The other night Spencer had leftover spaghetti that he wanted (Sketti, Mom? pweeease?) so I needed to decide what to make for J and I. I wanted...NEEDED something quick, made of stuff we had on hand and yummy. After a quick survey of what we had around, I decided to make a breakfast casserole. Mom used to make these when I was younger and I refused to eat them, mostly because of the eggs. I'm slowly coming around to them tho, and this was a perfect start.
Ingredients:
Southern Style Hash-browns (I used the chunks, you could also use shreds, or even potatoes O'Brien)
6 eggs
Splash of Milk
The rest is really up to you. I made mushrooms and bacon and cheese in it, baked until mostly done, then sprinkled cheese on top.
However, you could add any omelet type toppings you would like:
Sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, you name it.
Preheat the oven to about 350, pray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray, then fill the pan about 1/3 of the way with the hash-browns. Toss them in the oven and then stir them every once in a while, you basically want them cooked enough, they're not going to clump together in a little ball.
While those are cooking, mix your eggs, milk and fillings together, then pour over the potatoes when they are mostly done.
I usually bake around 15 minutes, give or take, depending on how thick the casserole is, the most important part is you want your eggs to be done. Once it is done, top with cheese and bake until melted and then serve.
It's also pretty easy to prepare the night before, just put in the fridge until time to bake, then just bake accordingly. This might take longer if you don't precook your hash browns first, but it's still yummy and also good to take to a breakfast or lunch potluck.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Lazy much?
So, lately, due to several different reasons (sick kids, myself, J...) I've been lacking in the cooking department, but a quick summary of the meals we've enjoyed:
Chicken and Biscuits
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 large bag or 1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup sour cream
Milk
1 large can of chicken breast, rinsed(I'm sure you can use cooked chicken breast chunks as well)
1 tube of biscuts (I like the non-flaky kinds for this)
I cook the veggies some, mostly to get them un-frozen and warm, then drain them.
In a large bowl I mix the cream of chicken, sour cream, veggies, drained/rinsed chicken (I always buy the stuff that's packed in water, but I drain it/rinse it then kinda...shred it up so the chunks aren't so huge) and the I add the milk. The amount of milk I use varies, it's supposed to be creamy, but not runny, and. A good general rule is about 1/2 cup, but it gets a little runnier as it cooks, so you will probably want it on the thicker side rather than the runnier side.
I then heat this up either in a microwave safe bowl for about 10 minutes or on the stove top until it's just starting to boil, then pour it in an 8x8 baking dish sprayed with Pam, of course. Then open the biscuits and toss them on top and bake until the biscuits are done, probably around 15-20 minutes. The recipe doubles nicely for a 9x13 pan.
Chicken and Biscuits
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 large bag or 1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup sour cream
Milk
1 large can of chicken breast, rinsed(I'm sure you can use cooked chicken breast chunks as well)
1 tube of biscuts (I like the non-flaky kinds for this)
I cook the veggies some, mostly to get them un-frozen and warm, then drain them.
In a large bowl I mix the cream of chicken, sour cream, veggies, drained/rinsed chicken (I always buy the stuff that's packed in water, but I drain it/rinse it then kinda...shred it up so the chunks aren't so huge) and the I add the milk. The amount of milk I use varies, it's supposed to be creamy, but not runny, and. A good general rule is about 1/2 cup, but it gets a little runnier as it cooks, so you will probably want it on the thicker side rather than the runnier side.
I then heat this up either in a microwave safe bowl for about 10 minutes or on the stove top until it's just starting to boil, then pour it in an 8x8 baking dish sprayed with Pam, of course. Then open the biscuits and toss them on top and bake until the biscuits are done, probably around 15-20 minutes. The recipe doubles nicely for a 9x13 pan.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Spinach and Mushroom Mani..shell-i?
Ok, I know it's not Sunday, but I'm made something that is quickly becoming a new favorite tonight, and wanted to share. I'm slowly starting to take meat out of our diet, I started with removing red meat, and now I've started experimenting with some recipes that don't include meat. Since I'm a newb at it, it's mostly been pasta before, where it's heavy enough you don't miss the meat.
I got this recipe off of the back of the Barilla manicotti box (I actually copied it from the website to include it in here.) I made a few changes, of course, because I never seem to follow a recipe in full...(which might be why I can't bake...hmm...)
