Breakfast Casseroles

I've mentioned before that I make the breakfast casseroles for our church Family Sunday Brunches.  I so enjoy coming up with different ideas and different casseroles for this.  This week I decided to try some ham dishes too! 

I started off by browning up 4 lbs of sausage with 2 chopped onions. 

This is the sausage AFTER being browned with the onions

Then I also put 5 lbs of Chicken thighs on to cook with onions and celery.  This and broth will be used for the casserole for lunch. 

This is the chicken all cooked up and ready to be deboned.  5 lbs of yummy chicken thighs



Ham and Cheese Brunch Casserole

Ingredients

4 cups Shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed if frozen
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 package frozen chopped broccoli thawed and well-drained
2 cups cooked lean ham, diced
2 cups reduced-fat shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup evaporated skim milk
4 eggs
2 teaspoons onion flakes
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
   
2. Coat bottom of a 13 x 9 inch / 33 x 23 cm broccoli dish with Cooking Spray. If necessary, press hash browns between paper towels to remove excess moisture. Press hash browns onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Spray generously with Cooking Spray.
   
3. Bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes. Remove from oven.
   
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Pat broccoli dry with paper toweling. Toss together broccoli, ham and cheese; sprinkle over crust.
   
5. Beat together the evaporated skim milk, eggs and seasonings; pour over ham mixture.
   
6. Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

	Ultimate Breakfast Casserole

3 beaten eggs 1 pinch black pepper (ground) 10 3/4 ozs condensed cream of chicken soup 16 ozs sour cream 2 lbs potatoes (frozen hash brown, thawed)

2 cups ham (cooked, cubed)         1 onions (chopped)        3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese        1/4 cup melted butter

	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
	Season beaten eggs with pepper; pour into baking dish. In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream, hash browns, ham, onion and cheese. Mix thoroughly and pour over eggs.
	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. Weekend Brunch Casserole 1 pound Pork Sausage 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1 can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 oz) 4 large eggs, beaten 3/4 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper Directions Preheat oven to 425F. Crumble and cook sausage in skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain sausage. Line bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended, pour over sausage. Bake 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers.                Deep Dish Sausage Quiche 1/2 pound Pork Sausage 1 medium onion, chopped 1 package prepared 9” deep-dish pie crust 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers 4 large eggs 1 cup half and half 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper Directions Preheat oven to 425F. Crumble and cook sausage and onions in medium skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned. Cover bottom of pie crust with sausage and onions. Top with cheese. Combine eggs, half and half, salt and pepper in medium bowl; mix well and pour over sausage mixture. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350F. Bake an additional 20 minutes, or until browned and well set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Chicken Noodle Bake 1 qt chicken broth 1/2 qt water 1 T chicken base Combine and bring to a boil.  Add 1/2 lb of noodles.  Cook until noodles are tender.   Spread into prepared 9 x 13 baking dish. In a separate bowl combine: 2 qt chicken parts, cut up  (cooked chicken) 1 can cream mushroom soup 1 can cream chicken soup 2 cups frozen peas and carrots (or any veg desired) Spread this over the noodle mixture.  sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.   Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  For the Stromboli I made homemade bread dough.  One half made into a loaf of bread and the other half I rolled out into a rectangle about 9 x 13.    Spread with pizza sauce and my desired toppings...pepperoni, sausage, black olives and mushrooms.  Then topped that with mozzarella cheese.  Beginning with a short edge, rolling into a jelly roll style.  Baked it for 30 - 35 minutes in 425 degree oven.  Next week we will be having a party for the BIG GAME!  So this week I will be planning the menu and getting it all ready!  I'll post the outcome.  Well I took pictures of all the results of the recipes, but I can't seem to get the camera to cooperate with me now to download the pictures.  I'll keep trying and when I get them downloaded, I'll post them.

January 16, 2012

Well I'm such a slacker!    I made muffins over the weekend and went to take pictures for the blog.  My camera decided not to work!  The nerve of that camera.  How dare it have the nerve to do that to me! 

Well anyway....I'll show it!  I'm gonna post my lunch recipes!  Ha! 

Yesterday for lunch I served smothered pork chops, make ahead mashed potatoes, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, corn and Cherry cheese squares! 

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS

I always just go by how many I'm going to serve...so for this dinner, this is how I prepared it. 

14 pork chops
1 large onion
1 garlic clove (or to your taste I usually do 2)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom or combination or even cream of celery)
1 soup can of milk

Brown pork chops until just browned, on both sides.  place in slow cooker.  I always layer a few chops, then a layer of onion slices and some garlic, then another layer of chops, and a layer of onion and garlic..repeat until all used.  Mix soup and milk together and pour over all.  Cook on high for 4 hours. 

Now I think I have already posted the recipe for the Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes, but I'll do it again as it is one of our favorites and so easy. 

MAKE AHEAD MASHED POTATOES

5 lg potatoes
1 cup sour cream
2-3 T finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
3 oz cream cheese
2 T butter
1 tsp salt
milk

Peel and cut potatoes in pieces.  Cook in boiling salted water till tender; drain.  Mash until smooth, then add res of ingredients.  Add enough milk to make the potatoes soft and creamy. 

