Rigatoni with Bacon Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese
Here's a recipe that's gone straight to my make again list. The combination of flavors packs a punch - it's creamy, salty, slightly sweet, and tart. The original recipe comes from Foodess. As far as I'm concerned, she had one fatal flaw with her recipe: she only uses 3 slices of bacon.
Read More…Ground Beef and Bacon 5050 Burger
Don't be fooled by appearances, this is no ordinary burger. This is a special burger, a burger comprised of 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon. It's pretty easy, a little bit messy, and a lot delicious. The idea came from a local restaurant that I've only had dreams of visiting, Slater's 50/50. I hope to make the trip there someday soon, but in the mean time, this is an adequate substitute.
Read More…My First Bacon Explosion
First, I must acknowledge that the pictures just don't do this justice. It literally was gone from the serving table in minutes. I should have made 2. Or 3.
Ever since Bacon Explosion blew up on the internet in 2008, it's been in my thoughts. It wasn't until this year that I finally got the opportunity to make it. This year I decided to rent a bounce house and have a fat pants birthday party. Bacon explosion was the highlight of the menu, but it also included chips and dips, meats and cheeses, grilled bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, super cheesy crock pot mac and cheese, Unicorn Poop Cookies, an ice cream sundae bar, and Reese's Stuffed Chocolate Covered Oreos. If this weren't a bacon site, I'd have a lot to talk about. I'll address the bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers later, for now, let's talk Bacon Explosion.
Read More…BLTA Pasta Salad
I needed an easy, high yield recipe for a potluck recently, so I took to the internet and found two BLT Salad recipes, one at AllRecipes and one from Rachael Ray. I combined the two recipes into one and added avocado, mainly because I wasn't satisfied with either recipe in its entirety and also because I wanted to take advantage of things that I had on hand. The recipe at AllRecipes calls for croutons, which I did not use. I think croutons or bread crumbs are key - the salad version that I made really lacked that toasted white bread taste of a delicious BLT Sandwich.
Read More…Bacon Pancakes
Each month I receive a Tasting Box from Foodzie, filled with 6 or 7 artisan items I wouldn't otherwise buy. This month's Tasting Box included Grade B Maple Syrup from Ben's Sugar Shack. Of course, only one thing comes to mind when I think of syrup...pancakes! Now, I'm not really a big breakfast person, but every now and then I'll have a craving for pancakes that I cannot satiate any other way. In this case, I blame my friend Carrie, who made pancakes over the weekend to try out her Tasting Box Syrup, and that planted the seed in my head. That seed must have sprouted this evening, because as I was leaving work I had breakfast for dinner on my mind.
Read More…Bacon Wrapped Cheddar Meat Loaf
If you have any known health issues, I suggest you stop reading here. This is bad for your heart, your cholesterol, your weight, and probably your bones and even your ears. Other than the magnificent taste, I'm pretty sure there is not a single redeeming thing about this dish nutritionally. But I also think this is something you have to make once in your life. If you ever find yourself on death row, it would make a great last meal. I'd die with a smile on my face if this were my last meal. Adapted from AllRecipes.
Read More…Bacon and Cheddar Muffins
For the last year, my breakfast of choice has been muffins. I find them filling, versatile, cheap, easy to store, and even easier to eat on the go. A few weeks back, sweet muffins and I had a falling out and we needed some time apart. Mostly it was that every muffin began to taste the same so I wanted to make the switch to savory for a change. Enter Bacon and Cheddar Muffins, adopted from nestMeg. Bacon and cheese in muffin form? Yup, these are a definite make again.
Read More…Crock Pot Beer Braised Pork and Black Beans
The original recipe that I found refers to this as a soup, but if anything I'd call it a stew. Even then, the beans do a pretty good job of soaking up every last bit of liquid in the crock pot so I probably wouldn't call it a stew either. This is a recipe where you throw everything in the crock pot, go to work or shopping or for a massage, and come back to a hot meal in a few hours.
Read More…Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Bacon Cannellini Beans and Mushrooms
I like to do my cooking for the week on Sundays. Most weeks I'll look for something new. It allows me to try new recipes (bonus!), but also on the weeks that I don't feel like cooking, it makes it easy to go back to something I've made before. My criteria for new lunch recipes is pretty simple. The most important thing is that it's not something that I'd feel guilty eating for 5 days. Sometimes that might mean it just has to include a bunch of veggies or beans, and other times it just might mean that the recipe doesn't call for cream or butter. It really varies from week to week, depending on how bad I feel from eating like a glutton over the weekend. The other criteria are pretty easy to fulfill - I need to be able to make it in a big enough batch for 5 days, it needs to keep well for 5 days, and it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Enter How Sweet It Is's Warm White Bean and Spinach Salad. There is no doubt this one meets all of my requirements, and as an added bonus, it has bacon!
Read More…Bacon and Asparagus Crustless Quiche
For the last 8 months, I've been baking muffins once every other week to have everyday for breakfast. I have finally hit the point where I feel like I just don't have another muffin recipe left to try and there isn't one I'm ready to revisit, so I'm taking a temporary detour for the next few weeks with a Bacon and Asparagus Crustless Quiche. In an attempt to make it a health conscious breakfast, I've omitted the crust and used 2% milk in place of cream. Between the bacon and the cheese there is plenty of full fat flavor. It's not as rich as a traditional quiche, but I also don't feel guilty for eating it. This makes a great breakfast, but would also make an excellent brunch or lunch dish for a group of people or a special occasion.
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