Chicken Sausage Breakfast Burritos

I have been thinking lately, breakfast might be my favorite meal.  Not my weekday breakfast which consists of a Luna bar and iced latte every day.  No joke, every.single.day.  While that is pretty decent (otherwise why would I eat it every day) I'm a fan of weekend breakfast.  I have more time to make something, it could be sweet or savory or…both.  Either way, I love weekend breakfast.  

I made these breakfast burritos the other weekend and we fell in love.  I usually have some type of turkey sausage in the freezer or fridge for weekend breakfasts but I was all out.  What's a girl to do?  Well I found these chicken sausages in the freezer and bam, breakfast came together in a snap.  Of course you could substitute with any type of meat or leave the meat out all together.  I'm sure your family will enjoy these as much as we did.  

 Here is the type of sausage we used.  It was really good and slightly spicy.  NOTE: this is not a paid advertisement. I just actually liked these.

 Anyway, cut the sausage into small half moon pieces.  Set aside for the time being.

 Chop up an onion, red, white or green is just fine.

 Chop up a pepper as well.  I used a red bell pepper but you could use any type of pepper you prefer.

 Into a saute pan they go with a drizzle of oil.

 A quick stir and I let them cook for a little while

 Meanwhile, I started to work on the eggs.  I cracked 3 eggs into a medium bowl and seasoned with black pepper and seasoned salt.

 Once the peppers had a chance to cook a bit, I added the sausage to get some color on it.

 Then I got back to work on the eggs, I added a splash of milk as well and gave them a whisk.

 Into a sprayed skillet they go.

 On medium heat, I scraped, and scraped, and scraped the pan.  It is the secret to fluffy eggs….low, slow, and keep scraping.

 Like so.

 See!? Fluffy, delicious eggs.

 After the sausage has had some time to get color on it like so...

 Add the sausage, onion and pepper mixture to the eggs.

 Give them a quick toss and it's time to assemble.

Take a warm tortilla and layer in the eggs, sausage, onions and pepper.

 A sprinkle of cheese

 And drizzle of either taco sauce or salsa tops it off.

The perfect, portable weekend breakfast. 

Look at all that flavor. 

I love those because your can customize them to your likes and also to whatever you have in your fridge.  

Chicken Sausage Breakfast Burritos

Drizzle of canola or vegetable oil 

1/2 large onion (red, white or green), diced

1 pepper (red, green, yellow, orange, whatever you choose), diced

2 large links of sausage, cut into half moon pieces 

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/8 black pepper 

Splash of milk

Cooking spray 

4 tortillas (flour or corn)

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand) 

Taco sauce or salsa for topping

Start by preheating a medium sized skillet on medium high heat, add the drizzle of oil.  Once hot, add the onion and peppers.  Sauté for 3 minutes or so or until they start to become tender.  

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, seasoned, black pepper and splash of milk in a medium bowl.  Pour the eggs into a sauté pan on medium heat, sprayed with cooking spray.  Using a heat safe spatula, babysit the eggs and keep scraping, and scraping, and scraping until the eggs are fully cooked.  

While babysitting, add the chicken sausage to the pan with the onion and peppers and let cook on high heat to add a little color to the sausage.  

Once the eggs are cooked, add the sausage and veggie mixture to the eggs.  Stir to combine.  

To assemble the burritos, add the egg mixture to a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with taco sauce or salsa. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz 

Sausage, Potato and Beer Cheese Soup

I don't even know where to start with this soup.  It is so freaking good.  I made it on a whim on Sunday night and Mr. Schwartz and I were both blown away.  Like we actually didn't talk the whole time we scarfed it down.  I wish I was kidding.  

Surprisingly I made it with healthy(ier) things like skim milk, chicken sausage and low fat cheese.  I promise I doesn't taste low fat at all!  Also, it takes less than a half an hour to whip up.  Try this now and feel free to write me a handwritten thank you note with the tears of joy you shed while eating it. Yeah, it's that good.

Start by chopping up an onion.

Melt a little butter and pop it in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot.  Add the onions (not pictured) and saute for about 3 minutes or so.

This is the sausage I used.  Holy Moley you guys, I love this stuff. 

Cut it into cute little half moons.

Add the sausage to the pot and give it a quick stir.  Let this cook while you work on the potatoes...

Potatoes worked.  As in I peeled, washed and diced them up.

Add them to the pot as well.  Stir again.

Pour in some low sodium chicken broth.

