Eggless Breakfast Casserole?!?!

Cheesy Sausage and Hashbrown Casserole

I always looked forward to holiday breakfasts as a child.  These mostly consisted of hashbrowns, sausage or bacon (sometimes both!), eggs and biscuits.  I could eat this ‘breakfast’ meal morning, noon and night.

This particular recipe started with a search for a Father’s Day breakfast meal that didn’t have any egg (TC and sis have allergies/intolerances) but was still delicious and filling.  Everything I would normally prepare (based on what I had as a child) would not meet the allergen needs.  Pinterest to the rescue!!

I could tell my entire family was skeptical as I explained it was eggless.  So often this means bland and tasteless or funky textures.  This put all those misconceptions to rest.

It was such a hit I included it in the rotation of my frozen meals I cook on the weekend for week night dinners.  Look for a post soon on how I prepare the week’s dinners on the weekend for fast and easy homemade meals on weeknights!  As always, below is the recipe and link.  Please excuse the laundry basket in the photo below! :)

First, I started preheating the oven to 375 degrees and browned the sausage on my stovetop.

Next, I chopped up the cooked ham.  You can purchase it already diced if you like.

In a large bowl (and I mean seriously large) I combined the hashbrowns, ham, sausage, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and cheddar cheese.

Next, I spread the mixture into the casserole dishes.  My mixture made enough for 3 small casserole dishes.

Bake for one hour.  The top should be golden brown.

This dish can be served as a casserole (as I made) or in individual ramekin dishes.  Next time I think I will add green peppers and maybe some other veggies.  What would you add, if anything, to this dish?

Enjoy!

Rachael

Cheesy Sausage and Hashbrown Casserole

1 (32 oz.) package of frozen hashbrowns

2 packages pork sausage

10 oz, cooked ham, diced

2 (10.75 oz.) condensed cream of potato soup

1 (16 oz.) sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the desired casserole dish (at least one 9 x 13).

Brown sausage in a skillet on the stovetop, drain and set aside.  Chop cooked ham.  In a large bowl, combine hashbrowns, ham, sausage, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Spread evenly onto desired baking dish.

Bake for one hour, until lightly browned. 

http://www.travelandphotographytoday.com/cheesy-sausage-and-ham-hash-brown-casserole#more-4953

S'MORES Bars

Summer + Snack time = S’MORES!!

I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t start salivating at the thought of s’mores (I’m sure these people are out there- I just have never met them!)  What could possibly be better than sitting around a campfire and eating chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers….s’mores bars you can make any time of the year minus the open fire, hassle of camping and messy face from the gooey marshmallow!  J

I found this recipe on Pinterest a couple days ago and KNEW I had to make it ASAP!  It turned out so good that my nieces (who only eat candy and cupcakes) gobbled them up.  Below is the recipe and link.

First, I put the graham crackers in a large plastic bag and used a rolling pin to crush into crumbs.

I mixed together the butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Then I beat in the egg and vanilla.

Next, I whisked together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Then added it to the butter mixture and mixed at low speed until combined.

I pressed half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the baking dish.

Next, I placed the chocolate bars on top of the graham cracker mixture.

Marshmallow fluff is next.  I spread it on top of the chocolate bars.

I put the remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.  Helpful hint: I flattened the dough in my hand and placed it in the dish; similar to shingles.

I baked the dish at 350 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes.

Truth be told…I couldn’t wait 30+ minutes to taste the deliciousness so I made a faux smore in the microwave while I waited!  J

Enjoy!

Rachael

S’MORES BARS

½ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 six-pack of chocolate bars (Hershey's)

1 ½ cup marshmallow crème / fluff

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 x 8 casserole dish.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add butter to mixture and mix at low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Place chocolate bars over the dough.  Three bars fit perfectly side by side, but break another bar in thirds to cover the bottom so the entire layer is covered.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow crème or fluff.  Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.  I flattened the dough in my hand and placed it in the dish; similar to shingles.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.

http://witandwhistle.com/2012/05/14/smore-bars/

Fresh Blackberry Cobbler

BLACKBERRY TIME!

One thing you should know about me is that I am a wannabe gardener.  It never fails that every March I tell my husband, TC, how I would love to plant a garden that year.  We could plant tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, strawberries, corn….and the list goes on and on.  (Yes, I have very lofty goals!)  He looks at me, smiles politely and every year, asks, “But who would water it and pick the veggies in July when it is so hot outside you complain about having to walk from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car?”  (This man truly knows me).  Needless to say, we do not have a garden.

We do, however, as I learned a couple weeks ago, have blackberry bushes.  I have lived in this house for almost six years and this is the first I have heard of these blackberry bushes!  (After TC’s comment above- you have probably reached the conclusion I do not take frequent walks on our 3.5 acres to inspect what kind of plants and bushes we have growing.)

What should one do with ripe blackberries?  Make blackberry cobbler, of course!

After putting Kate to bed this evening I went, measuring cup in hand, to the blackberry bushes I have heard so much about.  Wow!  There were a TON of blackberries!  They were a bit smaller than I am used to seeing but with the unusually dry spring this made sense.  In the 15 minutes it took me to pick 1.5 cups of these beautiful berries I was reminded of a story my grandparents enjoy telling about my mom. 

When my mom and her brother were young, my grandparents would take them blackberry picking every summer.  The blackberries they picked would be sold and they used the money for their family vacation fund.  It never failed that my mother would just sit and cry in the middle of all these bushes because she hated the heat, was getting bitten by bugs, hated the outdoors, etc., etc.  (Apparently, she was quite the drama queen when she was a child!) I used to join right in and make fun of her with the fam….not anymore!  When I got back to the house this evening I was sweating so much I had to shower and change clothes to be comfortable and I was bitten by so many mosquitos I had to take some Benadryl to keep from scratching the skin off of my feet.  Mom- I am so sorry I made fun of you.  It will not happen again!  J

The recipe I used to make the cobbler is from www.allbisquickrecipes.com .  I had all the ingredients on hand (TC has a gluten intolerance so I used gluten-free Bisquick) so I decided to give it a go.

I removed any remaining stems and washed the berries well.

I mixed cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, water and the blackberries in a pot, bringing the mixture to a boil and cooking for two minutes.

While this mixture was cooking on the stove, I started on the topping.  In a small bowl I combined the gluten-free Bisquick, sugar, melted butter, and milk.

Once the wet mixture finished cooking on the stove I dumped it into an 8 x 8 glass casserole dish and placed the dry mixture on top. 

I baked it for 25 minutes.  Once cooled, I enjoyed mine with some vanilla ice cream (TC likes his with Cool Whip) and settled into the recliner for some dessert and a rerun episode of the Big Bang Theory.  Perfect way to spend a Thursday night!

I posted the recipe and link below.  Make sure to leave a comment on what you think!

Enjoy!

Rachael

http://www.allbisquickrecipes.com/bisquick-cobbler/bisquick-blackberry-cobbler/

Bisquick Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

2 tbsp cornstarch

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup water

1 ½ cup blackberries

Topping:

1 cup Bisquick

2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. butter, melted

¼ cup milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine water, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and blackberries.  Bring to boil.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Pour into casserole dish and cover with topping.  Topping:  mix Bisquick, sigar, butter, and milk.  Bake until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.