Cheesy Bacon & Egg Bake

While searching through some cookbooks the other night, I stumbled upon the most delicious looking breakfast casserole. With a few adaptations and extra veggies, this version turned out to be a new favorite. 

Cheesy Bacon & Egg Bake

2 c. southern style frozen hashbrowns
3 T. oil
1 (10 oz.) can nacho cheese condensed soup
2 T. milk
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used red)
1/2 t. onion powder
6 eggs
2 T. butter
1/2 c. grated cheese (cheddar or colby jack work great)
1/2 c. bacon crumbles (I used pre-packaged real bacon bits)
salt & pepper

In a large skillet, heat oil and cook hashbrowns according to package directions. Season with salt and pepper. Spread in a 9x9" pan.

 In a mixing bowl combine soup, milk, chopped pepper, and onion powder. Spread over hashbrowns.

Using the same skillet as the hashbrowns, melt butter and scramble eggs over medium heat until almost done. Season with salt and pepper and layer over the cheese mixture.

Top with cheese and bacon.

Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.

This is a great meal for any time of day. I love having breakfast foods for dinner. Enjoy!

Meatloaf "Cake"

Well, this year for April Fool's Day I wanted to make a silly dinner, but before I knew it, April 1st was over and I ended up making this a few days later. But hey, who's keeping track anyway, right? This was quite a hit with the kids and my hubby found it entertaining as well. Plus, it was mighty delicious!

Meatloaft "Cake"
1 lb. jalapeno chicken sausage, casings removed (I found this at my local Sunflower Market)
20 oz. lean ground turkey
1 bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange are fun colors for the cake look)
1/2 c. crumbled cojita cheese
1/2 c. oats
2 t. onion powder
6-7 medium potatoes, washed and cut in large cubes
1/3 c. milk
1 c. sour cream (or more)
salt and pepper

For meatloaf, combine meat, cheese, oats, and onion powder. Press into two 8-9" cake pans. Bake at 400 F for 45-60 minutes. Meanwhile, boil potatoes until very tender. Drain and mash with milk, sour cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When meatloaf is done, just assemble like a cake, using mashed potatoes as frosting.

My kids just LOVED this dinner!You really could use any meatloaf recipe you want. I was very happy with how this turned out. Enjoy!

Garlic Rosemary Potatoes

I found these delicious, multi-colored fingerling potatoes at Costco last week and they are perfect for this easy side dish. You can easily substitute any type of potato you like.

Garlic Rosemary Potatoes

2 lbs. potatoes, washed and cut into bite size pieces

1/3 c. parmesan cheese

2 T. butter

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. dried rosemary

salt

In a large pot, boil potatoes until tender (about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.) Drain and transfer potatoes to a mixing bowl. Add cheese, butter, garlic powder and rosemary. Toss and add salt to taste. Serve warm.

Eggs, Peas, & Potato Salad

I love potato salad. Last night I just wanted to make potato salad for dinner, so I threw in some peas and we called it a meal!

Eggs, Peas, & Potato Salad

4-5 c. potatoes, cooked and cubed (I used leftover baked potatoes)

6-7 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped

2 c. frozen peas, cooked

1/4 c. green onions, chopped (any kind of onion works)

1/2 c. (heaping) sour cream (more or less to taste)

1/2 c. (heaping) mayonnaise (more or less to taste)

squirt of mustard to taste (I used a tablespoon or two)

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serve immediately or refrigerate. I usually don't measure any of these ingredients. Just eyeball it. Enjoy!

Clam Chowder

It's been kind of rainy lately so I decided to make a big pot of clam chowder.

Clam Chowder

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 medium potatoes, cubed

2 cans chopped clams (juice reserved)

1 cube (1/2 c.) butter

1/2 c. flour

1 quart (4 cups) half & half

salt and pepper to taste

Combine celery, onion, potatoes, and clam juice in a pot. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until veggies are tender.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add flour. Stir briskly to create a white sauce. Add half & half, a little at a time and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Add half & half mixture to veggie mixture. Stir in clams and heat until thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This soup was great even as leftovers. Enjoy!

Irish Dinner

One of my main purposes of this blog is to document recipes that my family likes and to remember what I made in past years for special occasions. This year for St. Patrick's Day we had a traditional Irish meal.

Our meal consisted of:

Corned Beef: cooked in the crockpot for several hours with the season packet that came with it

Potatoes: cooked with the corned beef

Boiled Cabbage: 1/2 head of green cabbage boiled and salted

and Irish Soda Bread

So I'm hoping that I can keep this St. Patrick's Day tradition going in years to come.

Potato Boats

If you never had potato boats as a kid, you've been deprived! This recipe makes a fun meal that even adults will enjoy. There are several variations of this recipe and many different ingredients you could add, but I kept it pretty basic this time.

Potato Boats
6-8 all beef hot dogs
5-6 medium potatoes (baked)
2 T. butter
scant 3/4 c. milk
1-2 c. grated cheese
salt & pepper

If you don't have baked potatoes already, here is a quick way to "bake" them: scrub them and place them in a plastic grocery bag. Fold over the top and microwave for 5-10 minutes. Check for doneness with a fork and cook more as needed.

Cut cooked potatoes in large chunks and put in bowl. Add butter and milk and mash until sufficiently smashed (at this point you could add minced garlic, rosemary, green onions, crumbled bacon...whatever you want to make them original!) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Warm hot dogs in a skillet just until heated through.

Place warm hot dogs on a cookie sheet and split lengthwise.

Scoop some mashed potatoes on each hot dog.

Then top with grated cheese.Heat under a low broiler until cheese is melty.
These are the hot dogs that I've been buying lately. They are SO good. Oscar Mayer makes an incredible beef hot dog. If you're not a fan of this brand, shop around til you find one you like.
Anyway, I hope this recipe takes you back to when you were a kid. Enjoy!