The Original:
1 box BARILLA Manicotti
1 jar BARILLA Italian Baking Sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag (6 ounces)fresh spinach, chopped (may substitute 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained)
2 eggs
1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
PREHEAT oven to 350°F.
COOK Manicotti for 7 minutes; drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.
HEAT oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach; continue cooking 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
BEAT eggs lightly in medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, basil and salt. Stir in mushroom mixture.
SPREAD ¾ cup Italian Baking Sauce over bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Fill Manicotti with mushroom mixture; place in dish. Pour remaining Sauce evenly over filled shells; sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; continue baking 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
The changes I made are: Omit the basil (I like a little bit of basil, and of course I love the Bazals, however, I think this calls for waaaay too much, plus, I never have fresh basil.) I also omitted the salt.
I used button mushrooms the first time, tonight I'm used portabella, and they were equally nice.
Both times I've used the fresh spinach, the first time I was struggling to get it done quickly so I just shredded some up, and the chunks were too big for my liking, so this time I decided to drag out the trusty old food processor. I used it for the garlic, mushrooms AND spinach and it made the mixture look much prettier and much more evenly distributed.
The first time I made it I used the manicotti and thought it was too much work, so tonight I decided to use shells...Next time, we're going back to the manicotti! They took SO MUCH LONGER to stuff! We were also brain storming about ways to make it faster and I think that I'll put the mixture in a bag next time and squirt it into the noodles that way. Probably quicker and less messy...we shall see.
Other than that, I just used 4 cheese sauce, but kept everything else the same.
Tonight we ate it alone, but I think it would pair nicely with a side salad and some garlic bread. Enjoy!
I got this recipe off of the back of the Barilla manicotti box (I actually copied it from the website to include it in here.) I made a few changes, of course, because I never seem to follow a recipe in full...(which might be why I can't bake...hmm...)
The Original:
1 box BARILLA Manicotti
1 jar BARILLA Italian Baking Sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag (6 ounces)fresh spinach, chopped (may substitute 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained)
2 eggs
1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
PREHEAT oven to 350°F.
COOK Manicotti for 7 minutes; drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.
HEAT oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach; continue cooking 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
BEAT eggs lightly in medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, basil and salt. Stir in mushroom mixture.
SPREAD ¾ cup Italian Baking Sauce over bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Fill Manicotti with mushroom mixture; place in dish. Pour remaining Sauce evenly over filled shells; sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; continue baking 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
The changes I made are: Omit the basil (I like a little bit of basil, and of course I love the Bazals, however, I think this calls for waaaay too much, plus, I never have fresh basil.) I also omitted the salt.
I used button mushrooms the first time, tonight I'm used portabella, and they were equally nice.
Both times I've used the fresh spinach, the first time I was struggling to get it done quickly so I just shredded some up, and the chunks were too big for my liking, so this time I decided to drag out the trusty old food processor. I used it for the garlic, mushrooms AND spinach and it made the mixture look much prettier and much more evenly distributed.
The first time I made it I used the manicotti and thought it was too much work, so tonight I decided to use shells...Next time, we're going back to the manicotti! They took SO MUCH LONGER to stuff! We were also brain storming about ways to make it faster and I think that I'll put the mixture in a bag next time and squirt it into the noodles that way. Probably quicker and less messy...we shall see.
Other than that, I just used 4 cheese sauce, but kept everything else the same.
Tonight we ate it alone, but I think it would pair nicely with a side salad and some garlic bread. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday March 7
Tonight I just kinda threw dinner together, I had gotten a pork loin out of the freezer yesterday so I knew that was going to be the main course. J wanted pork chops and apples, so I decided to improvise. Turned out pretty good, I think I *might* prefer the chops to the loin, mostly because it gets more carmelized.
I got the recipe from a news paper, and have made it my own since then. Sinec I prefer the chops, I'll give that one instead today, but the loin is the same thing, just roasted the whole time instead of browned.
