Breakfast Casserole

I should probably make my friend Chrissy a co-author of this blog, since so many of my great recipes come from her. If you're like me, you've probably had a few too many breakfast casseroles in your life: usually dry, crumbly, filled with nasty American cheese and too much sausage. Allow me to introduce you to a completely different breakfast casserole. A more sophisticated one.

Breakfast Casserole
From: Chrissy
Serves: 8-12

You'll need:
4 slices thick bread, cubed (Chrissy uses sourdough; I used homemade white)
1 lb  ham, cut into small cubes
12 eggs
1 c sour cream
1 c milk
3 green onions, chopped (save dark green tops for garnish on top)
1 1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Give your 9"x13" casserole dish a light coating of non-stick spray. Layer the cubes of bread evenly in the pan. Top with the cubed ham.

Beat together all 12 eggs...

... the sour cream, and the milk. Stir in the green onions and 1 cup of the cheese. Pour this mixture evenly over the top of the ham and bread. Top with the remaining cheese and the tops of the green onions. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour, until the top has puffed up and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Basically, until it looks like this:

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Cincinnati-Style Chili

One of the sad parts about living the military life is that you're often forced to live far away from regional chain stores and restaurants that are near and dear to your heart. For me, Skyline Chili is one of those places (along with Hobby Lobby and my true love, Steak N Shake). Living far from Ohio meant that finding a way to make my own "Skyline" chili was a necessity. This was a lucky google find from cooks.com. It's not a perfect replica of Skyline's recipe, but it is really excellent Cincinnati-style chili. Of course, that means you have to serve it Cincinnati-style: either on a hot dog with shredded cheddar and diced onions, or (my favorite) over spaghetti noodles with shredded cheddar and diced onion. And of course, a bottle of hot sauce on the side.

For those of you whose life has sadly not included Cincinnati-style chili so far, allow me to try to explain how this is different from any other chili you've ever had. If you look at the ingredient list, you'll notice a lot of flavor you don't usually find in chili - like cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and - yes, I really mean it - chocolate. It looks bizarre to see these listed next to vinegar, cayenne, and garlic, I know. But the result is a sweet-and-spicy combination that will blow your mind. If you've never had Skyline before, do yourself a favor and make a half-recipe and give it a try. For those of you like me who wanted to bring Skyline home - here's your chance!

Cincinnati-Style Chili
From: here
Serves: 8

You'll need:
3 lb lean ground beef (your beef will not be drained, so fattier beef means greasier chili)
2 qt water
2 lg onions, diced
2 (16 oz) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
29 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 c chili powder
2 T white vinegar
2 t cinnamon
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground cloves
hot sauce to taste (Take it easy - just a few dashes for now. You can add more on your plate, but you don't want to cover up all those spices.)

In a large kettle, heat your water to boiling. While the water is heating, use your fingers to crumble the raw ground beef into little pieces into the kettle.

Appetizing, right? It gets better. Add the onions and simmer for 30 minutes.

When 30 minutes is up, throw everything else in the kettle.

Stir it in. And voilà... your kitchen (and soon your entire house) will now smell like a Skyline restaurant.

So now the hard part: let it simmer on low, uncovered, for 2-3 hours. That's right... you have to wait. Just tell yourself it will be worth it to have all those flavors married together. It will also reduce down to a nice, thick consistency.

When the interminable waiting is over, boil your spaghetti, grate your cheddar, finely dice your onion, and sit down with your plateful of heaven.

BBQ Hamburgers

I think this recipe is especially appropriate this time of year. After all, what are you going to do with those leftover hamburgers after your cookout? Let's face it - reheated hamburger is not an exciting dinner.

It's about to be.

Mix up the easy sauce. Put your fully cooked burgers in the sauce. Simmer on the stove or freeze and enjoy later. Could life be any easier?

Definitely a knife-and-fork sandwich. It probably seems like a lot of sauce, but trust me, you'll want to pile it on.

BBQ Hamburgers
From: My mom
Makes: flexible - up to 8 burgers

You'll need:
2 onions, diced
2 T butter or margarine
2 c ketchup
2 c water
1 c BBQ sauce
few dashes Worcestershire sauce
up to 8 fully cooked hamburgers

Saute your onions in the butter in a saucepan. When they're tender, add all the other ingredients (except for the burgers), stirring well over medium-low heat. Add your burgers, cover, and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes.

I served it with these awesome potato rounds. I know, healthy. Come on, I had some fruit.

Cheese & Bacon Potato Rounds

Ever look at a recipe and think, There's no way this would NOT be delicious? This is one of those recipes.

