Em's Breakfast Casserole

This isn't really Em's recipe, but we got it from Em and it's one of our favorites!

Here's what you'll need:
8-9 Hash brown patties
12 eggs
1 c. milk
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
2 c. cheese
1 lb. cooked meat (sausage, maple sausage, chopped bacon, diced ham etc)
Veggies (4 oz. green chilies, peppers, onions, mushrooms etc.)

Spray at 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Place a layer of hash browns on the bottom of your pan. Layer the meat, veggies, and cheese on top of the hash browns (save a little cheese for the top). Beat the eggs together with milk, salt and pepper and pour over the meat and hash browns. Top with extra leftover cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until eggs are set.

This can be assembled the night before and baked in the morning.

Serves about 12-16.

Cheesy Chicken Potato Skillet

I'm just a little bit addicted to Pinterest at the moment (no, it doesn't take all my time...just most it). The good thing about it though, is that I've tried so many different recipes that I've found on there. I'm actually quite proud of myself for trying new things- it's not like me to try something until after Emily tries it and promises it's edible.

This recipe is one of the ones I found on there. And I even found it on a new food blog to follow! This was not only good, but pretty easy. I have made a few changes though to make it even simpler.

So here you go- enjoy this cheesy, potato-y, chicken-y goodness. Oh and if that wasn't enough- it also has bacon in it! Anything is good with bacon.

As a funny side note- while eating this, my daughter informed me, "I wuuuv bacon!" I've raised her right. :)

Recipe Source: Here

What you'll need:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (or 3-4 c. frozen, diced hashbrowns)
4-6 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 T. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 c. shredded cheese
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Cajun seasoning


Directions:
If peeling and dicing your potatoes- cut them up and boil them until soft. (If using hash browns, wait to add them until later.)

Cook your bacon in a large frying pan (or if you'd prefer, you can bake it as well- bake at 400 F for 17 minutes). Once crispy, remove from heat and allow to cool.  Once cooled, crumble it.

Remove most of the grease from the pan and add your cubed chicken. Season with garlic salt, pepper and cajun seasoning. Heat until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside with bacon.

If using hash browns, add your hash browns to the pan and heat until almost cooked through. Add your green pepper and onion. If necessary, add some extra oil to saute it. Cook until heated through.

If you boiled your potatoes, add them here once the green pepper and onion have been cooked through.

Once warmed, add your chicken and bacon back in and mix to combine.

Top with 2 c. shredded cheese and wait for the cheese to melt.

Serve warm.

This is really good and with the hash browns- it makes the recipe much faster and you have one less pot to clean.

Enjoy!

Individual Scalloped Potatoes

8 whole medium potatoes
1 stick butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
12 t half and half
salt and pepper

Bake the potatoes, but not until soft--they still need to be firm. Set aside and let cool until they can be handled, then slice them. Place 1/2 T pat of butter in each mold of a muffin pan, then a slice of potato, then a pinch of salt and pepper, the cheese and scallions. Repeat layers. (Can do 2 or 3 layers worth). Top each mold with another pat of butter and drizzle each with a T of half and half.
Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and potatoes are brown.

I pulled this recipe from tastykitchen.com. We all loved it! But I did think they were a bit greasy.

Twice Baked Potatoes

More Pioneer Woman cooking! I've been making twice baked potatoes for years now and always thought they were pretty good, but... Jared liked hers better. (*sniff*) I'll probably have to start doing mine like this instead now, but luckily I thought they were fantastic, too. And however you make your filling, these are always popular. There are no precise measurements here, but you can always go to her site for those no-fail, picture, step by step instructions.

8 Baking Potatoes
1 cup Sour Cream
Milk
1 cup Bacon Bits
Green Onions or Chives
2 sticks Butter, softened and cut into pieces
1/4 t Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 cup cheddar/Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
Salt and Pepper

Wash your potatoes and bake them in the oven, without foil. You want the skin to get a bit crispy so you have nice sturdy shells to fill. My big ones usually bake from 60-90 minutes.

Throw your butter pats into a large mixing bowl and add the bacon and sour cream.
Once your potatoes are nice and soft, quickly cut them in half and scoop out the potato innards and add them to your mixing bowl. Be sure to do this soon after they've finished baking... although they're really hot to handle, the insides scoop out easier. Now mash all this stuff together. We kept ours a bit lumpy like Pioneer Woman did, and apparently Jared likes them lumpy. (I've always preferred mine creamy, but whatever... it probably explains why he likes me and I don't)
Next add your Lawry's and salt and pepper to taste, along with your shredded cheese. Also add some cut up green onions (or chives) and milk to reach your desired consistency.

Finally spoon a healthy amount of mashed potato mixture into each shell. Top with additional shredded cheese and bake on a baking sheet at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Favorite Potato Fries

Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Steak Seasoning (Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, etc.)

1. Preheat your oven to as hot as it goes... 450 or 500.

2. Cut potatoes into wedges; Spread them out on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and then coat in seasonings. I just eye the amounts, but usually about a fifty cent piece size in the palm of my hand is the right amount for a cookie sheet sized portion of potatoes.

3. Pop them in the oven for about thirty minutes. I usually turn them just once. So yummy and much better than greasy fried french fries.