Another week and another snow. This winter is just trudging along. As Brenden and I prepared for the storm and our day of being snowed in we decide to make a comfort food dish. And what is more of a comfort food then a cheesy, potato, hash-like casserole dish? An easy to prepare one. So we ran to the store to get the two ingredients we didn't have and then bundled ourselves up for the night.
We divided the tasks in the recipe and prepared our dish. It was as easy as 1, 2, 3. Brenden diced the potatoes and chicken. I layered, poured, and sprinkled. We popped the casserole into the oven and waited with anticipation as the cheese began to bubble and the aroma filled the room.
This meal really hit the spot. It was warm and cozy. (Yes I know cozy is a weird word to describe food, but you know the feeling right?) Everything was cooked perfectly and the cheese and cream made the hearty potatoes and chicken come together are one. The dish was rich and flavorful without being overpowering, and it filled us up with satisfaction for the night.
Potato Chicken Bake
Recipe adapted from deliciousasitlooks.com, Loaded Baked Potato Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
4 medium russet potatoes, washed, half peeled, and diced
- Cooking Spray
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
- 1.5 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenhiet.
- Spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Spread half of the diced potatoes along the bottom of the pan.
- Place the diced chicken breasts evenly on top.
- Season the chicken with 1/4 tsp of both salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheese and half of the green onions.
- Spread the remaining diced potatoes on top.
- Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese, the rest of the green onions and another 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
- Pour the heavy cream over top of the casserole.
- Dot with butter pieces.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes.
- In the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over top the casserole so it melts.
- Remove and serve.
Since last night was Thanksgiving, Brenden and I obviously did not have our typical Thursday night date night dinner. Now hold you horses, I know what you are thinking, no dinner?! You have been waiting all week for this very moment, a new delicious recipe, and I let something like Thanksgiving stand in the way?! Don't worry, I wouldn't let you down that easily. Although it wasn't a date night dinner we were very excited to try our date "morning" Thanksgiving inspired breakfast! And we had a right to be excited as it was amazing and a definite keeper. And, if you are anything like us, and like breakfast for dinner, there is no doubt that this would make a stupendous breakfast for dinner, dinner. MMM :)
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| I know, our Turkey hats are pretty awesome. It is okay to be jealous :) |
The anticipation was killing me ever since I found this recipe via
Pinterest almost a week ago. It sounded super delicious to me. Plus a fun morning cooking with Brenden leading to a tasty breakfast to fill my tummy pre-Thanksgiving dinner would be the perfect way to take my mind off not being able to run in the turkey trot I had been planning to participant in with my cousin and his friend since we ran it last year. I was psyched to get back on the course with my turkey hat a whip out a personal best time. But, injuries got the best of me and I had to reconsider. My cousin later told me that it was a good race as usual, the weather held out and he ran a great race and time. Congrats to him! And, I am excited to hopefully be back on my feet to join him next year. But, enough rambling about that, back to the breakfast that made up for it!
When I saw this sweet potato based recipe, I instantly thought Thanksgiving (after all sweet potatoes are my favorite part of the meal, next to the stuffing of course). But this dish would be great anytime of year, especially in fall. Plain white potatoes could be substituted to make it a less seasonally inspired meal. Honestly, pretty much anything in this dish could be substituted to transform it into something you want, after all it is basically a baked hash, and, a hash (in my eyes) is simply ingredients you enjoy mixed together. But definitely start with this version because it may turn out that you don't want to alter it after taking a bite! Brenden said he loved it but would add his favorite breakfast staple, corned beef hash, next time. I thought it covered all the flavors (and food groups) as it was.
Twice Baked Sweet Potato Casserole
Recipe adapted from juliasalbum.com Stuffed Sweet Potatoes For Breakfast
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 lb breakfast turkey sausage, casings removed
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Rinse sweet potatoes in cool water to remove all the excess dirt on the outside.
- Place sweet potatoes on a baking tray and bake for 55-60 minutes.
- Remove and cool sweet potatoes.
- When able to handle, cut each sweet potato in half.
- Scoop out the middle of the sweet potatoes with a knife or spoon, placing the piece into a medium bowl.
- Mash the insides into small chunks with a masher potato masher or fork and set aside. (If the potatoes are still a little hard you can heat them in a skillet and mash in there on low heat).
- Cook the turkey sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking into small chunks until no longer pink.
- Drain fat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together
- Pour into the same skillet you cooked the sausage and scramble over medium-low heat, or until nice and fluffy.
- Once eggs are cooked, turn heat to low and combine the sausage and sweet potatoes.
- Turn your oven on to broil.
- Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Pour in half of the egg mixture, forming an even layer.
- Sprinkle half of you cheddar cheese on top.
- Pour the remaining egg mixture, forming a second layer.
- Sprinkle the second half of the cheese evenly on top.
- Place dish in the oven, watching carefully until cheese is melted but not burnt (above 5 minutes).
- Remove from oven, cool until warm, and gobble it up (pun intended).
Yes, another bubble bake. What can I say?! Adding biscuits to a casserole is genius and makes it that much more appetizing. In fact, adding those flaky buttery biscuits to any dish or even on their own is delicious and brings a smile straight to Brenden and my face and heart. Ok, apparently we are having a slightly unrealistic love affair with food, but the biscuits haven't let us down yet, so why not give them another try? And that is exactly what we did.
Our first
mexican inspired bubble bake was so fantastic that when we stumbled upon a breakfast one, we couldn't pass it up! Why you ask? Well let me tell you. Breakfast food is delicious to begin with, but breakfast for dinner just makes it that much better. And, in the words of Joey (from
F.R.I.E.N.D.S.), "What's not to like? [Eggs], good. [Cheese], good. Meat, good. [Biscuits], gooooood!"
And so it was settled, a bubble bake we would make. And this simple, flavorful recipe did not disappoint. With an easy and quick prep time, minimal but flavorful ingredients, and fast clean up this dish is defiantly a keeper. It was gone in only two days, but again could stretch out for a few meals if you don't have the appetites of a baby elephant as we seem to have. By hey, it is breakfast food, so it is guilt free right?! Okay, maybe not completely but it is defiantly on the healthier side. There is so much worse I we could have eaten, like those new
mint Oreos we gobbled up for dessert, or even better, the holiday themed ones. Yum! But enough rambling. Try it out, let me know what you think, and then tell me if you can stop at just one serving!
Breakfast Casserole Bubble Bake
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 lb turkey breakfast sausage
- 1 tube refrigerated biscuits
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 small can diced green chilis
- 7 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk and it still worked out perfectly, making the eggs nice and fluffy)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Cook sausage on medium-high heat in a skillet, breaking into small pieces, until no longer pink.
- Once cooked, drain excess fat and set aside.
- Divide biscuits and cut each into 8 pieces. (I used six out of the eight biscuits that came in my tube, but you can eyeball it depending on the ratio of biscuit to egg you would like - just remember they rise and get bigger!)
- Spray a 9x13in casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Place biscuits along the bottom of the dish in an even layer.
- Add the cooked sausage to the casserole dish, making a layer on top of the uncooked biscuits.
- Sprinkle cheese on top of sausage layer.
- Add a layer of the green chilis.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, salt and pepper until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over everything in the casserole dish.
- Place casserole dish in the oven for 30 minutes (A knife should come out clean when inserted into the center of the dish to signify it is fully cooked. Note, the cheese might make it seem like the egg is undercooked, but it is just melty, so don't worry too much because it is delish.)
- Once fully cooked, let it cool for a few minutes, serve and enjoy every bite.
