Overnight Sausage Casserole

Overnight Sausage Casserole
Recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

6-8 slices white bread
Softened butter for bread
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
12 oz. pork sausage browned
1 (4 oz.) can green chiles
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dry mustard

Directions:

Remove crusts from bread and butter on one side.  Place bread, buttered side down, in a 9 X 13 baking dish.  Sprinkle cheese over bread.  Sprinkle sausage over cheese, then top with green chiles.
Whisk the eggs, add milk and seasonings and combine.
Slowly keep stirring while pouring over casserole.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 50 to 60 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes, then serve.

Overnight French Toast Casserole

I have tried making these 'overnight' type of things quite a few times, and have never really liked them.  They are usually too mushy for my taste.  This one turned out perfect and I'm wondering if it's because it's using the thick texas toast?  Anyhoo, it's easy and delicious!!!  It worked out perfectly to put it in the oven first thing in the morning and let it bake while the kids were hunting Easter eggs!



Overnight French Toast Casserole
Recipe from Mommy's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
12 slices Texas toast or any leftover bread
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Melt butter and pour in a 9x 13 pan. Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and nuts if you are using them. Whisk eggs, milk & vanilla together. Layer bottom of pan with half the bread pieces Sprinkle half the brown sugar mix over the bread. Layer the second half of bread. Pour egg mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove from the refrigerator and cover with a new piece of foil. Preheat oven to 350 and bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for 20 more minutes. French toast should be browned and set. You can also remove it from the oven and pour some maple syrup on top and place back in the oven to caramelize for about 5-7 minutes.

Healthy Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

I saw the recipe for this syrup and knew I just had to make it.  Unfortunately, I've been trying to eat healthier (I know, UNFORTUNATELY!) so I figured if I was going to go all sugar crazy with the syrup I should at least TRY to make the pancakes a little healthier.  (waaahhhhh) 

This syrup is fantastic!  I'm thinking how great it would be to drizzle the left overs onto some vanilla ice cream........................... uh, oh, I'm sorry.  I was off in a food fantasy.  These things happen when you're trying to eat healthier.  UNFORTUNATELY.



Healthy Pancakes
Recipe from Allrecipes


Ingredients:


1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon canola oil

3 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup milk, or as needed

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and baking powder. Make a well in the center, and stir in the egg yolks, applesauce and milk until fairly smooth. If the batter seems too thick, stir in more milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer to soft peaks. Fold egg whites into the batter, just until blended.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Scoop large spoonfuls of batter onto the hot pan, and fry until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Continue with remaining batter.

Cinnamon Syrup

Recipe from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in milk.

Spinach and Bacon Frittata

I made one of my most favorite dinners last night and it was so gratifying to see my kids gobble it down.  Okay, let me be honest, it was really so very gratifying because I am such a sick woman.  You see, this frittata's main ingredient?  RICOTTA.  Ha ha ha ha ha!!!  They ate it and had seconds!!  I could hardly look any of them in the eye because I was trying so hard not to laugh.  This will be our little secret, ok?

The only problem with this meal is the bacon.  Don't get me wrong, I love bacon.  Bacon holds a place of honor and prestige in my home.  But I had intended to omit the bacon so I could make a Meatless Monday meal.  When I started cooking and even just read on the ingredient list the word bacon, I knew there was no way in heck I was going to omit it.  Bacon has that strong of a pull on me.


Spinach and Bacon Frittata
Recipe from Everyday Food Magazine


Ingredients:

6 large eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
coarse salt and ground pepper
5 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 boiled potatoes
spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, 1 tsp. salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet, cook bacon over medium high head until crisp. Drain all but 1 tsp. of fat from pan. Add potatoes and cook until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and toss until barely wilted, about 30 seconds.
Add egg mixture and stir until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until center is set, about 15 minutes (20 for me.)

Here's what I do sometimes to make it faster; I use the real bacon bits things instead of frying bacon, just a tablespoon or so and I use about a cup of frozen hash browns instead of the potatoes. It's all about convenience and time savings. This takes about 5 minutes to put together and 20 in the oven, so it's a really quick meal. AND DELICIOUS!!!  AND IT HAS RICOTTA!!!  AND BACON!!!

Chilaquiles

So my husband is out of town on a business trip, being all swanky in Palm Springs at his retro resort hotel, and of course, that means I'm bummed out.  I miss the guy!  I decided to treat myself and make one of my very favorite things for dinner and BONUS - it's so easy.  I always save the last of the broken tortilla chips in the bottom of the bags for this, or if I have a few tortillas left after making tacos or enchiladas I will use them for these eggs later in the week.  These are like a comfort food for me, they make me so happy. It's the little things, I guess.....

Our dessert last night was easy too!!  I took the kids up to Krispy Kreme with their report cards, because they'll give out a donut for each A (or equivalent, up to 6 donuts).  They look forward to this each end of term, and I do too!  If your visit happens to be when the hot donuts sign is on also, BONUS!!


Chilaquiles
Recipe from Allrecipes


Ingredients:

2 cups oil for frying
1/4 cup chopped onion (I think you know my stance on this.....)
30 corn tortillas, torn into strips
6 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. salt
1 (7.75 oz.) can mexican style hot sauce (El Pato, baby!)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or cheddar, or cheddar jack, whatever)

Directions:

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees.  Carefully stir in the onion and tortilla strips.  Fry until tortilla strips are crisp and golden brown.  Remove from heat, and drain on paper towels.  Drain the skillet, leaving only a thin residue of oil.
**NOTE**  A lot of the time I just use my broken, end of the bag chips.  In this case, of course, I skip the entire above step.  Instead of having oil in the skillet, I just put some butter in it like I'm making scrambled eggs.  As you were.....
Over medium heat, return tortillas to the skillet and stir in the eggs.  Season with salt.  Cook and stir until eggs are firm.
Mix tomato sauce and water into the skillet.  Reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
**NOTE**  My family can't handle having the entire can of sauce in the eggs, it will be pretty hot.  I put from 1/3 to 1/2 of the can in and just use the rest of it as hot sauce to top the eggs at the end.  I also only put about 1/3 cup water in, I have found I like it better that way.  This is one of those recipes you just mess around with until you figure out the way you like it.  And... back to the recipe.
Top with cheese.  Continue cooking until cheese has melted.
I top with hot sauce or salsa, and eat it with toast.  So, so so so so so good.