Tag Archives: recipe

Food, Recipes

Bacon Alternative – Pork Chop Egg Sandwich

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Pork Chop Egg Sandwich

As you all may have read in our Happy Birthday post, one of TastingBuds, Sondra, is pregnant. This has led to quite a change in the eating habits around the Vallejo house. The crackling smell of bacon that was once familiar, is now a distant memory. Well, I needed some bacon, or something like it, so I came up with a quick recipe that was a great “healthy” alternative to bacon!

I took a left over grilled pork chop and sliced it lengthwise so that it closely resembled bacon. Note: I’ve also done this recipe using raw thick cut pork loin, but grilling it first gives it more flavor. I then spiced each side with salt, pepper, and paprika. I heated up a little olive oil in a saute pan, placed my bacon alternative in the pan and let it sizzle away. The results? An excellent combination crispy, caramelized, smokey, spicy, and very lean. The texture was crunchy, with a slight chewiness and the perfect addition to my fried egg sandwich.

Enjoy!!

-Jon

Recipes, Travel

Discovering Okinawan Sweet Potatoes in Hawaii + 2 Tasty and Easy Recipes

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tastingbuds_okinawan_purple_sweet_potato_hawaiian (2)

Here’s a fun and delicious ingredient that you might not have encountered before, Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, AKA Hawaiian purple potatoes, or purple sweet potatoes. They are known for their distinct purple color and unique sweet yet earthy taste, and I think they are way better than a regular sweet potato.

I discovered this culinary delight on my recent trip to Hawaii and have been hooked ever since. Because it was so delicious in all of the forms I tried, I had to experiment with this ingredient once I got home and I decided to make something from it for Thanksgiving.

Click here to read more about Okinawan Sweet Potatoes

Recipes

Guest blog from j9online – Marinara: Tomatoes…and Basil…and Squash… Oh My!

J9's Marinara Sauce

This post is courtesy of our great friend and Blogger Jeaneane McNulty from j9online!

Sometime around late July/early August, my garden gets unruly. It’s getting enough water (thanks to my handy-dandy timer-controlled drip irrigation system), an abundance of sunshine, and not enough human attention, so the things that like it hot start to get a little, um, “frisky”. One day, I noticed a pile of very ripe tomatoes where my countertop used to reside. Curious, I ventured out of the AC to check on the growing things and – gasp – the basil is bolting! The eggplant has suddenly produced a dozen ripe fruits! A mega-squash is visibly lengthening on the vine and the bell peppers, while copious, are tiny from overcrowding.

Folks, it’s time to stop the madness and make some marinara!

Click here to read about marinara mania!