Catherine McCord's Pull-Apart Egg Sandwiches Will Feed a Crowd

Welcome to The Pioneer Woman Cookbook Club! This month, we're featuring Catherine McCord, Weelicious blog founder, food writer, and cookbook author of Meal Prep Magic. Read on to learn her tried and true kitchen organization tips, how she makes mealtime easy, and grab a delicious pull-apart egg sandwich recipe that will be your new "little black dress" of meals.

If Marie Kondo is your organizing guru for life, Catherine McCord should be your equivalent for mealtime. Her latest cookbook, Meal Prep Magic, offers "time-saving" tips for "stress-free cooking," but she doesn't jump right in with delicious family meals. Instead, she shows how to give your kitchen a reset with her unique fridge and pantry organization tools. We all want to create the type of kitchen our family enjoys spending time in. As Catherine says, the kitchen is where life happens... well, it can be. 

In this incredibly fast-paced world, fridges are often a jumbled mess of leftovers (from how many weeks ago?), fresh produce, and on-their-last-legs veggies. Or, it's just totally empty. Opening that Pandora's box can feel like a reflection of your self-worth—especially if you're a parent. "When it's disorganized, your mind and emotions are constantly in a state of chaos," Catherine says. "When it's visually appealing, everything feels much more under control." 

Catherine's meal prep system has a handy acronym, "POPE." First, you "Purge" your entire kitchen—fridge, pantry, cookware, spices—of the items you don't need. Next, "Organize" what's left so your kitchen is intuitive, keeping the things you use most close by and using clear food storage containers. "Prep" applies to figuring out your meals and groceries for the week. Now, it's time to "Execute" and cook the darn thing! 

Once in that state of organizational kitchen bliss, it's easier to breeze through any recipe, including the straightforward ones Catherine is known for on her blog Weelicious. We're talking crispy artichoke hearts with caesar dip, easy blender banana breakfast loaf, and grilled pork tenderloin with zippy chimichurri sauce. 

Much like Ree Drummond, who wrote a blurb for the book, Catherine creates step-by-step recipes that aren't overly complicated. Her pull-apart egg sandwiches are the perfect example. It's what Catherine calls the LBD, or little black dress, of meals. They're appropriate for all occasions, "from an epic brunch when entertaining, to a low-key, weeknight meal when you need something quick and the fridge is bare." 

She adds a few flourishes to make typical egg sammy ingredients decadent. Sure, you could make regular scrambled eggs, but why not level it up with ricotta soft-scrambled eggs? Layer that fluffy goodness onto Hawaiian rolls with pesto and crispy prosciutto. The whole assembled masterpiece is then brushed with herby melted butter. "You can make [egg sandwiches] simply," says Catherine, "or you can turn them into something that's really special and unique."

If you've worked your way through the first three steps of "POPE", this final "execution" will feel much more comfortable and quick. "Food for a family can be secondary to the connection that comes from being at the dinner table," says Catherine. "If a family enjoys one of the Meal Prep Magic recipes, that means they felt calm, enjoyed it together, and hopefully the food evokes feelings and creates memories."