Review: Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker



Today I am reviewing Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker.  I bought this at Home Outfitters for only $12.  The regular price was $29.99 but let me tell you how I got it for $12.  Maybe a couple to a few times a week I complete these surveys from Asking Canadians.  You just sign up, they email you surveys every so often and you can earn HBC rewards points.  The surveys range from like 10 to 20 minutes.  Then you can cash your reward points to gift cards.  I had earned enough points to get a $10 gift card which I used for this purchase.  I also had a 25% off coupon that comes in their flyer.  To get $25 you have to use your HBC credit card, if you use any other payment then the discount is only 20% with this coupon.  I was going to use my HBC credit card for the remainder of the balance, so that's why the cashier let me use the 25%.  Totally worth it to do these surveys and it's free!



 



Here's the box



The front of the box has this flap that opens up with instructions.





It's not too big, the cord is a bit short.





Here it is open.

 

 Plug it in and then gather your ingredients.  Take 5 minutes to heat up.

 

English Muffins, cheese, an egg and some cooked turkey.  You can customize any way you would like it.

 

Ok, it's ready when the green light is lit up.

 

Place one side of the English muffin on the bottom.

 

 Top it with whatever you like.  I'm using cooked turkey.

 



Also some cheese.  This is one slice of cheese but I broke it into 4 pieces so it would fit nicely.

 

Next the egg.  I like to slightly scramble my egg before I put it in.

 

I've put the egg ring down on top of the bottom of the English muffin and poured the egg in.

 

Even though the egg is not cooked yet, place the top of the English muffin on top of the egg.  It will get completely cooked through.

 

Close the lid and wait for 5 minutes.  A timer on the machine would help.

 

5 minutes later it's cooked!

 

Slide out the bottom of the egg ring.

 

Lift up the bottom ring and it's done!

 

The egg ring part is removable for easy cleaning.

 

Yum, homemade is the best!

 

 

Overall, I really enjoy making homemade breakfast sandwiches and being able to customize it exactly how I want it.  The Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich maker is easy to use and makes perfect sandwiches each time.  I will say that the cord is a bit short and it would be easier if it had a timer or if the green light could let you know when it is ready.  I have a George Forman grill and it has a light on it and it lets me know when whatever I am cooking is done.  I don't know how it knows but it does!  I can't see why this breakfast maker couldn't do the same.  Anyway, I'm happy with it.

Scalloped Potatoes

Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I make scalloped potatoes for our family dinners.  My favourite recipe is from Cooks.  Thanksgiving (Canadian) was just a few days ago so I just recently made them again.

Gather your ingredients.

Melt the butter.

Add the onions and cook until softened.

Add the flour and cook for one minute.

Add the milk and stir until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Should look like this.

Peel and slice your potatoes.  Arrange a single layer in your baking dish.  I like yellow flesh potatoes.

Spread on half the sauce and half the cheese.

Add second layer of potatoes.

Spread on rest of the sauce and sprinkle the rest of the cheese.  Finally sprinkle on paprika.

Cover with foil and bake.

Thanksgiving dinner is always at my parents house so I bought this handy insulated pack from Canadian tire.  It comes with the baking dish, heating pack, lid and bag.

After 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil and bake 15 minutes longer.

Done!

All packed up and ready to go.  This pack often goes on sale for 60% off at Canadian tire. I got it for about $12.

And here is Thanksgiving dinner.  It's a team effort.  My mom makes the turkey and a few sides, my sister-in-law makes her green bean casserole and I bring the potatoes.

Reply Card from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

I'm not really a royal watcher but I do greatly admire HRH Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.  I admit that I did get caught up in the Royal Baby fever back in July.  Shortly after the birth of HRH Prince George of Cambridge I bought a card from etsy to send to him.  However, I didn't send the card from myself, I sent it in my daughter's name because I thought that would be cuter.

The card was locally made in Vancouver by Note + Emote on 100% recycled paper with carbon neutral printing.

And surprise, last week we received a reply card!  This is the front of the envelope, had to smudge out the address because, you know, this is the internet.

Buckingham Palace!!

Back of the envelope.  This is HRH Prince William's monogram.

This is the front of the card.

And this is the back!  Not a personalized message or anything but still we were thrilled to receive it!  A treasure for my daughter's baby book.

Blackberry Blueberry Smoothie

This is my very first first blog post ever.  So I'm going to start with something simple.  Lately I have been making smoothies whenever I get the chance and this one is my current favourite.  It's my own very simple recipe.  

First gather your ingredients, a cup and a blender.

One cup of frozen blueberries.

One cup of frozen blackberries.

One cup of blackberry juice.

I used TrueBlack Blackberry juice which I bought at Save on Foods.

One spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Any kind of vanilla ice cream is fine.  I just happened to have this in the freezer.

Blend for about 30 seconds.

Pour in a cup and enjoy.  This is a 16 oz cup.