Breakfast Casserole

This is my favorite breakfast casserole recipe so far. Mainly because it has my favorite ingredients--bacon, cheese, and potatoes. Plus it's super easy to make. I like to make it the night before and pop it in the oven for a no fuss warm breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
9 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 1/4 cup shredded swiss cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet cook the bacon until crisp. Drain most of the bacon grease, leaving just enough to cook the onion until translucent. Crumble the bacon. In large bowl combine the bacon, onions, eggs, hash browns, and cheeses. Transfer to a greased 9x13 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until set and bubbly. If you want--broil it for just a few minutes to brown the top just a little. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

slow cooker mashed potatoes

I'm not sure how these are so much a crockpot dish when it really just serves as a way to keep the potatoes warm but they are really ready to eat without going in the crockpot. But they are very good and it was nice to be able to make the mashed potatoes ahead of time and kept warm until the rest of the meal was ready.

Ingredients5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Footnotes

Texas Sheet Cake

Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
_____
FOR FROSTING:
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
1-¾ stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Pour over warm cake.

Lemonade

This drink always reminds me of my dad. We had a lemon tree in our backyard growing up and I always looked forward to the freshly squeezed lemonade my dad would make every year. It's simple but so so delicious. It makes me think of summer--so I'm not sure why my lemons ripen in the fall. Do all lemons ripen in the fall and thus the lemonade I had as a kid get made in the fall too? It seems like a very summery drink to me so this really has me perplexed :/

Ingredients:
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 quarts water

Directions:
Mix together in a pitcher and refrigerate until cold. Enjoy!

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

The lemons on my lemon tree are ripe so it's time for a few lemon recipes. I love lemon-y breads and cakes so first up is this muffin recipe. I can't remember where I found it exactly--I just know it was in a magazine in my Drs office. It may have been Rachel Ray? I know I was looking at her magazine but I'm not positive that is the source.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (a substitute is 1 Tbsp lemon juice in 1 cup milk)
1/2 cup oil
1 lemon
1 1/2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:
Zest and juice the lemon. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt together. Add in the eggs, buttermilk, oil, lemon rind, and juice from the lemon to the dry mixture. Mix together. Fold in the raspberries. To make them a little yummier Combine 1/4 C sugar and zest of one lemon, mix together well and sprinkle over top of each muffin. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In med. saucepan over low heat, cook and stir condensed milk and cocoa until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in heavy cream, light cream, and vanilla. Refrigerate until cold ( I was impatient and did not do this--no harm done that I could tell). Pour mixture into the canister of ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Sour Cream-Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This recipe is from my brother-in-law. It is so delicious. I added a few things to his recipe just to make it more fattening and sugar-y.

Ingredients:
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 stick butter
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
Filling/topping:
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
Glaze:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tbsp milk

Directions:
Thow in a mixing bowl: cake mix, pudding, butter, sour cream, eggs. Beat 7 minutes. Meanwhile mix filling--mix the cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Grease 10 inch tube pan. Place 1/3 of the cinnamon filing along the bottom of the pan, then put half the cake batter into the pan on top. Take 1/4 of the cinnamon filling and sprinkle it on the batter. Put the rest of the batter into the pan. Put around in spoonfuls and leave bumpy. Sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon filling. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. If you'd like a little more sugar you can make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and drizzling it on top of the cake when it is cooled.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup salsa
2 cans black beans
1 can black refried beans (optional)
1 can vegetable broth
2 tsp lime juice
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
sour cream--as topping
Optional:
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1/2 jalapeno, chopped

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic. Add in salsa, beans, broth, lime juice, cilantro, onion, garlic, and cumin. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, and/or green onions.

Meal in a Pumpkin

My mother-in-law introduced me to this recipe many years ago. It is a fun one to make for Halloween. We have had this every year since the kiddoes were very small. I personally love it.

Ingredients:

1 10" pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

2 T oil

1 1/2-2lbs ground beef

2 T soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained

1 4 oz can mushrooms, drained (I like fresh)

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

Saute onion in oil, add meat and brown. Drain and add all ingredients but the rice, water chesnuts and mushrooms. Simmer 10 minutes. Add rice, water chestnuts and mushrooms. PUt in cleaned out pumpkin. Bake at 350 for 1-1 1/2 hours with lid on. You'll know it's done when the pumpkin is soft.