Yummy breakfast casserole

This is one of our family's favorite breakfasts. It is a real treat - I always make it for Christmas or other special occasions!

I've shared the recipe with friends, at work potlucks, and have also been asked to make it for brunches and such with them, including the morning of one of my besties' wedding. 

It is so easy and yummy!

What you'll need:

- One can crescent rolls (the big sheets work really well, too!)

- 1 lb. sausage, browned

- 4 eggs, mixed with 2 T. of milk and seasoned with pepper to your liking

- Shredded cheese (I think the recipe calls for 1 cup, but I eyeball it!)

To make:

- Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray

- Spread out the crescent rolls on the pan, making about a 1 inch crust on the sides. 

- Layer sausage, egg mixture and cheese. 

- Bake at 375 (or whatever temperature the can of rolls calls for) for approximately 12-15 minutes. 

A few tips:

- If you are like me and not a morning person, it works very well to brown the meat and mix the eggs the night before - just layer and bake in the morning!

- I like to pat the top down with paper towels once pulling out of the oven, as it eliminates some of the grease.

- Some of my friends aren't fans of eggs, so I once made a breakfast pizza without them. They all said it was very good!

Enjoy!

A recipe: Nacho pie

Between Coop's four month well check yesterday afternoon and a PAT visit at 6 p.m., I needed something quick and easy for dinner last night. I came across this recipe in a cookbook and have seen similar ones on Pinterest, but hubby preferred this one based on the ingredients.

Man, it was good. In fact, I was running a bit behind because I had to pick up a perscription for myself so it sat out for an hour while we finished our visit, and it was still yummy. Hubby even went back for seconds.

After we dug in

What you'll need:
4 cups nacho cheese chips, crushed
1 lb. hamburger meat, browned and seasoned to your liking
1 can chili beans
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
Cheese (I think the recipe called for 1 cup, but I never measure.)

Make it:
Line bottom of a lightly sprayed nine-inch pie pan or square with the crushed chips.
Layer meat, chili, beans and sauce. Cover Sprinkle top with cheese.
Bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes.

Enjoy!




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Make My Monday #2

Good Monday morning! I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was wonderful, just too short, as usual.

I'm linking up again with Kelly and Jessica for Make My Monday! This week, we're sharing favorite recipes :)



I really love food. I mean, I made one of these recipes over the weekend and meant to take a picture, but got too caught up, you know, eating it, that I didn't. Oh well. Trust me, it's all delish!

Breakfast pizza squares

You'll need:
1 can crescent rolls
1 lb. sausage, browned
4 eggs
2 T. milk
Shredded cheese

Make it:
Spread crescent rolls at the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle sausage on top. Combine eggs with milk and a dash of pepper, and pour evenly on top. Cover in cheese {however much you like!} Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Inhale.

I make this for brunches with friends, garage sale mornings, and it was also requested by a good friend I make it for her wedding morning while we got our hair done :)

Refried bean dip

You'll need:
1 lb. hamburger meat
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
16 oz. sour cream
1 head lettuce
Tomatos, diced
Shredded cheese

Make it:
Brown hamburger meat & drain. Add in taco seasoning and water as directed and mix together. Stir in the can of beans. Once mixed, spread in a 9x13 and allow to cool. Top with sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Enjoy on tortilla chips.

Note: you can add olives, onions, etc. in the layers but we don't like them :)

A great party dish! You can make it ahead and it is delish!

It also pairs very well with these ...

Margaritas!

You'll need:
Minute maid frozen limeade
Tequila
Triple Sec
Sprite
Ice

Make it:
Fill a blender to the top line with ice. Add in your limeade. Using the limeade container, do a 50/50 mixture of triple sec and tequila (it's supposed to be 3 oz. each). Add in a full container of Sprite (6 oz.) Blend until it's reached the desired consistency.

These are a family favorite of ours, and we go through several pitchers at my mom's family Christmas every year.

Let me know if you try any of these!

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This & That

• We took Mr. Cooper to the doctor for his two month well check on Tuesday. That boy is a flirt! He was smiling at our doctor the whole time. Stats: 23.25 inches (50th percentile); 12 lbs. 5 ounces (75th percentile) and a head circumference of 38 cm. (25th percentile). Boy's growing - and about the size now that I was at four months!