4 pork chops
2 apples
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Brown the chops in a skillet for a few minutes on each side. While they're cooking, cut up apples and place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Add the pork chops in, the sprinkle everything with the brown sugar and cinnamon. I don't actually measure, I use about a handful of sugar and then sprinkle the cinnamon on, but I know some people (T!) don't cook well that way, so I believe the original recipe called for 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and something like 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I might be off by some, but I'm of the belief that you just "know" when it's enough :)
Cover with tin foil and bake. I remember the recipe said something like 20 minutes the first time and they took FOR. EV. VER. Seriously. I think I used good thick Iowa Chops and they used those paper thin chops because it took a long time for the meat to cook, so now I just cook until done. (With the loin, I always end up cutting it into 3rd or 4ths, and then usually in half again, depending on the size, mostly because I don't want to undercook the meat)
Overall, it was delicious and yummy, but I think next time, I'll go back to my chops :)
I got the recipe from a news paper, and have made it my own since then. Sinec I prefer the chops, I'll give that one instead today, but the loin is the same thing, just roasted the whole time instead of browned.
4 pork chops
2 apples
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Brown the chops in a skillet for a few minutes on each side. While they're cooking, cut up apples and place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Add the pork chops in, the sprinkle everything with the brown sugar and cinnamon. I don't actually measure, I use about a handful of sugar and then sprinkle the cinnamon on, but I know some people (T!) don't cook well that way, so I believe the original recipe called for 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and something like 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I might be off by some, but I'm of the belief that you just "know" when it's enough :)
Cover with tin foil and bake. I remember the recipe said something like 20 minutes the first time and they took FOR. EV. VER. Seriously. I think I used good thick Iowa Chops and they used those paper thin chops because it took a long time for the meat to cook, so now I just cook until done. (With the loin, I always end up cutting it into 3rd or 4ths, and then usually in half again, depending on the size, mostly because I don't want to undercook the meat)
Overall, it was delicious and yummy, but I think next time, I'll go back to my chops :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sunday Feb 28th
Thanks to my friend T's husband, I got a new cookbook last week so I was anxious to try one of the new recipes in it. This week our Sunday dinner was actually on Saturday due to us having other plans on Sunday. We made Orange-Pineapple Pork Loins, and some steam fresh veggies, for desert I followed it with a modification of my twinkie cake.
The original recipe for the pork loin was for pork chops, but I modified it and used the sauce as a glaze and it worked out well.
Recipe:
Orange-Pineapple Pork Chops
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice, divided
1 tsp corn starch
1/8 tsp all spice
1 medium orange, peeled sectioned and seeded
Brown chops on each side.Add ¾ cup pineapple juice and bring to a boil.Cover, reduce heat and cook for 45 min or until chops are tender. Combine cornstarch, remaining ¼ cup pineapple juice and all spice in a small bowl.Stir into skillet and cooking until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.Add orange sections and cook until thoroughly heated.
I got to working on it, realized I didn't have allspice, so I omitted it, then I didn't have an orange, however, I did have mandarin oranges...so, I improvised, drained the oranges and used them instead. Turned out great! I added the oranges towards the very end, just like it said and it was great!
Cake:
Box of 1 step angel food cake mix
1 can of cherry pie filling
Mix
Bake at 350 until done.
I *may* have let it bake a little too long, but still, it was good. Served it warm with whipped topping. I do prefer the original better, made with lemon pie filling, but J liked the cherry chunks. Overall, it was a decent attempt.
The original recipe for the pork loin was for pork chops, but I modified it and used the sauce as a glaze and it worked out well.
Recipe:
Orange-Pineapple Pork Chops
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice, divided
1 tsp corn starch
1/8 tsp all spice
1 medium orange, peeled sectioned and seeded
Brown chops on each side.Add ¾ cup pineapple juice and bring to a boil.Cover, reduce heat and cook for 45 min or until chops are tender. Combine cornstarch, remaining ¼ cup pineapple juice and all spice in a small bowl.Stir into skillet and cooking until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.Add orange sections and cook until thoroughly heated.
I got to working on it, realized I didn't have allspice, so I omitted it, then I didn't have an orange, however, I did have mandarin oranges...so, I improvised, drained the oranges and used them instead. Turned out great! I added the oranges towards the very end, just like it said and it was great!
Cake:
Box of 1 step angel food cake mix
1 can of cherry pie filling
Mix
Bake at 350 until done.
I *may* have let it bake a little too long, but still, it was good. Served it warm with whipped topping. I do prefer the original better, made with lemon pie filling, but J liked the cherry chunks. Overall, it was a decent attempt.
The Purpose
Recently a friend of mine decided that she would start fixing Sunday Dinners...I think I read it's because she found a blog about someone that was doing it. I had been doing it for quite a while, but decided that I would make my own blog, documenting what it was that we fixed, the recipes and the like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)