Friday's Recipe Box

Hello! Now that the crazy days are over--at least for a little while!-- I am back with Friday's Recipe Box, and my new year's resolution for my posts here is to have as many pictures of the recipes that I share as possible! That way, besides reading the recipe, you can see how YUMMY they are in person and being made by a real person!!

My first recipe of 2014 that I want to share is a breakfast casserole that we had at my folks at the beginning of November 2013. It was really yummy and lends itself to many variations.

Amish Breakfast Casserole

1/2 lb bacon

1/2 lb breakfast sausage

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp hot sauce

2 large baked potatoes, cooled and shredded (about 4 cups) or 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns that have been completely thawed

1 small onion, finely diced

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded-divided

8 oz swiss cheese, shredded-divided

6 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

Begin by cooking bacon and sausage. While bacon is cooking, saute the sausage until it is cooked through. Remove from skillet and set aside. Saute the diced onion in the same skillet. You could also saute any other veggies that you want to include at this time--red and green bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.

When bacon is cooked, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. After it has drained, chop the bacon and sausage into small pieces. In a large bowl, combine the shredded potatoes with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and hot sauce. Stir in cottage cheese, and all but 1/4-1/2 cup each of the swiss and cheddar cheeses. You will use this for the top. Stir in the bacon and sausage, reserving 1/4 cup each for the top. Next, stir in any sauteed veggies. Stir in the eggs. 

Grease a 9x13 pan, or 2 smaller pans if you want to make one now and freeze the other for later. Spread the mixture in the pan(s). Top with reserved cheeses, bacon and sausage.

At this point, if you are making ahead, cover the casserole with foil and place in the refrigerator. About 30 minutes before you will bake it, remove it from the fridge and so that it can start to come to room temperature. If you plan to make and bake it at the same time, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole for 35-40 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and bubbling and the casserole has set up in the middle. You can either removed the casserole from the oven at this time, or turn on your broiler and broil the casserole for a few minutes to brown the top. Let cool for about 10 minutes or so and then cut into squares and serve!

I made mine with most of a large bag of chopped frozen spinach and mushrooms! I think you could do a taco style one with bell peppers, a can of diced green chilies, and olives and maybe canned, diced tomatoes (drained). This also keeps really well, and is delicious either warm or cold. Hubby, I and our son had this for 4 breakfast and it was just as tasty with the last breakfast as it was the first!

Enjoy and I will be back next week with another yummy recipe or 2!