Sometimes, when you get together with old friends, you make breakfast together. And if your friend is anything like mine, she will make up the recipe as she goes along.
And it'll turn out to be amazing, anyway.
Here's what we started with:
I brought avocados (because I love avocados). She opened her fridge. They had leftover ham from last night. We decided to use that.
Avocados and ham. Good start.
She spent some time looking up recipes for casseroles with avocado and ham, but what came up on Pinterest were: Avocado chicken salad and Ham casserole. Not really what we were going for.
So that's where the improvisation started. The next thing I knew, she had thrown five eggs into a bowl and had begun to whisk them up. Then we added some slightly overdone turkey bacon that her mom had just microwaved and didn't want.
This is just the beginning, but let me show you the end result so that I can entice you into trying this recipe yourself (if you're a vegetarian, this won't be your cup of kale):
Amazing, right?!
So if you want to make this delectable dish, here's what you need:
-Leftover ham
- 5 eggs
- 3 or 4 pieces of slightly overdone turkey bacon
- One whole avocado cut into cubes
- One chicken bouillon cube
- Brown gravy mix
- Flax seeds
- Crushed rosemary
- Cajun seasoning
-Garlic powder
- Parsley
- Taco seasoning
- A glob of salsa
Measurements aren't mentioned because they weren't used.
I'm not kidding. That's really what it was. And it was incredible. We fried up the ham and enjoyed some green eggs and ham, although the ham was the normal pink color with some brown accents.
And after all that, we finally got to this point.
Maybe it doesn't look that tasty to you, but I promise you it's both better than it sounds and better than it looks.
My friend and I did this once before, and that time I was skeptical. She was so confident that whatever she threw into the mix would be good. Maybe confident isn't the right word, but she definitely wasn't afraid to try weird combinations, as is evident from this most recent adventure as well.
Last time, they were the best eggs ever. After all my skepticism, she ended up whipping up some mean green scrambled eggs. So when this time came around, I had no doubts. I didn't even know what all she put into the eggs; I had to text her and ask her afterward.
So as inconsequential an adventure as making breakfast with a good friend is, I've learned a little something.
We tend to shy away from things that are unconventional. I think millennials are beginning to realize this and often go to the other extreme, but let's only address one side at a time.
Even millennials can be scared to try new things or to branch out of their comfort zone. I know that a huge struggle for me is trying new things. I'll gladly try new foods, but that's about it. I was home-schooled until I was in 4th grade, but when I found out I could go to public school if I wanted, I was ecstatic. The idea of meeting new people and trying new things excited me more than I even understood at the time. That's when I started playing oboe, and I went to a Spanish club after school a few times, and I joined chorus.
For some reason, the older I got, the more I began to sink into my comfort zone. I've realized this recently in regards to "service". Most of what I've participated in that can be considered service has taken place at Camp Li-Lo-Li, which I would argue is the happiest place on earth. Camp Li-Lo-Li has been my second home for as long as I can remember, so I always spend multiple weeks there during the summer volunteering in some capacity. I had the epiphany that this is not because I am 100% sure that God wants me there doing this specific job or working with these certain people.
The reason my service experience consists mainly of camp volunteer work is actually partially because of pride. Pride is what keeps me from trying new things, especially new service opportunities. Pride is what tells me to stay where I am because if I start something else, I risk not knowing what I'm doing. I risk having to actually learn how to do something, which is time consuming and pride wounding. I risk vulnerability and honesty. And this applies to more than just service. It applies to learning a new instrument, a new language, a new sport, a new job, a new club, a new home, a new city, etc.
All this to say, to myself in particular: don't be afraid to try new things. Including putting taco seasoning and flax seeds in scrambled eggs. My friend ended up being totally right with her random additions, and this time I had full confidence that she knew what she was doing. That's the other thing--trying new things often means letting go of control, which is not my forte.
I'm so thankful this Thanksgiving for a friend who is willing to risk breakfast in order to try new things and makes it super fun and exciting in the process. We should all be like that: setting aside our pride and our need to be in control for something that could be so much better than the conventional method which we would have used.
This should apply to more than just throwing weird additions into your scrambled eggs, but that's a good place to start! Seriously--try some variation of the above recipe and let me know what you included and whether you liked it or not!