Breakfast Casserole

Near the end of the school year, all the teachers hosted a Parent Appreciation breakfast.  I signed up to bring a breakfast casserole.  Since I'd never made one before, I made my family one on Saturday to test out the recipe.  I'm so glad I did, because it turned out great! 

I added mushrooms to the "real" casserole and that version was my favorite.  Green peppers definetly deserve a spot in this recipe too.  

I have to make this again because the picture is sad, but don't be fooled.....this casserole was really tasty! 

**This is a make-the-night-before dish, so plan ahead!  It's perfect for feeding company. 

Ingredients:

1 lb spicy pork sausage

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup green peppers, chopped (optional)

2 1/2 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes

5 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1 cup Original Bisquick mix

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Spray a 13x9 glass casserole dish with cooking spray.  

In a skillet, cook sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onion over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Stir in potatoes.  Cook another 5-7 minutes, until the sausage is cooked through and the potatoes are slightly browned. 

Drain the mixture onto paper towels, then spoon into the casserole dish. 

In a medium bowl, stir eggs, milk, Bisquick and salt and pepper until well blended.  Stir in cheese. 

Pour over the sasuage mixture and mix well.  

Cover with foil and refrigerate for 8 hours. 

Heat oven to 350º and bake casserole for 45 minutes.  Uncover and make another 10 or 15 minutes (until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean)

Serve with your favorite hot sauce, salsa and sour cream. 

Source: bettycrocker.com

Just like: Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken:

 Back when we first started dating, my husband was working at Outback, which also gave him a 50% discount.  So, that's basically the ONLY place we ate for a long time.  And even though he doesn't work there anymore, it's still our go-to place to eat.  Ok, I'll be honest, we eat at Outback for almost every single "special" occasion.  Sometimes we just make up an occasion so we can justify going to eat there.  It's SO GOOD!

For a while I would order the same thing off their menu.  Alice Springs Chicken.  A mountain of cheese, mushrooms and bacon on top of a chicken breast makes the perfect combination of flavors, not to mention awesome leftovers for lunch the next day!

When I found this reciepe in my new cookbook, it was one of the first ones I tried out! (with only a few slight changes)

Favorite Family Recipes

Just Like: Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken

Ingredients:

Honey Mustard Marinade: 

Honey Mustard Sauce

Chicken:

4 boneless chicken breasts, halved

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2 Cups sliced mushrooms

2 Tablespoons butter

salt and pepper, to taste

paprika, to taste

8 slices bacon, cooked

1 Cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients together for about 30 seconds.  Place chicken in a plastic ziplock bag and pour about 1/3 of the marinade in with the chicken.  Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag.  Marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.  Chill the remaining marinade for later. 

Once the chicken as marinated, remove it from the bag and discard the bag.  Preheat the oven to 375º.  In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil and sear the chicken for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.  Transfer chicken to a baking dish. 

In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms in butter. 

Brush each chicken breast with some reserved marinade, season with salt, pepper and paprika.  Break the bacon in half and stack four pieces of bacon on each chicken breast.  Spoon the sauted mushrooms onto the bacon and sprinkle with Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese evenly. 

Bake the chicken dish for 7-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble.

Serve with steamed broccoli and remaining Honey Mustard Sauce. 

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Wow.  This is good.  It is filling, cheesy, creamy, mushroom-y and chicken-y.  I got this recipe from Our Best Bites and they have it listed as a freezer meal.  That's what I planned to do...except there wasn't any leftovers!  Maybe next time.  

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter

salt and pepper, for seasoning

1 pound penne pasta

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, havled

1/2 cup, plus 2 Tablepsoons flour

6 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups, whole milk

10 ounces mushrooms, chopped

1 cup sliced, oil packed sun dried tomatoes (optional)

1 cup, mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

In a large pan, boil the pasta until tender.  Drain, add a drizzle of olive oil, toss and set aside.  

While the pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, cook 3-5 minutes on each side until cooked through.  Slice chicken and dice into small pieces.  Set aside.  

While the pan is still in the hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown.  Add oil as needed.  

Using the same pot you cooked the pasta in, melt butter over medium heat and add flour and garlic.  Cook, whisking about 1 minute.  While whisking constantly, gradually add the milk, bring to a simmer.  Keep whisking frequently as the sauce thickens.  Add mushrooms and tomatoes.  Cook about 1 minute.  Remove pan from heat and gradually stir in mozzarella and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.  

Add chicken and pasta to the pot and season with salt and pepper.  

Serve to a crowd!

Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff Casserole

A comfort casserole that is warm, meaty and filling.  My favorite part are the fresh mushrooms.  Makes a great leftover dish for lunch the next day too!

Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff Casserole

Ingredients:


1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 small white onion, chopped
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp worchestshire sauce
1/2 bag of egg noodles
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
salt and pepper (to taste)


Preheat oven to 450º.


Cook onions and mushrooms with some olive oil in a skillet.  Add ground turkey (or beef) and cook through.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour in water, worchestshire sauce and soup.  Simmer for 15 minutes.


Cook noodles in a pot of water.  Drain and add to meat mixture. 


Pour in a casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes.  Spoon sour cream over the top and bake another 5 minutes. 

Chicken Pockets

I first made these after we had moved to a new city and I had just started working a new demanding job.  So, naturally I was searching for meals that would be easy, quick and tasty to feed the family after a long day at work.

Presto!

Chicken Pockets!

These little chicken pockets are a surprise burst of flavor when you bite into them.  I like to overfill the rolls so the filling is exploding out of the sides. 

Chicken Pockets

Ingredients: 

2 cans crescent rolls (not the flaky kind)
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 8 oz container Onion and Chive cream cheese, softened
1-2 cups chopped mushrooms
salt and pepper (for seasoning)



Preheat oven to 350º

Cook chicken, shred.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and cook mushrooms until soft.

Mix all ingredients, except rolls, together in a bowl.  Flatten rolls and add a heaping spoonful of the filling in the center.  Wrap corners around the filling.

Bake about 15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

Salisbury Slop: aka Salisbury Steak

The first time I made this meal, my husband and I had only been married about 8 months.  Anxious to prove my domestic abilities I attempted to make Salisbury Steaks for dinner.  I made every effort to follow the recipe down to the very last detail, but managed to create mushy slop instead of nicely rounded steaks.  Understandably upset, I served my failed meal only to have total sucess read all over my sweet husband's face.  Despite its lousy apperance, the meal tasted delish!  So, it was lovingly renamed: Salisbury Slop.

Fast forward about 8 years and I decided to try again.  Same great taste and this time...no slop!

Salisbury Slop

Not the greatest picture of the final product.  I'll work on my photography skills. 

Ingredients:

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed Cream of Mushroom soup

1 lb of ground beef

1/3 cup of dry bread crumbs

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Mix 1/4 cup of soup, beef, bread crumbs, onion and egg THOUROUGHLY.  Shape firmly into 4 patties, 1/2 inch thick. 

In skillet over medium high heat, heat oil.  Cook patties until browned.  Set patties aside.  Pour off fat. 

Add remaining soup and mushrooms.  Heat to a boil.  Return patties to pan.  Cover and cook over low heat for about 15-20 minutes or until patties are done (160 degrees)