Make-Ahead Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake

I could NOT stop eating this. In fact, I wasn't feeling that well after dinner because I ate so much. It was that good! A few extra steps in this recipe for a breakfast bake but it was so worth it. My husband and sister also thought it was excellent. You could easily make this for this conference weekend or Christmas morning as a special treat. The bread is firm and not soggy, and everything is just the perfect mix. Seriously, try this recipe!

Make-Ahead Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake
(via Mel's Kitchen Cafe)


INGREDIENTS:
1 (14-inch) loaf Italian bread, ends trimmed (I used French because I didn't want to splurge on Italian.)
1 1/2 pounds bulk pork sausage ( I used 2 lbs because of the packaging)
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
12 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups 1% milk
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon hot sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice bread in half lengthwise then slice each half into ½ inch-thick slices. Spread the bread in single layers on two rimmed baking sheets and bake until golden, 10-15 minutes, flipping bread and switching and rotating sheets halfway through (or bake one sheet pan at a time). Take care not to let the bread burn – it should be golden brown and toasted. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the pork is no longer pink, breaking the meat into bite-sized pieces as it cooks.

Lightly coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Shingle half of the bread in the prepared pan so that the edges overlap slightly (a couple of times when I’ve made this, my slices weren’t long enough to shingle so I just placed the bread in a single layer and it worked fine). Top with half of the sausage mixture and 1 cup cheese. Repeat with remaining bread, remaining sausage mixture, and remaining cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and hot sauce together. Pour evenly over the assembled casserole. Place the casserole on a rimmed baking sheet and wrap the casserole with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap lightly on the top of the casserole. Fill another 9X13-inch dish with cans of food (beans, fruit, whatever) and nest the weighted dish on top of the assembled casserole. You’ll be glad you placed the assembled casserole on a rimmed baking sheet at this point as there may be a bit of spillage over the sides as the casserole compacts. This will help the bread soak up the egg mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Let casserole stand at room temperature while the oven is heating. Remove weights, unwrap casserole, and bake until the edges and center have puffed and the top is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Skillet Scramble

Maybe it's because I never get a good healthy breakfast, but I gobbled this Skillet Scramble up! Not only is it tasty, but it's beautiful with all the colors in it. This would make a wonderful breakfast or dinner for a hungry family!

Skillet Scramble (based off this recipe)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (13 oz) package turkey sausage, diced
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced
6 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet, drain off the excess fat, and set aside.
2. Place the potatoes, green peppers, yellow peppers, and red peppers into the skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are browned and the peppers are softened, about 15 minutes. Return the sausage to the skillet, and pour the eggs over the top. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes until the eggs are set, and serve with salt and pepper.

Ultimate Breakfast Casserole

 

Sometimes, your just in the mood for breakfast for dinner. If your like me,splattering bacon, flipping pancakes,and scrambling eggs are too much work! This recipe for the Ultimate Breakfast Casserole was easy to put together and so filling! I would have this every week for breakfast or dinner. We had ample leftovers with our family of 3. Everybody loved it and couldn't wait for the leftovers. I was a little shocked something that a simple as a breakfast casserole could evoke suck emotions, but it did! Even my little toddler shoveled this as fast as he could. 

Ultimate Breakfast Casserole  (adapted from allrecipes.com) 

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 2 cups cooked ham, cubed
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Season beaten eggs with pepper; pour into baking dish. In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream, hash browns, ham, onion and cheese. Stir egg and soup mixture together and pour into baking dish.
3. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove and drizzle butter over top of casserole. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until golden.

My little bug was happy with HAPPY with this recipe!

Crab Quiche

At my house, you have two choices for breakfast. Cereal or............. Cereal. There are several reasons for this, but the two most important are 1. That's what I grew up on and 2. I am NOT a morning person.

I am trying to change. I have realized that cereal does not keep my belly full until lunch. I need more substance. This recipe has been in my recipe box on allrecipes.com for some time and boy was my husband glad it came into our food rotation. We *almost* ate the whole thing by ourselves. We showed some restraint and saved some for lunch the next day. I still like my brunch quiche a little better because it has mushrooms but this is fabulous too. 

I think most people are intimated by quiches but this was so simple- mix and bake. I baked mine for the full 45 minutes until it was browned and a knife came out clean. You should try it!

Crab Quiche I

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten (I used 3 medium)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup crab meat (I used imitation crab)
1 cup diced Swiss cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, mayonnaise, flour, and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in crab, cheese, and onion. Spread into pie shell.
3. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

My Hubby has a tradition on Christmas Eve that his family makes cinnamon rolls and then eats them for their Christmas Morning breakfast. I decided to try and make them this year. They WOULD HAVE been a total success except for the fact they weren't done all the way through. I either attribute this to the fact I put them in a 9x13 pan when she put hers in pie tins OR I took her own advice and cooked them at 375°F instead of the normal 400°F. BUT Hubby did say they were scrumptious.

Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
• _____
• MAPLE FROSTING:
• 1 bag Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
• ½ cups Milk
• ¼ cups Melted Butter
• ¼ cups Brewed Coffee (I OMITTED)
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.
Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees

Here are my results:

Apple Muffins

I took a cooking class in high school and I still have my index cards with the recipe we made. It surprising to me how good all the recipes were, however basic. I remember making these apple muffins and loving them.

I couldn't sleep the other morning and got up at 5:00 AM and decided to bake some muffins for my hubbie's breakfast. They turned out yummy, just like I remember them!

Apple Muffins

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/4 C oil
1 C grated apple

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease the bottom of cups in muffin pan. In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, Mix the egg and milk in a large bowl. Mix the oil and grated apple and add to egg mixture. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture only until moistened. Fill the cups 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until Golden Brown.

Here are the results:


I don't think mine turned golden brown because I used my silicon muffin thingy. I don't think it bakes as fast. Anybody else use silicone bake-ware?

My Valentines Day Recipes Part 1

We decided to stay in for Valentine's Day this year. Restaurants are crazy crowded and since I enjoy cooking, we thought it was for the best. I made FIVE new recipes for my husband and our morning started out with this wonderful quiche. I got this recipe over 10 years ago from my church and kept it for that long because I remember how wonderful it was. It was delicious (especially for my first quiche)

Brunch Quiche

Ingredients:
1/2 lbs cooked sausage or 8 sliced cooked crumbled bacon
3/4 C Swiss cheese, grated
3/4 C cheddar cheese, grated
2 green onions, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 and 1/4 C whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1- 9 inch uncooked deep dish pie shell

Directions:
Mix and bake in 9 inch deep dish uncooked pie shell at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.(I would go an extra 2 or 3 minutes as mine was just barely not ready) Cool slightly before serving.

Here are the results:


Here's a slice of the yummy quiche:


Don't worry, I still have 4 more other recipes to review and post this week so lots more to come!