3 Quarters Today

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Day 83/365: Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

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Day 83: Breakfast Egg Casserole
Day 83: Breakfast Egg Casserole

I don’t know why I procrastinate in posting to my 365 Blog, I really do take pictures everyday. But, I seem to wait until the end of the week and post everything at once and try and catch up. This leaves me with an empty blog for several days and my statistics crash and burn.  Since I’m goal oriented and like to challenge myself the decrease in viewing numbers is not a pretty site.  So now I’m going to spread out the posts to just once a day and do a better job of twitter updates and lets see how that works.

Today is another recipe. I had teenage boys over for an Xbox Black Ops party last weekend, which means they stayed up until 4 am, something like that. It also means they slept until almost noon. To help wake them up I prepared an breakfast egg and sausage casserole. Not only is this is easy to make, but it’s a great way to use stale Italian/French bread and there are so many variations that you can create your own variety every time.

I used a silicon pan, just got this last year, haven’t decided whether I like them or not. I’m a traditionalist and silicon cookware doesn’t have the rigidity of metal. But there are benefits, as I learned from the Shakin N’ Bakin blog, silicon bakeware doesn’t need to be greased or oiled and it cools down quickly after being taken out of the oven. It’s also not supposed to stain, but mine did. I do have a few other pieces I’m going to try out. I’ll let you know how I like them.

Egg and Sausage Breakfast CasseroleRecipe

Ingredients

  • Sausage (ground, link, or patties, ham can also be used)
  • Bread (I used Italian, but stale bread works best)
  • 1 cup cheese
  • 8 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • Dried Mustard
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Onions (other veggies can be added, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms)
  • Sweet Basil (optional, I like sweet basil on everything)

Directions

Cube the bread and place in the bottom of a casserole dish, layer the sausage pieces, cheese, and vegetables, until ingredients are gone. Sprinkle each layer with salt, pepper, dried mustard, and sweet basil.  Scramble the eggs and milk in a bowl. Slowly pour over the layered ingredients making sure to soak the pieces of bread. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for approximately 25 minutes or until the eggs are set.

Photoshop Notes: general layers and resizing, brightened and added slight contrast. Biggest edit was cleaning my stove on the computer. Thought it was clean, but had grease splatters from cooking the sausage, so I cloned out the spots.

Day 51/365: Home Made Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Again it’s soup time. I would call this Chicken Noodle Soup, but my son said it didn’t have the right kind of noodles and had too many vegetables, so it’s homemade chicken vegetable soup instead. Regardless, David had two servings, so it must of been pretty good. What more can I say about soup that I haven’t already said.

Homemade soup is ideal for anyone on a budget and who wants to save money. I buy raw carrots, celery, and onions, chop and freeze for easy use and then use frozen corn (better yet free farm corn from my neighbor), or add beans. When I find chicken on sale I stock up and put it in the freezer. Easy and economical.

  • Chicken $1.99/lb (3 lb chicken = $3.01 divided by 2 for another meal)
  • Onions $1.79 divided by 4 batches
  • Carrots $1.49 divided by 4 batches
  • Celery 0.99 bunch divided by 4 batches
  • Frozen Corn $1.00/bag divided by 2 batches
  • Seasonings (buy once use multiple times) $4.00

The onions, carrots and celery you chop and freeze for future batches of soup and the seasonings you can also use for future recipes. In the end you can make a over a gallon of soup for less than $5.00 a pot and less than 0.35 per serving. That is saving my friends.

I used some frozen chicken broth I had saved in the freezer (that reminds me I need to make some more) and just went into my refrigerator for the ingredients.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade Chicken Soup

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

  • 10-12 cups chicken broth (I don’t measure, I just what I have to fill the pot)
  • 1-3 cups Additional water (if you need it, I didn’t this time)
  • 4 chopped cooked chicken breasts (prepared and waiting in my freezer)
  • 1 cup carrots
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup celery
  • 2 TBSP dried ground parsley (Grind in your palm to release more flavor)
  • 1 tsp onion powder (or include real onion)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 2 cups pasta (use whatever you have) Add last 15 minutes

Add all the ingredients together in the order listed above in a large pot, with the exception of the pasta. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for an hour. Add pasta, increase heat to med low and simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Freeze leftovers for tasty meals later. My soup pot is rarely put away during the winter and my favorite freezer containers are the Ziplock Twist and Lock bowls. It is VERY important to have a secure lid when packing soup for lunch. I don’t want my soup spilling all over the car during my commute or in my lunchbox.

T-fal A92280 Specialty Nonstick Stockpot Stock Pot, 12-Quart, BlackZiploc Twist ‘N Loc , Medium Round, Containers & Lids, 2-Count (Pack of 2)The BrokeAss Gourmet CookbookFamily Feasts for $75 a Week: A Penny-wise Mom Shares Her Recipe for Cutting Hundreds from Your Monthly Food BillFreezer Meals: 39 Gluten Free Meals From Freezer To Crockpot Plus Shopping List To Save Time And Money-Cook On A Budget And Eliminate Gluten … Cooking, Freezer Crockpot Meals) (Volume 6)

 

More Homemade Soup Recipes

Day 45/365: Beef and Barley Soup

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Day 45: Beef & Barley Soup

It’s time for food again, specifically soup since it’s still winter. This is another version of my Beef & Barley Soup, each version varies slightly depending on what I have in the refrigerator as leftovers. I love soup, with a little planning it’s so easy, and simple. I keep chopped celery, onions,  carrots, pre-cooked hamburger  in the freezer along with frozen stock and it all goes in the pot together in less than 5 minutes.

