Perfect for Saturday brunch...

Thank you Pillsbury for making my Saturday morning! A girlfriend was coming over for brunch in about an hour and I opened the refrigerator to pull out the ingredients to make a frittata... and I realized I had forgotten to purchase more eggs when I was at the grocery store. As you may or may not know, you can't make much of a frittata with only 2 eggs... hmm... NOW WHAT?!

Pillsbury to the rescue!!! I went searching online and found the perfect recipe: Hashbrown Egg Cups.

Brunch ended up being a complete success ... we got to choose from fresh fruit, fresh baked banana muffins and my personal favorite... oh yeah, and the piping hot hasbrown egg cups.



So, in this post I'll show you how I made the hashbrown egg cups... it's so easy! And my friend can vouch for how yummy they were... and comforting and filling and cute ... all at the same time!



I started by combining prepared hashbrowns, grated cheese, green onions and salt/pepper.





Then I greased the oven-safe bowl and added the hashbrown/cheese mixture by shaping it and pressing it aganst the walls, to create a cup shape.



I placed the bowls on a baking sheet and slid them into a preheated oven...



Following Pillsbury's instructions, the hashbrowns baked for a while. In the meantime I scrambled the eggs and counted the minutes...

When the time was right I added the scrambled egg and topped it with a tad more grated cheese.







You want to make these... I promise!



And yes, I do believe we'll be having some for dinner this week too... 'cuz we're "breakfast for dinner" kind of people.





enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash

My hero-of-a-hubby woke up and informed me he's taking today off of work... WHAT?! We could've gone out last night and danced until the sun came up?! And you didn't tell me?! (HA!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!)


So, I guess we should do breakfast together... hmmm, what to make?! What to make?! Wait - what's in the pantry?!


Between the fridge, freezer and pantry we had the items for this hash... so it all came together quickly. What a nice surprise!!!



And once again, I'm the hero of the household...



My pantry shortcuts for this? They are the farthest from fancy/culinary cuisine... but I still believe in keeping "ready-serve" bacon and freeze-dried hash browns in the pantry. They always seem to come in handy in a pinch... especially this morning! Yay for pantry power!!!


Now he's jamming on his guitar and I'm in day-off heaven! life is good...



Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
5 slices bacon, diced
1/4 pound breakfast sausage, cooked/crumbled
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup cheddar cheese
½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
1 ½ - 2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup cottage cheese
Pinch kosher salt/red pepper flakes

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Warm large cast iron skillet over medium heat.

In cast iron skillet, cook bacon and onion in butter. Add pinch of salt to help draw out onion juices. If using already cooked/crumbled sausage, add to mix at end of cooking. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add cheddar, Monterey jack and cottage cheeses. Stir in hash browns. Add onion/bacon/sausage mixture; mix well. Transfer ingredients back to skillet and place in oven. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool/stand for 10 minutes before serving.



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

A brunch and a new quiche

This morning I hosted a brunch for a small group of gals. We laughed. We sat around. We laughed some more.

But more importantly we enjoyed Lemon Deluxe Bars, a new quiche (recipe below), banana bread and some fresh fruit. Oh yeah... and maybe a mimosa (or two)!

Well you might remember another quiche... but in my opinion, this is much better without the sausage. So here's the recipe for the best Chile Relleno Quiche you'll ever taste! You can thank me later...

Chile Rellenos Quiche
Recipe handed down from a friend of Gramma H’s

Ingredients
10 large eggs
1 pint cottage cheese (any style)
1 teaspoon baking powder
10 drops of Tabasco sauce
½ cup flour
1 pound Monterey jack cheese, shredded
7 ounce can of diced green chiles, undrained
½ cup butter, melted

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

In a blender, blend the following ingredients – eggs, cottage cheese, baking powder, Tabasco sauce and flour.

In a large bowl, combine jack cheese, green chiles and butter. Add blended mixture to bowl and mix well.

Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish and pour in mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for another 25-30 minutes.


You'll want to make this tomorrow...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...