You had me at "cheese" and "bacon."

Bonus: Super easy. Five ingredients.

Cheese & Bacon Potato Rounds
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves: 4

You'll need:
4 medium baking potatoes, cut into 1/2" slices
2-3 T butter
salt & pepper
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp, of course)
1/3 c green onions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of the potato slices with melted butter; place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on both sides, turning halfway through cooking time. When the potatoes are done, top with the bacon, cheese, and green onions. Put the cookie sheet back in the oven until this...

... turns into this.

Serve with sour cream for dipping and enjoy.

Homemade Hummus

On today's lunch menu... homemade hummus! I discovered hummus two summers ago, when I was pregnant with Rebecca, and ate it All. Summer. Long. However, $3.29 for a container from the deli got to be kind of an expensive habit. And then I remembered that I have a food processor... which is basically all you need. Everything you need to make this is probably already in your kitchen, except for maybe the chickpeas (which are cheap and easy to find) and tahini. When I first found this recipe, I had absolutely no idea what tahini is. (If you are a more cultured person than me and already know what tahini is, skip this part.) After asking several commissary employees (who also had no idea), I finally found it. Turns out tahini is a paste made of sesame seeds. I found it with the ethnic foods; it's from the Middle East. (Makes sense, right?)

This is your priciest ingredient, but you only use a couple of tablespoons in each batch... see the Math Section below. Its consistency is like natural peanut butter in that it separates into oil and paste, so make sure you really stir it before you use it. The rest is easy.

As far as crediting the recipe, all I can say is that I adapted it from a recipe that I tore out of a magazine. Unfortunately, since I literally tore out this corner of a page, I can't tell you what magazine it was. My guess is Family Circle or possibly Better Homes & Gardens.

Homemade Hummus

Yield: 1 1/4 cups

You'll need:

1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 T lemon juice

2 T tahini

2 T olive oil

1/2 t cumin (or more... I really, really love cumin)

1/2 t salt

Put all your ingredients in a food processor and blend until you've got a smooth paste. Tah-dah!

(Not the most photogenic food, is it? Brown paste. Trust me, it tastes great.)

My favorite ways to eat hummus: on Triscuits with cheddar cheese and diced tomato...

Or, just dig in with some Tostitos. Yum.

The Math Section:

The jar of tahini cost me about $4, but since there are 16 2-tablespoon servings in the jar, that's only $.25 for each batch of hummus. So, $.59 for the chickpeas + $.25 for tahini + mere pennies for your other pantry staples = a beautiful bowl of hummus for less than $1. Also, it would be ridiculously easy to experiment with the recipe. Spinach? Garlic? Roasted red pepper? Try them all! Why would you ever buy hummus again?

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go open another bag of Tostitos...

M&M Cookies

Here's a family recipe that I've loved for as long as I can remember. My mom used to make these every Christmas... I find that I can't go a whole year without making them at least a few times!

They are fantastic warm out of the oven, and they stay fresh for quite a while (if you can keep from eating them all immediately).

They also make great holiday desserts, if you buy the Christmas M&Ms, Easter M&Ms, etc.

M&M Cookies

Yield: 3-5 dozen, depending on size

You'll need:

1 c shortening

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 t vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 c flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 1/2 c (or more) plain M&Ms, divided (plus some to snack on while you're baking)

Cream shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix. Stir in half the M&Ms. Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate the tops with the rest of the M&Ms. Bake at 350 degrees (or 325 degrees for dark/non-stick pan) for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Don't over-bake! Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Chicken Ranch Pizza

Here it is... my very first post! I found this recipe at Pennies on a Platter via Pinterest. The only change I made was to use my own recipe for the crust.

It reminds me of my favorite sub at Subway. This got me thinking about other toppings that would be great on the pizza. Shredded iceberg lettuce? Pickled banana peppers? Hot sauce? You could go a lot of directions with this one.

Chicken Ranch Pizza

Adapted from Pennies on a Platter

Yield: 12-inch pizza

You'll need:

1 prepared (12-inch) pizza dough

1/4 c ranch dressing

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cooked chicken breast, cut into very small pieces

6 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1 tomato, seeded and diced small

1/4 c sliced green onions

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to the temperature directed for your crust. Shape dough and place on prepped pizza stone or greased metal pan. Evenly spread the ranch dressing over the crush, leaving a 1/2" border for the outer crush. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese, then layer the chicken, bacon, tomato, and green onions. Top with the cheddar cheese. Bake according to your crust recipe's directions.

P.S. I added hot sauce when I ate the leftovers - OH YES!