The joy of homemade stock/broth. Stock is a bit heartier and gives homemade soup a hearty flavor, nice and rich. What I make is more like broth, but it accomplishes the same thing. You can buy chicken stock from the grocery store in boxes, cans, or even bullion cubes (only if your desperate on the cubes…) if you don’t have any prepared, but homemade is healthier, less salt, and I think tastier.

For those who haven’t saved or made their own stock it’s easy, really. I save chicken broth, potato water (from boiling potatoes for mashing), pork drippings, (just add some water to the juice at the bottom of pan), and lately even the drained water from corn. Okay, purist will say this isn’t stock, but broth, but I get wonderful results in the end, so who’s to say I’m wrong.

When I roast a whole chicken for supper I put the leftover carcass in a big pot, add water to the top, bring to a boil, then simmer for oh…an hour, maybe two. Sometimes I’ll throw in some celery or onions for added flavor, but it’s not necessary, especially since I’m putting all those ingredients in the soup. Then I pull out the bones and put the liquid and chicken meat bits in plastic containers (glad containers, ziplock, orange juice jugs, ice cream buckets, whatever I have) and store in the freezer.

Recently I had a couple pieces of leftover chicken that didn’t get eaten, a leg and thigh. I put them in a smaller pot and made 2 cups of stock. Easy, easy.

Now that I’ve covered stock/broth let’s get to the recipe, remember exact amounts are NOT crucial, soup is a magical food that is actually hard to mess up. More water can be added if the mixture is too thick.

Ingredients

  • 8 cups stock
  • 16 oz fine stewed tomatoes (I used my homemade with celery, onion, carrots)
  • 1 1/2 lbs cooked hamburger (I prepare 5 lbs ahead of time and put in 1 lb bags in freezer)
  • 1 cup green beans
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup diced or sliced carrots
  • 2 TBSP dried parsley
  • 1 TBSP dried sweet basil
  • 1 tsp black pepper (to taste)
  • 1 tsp Lowrys Seasoning Salt (my daughter calls this “special salt”)
  • 1 cup barley (added the last hour)

Directions

Add all the ingredients except the barley, bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Then add barley. Simmer for an additional 45 minutes or until the barley is tender. Makes approximately 12 one cup servings. Eat, and freeze leftovers in single serving containers for later. If you have any.

When is it done? I tell my kids when you can smell it outside it’s done. My Marine son recently tested this method when he was home on leave. The aroma was driving him crazy inside, his sister came home and said “What smells so good? I could smell it from outside” Nathan declared. “Soups done!”

More Soup and Stew Recipes

Day 22/365: Homemade Clam Chowder

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New England Clam Chowder is one of my favorite soups, normally I open a can of Campbells Chunky soup, but since I’ve had success in making homemade soup I thought I would give it a try. Yes the recipe is below. Some of my favorite recipes are from Taste of Home and rarely do I follow a recipe to the letter and this was no exception.

The result was wonderful and was given the thumbs up from my friend Beth and my daughter.

Day 22: Homemade Clam Chowder

Nebraska Clam Chowder

  • 4 potatoes, cubed
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup chicken broth (or chicken bouillon cube and 1 additional cup water)
  • 8 oz Clamato juice
  • 1 med onion finely chopped
  • 1 celery rib, chopped
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 TBSp all purpose flour (cornstarch or whole wheat flour can also be used)
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2 cans chopped clams (called for draining, I used juice)
  • 2/3 cup process cheese (Velvetta)
  • 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

In a large saucepan, combine the above ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce hear; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, combine flour and cold water until smooth. Stir into potato mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce hear. Add clams and cheese; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Stire in milk, heat through.

Yield: 9 servings

Feel free to add more potatoes, onions, chopped carrots, cheese,  other seafood, or dill according to your taste. Soup is wonderfully forgiving and invites creativity. If a thicker soup is desired use more flour or cornstarch.

Pork and Beef Enchiladas

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It has been a while since I posted about food, although I have been preparing, consuming and photographing my food all year. The difficult part is remembering the recipe. But in cooking the recipe is only the starting point, I’m all about being creative and flexibility is a must in my kitchen.

I only use recipes as guidelines, and often I just “wing it”, this is one of those times.

Pork and Beef Enchiladas

  • Ingredients:
  • 1 package flour tortillas
  • 1 can Refried Beans
  • 1 Pckg shredded Mexican cheese
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 can Green Chile & Pork
  • Homemade salsa
  • 1 lb hamburger (pre-cooked, frozen and thawed)

Directions

  1. Pour Green Chile mixture into sauce pan, add thawed cooked hamburger, and 1/4 cup salsa,  heat and stir.
  2. Using a large pan or cookie sheet, pour salsa on the bottom and dip tortillas.
  3. Stack tortillas on plate and microwave on high for 20-30 seconds. (this makes them soft and flexible)
  4. Spoon meat/chili mixture across the tortilla, spread refried beans on tortilla, top with cheese.
  5. Roll tortilla and place on cookie sheet, flap side down,
  6. Repeat and nestle enchiladas next to each other.
  7. Mix tomato sauce with appox. 1 cup salsa and pour over enchiladas. (add any of the left over “bits” from the dipping the tortillas)
  8. Sprinkle liberally with cheese
  9. Bake at 350F until cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through (approximately 20 min)

My intention is to freeze leftovers, but they don’t last long enough at my house. Excellent as leftovers the next day.

Enjoy!!

Finished & Ready to Eat!