my best breakfast yet

I used to love going out to breakfast, especially when I was presented with a meal that looked like a work of art. Eggs Florentine was a favorite, with all those spiffy garnishes and pools of delightful hollandaise. Those days are over for me, and I don't miss the pain one little bit. I do, however, miss pretty meals.

At home I'm sure I could make our table and plates look lovely, I just haven't gotten there. I'm still in the whining about preparing from scratch every single bite that goes into my mouth phase. It's been more than two years, so I hope I get over that soon.

I am over thinking of my meals as limited or limiting. I've mentioned one of my favorite things about this Paleo adventure is that I get to enjoy cooking and being a foodie again with no guilt, pain, or regrets. Yes, I'm still mourning the loss of really good cheeses but only slightly.

My mind started wandering down this path, the breakfasts out path, this morning as I ate my very ugly breakfast. This one did not even sort of look nice. I must have been REALLY hungry to serve myself a pile like that. (I did take the time to make GK's look pretty, partly to make up for forgetting to cook dinner last night.)

The thing is that lumpy bumpy pile of food was one of the best breakfasts I can remember eating. I sat there just savoring the flavors that almost took me by surprise. Not one thing on my plate was there for the first time: sweet potato hash browns cooked crisp in coconut oil, oven-baked and perfectly finished Beeler's bacon strips, two soy-free eggs cooked in bacon fat to just barely past over-easy. I don't think I've ever combined them all before. That's probably because sweet potato hash browns are fairly new to me and bacon, even safe humanely raised bacon, is not an everyday protein choice for me. Whatever the reason for the delightful flavor combo, I savored every bite.

I really should start working on the aesthetics, though. Flavorful and healthy may come first, but pretty meals are such fun.

If you've never made sweet potato hash browns, you're in for treat. With the use of a food processor, they are almost effortless. It certainly possible and not at all hard to make them without a food processor, though I can't make the effortless claim when a dish involves grating or shedding by hand.

Sweet potatoes vary in size, of course, and when shredded seem to grow in volume more than I ever expect. This is more of a method than it is recipe for that reason.

I usually peel one or two, since I keep them on hand for awhile. If your sweet potatoes are fresh and thin-skinned, you can certainly leave the peels on. Using the shredding disc or small julienne disc, shred potatoes. I use the pulse button, usually, as it give me more control. This takes approximately 45 seconds. To a preheated griddle or low, wide pan add an ounce or 2 of coconut oil and shredded sweet potatoes. I like to mound them in piles that touch but can be turned independently. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. All that's left is to turn them occasionally, keeping a close eye as sweet potatoes can burn quickly.  As I turn them, I often add a little more oil to the pan around the edges. The result is crispy, slightly sweet and salty goodness.

my newest food love: Beeler's bacon ends

Many, if not most, of us with health or dietary concerns end up paying more for our food than we would if we were throwing caution to the wind, as I must admit I have often done. We read labels, double check our reference guides for questionable ingredients, and stifle a low moan as we pay the tab. Our health is worth it, I have no doubt, but still...

I am always on the lookout for a more cost-effective way to stay healthy. I have, personally, made some major missteps trying to make sense of food over the years. Little is more frustrating for me than to eat or drink what I don't really like but expect to aid my health, only to find out those same products are hindering not helping. That is annoying!

Recently, I've added a little bacon back into my diet. Bacon does certainly not have to be from pork, though I am not really excited by the other options, personally. I know many who are. I like pork bacon but have rarely eaten it in recent years for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is all the scary additives. Many versions of uncured bacon are on the market, addressing one of my concerns, though in my opinion, they have two major drawbacks: price and flavor. It is never fun to spend more than you'd like on something, take the time to prepare it, and then have to choke it down or toss it. No, thank you.

I never thought of myself as a picky eater, but those close to me would probably beg to differ. I think we all want our food to taste good, and that is certainly a matter of personal preference. I don't care much at all for smoked anything; I don't even like walking into restaurants that specialize in BBQ because of the smokiness. So, with bacon, which I know is smoked, I have a very narrow window of acceptable taste these days. That adds to my hesitation to spend a lot on a new bacon.

Enter Beeler's bacon.

I'm not suggesting that Beeler's is new, just new to me. I love the flavor. Yes, it's smoked like almost all bacon, but somehow it doesn't have that super-smokey taste of many of the uncured bacons. I'm a bit of a purist with bacon and don't care for sweet or fruity tastes, though I know many love them, and the plain version works well for me. For those who do like it sweeter, they have that, too. Beeler's bacon is sliced fairly thick, which is not my personal preference, and it also tends to be a little pricey, I think. But, and this is a big but for me, they also make available a slightly larger package of bacon ends and pieces. These are cut irregularly as the name implies, though I find this a perk. It's like getting a variety pack for half the price of the plain version. I tend not to lay bacon out in neat and tidy strips for presentation on a plate, so the variation in shape and size does not bother me. That said, there are plently of lovely slices within the package that would be fine for that. There are also many very meaty portions with virtually no fat. It's a fun grab bag. The price is really about half that of their regular sliced bacon. Check them out http://www.beelerspurepork.com/index.htm .

Another bonus is that the rendered fat is considered one of the preferred fats for cooking when following a Paleo diet, so nothing is wasted. Since this bacon is free of added nitrates and nitrites, it is relatively pure. This applies, too, to uncured beef bacon, though I haven't tried it yet. It will take a bit of getting used to, this idea of cooking with animal fat, after all the years of avoiding it. I am carefully, cautiously approaching the concept.