Breakfast Bake!

Alrighty...so last weekend, the guys wanted me to make something for breakfast that was "hearty", but didn't consist of using the staple item of "lumber jack style" pancakes. With that idea out the door, I started rummaging through the fridge and freezer to see what sort of concoction I could come up with. Luckily, I made this "bake" and it was SO easy and the guys absolutely LOVED it! In fact, they loved it so much that they asked if I could make it again today :) 

In terms of size, a lot goes a long way, especially if you're not a big eater (like me), so this could easily feed four to six people if not a little more. There was enough left over from this morning to where the guys could have this for breakfast tomorrow. 

Preheat the oven to 375*

Ingredients: 

2 rolls of Pillsbury pizza dough

Velveeta slices

Jimmy Dean sausage 

9 eggs

1/2 cup of milk

2 Tbsp of butter (I tend to stick with Challenge)

Salt & pepper to taste 

First, pop open the dough and spread it out on a bar pan. Since my bar pan is seasoned, I didn't need to add any non stick spray to it, so if you're using a metal pan or a brand new bar pan, you'll probably wanna spray some on for good measure so the dough doesn't stick :) 

Layer all the dough with the Velveeta cheese:

Of course, cook the sausage first and when it's all done, spread it over the cheese as evenly as you can:

When the time comes for the eggs, add them all to a mixing bowl in addition to the milk as well as salt & pepper. Once everything's all mixed up, toss the butter into the skillet you used to cook the sausage and then toss in the egg mixture. MAKE SURE to constantly stir as the eggs are cooking so you don't burn them! Also, you'll wanna cook them to where they're solid, but just a tiny bit runny...by leaving them a tiny bit running, they won't get completely dried out and grainy when they come out of the oven. 

Add eggs to the layering and make sure they're spread out evenly:

Now, you can put more Velveeta on if you want...that's totally up to you. The guys like things rather cheesy, so an entire new level of cheese was added. I'd suggest using smaller pieces and kinda sprinkle them around cause the cheese (like this) can be a little overwhelming:

Once you're all settled with your arrangement, go ahead and put the second roll of dough on top and make sure to seal up the edges to the best of your ability. 

Bake for 25 minutes and BAM! Here ya go!

Mmmmmmm...nom nom nom! 

If you're willing to try, drizzle a little bit of pancake syrup on your slice to have that "salty / sweet" taste. It's SO good! 

There you have it! It's so ridiculously easy, anyone can do this! Enjoy! 

Stuff It.

For the last week or so, I've been on a personal mission to find Acorn Squash. I know our "local" commissary has 'em, but when you live an hour away from there.. you don't exactly want to drive all that way for squash. 

Well. After bombing out at all the local grocery stores, fruit / veggie stands and still ended up squashless.. I finally caved in and went to the commissary..yes, I picked up other groceries while I was there to make the drive worth while, lol. 

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) package broccoli and cheese flavored rice mix
• 1 pound turkey breakfast sausage
• 1 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1/2 cup chopped apple
• 2 teaspoons crushed coriander seed
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions 

1.Preheat oven to 350*. While the oven is warming up, cut the Acorn Squash in half and scoop out the seeds. When you put the halves in the oven (face down), make sure to put water in the pan (I used a roasting pan) since the water will help keep the squash from drying out. Bake for 45 minutes.

 2. Follow the directions on the box of rice. Once it's done cooking, set aside. 

3.In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook sausage until evenly browned; drain, and set aside.

4. Take your apples and chop them up (within reasonable bit sizes), set aside. 

5.  In a large bowl, mix together the prepared rice, sausage, apple, and coriander. Stuff each squash half with the mixture.

 Since I couldn't find crushed coriander anywhere, I ended up having to use my Mortar & Pestle to to crush all the seeds:

6. Cover stuffed squash halves with aluminum foil and bake for another 30-35 minutes, or until squash is soft.  Remove foil, and top stuffed squash with cheese. Continue to cook until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.  

The finished product...tah-dah!! 

I think the next time I make this, I'll use White Cheddar rather than Monterey cheese..and I'll switch out the turkey sausage for Chorizo or something. Give it some kick! All in all, it came out really well and the guys really liked it.

Gluttony Poppers

Here's what you'll need...and by the way, the portions LISTED are different from the portions I used! The ingredients listed will make about two cups worth of "stuffing", which can actually be used as dip. The portions I used made almost eight cups since I wanted to make sure I had enough for jalapeno stuffing as well as additional dip we wanted to use for the next day:

Ingredients:

 

FIRST!!! Preheat the oven to 375*!! 

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup pepper jack or cheddar cheese (grated)
1/2 cup Parmesan
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers (chopped)
1/4 cup  bread crumbs

Directions:

Cream cheese and Mayo

  Freshly grated Pepper Jack cheese

Chopped Jalapenos (with seeds) and grated Parmesan

Toss in the bread crumbs:

Mix together everything in a mixing bowl. Personally, I use an electric mixer since it makes the stuffing very smooth:

 Once you're done mixing, set the bowl to the side and start working on the jalapenos by slicing them in half and de-seeding them:

I really couldn't get over how large they were! And, yes, I wore gloves! Otherwise, my hands will be on fire for DAYS!

Once you've finished cutting and de-seeding the peppers, spoon the "stuffing" into the halves, then wrap with bacon. When I use bacon, I cut it length wise so it's one long strip and can wrap all the way around the pepper. Bacon makes everything better, but too much bacon can be over powering!

I needed an army of toothpicks to keep the bacon from unraveling!

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on how crispy you want the bacon! Once they've cooled down enough, transfer the poppers to whatever serving dish you like :)

Bacon Cheese Beer Bread

Ohhhhhh....ahhhhhhh....bacon and cheeeeeeese....mmmmmmmmmmm

Last night, we were trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. We weren't exactly wanting a huge meal or anything, but something we could just nibble on since we weren't totally starving. Then I remembered that I had a few boxes of Tastefully Simples "Bountiful Beer Bread Mix". I've used Beer Bread (from Pampered Chef) before, so I know it's insanely easy to make.

Then it dawned on me. Bacon. Cheese. The two best ingredients on the planet to mix into bread! I ran it past Eric and John to see if it sounded appealing to them..and I swear, I couldn't get the bacon fast enough because of how excited they got! HA! Bacon = Happy Guys.

I've had this major kick with Pepper Jack cheese lately, so I figured I'd put it in the bread. It ended up giving a little extra spice once everything was baked!

When it comes to making beer bread, it's not rocket science. You literally dump out the flour mixture into a bowl, add 12oz of beer or any sort of carbonated drink into it. Then, stir for 30 seconds. That's it! Just pour it into a buttered bread loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. SO SO incredibly easy! If it tickles your pickle to add other things to your bread, by all means, get creative. Tastefully Simple actually has a thing on their site that helps generate recipes for you if you need ideas: Bountiful Beed Bread ideas

Here's what the batter looks like when you toss the beer into the mixture..all foamy and fluffy looking:

Mix for 30 seconds...

Toss in some freshly cooked bacon...

Grated Pepper Jack Cheese...

Poured it all into my Stoneware Loaf Pan and popped it into the oven for about 50 minutes at 375*

When it was all done, Eric and John were circling the poor lil loaf like ravenous wolves or something! 

When you slice it open, you get this awesome smell of bacon and beer bread hit you...ohhh my gosh, it's delicious! The cheese gives it a texture like the Parmesan Cheese Biscuits. I can honestly say the entire loaf was officially destroyed by the end of the night since all of us kept working on it. SO very easy to make and so so VERY "nom-tastic" as my husband put it :)