My version of Egg McMuffin Breakfast Sandwich

I've been making these for years.  When Tab and Sam were still at home they liked them for breakfast and now that I'm working, it's nice to be able to make them and run out the door.  I hardly ever go to McDonalds so don't know how much they cost there, but my version cost around $0.91 each!

First, here's what you'll need:

English Muffins, an egg, sliced Canadian Bacon and a slice of cheese. Oh, and a quick spray of cooking oil.

Being the "frugal" person I am, I mostly use store brand groceries.  To me they taste fine, but a few things (like the cheese slices) are better with the name brand.  HEB (a local grocery store) does not have plain label Canadian Bacon.

Split the muffin either with a fork or cut it with a bread knife.




We only use a toaster oven in my house, so place the muffin in the oven and toast it - I don't like mine too crispy, so I just do it a little more than a light toast.


While the muffin is toasting, find a small bowl close to the size of the muffin.  (Mine is a Corelle dessert bowl.)


Spray it with the cooking spray.


Crack the egg into the bowl.  Now you have to decided how you want the egg, I like it more like a scrambled egg, so I use a fork to beat it lightly.


If you don't want it that way, at least break the yolk of the egg with a fork.


Put the bowl in the microwave and cover it with a paper towel (to cut back on the mess in case it "explodes").  The first time you cook the egg, do it for three minutes, only on 20% power.   This is important because if you do it full power, you'll have a mess in the microwave.


The muffin should be toasted by the time you get the egg in the microwave.  Get your Canadian Bacon and slice of cheese ready.  I open the door to the toaster oven and place the cheese on one part of the muffin and the canadian bacon on the other part.  (I fold the corners of the cheese slice over so they don't drip to the bottom of the toaster oven.)   This time I'm using two pieces of canadian bacon because I like to use packaged meat up within a week after it's opened.

Since the toaster oven is still warm, it will heat the bacon and melt the cheese when you close the door.  No need to toast them again.

Here is my egg after three minutes at 20% power.

It's still shiny so needs to be cooked some more.

I put it in for another two minutes (also at 20% power).

And it's PERFECT!!!!!

Now pull the muffin out of the oven and place on a plate.

(That would be a good breakfast in itself if you were watching your cholesterol.)

Take the egg out of the bowl and place on top of the bacon, place the cheese part on top of the egg and you're done!!!!  Here's how your breakfast looks:


YUM!!!!!!  Not bad for a home made breakfast costing less than a dollar!!!!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog.

 The main reason is I'M WORKING AGAIN!!!!  yay!  I started a full-time job a few weeks ago and it's going really well.  I love the people I work with and it's REALLY NICE to be around people all day again!  (Not to mention the money is nice.)  It's been hard getting used to being away from home all day and by the time I get home, I'm tired and I don't get too much done.  I am, however, doing really good at getting up early and working out for 30 minutes on the elipitical machine.  I'm finally to less than what I weighed last year when we went on the cruise!!!!

Todd's been home a couple weekends.  He was home last weekend since it was Labor Day, and he was also home the week before.  Most of his home time is spent working on the truck for some reason or another.  He's had to replace the brakes already and then last weekend he went out to wash the truck good.  If anyone knows Todd, he doesn't do an "OK" job at anything.  He's almost a perfectionist so something that can take one person an hour, it can easily take Todd two or three.  But he's VERY HAPPY being self-employed.  He's making good money, but the expenses of owning his own truck are lots higher.  In the end, he's doing great and is happy, that's all I can hope for him.

Today I decided to bake some cookies.  I'm going to spend the afternoon tomorrow with some friends in Sun City and wanted something to take.  I found a great recipe for Molassas Ginger cookies!




And what's better than plain cookies?????  Ice cream sandwiches made with the cookies!!!!


Made with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and they are WONDERFUL!!!!

I have some sewing that needs to be done, and I'm working on another baby quilt.  I don't think I've ever taken pictures of the first one that I made, but that will be done soon.

Sam's son, Tyler, had joined Boy Scouts this year.  He's pretty excited and his dad is one of the leaders, so it will be nice for them to do that together.  Even though Sam's been around me sewing for YEARS, she still needed me to put his patches on his shirt for her.  They came over this afternoon and I got it done.

