Phyllis Breakfast and Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes

I fixed my husband a Phyllis breakfast this morning. You probably haven't heard of it, but if you've ever watched Arkansas Outdoors on the Arkansas educational TV network then you probably know what I'm talking about.

Phyllis Speer is with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and provides my favorite segment of the weekly Arkansas Outdoors program (Tuesday nights at 6:30 on AETN). She does the cooking. And since this particular program deals with the outdoors, a lot of times Phyllis does her cooking outdoors. Our favorite meal to watch her cook is breakfast, which oftentimes consists of a one-skillet meal similar to what I fixed this morning.

You don't need a recipe to make a Phyllis breakfast, just a skillet and ingredients such as some chopped onion, a baked potato, some cooked sausage, bacon, or ham, and a few eggs. Leftovers work perfectly for this breakfast when you make it at home. This morning I used a potato that I quickly "baked" in the microwave and some cooked bacon that I had in the refrigerator. I put a couple tablespoons of butter in the skillet, heated it up nicely, added the chopped onion then the diced potato (include the skin) and the bacon (cut it up with kitchen scissors), cooked those together for a minute or two then added three eggs. Next I sprinkled on a generous amount of pepper and stirred everything together, scrambling the eggs into the onion/potato/bacon mixture. The entire process took less than five minutes and I had a nice, hot breakfast on the table in no time. Feel free to top the mixture with some salsa or shredded cheese. Be creative; Phyllis is never afraid to be creative.

Of course I fixed this meal indoors, but it tastes even better when it's cooked outside. Phyllis cooks indoors, too, and sometimes sneaks in a delicious dessert like this one, which I found on the AG&FC website.

Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes

1 box brownie mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp. water
12 caramels
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine brownie mix, eggs, oil and water. Spoon 1/2 mixture into lined muffin tin. Place a caramel in each cupcake. Cover with remaining half of mix. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of each cupcake. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.