• He had three shots and also had to down an immunization for Rotovirus. I am SO thankful that hubby was able to come to this appointment, because seeing my baby get shots absolutely killed me. Mental note: wear waterproof mascara next time! As soon as he was done, I nursed for about five minutes, and then we had lots of cuddles the rest of the night.
• This was our first appointment with his new doctor. We did not care for the pediatrician and ended up getting in with the family doctor like we'd wanted in the first place. It went very well and I felt a lot more support with my decision to breastfeed from this doctor.
• Speaking of breastfeeding, I totally eat like a teenage boy right now. Whenever I quit nursing, I will be in BIG trouble. Yesterday, I decided I wanted a side salad to go with my sandwich for lunch. And I ended up ordering a hot apple pie also. Balance, people. Over the past week, we've made cookies at 8 p.m. three times. Oh, and this morning I decided I needed a snack before it was even 9 a.m.
• Does anyone have HEALTHY snack ideas? It can't be too time-consuming because I am pretty much going from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day as it is, but I'd love to get away from the cheese crackers, granola bars, chips, trail mix and pretzels if I can - or at least do it in more moderation.
• So I've mentioned my love for Amazing Race and Big Brother on here before, yes? But I can't decide how I feel about Brenden & Rachel on Amazing Race. I hated Rachel her first season and liked her last. But the girl seriously annoys me. Wonder if they'll have to do a detour where the floaters need to grab a life vest?
• While making a diaper order on Amazon the other day before the Amazon Mom program changed, I tried to calculate how many diapers we would need in each size. And I realized that if we use all of our Size 1s which we should - they go to 14 lbs. while Size 2 starts at 12 - we will have used about 500 Size 1s. Yowza.
• I read about people whose babies only go through five or six diapers a day. How is that possible? Coop typically goes through about four a day while at home, and at least another four while at the sitters. Is it a boy thing?
• I'm debating what, if anything, I should get for my littlest Valentine this year. Maybe a book ... suggestions?
• Wouldn't it be nice if we still had nap time, like in kindergarten. Seriously, we had no idea how great life was as kids.

• I can't believe January is almost over. Seriously? I'm so glad, though, that the winter is going by quickly. I can't wait until summer time!
• Did I ever mention that we work "summer hours" for two months? 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. will stink, but having every Friday off will be the bomb-diggity.
• Yes, I just said bomb-diggity.
• Last week, I made this taco pizza and it was delish! We aren't veggie fans so I just had the biscuits, beans, meat and cheese. I actually thought it was a bit too heavy though, so the second time around, I topped it with sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes. So yummy.
• OK, time for another snack

Five on Friday

{1} For the first weekend in I don't know how long (at least three months I'd say) we have NO PLANS. And don't intend to make any. Instead, we're going to be doing some pre-baby home repairs as well as clean out the nursery. Finally! It's supposed to rain all weekend too, so that should keep us inside instead of finding stuff to do outdoors.

{2} I haven't been much of a cook the past four months. First it was the nausea, then the wedding planning or just feeling like cooking itself grossed me out. (Raw meat = nasty). Well, I got back on board this week, cooking a real dinner two nights in a row. Sorry, I dont' think hamburgers, barbecue, frozen pizza and hamburger helper qualify as real meals.

I tried a new recipe for a pork chop and potato casserole and we LOVED it. Here it is:

Ingredients:
vegetable oil
6 boneless pork chops (I used the bone-in and trimmed, since it was what i had on hand)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 c. milk
4 potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 c. chopped onion (I omitted as we don't care for onions)
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Direction:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place pork chops in oil and sear.
- In a medium bowl, combine the soup and milk. Arrange the potatoes and onions in bottom of a 9X13 dish. Place browned chopes over potatoes, then pour the soup mixture over all.
- Bake 30 minutes. Top with cheese, then bake an additional 20 minutes.

This was seriously a meal all in itself! Plus delicious - we liked the potatoes best, I think.