Place in greased casserole and dot with butter.  May be refrigerated for up to one week.  Bake at 350 degree until hot and slightly browned.  Great to feed to family at holiday dinners. 

RED LOBSTER CHEDDAR BAY BISCUITS

2 cups buttermilk biscuit mix (such as Bisquick or Jiffy)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together biscuit mix, cheese and garlic powder. Add in milk, and stir until well mixed. (Heads up – the dough will get very sticky!)
With a spoon or with your fingers, shape the dough into biscuit-sized clumps, and drop onto the baking sheet. (Note that the dough will pretty much hold its shape when baked, so feel free to pat down random peaks in the dough if you’d like them to look more uniform!)
Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until biscuits begin to brown slightly around the edges.
While the biscuits bake, prepare the warm butter mixture by mixing together the melted butter, oregano and garlic salt in a small bowl. As soon as the biscuits are removed from the oven, brush the biscuits (while they are still on the baking sheet) with the mixture until they are well-coated.
Serve warm.

The corn...was corn we'd gotten last summer and I froze.  just added butter and enjoyed. 

Oh now for the dessert!!!

CHERRY CHEESE SQUARES  (This is one of my favorite Amish dessert recipes)

CRUST:
1 cup walnuts
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 (21 oz)  can cherry pie filling

Mix crust ingredients together, adding only 1/2 cup nuts.  Reserve 1/2 cup crumbs and set aside.  Press remaining crumbs in bottom of greased pan.  Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.  Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Spread over hot, baked crust and bake 10 minutes more.  Spread cherry filling over cheese layer.  Combine reserved crumbs and reserved nuts.  Sprinkle evenly over cherries and bake 15 minutes longer. 


Okay...I'll give in.   Here is the muffin recipes

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp lemon juice
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup water and 4 tbsp dried buttermilk)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips (and dried buttermilk if using)

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, egg, buttermilk (or water if using dried buttermilk), canola oil, and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

Place the raspberries in the bowl of a small food processor.  Pulse 2-3 times to break up the raspberries.  Add the raspberries to the liquid mixture and whisk to combine. 

Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined - some streaks of flour will remain. 

Divide the batter into muffin tins, filling each cup nearly full (these muffins won't rise much)  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean and the tops are lightly browned. 

Place the muffins, in the tins, on wire racks to cool for 5-10 minutes.  Remove muffins from the tins and cool completely. 


CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS

½ cup all purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup natural cocoa powder

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 large bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 large egg

½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3-4 tsp peanut butter

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas and sour cream until well combined. Whisk in the egg, sugar, oil, and vanilla until blended.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined; there will still be a few streaks of flour visible. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each muffin liner about half full of batter. Add a small amount of peanut butter (½ - ¾ tsp) centered on top of the batter. Top the peanut butter with the remaining batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed down gently. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove from the pan and cool on wire racks.

These muffins are delicious cooled or warm, but for a gooey peanut butter center, I recommend microwaving the cooled muffins for 20-30 seconds before eating.

Makes 12 muffins

 

 

Well there you have it!  I'd be interested to hear how you like them!  Lots of luck. 

 

New Years Resolution

Hello!  How were your holidays?  Mine was extraordinary!  I had the best Holiday Season in a very long time!  I was pretty busy, hence the lack of posting on here.  I did do quite a bit of cooking and baking!  but was too busy to post or take pictures  :-(  I resolve to do much better this year! 

This past weekend I took our Christmas decorations down and put them away!  I'm always so sad to do that, but I just don't have the room in my home to store my "everyday"items while I've got my seasonal stuff out.  Might be a good thing as I'd probably leave my Christmas decorations up year round! 

Our church gave out food blessing baskets to some that are needing some help.  I made up 9 pints of spaghetti sauce mix and 9 pints of Hot chocolate mix.    Christmas eve we went to my husband's sister's house for our potluck.  She prepares 2 types of soups and everyone else brings the goodies.  I made Hot sausage WonTon cups!  Then for Christmas Day since my husband worked the day shift, we had our Christmas, Christmas night!  So we had beef stew AND potato soup!  I also made our family fudge.  All the kids and the grandkids were here!  That was sooooooooooo much fun!  Our daughter that lives 30 minutes away, decided to spend the night, her and the grandson!!!  This grandma was in heaven.    She stayed with is through Tuesday evening! 

on the 30th, I began taking the decorations down, so I cleaned too.  I have a cabinet that was my mother in laws that I absolutely treasure!  I was at a loss as to how to "decorate" the top.  on the left side I have antigue jars that I have flour, sugar, popcorn, etc in. 

Blank spot on the right.  So  this is what I came up with. 

So...what do you think? 

I had my husband install 2 bulletin boards in our bedroom right above my jewelry armoir....I have too many necklaces and bracelets for my armoir, so placing them on the bulletin board I will see what I have, at a glance!

Well I'm going to close this out!  I resolve to post once a week on here.  I'd really like to post daily, but I'll shoot for once a week for now and of I can do it daily, that'll be a bonus!  I'm also resolving to be better about taking photos of my "projects" 

So here is to a better 2012!!!!

Until next time