Our son is coming in tonight for the weekend. He says he will put a phone jack beside my bed, and maybe one in the dining room for my work station. I want to move my computer station closer to the dining room table that I use for a desk.
Now it follows that I must feed him in return for these services. Trouble is, I don’t know when he’s getting here. Will he want supper? Breakfast casserole warmed up with melted cheese works. Will he be late and want breakfast in the morning. Voila’!
I found a crowd-sized recipe that I can halve. That ought to do for the three of us. It called for sausage. Our other son, the hunter, has left his excess ground and sausage venison in our freezer downstairs. I have hash-browns in the fridge freezer, eggs, cheese, baking mix, milk, everything it calls for. I also have some sliced mushrooms that are about to expire and an excess of scallions: His Majesty went out for some. I neglected to say, “Only one, only one”, and he came home with four. His rule of thumb is “If a little bit is good, a lot is better.” Just so you know.
So I’m cooking up a storm. Instead of ‘lightly coat’ the baking dish, you can see the globs of butter I had to leave to stir the sausage, onions and red bell pepper. The mushrooms and more, other and different onions are simmering in a smaller skillet. Hashbrowns, I must measure hashbrowns!
It’s about time to check the recipe again. What??? Drain the grease? Ugh. Okay. Now, put the meat mixture in the greased baking dish, dump in the hashbrowns… check recipe, oops, nearly forgot the cheese. Here it is:
Add cheese, stir it all around. What about the mushrooms? I’ve got to use them up. Oh, what the heck, in with mushrooms and even more onions. Now to mix the stuff that holds it all together: baking mix, eggs (wonderful home-grown brown eggs), milk and white pepper. Whisk it better than I did, and pour it over all.
Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Doesn’t it look good, even before more cheese is melted on top?
In case you are interested I used about:
3/4 pound venison sausage, (any sausage will work, I just happened to have venison… aren’t you jealous?)
half a big red bell pepper,
half an onion I found in the drawer in the fridge,
1 1/2 cup hash browns,and
a cup of shredded cheddar…. saving some out to sprinkle on top after it is baked.
Oh! And the mushrooms and onions the recipe didn’t call for, but I put in anyway.
The glue that holds it together is
1/2 cup baking mix,
1 cup milk, and
two shakes of white pepper.
The finished product, minus the cheese we will melt on top when we heat it up. That ought to hold him until the pork cutlets in balsamic vinegar and honey sauce with garlic mashed potatoes that is tomorrow’s big meal. More later.
Hello! I'm a grandma now, and a stay at home retiree who reads and writes and crochets a lot, and spends entirely too much time at the computer keyboard.
In my quest to lose weight I’ve made my breakfast casserole with Egg Beaters, whole wheat bread as the binding ingredient, lowfat cheese–works just fine! I’ve thrown in all kinds of green veg in there, too–very flexible, the breakfast casserole. — Toni
You bet! I like one dish meals when and where ever I can find them. This is the time of year to chop up and toss in tomatoes, bell peppers, and as you say, green veggies, too. It all works.
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