{3} I got kinda bored with Big Brother this season, but now I'm getting excited again. I think when evictees begin going to jury, it ramps up for some reason. Can't wait to see what happens this week. I'm not too sure who I want to win. I love Dani's game play but really dislike her as a person. LOVE Jeff, but don't feel he's really bringing his game. I just want to see Porsche, Shelly, Adam and Kalia out of there soon!

{4} After a visit from my college president yesterday, in which he saw my office for the first time (I'm at a satellite location) I should be getting a new computer and some office furniture *very* soon. Yay!

{5} After work today, J and I have to go get some horse feed (we buy in bulk because it's about a 45 minute drive one way.) On the way home, we plan to stop at a car dealership to do a little test driving if we have time. Yay!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

A recipe: Coffee cake

I've been meaning to post this for some time. My workplace was open half-days on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, and we all worked a half day either of those. Those of us who worked Christmas Eve, including myself, decided to bring in breakfast to make the day a bit cheerier.

My mom shared this with me, and it's technically called a buttermilk-cinnamon coffee cake. It was super easy to make and delicious! Here is what was left when I though to get a picture:

What you'll need:
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. powdered ginger (I didn't have any, so I omitted this)
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. canola oil
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg, beaten
1 c. buttermilk (to make, add 1 T. vinegar to 1 c. milk)

Make it
- Preheat over to 350
- In bowl, mix flour, salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, both sugars and oil.
- Remove 3/4 c. of mixture and add nuts and 1 tsp. cinnamon to it. Mix well and set aside to use as topping.
- To the remaining batter, add baking soda, baking powder, egg and buttermilk. Mix. Small lumps are OK.
- Pour batter into a greased 9X13 pan.
- Sprinkle topping evenly over the surface.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes.

* Enjoy! This is very moist and leftovers are good for up to a week!

A recipe: Chicken enchiladas

While I'm home cleaning and organizing on this rainy day, I thought I'd share one of our favorite recipes with you! I actually made these last night and we LOVE them. 

My photo editing on this computer isn't the best - sorry!

What you'll need:
— Cooked chicken breast
— Flour tortillas
— Shredded cheese
— 1 can enchilada sauce (we use mild)
— 1 can tomato sauce
— 1 can refried beans (optional)


Make it!
— Mix together the tomato and enchilada sauce in a bowl. This makes it a little less spicy. If you like it hot, I would use either one or two cans of the enchilada sauce. 
— Spoon the sauce (about 2 T.) onto tortillas. 
— I like to add in beans to make the enchiladas a bit more filling and stretch the chicken. I typically just make a line. This step can totally be skipped, however. 
— Sprinkle chicken down the middle. Remember you have to fold the tortilla, so don't go overboard. 
— Fold the tortilla and place in a sprayed 9x13. 
— Continue until all are done. I don't really give quantities because this recipe can totally be changed depending on how much chicken you like, etc. I did a package of eight burrito-sized tortillas and had about two of the large chicken breasts, like you buy frozen in the big bags at Wal Mart. 
— When all enchiladas are folded, pour the remaining sauce on top. Make sure it covers the top, but the enchiladas aren't swimming in sauce. I learned the hard way this just makes them smushy. 
— Sprinkle cheese on top. Again, do this to your family's liking. 
— Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes. Everything has already been cooked, so it just needs to melt together. 


ENJOY! We often pair these with black beans or just chips and salsa. 

A recipe: Meatloaf

After I posted about our leftover meatloaf yesterday, I had a couple people ask for the recipe. I figured I would just post it here for everyone!


What you'll need:
2 eggs
2/3 c. dried bread crumbs (you can also just tear up bread)
3/4 c. milk
1/4 cup onion (optional)
2 T. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sage, basil or oregano
1.5 lbs. ground beef


Make it:
Combine all ingredients and shape into a loaf. We like catsup, so I typically squirt some in before I shape or on top of the loaf so it can bake in, but that's your call. Back at 350 degrees for one hour.
Meanwhile, mix 1/4 c. catsup, 2 T. brown sugar and 1 tsp. dry mustard. Spread on top of the loaf and bake an additional 10 minutes. 


Enjoy! This typically lasts two to three meals in our house!