Vegan Egg McMuffin

Ingredients

1. Gardein: Ultimate Breakfast Saus'ge
2. Giant Eagle: English Muffin - Original
3. Just Egg: Folded
4. Nature's Basket: Sharp Cheddar-Style Slices 
5. A.1. Original Sauce 

Instructions

• Preheat toaster oven to 450° F
• If frozen, microwave the muffin and egg for 30 seconds on High.
• Cut a single slice of cheese into four triangular pieces (i.e., corner to corner).
• Place muffin and egg in the toaster over and set a timer for 6 minutes.
• Place cheese in a square on each side of the muffin.
• Microwave the sausage for 25 seconds on High.
• Cut the sausage down the middle so you have two discs.
• Microwave sausage discs for another 25 seconds on High.
• Remove muffin and egg from toaster oven and place sausage on top.
• Add A1 sauce to the sausage.
• Cut the egg down the middle so you have two squares. 
• Add the egg to the top of your open face sandwiches and Enjoy!

Backstory

About 8 years ago, I started a vegan diet. I had been pescatarian for about 10 years before that, so it wasn't a dramatic change. However, there were a few dishes I had not been able to replicate with plant-based alternatives. Egg McMuffins was just one example. I've been on a quest to replicate that sandwich, and now I finally feel like I have. I hope you enjoy it! 

My Karaoke Setup

My wife loves to sing karaoke. And over the years, we've hosted a couple of karaoke events. We started with an all-in-one kit that used compact discs that included the lyrics (CD-G). But over time, our setup has  matured. A few of my friends have asked about our current setup. The purpose of this post is to assist in building your own, personal home karaoke system. 

Supply List

1. Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs (Amazon)
2. Behringer Ultravoice Xm8500 Dynamic Vocal Microphone, Cardioid (n = 2; Amazon)
3. XLR Microphone Cable for Speaker or PA System, All Copper Conductors, 6MM PVC Jacket, 10 Foot, Black (n = 2; Amazon)
4. Amazon Basics High-Speed HDMI Cable (18Gbps, 4K/60Hz) - 10 Feet, Nylon-Braided for Television (Amazon)
5. 3.5mm Stereo Male to 2RCA Male (Right and Left) RCA Audio Cable (10 Feet) (n = 2; Amazon)
6. Yamaha Bluetooth Soundbar with Dual Built-in Subwoofers, Black, 35" (Amazon)
7. HDMI-enabled TV or computer monitor (Acer H223H)
8. Computer with HDMI and 3.5mm Stereo inputs (Apple MacBook Air)
9. A 6-Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, 6ft Cord, 790 Joules (Amazon)
10. Karaoke service (Karafun Premium Service: $9.99/mo) 

Items 5-7 can be swapped out for any generic speaker, monitor, or computer that fits the requirements. If you do make those substitutions, then you might need to buy different cables (i.e., items #4 & #5).

Follow the Signal

When setting up your gear, the best way to visualize what's going on is to "following the signal." You are going to have three signals to follow, and each signal has a source and an output.  

1. The first audio signal 
1. Source: the singer's microphone 
2. Output: the speakers
2. Another audio signal comes from the background music
1. Source: the computer
2. Output: the speakers
3. One video signal for the lyrics
1. Source: the computer
2. Output: the computer monitor

The trickiest part, as you probably noticed, is that we need to combine the two audio sources because they both need to come out of a single output (i.e., the speakers). That's where the Mixer comes into play. It's job is to take the audio input signals from the microphones and computer, mix them together (hence the name), and output them to the speaker. 

Equipment Setup

Here's what that looks like in practice: 

Figure 1: the inputs and outputs from the mixer.

1. Using the XLR Microphone Cable, plug one end into the microphone and the other end into the mixer inputs labeled MIC (see the blue boxes in Fig. 1). 
2. Plug the Right (red) and Left (white) RCA Audio Cable jacks into the color coded inputs labeled INPUT on the mixer, and then plug the 3.5mm Stereo Male plug into your computer's headphone jack (see the green boxes in Fig. 1). 
3. Plug the Right (red) and Left (white) RCA Audio Cable jacks into the Speaker output plugs labeled OUTPUT and plug the 3.5mm Stereo Male plug into your soundbar's Analog jack (see the pink boxes in Fig. 1).
4. Plug one end of the HDMI into your computer and the other into your TV or computer monitor (not shown).

Time to Sang

Now that everything is plugged in and turned on, it's time to test your setup. If there's no sound from the computer, make sure the volume on the computer is turned to max volume. On the soundbar we use (Yamaha ATS-1080), we had to turn off the "simulated surround sound" because it was causing feedback. For other troubleshooting, just remember to go back to the basics and trace where the signal is coming from and its path to the final destination. 

I think that's it! Enjoy your new setup. For those about to rock, we salute you! 🎸