Sausage, Egg, and Potato Breakfast Casserole

As I prepare to leave for a camping trip with my family to one of our many amazing National Parks, I find myself turning to this recipe for the third time.  We travel in our RV and though there are generally no hook ups (for electricity, water, etc.) at the National Park campgrounds, we do have a gas oven that we can use.  I have made this recipe for two other trips and it has been the perfect breakfast to fill us up for the adventures of the day.  There are three steps to the process: the prep, the baking with foil, and the baking without foil.  I do the first two of those steps at home before we leave.  This leaves just the baking without foil to do on the trip.  Unfortunately, I have never taken a picture of the finished product on one of our trips.  Maybe this time I will and post an update.  In the meantime, I didn't want any more time to go by without posting this!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound Italian sausage (sweet, hot, or mild)
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced (or 1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained and diced)
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 (20 ounce) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• (optional topping: thinly sliced green onions)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add the sausage to a medium saute pan. Cook over medium-high heat until browned, crumbling the sausage with a spoon as it cooks. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of sausage grease in the saute pan, discarding the rest. 
3. Add the onion and red pepper* to the saute pan, and saute for 5 minutes until cooked. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes until fragrant. (*If using the jarred roasted red peppers, wait to stir them until after the garlic.) 
4. Pour the vegetable mixture into the mixing bowl with the sausage. Add the hash browns and 1 1/2 cups cheese to the mixing bowl with the sausage and veggies. Stir to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and black pepper until combined. Then add them to the hashbrown mixture, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a 11x7-inch or a 9x9-inch baking dish (a 9x13-inch dish will also work), and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes and the top of the potatoes begin to slightly brown. Remove and let the casserole rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and serve!

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 20 minutes prep, 35 minutes baking

Source: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com

Breakfast Pizza

We are early risers in my family and love starting the day with a big meal-especially if we have a day of outdoor adventures planned. While I often throw bags of dry cereal to my kids through the minivan, I try to prep one or two breakfast meals a week.

This breakfast pizza was a hit with everyone.  The crescent roll crust makes a big difference; the flaky, buttery bottom was perfect with the savory toppings.  It would be easily adapted to use fresh produce like mushrooms, onions, and peppers as toppings.  I prepped mine the night before and baked it when I got up.  It was a great addition to a co-worker's baby shower; for easy serving, I cut with pizza cutter and stacked in a Pyrex dish layered with wax paper.  No need for forks and knives for this (I remembered to make it, cut in, and put it in the car on the last Friday of the year...utensils would be way too much for me to handle).



INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
  
• 1 lb. ground pork sausage, browned and drained
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Unroll dough onto a 15 x 10 cookie sheet.  Press seams together (I used a rolling pin)
2. Evenly sprinkle sausage, hashbrowns, and cheese over dough.
3. In a bowl, beat together milk and eggs.
4. Pour egg mixture over top over toppings on crust.
5. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes, until crust is browned and center of pizza is done.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 15 minute prep; 30 minute baking

Source: a coworker