Todd was home last weekend

so we had Tab and Sam bring the kids to see the truck.  Boy did they have fun!  They all were crawling around on the inside and Alyssa thinks it would be fun to camp in!!! lol

Of course, I took the camera to get some pictures of them.

(It was hot and bright outside.)

Alyssa


 Angel


Tyler

Finally some pictures of the inside of Todd's truck

They're not the greatest, but it's hard to take pictures in such a small space.  But first, here's the picture Todd's been wanting since he was 18:


And the inside:




He's still working on getting everything organized.  He had some shelves that he used in another truck that he put into this one, so it will take him a few days to decide where he wants everything.




Since Keim uses only flat-bed trailers, he decided he didn't need a condo.  His truck is a Mid-Roof and has only one bunk.  (The condos generally have two bunks.)

Next week, he'll get Keim's logo on it in addition to the other numbers, so as soon as he's home again I'll update more pictures.

He should be to Falls City, NE today and he'll stay with his Dad then be at the Keim terminal in Sabetha, KS Monday.

Today I'm enjoying the quiet house, getting some cleaning done and catching up on laundry.  Tomorrow I'll get a few groceries and a newspaper and start the job hunt.  Wish me luck!!!!

It's just me and Brute in the house now.

We finally got the phone call that Todd's truck was almost done, so we left for Dallas late morning today.  We still had to wait a little bit on it, but soon after we pulled into the dealership parking lot, I saw his truck leave the service parking lot.  (He put a yellow ladder on the headache rack, so I knew for sure it was his.)  They were taking it for a test drive, then the salesman took it over and filled it with fuel.  They told us one of the mechanics also noticed the turbo was leaking, so they put a new one in today, also.  Apparently it's very hard to get the turbos lined up with the other rebuilt part they put in the back (axle).  I'm no mechanic, so I won't claim to have all the right lingo, but suffice it to say, Todd's now on his way to Kansas!!!  A week late, but I'm REALLY hoping this trip turns out better than the last one.  He'll go to Falls City and stay with his dad until Monday. We're hoping he'll be able to leave for his first load Wednesday at the latest.  He'll still have a few things to do when he gets to Keim such as getting their logo on the truck, along with the other DOT numbers and the truck has to be inspected by a Kansas Trooper to make sure it's safe to be registered in Kansas.

We took some more pictures of the truck, both inside and outside (with Todd), so I'll get them uploaded and do another post, but for now it's been a long day and Brute and I are going to head to bed soon.  lol

Where's Todd????

Well right now he's home, but he's SUPPOSED to be in Kansas getting ready to leave with his first load with his new truck.  What happened?  Ugh!!!!!

