Breakfast Pizza

 (adapted from Pampered Chef recipe)
Crust:
1 - 20 oz. bag frozen, shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed & broken apart
1 egg
salt, pepper, onion salt - to taste
1-2 tbsp. finely, chopped onion (opt)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place parchment paper on 15" baking stone. Combine potatoes, onion & one egg in bowl. Spread potatoes on stone into 14" circle. Pat down with back of spoon. Season with salt, pepper, & onion salt. Bake for 20 min.
Egg Topping:
6 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Optional Ingredients:
chopped onions
chopped green or red pepper
sliced mushrooms
bacon, cooked & crumbled
chopped ham
Whisk eggs and milk in bowl. Microwave at 60% power for 3 min. Stir. Cook an additional 3 min. (Microwaves are different - continue cooking until eggs are set but not overcooked.) Stir and spread eggs evenly over baked potato crust. Top with optional ingredients. Sprinkle with cheese and bake additional 10 min. Cut into wedges with pizza cutter. Yield: 6-10 servings.

Monster Cookies (scaled-down version)

1 stick (1/2 c.) butter
1 & 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 & 1/2 c. peanut butter (we use creamy)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. light corn syrup
3 & 3/4 c. quick oats
3/4 c. chocolate chips
1 c. M&M candies
Combine and mix first eight ingredients. Add oats and mix well. Add chocolate chips and M&M candy.  Mix by hand to combine. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 12-13 min. Do not over bake.

Notes:

• Cookie dough is very thick. Mix by hand or use heavy-duty mixer like KitchenAid.
• Always use good quality ingredients: butter, real vanilla, real chocolate chips, etc. Better ingredients = better cookies!
• We use Pampered Chef tablespoon cookie scoop.
• For crunchy cookie, bake slightly longer. For soft and chewy, bake 12-13 min. and remove from oven. Allow cookie to cool on cookie sheet 5-6 min. before removing from sheet. Allow cookies to completely cool on wire racks.
• Freeze cookies after 1-2 days.

Oxtail Soup

I remember eating Oxtail Soup as a very little girl. The name made me think that quite possibly there might be some odd animal's tail at the bottom of the pan. I didn't know what an ox was at the time but I do remember the sweet meat in the soup and the aroma that filled my Grandma Mihojevich's house and my own house when my mom made it. Later I figured out that it was a delicious vegetable soup. We celebrated our Mihojevich heritage last summer at our family reunion and recreated many of my grandmother's recipes.  My sister, Nancy, made wonderful Oxtail Soup for lunch. Recently, a friend gave us some beef from his freezer. He mentioned that he had several packages of oxtails. Would I know what to do with them and did I want them? I was so happy to put them in my freezer and yesterday I had the familiar aroma of Oxtail Soup in my house.

Oxtail Soup

3-4 lbs. meat - oxtail, chuck roast, short ribs, shanks - anything with a bone

Put in crock pot; cover with beef stock.

Add: 1 - lg. can (28 oz) undrained tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. each Italian seasonings & parsley

salt & pepper to taste (be generous)

2-3 med. onions, diced

4 carrots, diced                                                                                             3 lg. stalks celery, diced

1/2 head cabbage, shredded coursely

3/4 c. pearl barley (dry) - leave out for gluten-free

Simmer overnight on low. (If not using crock pot, stovetop 2-3 hrs.)

Pick out bones, skim fat, shred meat & return meat to pot.

Add any combo of the following to cook quickly: frozen corn, peas, green beans, sugar snap peas, lima beans.

Note: My sister, Nancy's secret ingredient: 2-3 tbsp. pesto added to pot.