Green Chile Breakfast Casserole

Saturdays are probably my favorite day of the week. The primary reason is the ability to sleep until I wake up and spend the day working around the house, which right now means continuing to unpack boxes and get our life in order. In our previous residence, we lived a 2 minute drive behind Bubba's, a delicious southern fried chicken joint with great breakfast and a drive through. We could roll out of bed, hop in the car and get eggs, bacon and biscuits and gravy and continue on with our lazy Saturday.

Unfortunately, it's no longer that easy to get Bubba's breakfast on Saturday morning. However, this week I think I may have come across our new lazy Saturday breakfast norm, the breakfast casserole. The beauty about the breakfast casserole is that all the work is done the night before. So when you finally wake up, but before you're really ready to get out of bed, you can heat the oven and put the ready-to-go casserole in the oven and crawl back in bed until it's ready. Easy peasy.

This recipe actually comes from my mother and a cookbook she and the youth at First Baptist Monahans Texas put together as a fundraiser when she was Youth Minister before I was born. My grandmother bought me a book at the time and gave it to me when I went to college and started cooking for myself. Mom always called it "Youth Breakfast Casserole" because it was what she always made for breakfasts for the youth group and for the disciple now groups staying at our house. To my knowledge, we only had this when we had guests staying at our house.

That being said, I think this is the new basis of a weekly breakfast ritual for Robert and I. We've already discussed ways to add variation (mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc) and we love how the quantity takes care of us on Sunday as well. If we come up with any brilliant combinations, I'll be sure to post the here. Because lets be honest, who couldn't use an easy breakfast for those lazy Saturday mornings?

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Green Chile Breakfast Casserole


Ingredients
3 slices of bread torn into small pieces
6 eggs beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon pepper
1 small can green chiles
1 cup grated cheese
1 pound sausage, browned and drained

Instructions
Brown the sausage and break into crumbles.

 Break the 6 eggs into a medium to large bowl and whisk until beaten.

 Add the 2 cups milk, salt and pepper to the eggs and stir to combine.

 Add the green chiles and stir to combine.

 In a 9x12 pan, place the bread pieces evenly across the pan.

 Pour the egg mixture on top of the bread.

 Top with the sausage

 and cheese. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

 In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the casserole in the oven and bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Serve with coffee and enjoy.

Spinach and Potato Frittata

Ever since I tried my hand at making homemade quiche a while back, I have found myself thinking about making one on a fairly regular basis. Tonight was definitely one of those nights. The problem, however, was that my pie crust was still in the freezer and waiting for it to thaw was not an option as it would result in a very late dinner.

So I decided to try my hand at making a frittata instead. A frittata is basically a quiche without the pastry crust. It also shares some same methods as making an omelet as well in the technique of letting the egg set by lifting up the edges to let the runny egg go to the bottom of the pan. This would be great for those on a paleo diet (or at least I think it would be).

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Spinach and Potato Frittata


Ingredients
2 bunches spinach, washed, trimmed, and chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1 medium potato, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup half and half
2 egg yolks
4 large eggs
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped spinach in a saucepan with 1/4 cup water and cover with a lid. Heat over medium high heat until the leaves are barely wilted, just a few minutes.

 Remove from heat and set aside. While the spinach is cooking, whisk together the egg yolks, eggs, half and half, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and half a cup of the Gruyere cheese.

 Melt the butter in an oven proof skillet and add the onions. Saute until translucent and fragrant.

 Add the potatoes to the onions and saute until beginning to brown and soften.

 When the potatoes are ready, top with the cooked spinach,

 and pour the egg mixture.

 As the egg heats and begins to set, use a spatula to lift up the edges and allow the egg to move to the bottom of the skillet. Repeat until the egg is no longer runny

 Top with the remaining cheese and place in the oven.

 Bake for 13-15 minutes until the egg has puffed up and the cheese has browned.

Cut into quarters and serve.

Gingerbread Muffins 2: A yummy treat for midnight feedings

First of all, I had forgotten I already did a gingerbread recipe! Turns out, I really do like gingerbread muffins! However, this is a different recipe, and a bit easier, so I decided to post it anyways. They are both delicious, but this one uses fewer ingredients and is less spicy, so perhaps better for little ones. These turned out beautifully fluffy and moist, with a kiss of sweetness.

Chilling out in the back yard. 

I made these specifically for one of my husband's cousins. She and her husband just had their second child, a little girl. I am sure their older son is a little confused about what is going on, so hopefully these little treats will make the arrival of his little sister a little sweeter. I also thought that a little muffin (or two) at three in the morning feedings would be nice for the mom! And, oops, they are getting at least one less muffin than expected, they are truly yummy and have filled my house with the comforting aroma of freshly baked gingerbread.

Hi there cuteness!

The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

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Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of light molasses (mild)
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) cut into smaller pieces
3/4 cup of boiling water (measuring after you boil)
1 large egg

Steps:
1. Gather your ingredients.

2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your muffin pan with muffin liners.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir together to combine.

4. In another bowl, combine the molasses and butter, and then pour the boiling water over both ingredients and stir until the butter melts.

5. Add the molasses mixture to the flour mixture.

6. Add the egg and stir to combine.

7. Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin liners.

8. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Check to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the muffin. If it comes out clean, then the muffins are done!

9. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

Swiss Chard and Mushroom Quiche

Quiches have long been dishes that I thoroughly enjoy but have never attempted to really make myself. For the most part I experienced quiches through frozen packages that are thawed and baked or paired with a cup of tomato basil soup from La Madeline. Urban Acres, the produce co-op of which I am a member, recently began offering farm fresh eggs as add ons to their bi-weekly produce shares. I recently decided to give them a whirl and decided that a quiche was the perfect way to showcase them.

In that same share I received two bunches of swiss chard and a container of shitake mushrooms. Quiche Florentine made with spinach has long been a favorite quiche of mine so I decided the chard should be similarly delicious. Finally, I decided to throw in the mushrooms and some freshly grated nutmeg for good measure. The result was quite possibly the best quiche I had ever had. So if you enjoy quiche, do yourself a favor and give this one a try.

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Swiss Chard and Mushroom Quiche


Ingredients
Pilsbury pre-made pie crust, frozen or refrigerated
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 shallots, minced
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 bunches Swiss chard, chopped
1 8 ounce container Shitake mushrooms, stems removed and chopped

Instructions
Preheat the oven and bake the pie crust according to the directions on the package.
Meanwhile, heat the first tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the shallots until soft.

 Add the Swiss chard and saute until soft and the volume reduced in half.

 Remove from the pan to a bowl and place aside.

 In the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and add the mushrooms.

 Cook until soft and the liquid is cooked off, remove from the pan and add to the chard.

When the pie crust is done, brush with the beaten egg yolk while the crust is still warm.

 In a large bowl, combine the 3 eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and whisk to combine.

 Add in the chard, mushrooms, and 3/4 cup of the cheese and whisk to combine.

 Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust.

 Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake the quiche at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.