Here we go:  The first time we went to look at the truck was June 29th.  Todd decided he wanted it, so we agreed on price, financing, etc.  They needed to do a bunch of stuff to it, so said we could go back on July 7th to pick it up.  Phone calls the morning of the 7th told us it wasn't ready yet.  So we decided to give them another day and go up on Friday, the 8th.  We got there at 11:15 am and were told it should be ready at 2:30 or 3:00.  OK, no big deal.  Todd had a few things he needed to pick up and we could go for lunch.  Back later that afternoon, truck's still not done.  Found out it sat for an extra two days after the 4th of July because it was taken to the wrong place to be worked on and no one found out until Wednesday afternoon.  Anyway, my patience was wearing very thin and Brute was really tired of not being at home.  We finally actually took possession of the truck about 6 pm (after it was washed and detailed).  We had taken the pickup to Dallas since Todd had tons of stuff to put in the truck.  The sales part of the dealership was to close at 6, so we moved it over to the parts department that's open 24 hours.  Got everything switched from the pickup to the truck (well, most of it).  Brute and I finally headed home around 7:45pm.  What a long day!  Home at 11:15 pm  took extra time since I hadn't had supper yet and there was an accident on the interstate in Waco.  Talked to Todd before I went to sleep - he had fueled the truck and was going to had north.  He wanted to get past a scale in Oklahoma while it was closed.  He drove until about 2:00 am Saturday morning.  When he stopped, he smelled something smoking so went to investigate - it was the truck.  The forward axle was so hot he couldn't even touch it and there was smoke coming out the vent.  Not GOOD!!!!  He called the service dept. at the dealership and they said there's not much they could do - he'd need to wait until the Sales Dept opened that morning (9 am).  Of course, being the loving husband that he is, he had to call me at 2:15 am to let me know the truck's broken down and it's going to have to be towed somewhere and fixed.   I was NOT HAPPY!!!  He only drove 130 miles and the truck's INOPERABLE!  So much for being in Kansas and starting to make some money this week!   Since Todd's a diesel mechanic, he knew what happened.  Part of the warranty that he purchased with the truck included a 168 pt. inspection.  In addition to that, when he test drove the truck, he noticed part of the (now broken) axle leaking so he told them that needed to be fixed.  Apparently they replaced the gasket on said axle, but failed to replace the oil.  (Minor detail - just a hint if sarcasm there).  There were a few things that Todd found that weren't done, so they are supposed to do them, also.  So Brute and I had to make ANOTHER trip to Dallas to pick up Todd.  The dealership paid to have the truck towed 134 miles from OK to the dealership in Dallas.  They called us  this morning to let him know that what he thought happened, actually did.  (Of course, the service tech he spoke to Saturday morning didn't believe Todd when he said someone forgot to put oil back in the axle.)  We now have to wait to see if the dealership is going to rebuilt it or if they are going to find an already rebuilt one. Either way, we don't think it will be ready to be picked up again until late Thursday or sometime Friday.  Todd's not as upset as I am, he's looking at the point that he's going to have a rebuilt rear end, but I'm worried about our rather large truck payment that's due in Mid-August.  Not to mention another trip to Dallas and what it costs us in gas.  While we were on he way home Saturday afternoon the salesman called Todd and asked if I was mad - Todd just said "I think I have her calmed down pretty well for the moment."  lol   He said he'll see if he can get us a tank of gas when we have to go back but I'm not sure that will happen.  I hope I'm wrong, but we'll see.

Anyway, Todd had to call Keim to let them know he wasn't going to be there yesterday morning.  He's having some supplies (straps, bungees and chains) delivered there, so they'll just hold them until he gets there.  I certainly hope he'll be up there this coming Monday.

I did snap some better pictures of the truck before I left Friday, so here they are.

Celebration of our parent's 50th Anniversary

The day after the reunion, June 19th, we got together at Barry's house in Lincoln to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary.  It wasn't actually until the 22nd, but close enough.  Jerolyn made brisket for sandwiches, I made potato salad (from Mom's recipe) and Penny (Barry's wife) got the cake.  Brian just showed up, I guess, lol!!  He's not married so he gets a "pass".  Todd and I also took one of the salsas that we won at the auction so everyone could try it.

Here are the decorations:
(I thought this was neat)




 After we ate, we went outside to take some pictures (in front of Barry's weeping willow tree we got them as a wedding present):
Entire group

Front:  LaNeisha (Penny's daughter), Penny, Jerolyn, Mom, Dad, Me
Back:  Brian, Josh (Jerolyn's son), Barry, Ben (Jerolyn's other son), Dave (Jerolyn's husband), Todd

Then we had cake and ice cream


I wanted to get a picture of how green everything was up there - this was take right outside Barry's garage.


(Everything is so brown and dry down here in Texas.)

In other news, we spent yesterday in Dallas.  Todd has wanted to own his own truck for a long time and we're finally taking the plunge.  He picked out a 2006 Freightliner CL260.  We forgot to take pictures but here is the link to see pictures.

We have to go back next week to pick it up, assuming we have all our work done.  We've spent all day running to the bank and making phone calls and faxes and we're still not done.  Tomorrow Todd has to go get his drug test and DOT physical.

Auction items

At our Troyer family reunions, we have auctions to make money for the next reunion.  We all bring things we've made or family heirlooms.  I took a baked potato bag, knitted baby booties and a set of three reusable shopping bags.  Mom ended up winning the bid for the shopping bags with a choice of just one (for the bid price) or all three - she decided she wanted them all.  I told her later on that had she asked, I would have made her a set. lol  But at least the money goes to a good cause.  (I had also made a set of shopping bags for my sister, Jerolyn, since she told me she'd like some.  She has given me a few great pieces of stained glass, so that was my gift to her in return.  I made them out of fabric that was my MIL's - really pretty white fabric with violets on it.  I wish I would have remembered to take pictures before I gave them away.)

