excited for it to be done.

So I've been preparing and thinking about moving a lot.  And then I realized that I had approximately 0 photos of our current apartment.  Which is kind of important, since this is the first place hubby and I ever lived together,  for the first 11 months of our marriage.  And despite all of it's smallness (800ish square feet) and quirks, I'm probably going to want to remember it someday.  So here it is.

Bedroom/office.  You can see why I'm excited to move since this is what the room looked like about 97.348075% of the time...aka Tyson on his computer.  Ok, that's a lie.  Usually the bed wasn't made.  Anyway, only 5 more days before having a bedroom that is ONLY a bedroom, and an office that is ONLY an office!

At first I thought the bathroom was strangely proportioned and overly large (compared to the rest of the place), but I came to love the extra space and it grew on me.

Disclaimer:  This is our kitchen in the raw.  I took this photo pretty much right after we ate dinner one night.  Before anyone bothered to take the time to clean it up (ahem, hubby).  This is probably a more accurate representation, anyway.

This is what I am going to miss most about our ENTIRE apartment.  Seriously.  The little ledge behind the kitchen sink is GENIUS.  Good bye, ledge. 

Dining room/living room/ignore all of the boxes and dirty plates.  I already told you nobody cleaned anything before I took pictures.  Whatever, honestly.

Ok, so the bookcase is coming with us.  But I still like it.

And I had to include the top of the bookcase, because I love everything on it.  And I'm not sure that my favorite part of it (the willow branch decoration thing) will make it to our new apartment in one piece, and I really kind of like him.  It was part of the floral arrangements at our wedding reception, and still looks beautiful, even dried.  However dried = brittle.  I packed it up with a ton of paper and labeled the box "SHANNON TOUCHES ONLY!!!".  So we'll see what happens.