And a bottle of beer.  Oh I love Spotted Cow.  My friend Amy hooked me up when she came back from Wisconsin.  My little bootlegger.  Shhh...don't tell anyone.

Cook for about 10 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender.

Combine milk and flour to make a slurry and pour into the pot.  Give it a stir and it should thicken things up nicely.

Season with a little salt

And lots of pepper.

Add the cheese and that is it!

How easy is that!?

The answer is: easy.

And delicious.


Sausage, Potato and Beer Cheese Soup

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
13 oz of smoked sausage (I used chicken sausage) cut into half moons
3 medium potatoes, peeled, washed and chopped
1 32 oz box of chicken broth
1 bottle of beer.  I loved the flavor Spotted Cow gave the soup.
1 1/2 cups milk (skim is totally okay!)
1/3 cup flour
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese + additional for topping (low fat is okay!)

Start by adding the butter and onion into a large Dutch Oven or soup pot on medium high heat.  Let saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the sausage and let cook for 3-4 minutes while you peel and chop the potatoes.  Add the potatoes, chicken broth and beer.  Let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft but not mushy.

Combine the milk and flour in a glass and make sure to use a fork to remove any lumps.  Pour into the pot and give it a good stir.  When it heats back up it will thicken the soup, be sure to continue to stir.  Once the soup is hot and bubbly again, add the cheese and stir until creamy and combined.

Garnish with additional cheese and enjoy!

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz

Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

This soup is a fall and winter staple at our house.  In fact, I posted about it in my first blog post ever.  I am reluctant to do this but here is the link: Number One.  Please refrain from laughing/judging.  I had no idea what I was doing! Umm, I still don't.

Anyway, this soup is pretty stinking close to the real deal.  I found it ions ago (aka probably 3 years ago) in the Food Network Magazine.  I thought it was worth a try and we have been slurping it up ever since.  

As many good things start...this one does with butter.

Chop up a small onion while your butter melts.

Add the onions to the melted butter.  Let these cook for about three minutes or until they become translucent. 

Add in the flour

And stir it around to coat all of the onions.  Cook the "flour taste" out of the flour for about two minutes as well.  Keep stirring, you don't want that to stick to the bottom of the pot.  Talk about a mess...

Pour in the half and half

And chicken stalk.

Then the seasonings.  A few bay leaves, black pepper, salt (not pictured because it sunk) and nutmeg--the secret ingredient.  Anyone else say that like the guy on Iron Chef?  No? Okay, moving on...Let this simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your broccoli.  Clean it and cut it into small florets.

Prep the carrots as well.  Peel and slice into bite sized discs.

After 20 minutes, add the broccoli

And carrots.  

Let this simmer for another 15-20 minutes depending on how you like your veggies.  I'm not a fan of soggy soup veggies so I was closer to the 15 minutes.  Do what you like.

Meanwhile, grate some cheese.  Yeah, I know, this isn't sharp cheddar cheese.  I totally thought I had some in my fridge...turns out it was of the speckled variety...oh well.

After the veggies are cooked to your taste, remove the bay leaves...all of them.

This step is optional but I like to do it.  Remove half of the veggies into a bowl

And blend the heck out of the remaining soup.  If you don't have one of these handy immersion blenders, just pour the remaining soup (probably in batches) into a blender.  It serves the same purpose...If you want a totally chunky soup, skip this step completely.  I won't judge.

Add the whole veggies back to the pot

And toss in the grated cheese.

Stir and heat all the way through.

Ladle into bowls.

And dig in.

That is a bite of broccoli cheese deliciousness.

Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

6 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1/4 flour
2 cups half and half (fat free is okay but the consistency is a little different--it still tastes good)
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups fresh broccoli, cut into small florets
1 cup carrots, cut into bite sized discs
2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese + additional for topping


Start by melting the butter in a large pot.  Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the flour and cook for about 2 minutes to get the floury taste out.  Pour in the half and half and chicken broth.  Add the bay leaves, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Let this simmer on low, covered for about 20 minutes.

After twenty minutes, add the broccoli and carrots.  Let this simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes or until they have reached your desired doneness.

After the veggies have cooked, remove half of them into a different bowl.  Using an immersion blender or regular blender working in batches, blend the veggies until smooth.  Return the whole veggies into the pot.

Add the cheese and heat through.  If the soup is too thick, add additional chicken broth.

Sprinkle and serve with cheese on the top.

Enjoy!

Recipe slightly adapted from: Food Network.com