Ingredients
1 pound short pasta (I used shells.)
3 cups evaporated milk
2 bunches green onions, chopped
4 eggs
8 ounces deli ham, chopped
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt, such as adobo
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Instructions
1.Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta 2 minutes less than package directs.  Drain.  Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. In a large bowl, mix together evaporated milk, green onion, eggs, ham, half cheddar cheese, mustard powder, seasoned salt, garlic, and pepper.  Stir well then add pasta and stir to coat.

3. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with remaining cheese.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until top is bubbly and brown. 

Photo

Comments
This recipe is from my favorite Kayotic Kitchen.  I’ve made other breakfast casserole type things before, but they’ve always had bread or potatoes as the carb base.  The use of pasta in this dish is really exciting and different!  We enjoyed this quite a bit and I could see making it for breakfast with company some day. 

Ingredients
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 pound sausage, casings removed (I used sweet Italian.)
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup red bell peppers, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (12 ounces) can evaporated milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Dash paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Spray 9 by 9-inch baking pan.  Heat oven to 350*F if you plan to bake casserole on the same day as assembly. 

2. Cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat, breaking up with wooden spoon as it cooks.  Remove sausage to paper towel-lined plate and drain. 

3. Cook bell pepper and onion in sausage fat remaining in skillet.  Sauté 5 minutes, or until soft.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Remove to paper towel-lined plate with sausage. 

4. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in skillet and brown hash browns in batches, following package directions.  Continue until all hash browns are browned on both sides. 

5. Layer half of the hash browns in baking dish.  Top with half of the sausage and vegetable mixture and 1/2 cup of cheese.  Repeat layers to use all potatoes, sausage, and vegetables. 

6. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, evaporated milk, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper.  Pour this mixture evenly over the casserole and cover with aluminum foil. 

7. If baking immediately, place in oven and cook 50 minutes before removing foil.  Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes then allow casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Top as desired with things like sour cream, jalapenos, salsa, green onions, etc. 

8. If baking another day, refrigerate until ready to heat oven.  Remove casserole from fridge and allow to come to room temperature while oven heats.  Then proceed as above. 

No photo – this happens when I have company.

Comments
This recipe is from Willow Bird Baking and it was suggested to me when I was looking for something unusual to do for a company breakfast.  This is sort of like strata, but the bread is replaced by hash browns.  It was scrumptious and we all enjoyed it quite a bit!  I think I used more peppers and onions than the recipe called for, since I seem to recall making it in a 9x12 instead of a 9x9.  But looking over the recipe now, I’m not entirely sure what I did differently!

Ingredients
2 cups cooked ham, chopped (I used deli ham.)
1 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
10 (8 inches each) flour tortillas
6 eggs
2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Spray a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and heat oven to 350*F. 

2. In a large bowl, stir together ham, bell pepper, green onion, and 1 cup cheese.  Split ham mixture evenly between tortillas, roll, and place seam-side down in baking dish. 

3. In now-empty bowl, beat together eggs, half and half, flour, and salt.  Pour over tortillas.  Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over top then cover with aluminum foil.  Bake 35 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 more minutes or until eggs are set and cheese is melted. 



Comments
This recipe is from Inspired Taste.  I enjoy having eggs for the proteins in our meals; I just have a habit of forgetting!  I saw this recipe and thought it would make a tasty meal, which is certainly did.  Like quiche, It’s infinitely versatile, you could easily add mushrooms, switch the cheese to Swiss, use bacon, whatever you like.  I served these with salsa and sour cream.

Ingredients
1 pound loaf Italian or French bread, torn into pieces
8 eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla

For the topping
1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing baking dish

Instructions
1. Spread extra butter in a 9 by 12-inch baking dish to grease.  Evenly distribute bread pieces in dish. 

2. In large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour over bread and gently press bread down with spatula to ensure better absorption.  Cover and place in refrigerator overnight or at least 4 hours. 

3. In small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Cut in butter pieces until mixture resembles crumbs.  Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to use. 

4. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350*F.  Remove dish from fridge and sprinkle crumb mixture over top.  Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on desired texture.  A shorter cook time will be more like bread pudding and a longer cook time will be firmer – I went with the hour cook time and it was perfect. 

5. Serve with maple syrup, the real kind please!

No photo – the perils of dining with company!

Comments
This recipe is from Pioneer Woman.  We joke that she’s my nemesis but, really, she has no clue who I am and I’m in awe/envy of her amazing success as a blogger.  While her recipes have been hit or miss with us, this one was a HUGE hit.  My parents loved it, Art loved it, I loved it and, as always, Lance prefers his breakfast foods not to be sweet.  So I knew that this wouldn’t win him over anyway.  I call that a resounding success of a breakfast dish. 

This also gets major props for being so simple to prepare.  It came together in about ten minutes the night before and I baked it in the morning when I was getting ready for my parents to arrive.  I was also able to easily bake bacon on the bottom shelf of the oven while this was on the top. 

We ate this with sliced bacon and grapefruit.  Nom nom nom.

Ingredients
For biscuits
3 cups (15 ounces) all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4  teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4  teaspoons table salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, cold
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

For gravy
1 pound loose breakfast-friendly sausage, or links with casings removed
12 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
6 cups milk

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 475*F. 

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl.  Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons warm melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until buttermilk and butter for small clumps. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. 

3. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, or #30 disher, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, about 12 to 14 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat, breaking meat into smaller pieces with wooden spoon.  Remove cooked sausage to bowl. 

5. Melt butter in same skillet.  Stir in flour, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until smooth and bubbly. 

6. Slowly stir in milk.  Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.  Boil and stir one minute.  Add sausage and stir to combine. 

7. To serve place one or two biscuits on each plate and top with gravy.  (Or three or four, depending on appetite!) 



Comments
This recipe is a combination of these biscuits and the gravy from Cooking for Seven.  I made the biscuit recipe earlier in the week and thought they were amazing.  Knowing that Art’s all time favorite breakfast is Biscuits and Gravy, I had my mission.  It’s safe to say that this was quite a success!  Art was thrilled and thought everything was delicious.  He loved the biscuits, he loved the gravy, he was sad he wasn’t home to gobble down all of the leftovers.  I, however, was happy that I didn’t have to share the leftovers with anyone!