Sunday Morning Casserole

I decided to make a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning because I wanted something easy to pop in the oven that morning. I've tried 3-4 breakfasts casseroles and haven't found one that I liked, they were all too bland and boring. I got Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible for my birthday and decided to pick a recipe out of there. I choose the Sunday Morning Casserole because it seemed pretty easy, and the ingredients were cheap and stuff that everybody likes. It was delicious and we are definitely having it again. I think it'd be good to add a little green pepper and onion and of course, with hot sausage instead of mild. Everything is better with a little spice. Here's the recipe.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
2 slices white bread
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced cooked, unpeeled red potatoes
1 1/2 cups mixed shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Directions
1. Grease a 2.5-3 quart baking dish (attractive enough to bring to the table) with butter, oil, or cooking spray. Cube the bread and place in the dish in a single even layer.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a  spoon, until it's almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain off the fat. Layer the sausage over the bread, and top with potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard powder, salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and potatoes in the casserole. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. When ready to cook the casserole, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole until set and golden about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

I had to adjust the cooking time to about 1 hour and 30 minutes, which is quite a bit longer than the recipe says.

Recipes

I tried a couple new recipes from Pinterest this week. The first recipe was a crockpot breakfast casserole. I thought this would be perfect on Christmas morning, you put it on the night before and then it's ready when you wake up. Greg and I both liked it, but I wouldn't make it for just any weekend breakfast. I'd only make it if we had company because it makes a ton.

Source: alattewithotta.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

The second recipe I tried was a crock pot macaroni and cheese. I really wanted to find a homemade macaroni and cheese recipe to start having as part of Thanksgiving and Christmas. This was perfect! It's made in the crock pot, so it doesn't take up any space in the oven or on top of the stove, it makes a ton, and it was delicious. This is another thing I wouldn't make unless we had guests because it just makes way too much.

Source: lifeinthegreenhouse.com via Samantha on Pinterest

And last, I made Paula Deen's "Not Yo Mamma's Banana Pudding". I've been wanting to try a banana pudding recipe, and I've been seeing this one floating around several different blogs, so I decided to go ahead and try it. Every blog I read said that they didn't use the pepperidge farms cookies that the recipe calls for and instead used vanilla wafers, so I did too. This was really good, it doesn't say to let it sit overnight, but it really needs too. This recipe was really inexpensive and easy to make.

Source: pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Next week, I have some healthier recipes planned that I found, like one for baked pickles. Mmmm...