Scotch Eggs- Power Protein Meal

"I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly..."-  Ron Burgundy

Scotch Eggs are a recipe that I've been thinking about making for a while. Its not nearly as hard as it looks, basically its a hard boiled egg stuffed inside a sausage burger. Traditionally, a scotch egg is breaded and baked but at an attempt to keep it Paleo I decided to skip the breading. I highly suggest this as a new breakfast or lunch (or dinner or snack) with some veggies on the side, maybe add some sort of Paleo dipping sauce like salsa or Paleo ketchup. This recipe is packed full of protein so just make sure you are using a grass-fed beef, lamb or pastured pork, really any type of ground meat you like, but make sure to keep it organic and humane.

Serving Size: 6 

Ingredients:
6 organic free-range eggs
2lbs ground meat- you can do a combo 1lb pork, 1lb lamb or 1lb beef. Just make sure if you are using a 1lb of a leaner meat (chicken or turkey) that you use a lb. of fattier meat (pork or beef) this will keep the meat moist and tasty.
1/2 onion chopped
1 egg- to bind
1/2 tblsp. Nutmeg
1 tblsp. Allspice
1 tblsp. Fennel seeds
1/2 tblsp. Sage
Salt and Pepper to taste
(these are the basic spices found in sausage so essentially you are making your own ground sausage) 
**Or you can skip all of the spices and just get 2lbs. ground sausage meat, just be sure there isn't any added sugar. 
Butter, bacon fat, duck fat, coconut oil- any of these fats will work.

Preparation:
Bring a medium sauce pot to a boil and add eggs. Turn off burner and cover. Let sit for about 12 mins. to hard boil eggs. Remove eggs from pot and put into ice bath and let cool in the refrigerator.

Saute chopped onions in one of the fats listed above until soft, about 5 mins. Let cool.

Combine meat, spices, cooled onions and eggs.

Carefully peel hard boiled eggs. Divide meat mixture into 6 even patties, flattened on a plate. Put hard boiled egg in the middle of the meat patty and fold meat over to form a ball with egg inside. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Place in a shallow baking dish. 
** You may end up taking some of the meat off to keep the ball from being too large. I ended up having some left over, I probably could of made another scotch egg with it but instead just cooked it to eat later. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place backing dish into oven for about 35 mins. You want the internal temp to be about 165 degrees. I pulled mine out at 158 degrees knowing that I would be reheating in the microwave at work. 

** On a side note, mine came out a little bland so you may want to add a little extra salt before eating. I also only had ground beef on hand so mine did not come out as moist as I would have liked, this is why I suggest using a combo of different ground meats. Other than that, its a really tasty dish.

Enjoy with a side of veggies for breakfast lunch or dinner!

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Eggs for Breakfast!

This week I am going to give you one of the simplest and tastiest breakfast recipes. This egg, bacon and sausage cup can be made a variety of ways and once you have the basic idea you will be able to mix it up and create your own. This breakfast cup is easily transportable and will have everyone in your office drooling! Its packed with great protein and healthy fats and will keep you full until lunch time.

Egg, Bacon and Sausage Cups:

Makes 5 servings

Ingredients:

• 5-10 strips of bacon- super thick cut, you probably only need 1 piece, thinner slices, use 2. 
• Make sure this is quality bacon- Applegate Farms or some local bacon from the meat counter or butcher. 

• 10 eggs- Farm Fresh preferably

• 6 Sausage Links- I use Mild Italian, make sure its good quality, like the bacon, with the least amount of added ingredients. 

• 5 Ramekins or Extra Large Muffin Pan

Directions:

• Line 5-10 strips of bacon on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in a cold oven and heat to 400 degrees for 15 mins. you want the bacon cooked but still flexible. 

Always cook bacon in a cold oven, this will reducing shrinking

• Once bacon is cooked, place on paper towels to soak up excess grease. With the left over grease on the baking sheet, pour a few drops into each ramekin or muffin pan and use a brush or paper towel to grease the edges and bottom. Save the remainder of the grease for future recipes.

• Line the outside of each ramekin or muffin pan with 1-2 pieces of bacon depending on the thickness of the bacon. 

• Crack two eggs into each ramekin or muffin pan.

Bake on 350 degrees for about 25mins. You want the whites to be mostly cooked while the yolks remain runny. If the white look uncooked put back in the oven for 5 min increments until desired doneness. This is also done if you prefer your yolks cooked through.

**If you are planning on reheating this in the microwave, you want the eggs slightly under cooked so when reheated the yolks won't cook through and you can still have the runny deliciousness.

• Cook sausage links on grill or on saute pan over med- med-high heat until cooked though. 

• Once cooked, slice up links and add a couple pieces to individual packaged egg cups. 

•  Reheat in the microwave for about 1 min. Cut open and enjoy!!

Variation: 

• Usually when I do this, I will cook some ground sausage and put a tablespoon in the bottom of the cups but you don't get as much protein this way and I find that adding some of the sliced sausage in the tupperware with the cup works just as well. 
• If you don't like over easy eggs you can add a scramble mixture instead of the whole eggs. Feel free to add some onions or spinach or other veggies to you scramble mixture. 
• This can recipe can easily be doubled if you are cooking for two people. 

Just for fun!!

This past weekend my husband and I went took our dog (daughter), Walker to Bark-in-the-Park to take watch the Braves take on the Mets. Even though its been unseasonably cold and rainy in GA the sun came out and we had a great time! Take a look at our family portrait! Walker was such a good girl and we can't wait to go back next year!