Breakfast Worth Falling For

Hi there! It's been awhile. Last weekend I didn't make or post anything since I was out of town, and couldn't even convince the husband to take on a crock pot meal of his own since he was out of town as well. So this past weekend, I was back at it and made two crock pot meals to compensate. First up: an overnight breakfast casserole.

Generally, I'm not a big breakfast person, primarily because I don't really like eggs all that much. I've tried, really, really tried to like them, but I just can't eat them without cheese, breakfast meat, and preferably a biscuit. So basically, I usually like them when I can't taste them all that much. My man, on the other hand, LOVES breakfast. A lot. Like almost as much as Ron Swanson loves breakfast.

 I decided to make this casserole because:

1. I knew he'd like it.
2. With the list of ingredients to balance out the egg, I knew I'd like it.
3. I knew I'd want a big breakfast (something more than cereal and yogurt) after my 17 mile run on Saturday.

 Now, before I get in to the recipe, let me back it up a little bit to Wednesday. Wednesday evening was lovely - perfect weather for the 8 mile run I was slated to do. Since I've been running longer distances with a group, and since someone I work with convinced me that I would most certainly be attacked if I wore headphones while running alone, I have stopped listening to music while I run. That being said, 8 miles is kind of a lot to run alone without any tunes. Spending this much time alone, continuously moving can often be a nice thing, and reminds me of my swimming days, when I'd spend hours everyday with my head underwater, staring at a black line (at least running outside has a lot more to offer visually). Just shy of 4 miles into my run, I was thinking about my upcoming 17 miler and daydreaming of what I'd have for breakfast afterward when BAM! All of a sudden I found myself face to face with the sidewalk. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I tripped and fell, scraping and bruising my knee, and somehow managing to bruise my chest by kneeing myself as I fell (it's ok if you're laughing trying to picture this, I'm laughing thinking about it). Have I mentioned I'm the clumsiest person I know? Not only was I already thinking about Saturday's breakfast on Wednesday evening, but after falling while thinking about it, I decided it better be GOOD when I actually got around to eating it.

After a weekend away, I was looking forward to a pretty relaxing weekend at home, so 10:30 pm on Friday night was the perfect time to get cooking on this dish. Luckily it was a pretty quick preparation so I was able to get back to my wild night of partying couch.

Ingredients:

• 1lb turkey breakfast sausage (or pork breakfast sausage, your preference)
• 1-20oz bag of hashbrowns (refrigerated, not frozen)
• 10 eggs
• 1/4 c of milk
• 1 tbsp ground mustard
• Salt & pepper
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Brown the sausage in a skillet
2. While the sausage is browning, whisk the eggs and milk in a bowl; add the ground mustard and a dash each of salt and pepper
3. Place a layer of hashbrowns in the crock pot, just enough to cover the bottom
4. Cover with about half of the browned sausage
5. Cover the sausage with 1 cup of the cheese; repeat layers of hashbrowns, sausage and cheese

 

6. Pour egg mixture over the layers
7. Cover the crock pot and cook on low overnight, about 7-8 hours
8. Wake up and enjoy!


I've recently noticed that our crock pot seems to cook faster than what most recipes recommend for cook times, so keep that in mind if you make this one, especially regarding the eggs. It may be best to make this when you're either going to bed late or waking up early so you can keep more of an eye on it. When I woke up after about 7 hours of cooking, the edges were already starting to brown, so at that point I decided to switch it from low to "keep warm". I knew the hubs wouldn't be awake until after 8, so I didn't want to risk the eggs overcooking (and they didn't), and it was still perfect when I got home at 10:30. Of course, he added ketchup mixed with a little Sriracha, and I just ate it plain. You can see that he was so excited to try it before I got home that this is the only post-cooking picture I managed...

I also popped some Pillsbury Homestyle biscuits in the oven before digging in to this breakfast (if ever I can find a way to include a biscuit with my breakfast, I most certainly will). They bake for 13-17 minutes, so be sure to start them a little before you plan to eat.

Check back soon for our Sunday Jambalaya dinner recipe!