Anyway, I did get a fairly good picture of the tables with the auction items displayed.

The tall blue candy dish was also something everyone remembers being at Grandma and Loretta's house.  They always had Lemon Drop candy in it.  It brought back lots of memories for us all.  My brother, Brian, ended up winning it - and for a pretty good price, I thought.     

This year Todd and I actually bid on a few things!  Here's what we won:

Salsa one of my cousins's wives made

It's pretty good.  Since it's marked "XXX" so we thought it would be pretty hot, but I guess maybe since we're Texans it wasn't too hot for us.  They brought 12 jars, a few of which were peach flavored, but someone else won them.  We bought two jars and opened one the next day when we got together for Mom and Dad's Anniversary (post yet to come about that).

The other thing we won I kinda decided at the last moment that I'd like to have.  It's a candy jar that was my grandma's (Mom's Mom).  I have a few candy jars around the house from Todd's grandma, so I decided it would be neat to have one from mine, too.




The other thing I brought home was something else that we bid on, but didn't win.  There were a couple things that we in Grandma's house that my Aunt Loretta brought.  The guys doing the auction paired a couple dishes together.  Amy, my cousin, was sitting next to me and was also bidding on the pair and she won the bid.  After the auction was over and we were getting ready to head home, Amy asked if we could give her a ride back to Milford.  We both had all our auction winnings and she said she had actually been bidding on the pair because she wanted the green dish. I laughed and said we were bidding on them because I wanted the other piece.  lol  Anyway, she said she'd check with her mom, Betty, and if she didn't want it, Amy would let me have it.  Sunday morning she was on her way to the airport and stopped by Mom and Dad's to give it to me.  I was so excited!  I remember this hanging in Grandma's kitchen, so I'm going to find somewhere to put it in mine.

The other funny thing about this is that I found a plate at Mom's that has the same saying on it, but it's round and larger.  It even has the same heart boarder!

A while ago, Mom had also brought me a small crock that was HER Grandma's (so my Great Grandma's).  I have it in the china hutch that we brought home from Todd's Grandma's.  One of these days I need to mark everything so the girls remember who's everything was.

June 2011 Nebraska trip

I took LOTS of pictures in the last few days.  I think I'll break them up into a few different posts.  The first few days of our trip were spend with my Father-In-Law in Falls City, Nebraska.  We got there Wednesday evening and made a trip to Runza (a requirement on these trips - can't get them in Texas).  Thursday and Friday we spent the afternoons going to St. Joseph MO for his last radiation treatments for a form of skin cancer. We are all happy he's done.  He needs to go back in a couple weeks for a follow-up and hopefully that will be all.

Friday evening we headed to Milford. Had supper with Mom, Dad and Jerolyn.  Saturday was the BIG family reunion and that's where most of the pictures are from.

Just a little background - Mom is #11 of 12 kids.  The order of birth is:
Dorothy, Loretta, Glenn, Lester, James, Mary, Betty, Eunice, Ivan, Harold, Violet , and Leonard.


Three (Glenn, Lester and Ivan) have passed away and one (Leonard) couldn't make it, but the other eight were there:

Front:  Dorothy, Loretta, James, Mary
Back:  Vi, Harold, Eunice, Betty

The siblings and their spouses:


We also took a picture of the cousins (the next generation, mine):

There were 23 in attendance out of 37.

Then someone had the idea to line up from the oldest to the youngest.  Todd had to take five pictures to get everyone:

The oldest ones:  Deryl, Linda, Kathy, Pat, Doug and Tim


 
 Randy, Todd, Karla and Rick


 
 Terry, Brent and Amy




Lori, Julie, Kim and Don

 
And the youngest:  Brian, Paul, Jerolyn, Jyl, Barry and Kyle.  

It was hard to get everyone to look and not talk at the same time, but I think Todd did a pretty good job.    Most of the people I haven't seen since the last reunion I was at and that was probably 9 years ago.  It was so fun to see everyone!