Thursday, October 13, 2011

Country Ham Hash

Well, my day started eventfully. One of my kids almost got ran over by the school bus! When I say my kids... I watch several boys before and after school and it was one of the younger ones. He had forgotten his jacket and ran back in the house to get it. The driver wasn't paying attention and shut the door. The boy ran back out toward the bus and at about three feet away, the driver took off and rounded the corner. The little boy, a kindergartener who didn't know any better, took off running after the bus and came way, way, way too close to the back wheel. We (myself and two neighbors) were yelling and screaming for the bus to stop. I found out later that my other four boys were directly behind the driver telling him that the one had been left behind. The driver was just totally oblivious and unaware of what was going on around him. How did this guy even get a job as a bus driver in the first place? He shouldn't even be driving a bike!

At least we had all powered up with a good breakfast before hand. Thank-goodness because I was still shaking two hours later. Add a cup of coffee and no food to that and I would have been in bad shape! Here's my recipe for a super simple, protein packed breakfast hash. (This also happens to be one of my toddler's favorites.)



Country Ham Hash
1/2 bag country style hash browns
1/2 package cubed ham (the tiny ones)
1/4 lb cooked breakfast sausage
1/2 onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil of choice in a large skillet over medium heat. (3.5 on my stove) Pour in frozen hash browns and stir to coat. While hash browns start to cook, dice the onion (in a food processor if you have one) and add it to the potatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the hash is starting to soften. Add sausage and ham and continue to cook until potatoes are soft and meat is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.
Makes about 6 servings.

Optional: You can add any vegetables you like to this. Try peppers, tomato, spinach, mushrooms, chives, artichoke hearts, cooked black beans, squash or zucchini. You can also add eggs (beaten), cheese, and/or salsa. Experiment and share your favorite combinations!

Note: I cook at least a couple of pounds of breakfast sausage at a time, divide it and freeze the extra. Hubby likes to take the portions to work for breakfast with some eggs.

After all this I had to take the baby to the doctor for his check-up. (31 inches and 21.5lbs at 15 months) He received four vaccinations and I felt so bad that I took him to the park to play afterward. Poor thing had his whole hand stuffed in this mouth trying to comfort himself. But after a couple of big pushes on the swing he felt better. Unfortunately its a bit cool and windy today and our park is a huge open space with few trees or buildings to provide any sort of wind break so we didn't stay long. Now he's sleeping soundly and I have got to get caught up on some housework. The older boys decided to go on a rabbit catching expedition last night and tracked a bunch of mud into the dining room. I hope someday we can get that house out in the country that has a mud room on the back! (And more space for a garden!)

By the way, vaccines seem to be a hot topic among parents these days. I could do a whole post on that but not today. I'll content myself by simply stating that I do fully believe in vaccines. We did space them out some in the beginning with this baby. He never got more than a couple at a time so at least it wasn't quite as hard on him, but he's all caught up now.


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