I Return, Bearing Breakfast

So, it's been a minute since I've posted, huh? Life is so busy with work, derby, and ... well, mostly more roller derby. But with all that derby, a girl's gotta eat! The hope is to get back into blogging some of my favorite recipes, most of which make leftovers that are easy to grab on the way to work.

I've made breakfast casserole on this blog before, like 4 years ago, and it's still delicious. But I've made this one twice now and it's the BEST.

You'll need about $12 worth of ingredients (which works out to $3/meal—way cheaper than anything I can get out): eggs, mushrooms, cheese, veggie sausage patties, frozen hash browns, and salsa. Of course you could use a different kind of cheese, other veggies, real sausage, etc. Customize it however, but I'm telling you that this is a great combo right here. If my grocery store would have had spicy sausage, I'd be even happier.

Start by putting five hash brown patties and four sausage patties (all frozen) into a 9x9 pan. Throw this all in the oven at 375-ish while you prep the rest.

Wash your mushrooms. I just buy whatever-is-cheapest mushrooms from my non-fancy grocery store. This time it happened to be pre-sliced baby portabellas. Just rinse them a couple times under the sink.

Crack six eggs into a bowl or large cup, and whisk them with a fork. I know some people add salt, pepper, milk, etc., to their eggs. You can. I don't. It's totally unnecessary, IMO.

The hash browns and sausage should be thawed a bit now. Leave the potatoes on the bottom of the dish, but break up the sausage with a spatula or knife.

Throw those crumbles back on top of the potatoes.

Then cover with the mushrooms. The pre-sliced ones from the store look huge, but they're really going to be fine. I promise.

Then dump on about half a medium-sized jar of salsa. You know what's cool about this? It's going to look like you cut up onions, tomatoes, and peppers. But you didn't. You were lazy and used salsa because I told you to.

Even that out with the spatula.

Pour the whisked eggs over top.

Even out the eggs with the same fork you mixed them up with. Don't use the spatula, because then it'll still be egg-free and you can use it later!

So throw this all back in the oven and go do something else for however long it takes the egg to set up. It should look something like this. If you poke into it, it's going to look kind of water like it isn't set. That's just the liquids from the ingredients, I promise. Go by the set look of the top.

Now add the cheese. I love shredded sharp cheddar. It does give the final product a bit of a bite, so you could use something milder. Slices also work fine. Whatever you like or have on hand! This is about 3/4 of a bag here, so 1.5 cups.

Throw it back in the oven until the cheese is all melty and/or crispy. I prefer crispy cheeses, but to each their own.

Let this chill out on the counter for 10 minutes or so. Then cut into four or six portions with the spatula. I use a thin metal spatula so that it cuts through all the mushrooms and crispy hash brown crust. It looks kinda "meh," but it's a casserole, you know? It tastes like happiness and comfort. It divides into Tupperware easily for leftovers. It's not a beautiful dish.

As prepared here, each quarter of the pan is 500 calories, almost exactly. This is about what I try to hit for my meals, so it works out well for me. And it's so satisfying and filling that I'm rarely hungry before the next mealtime, which is rare for me!

So, what do you think? Want more recipes like this soon? Comment below! And let me know if you try it because I want to know how it works out for you guys.



Breakfast Casserole
(serves 4)

5 frozen hash browns
4 frozen vegetarian sausage patties
1 package sliced mushrooms
1/2 jar salsa
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Put hash browns in a 9x9 glass pan. Add sausage patties on top. Put in oven.
3. Wash mushrooms. Crack eggs into a dish, and whisk.
4. Remove pan from oven. Break up sausage and return to pan.
5. Cover with mushrooms.
6. Cover with salsa, and smooth out.
7. Pour eggs over top, and smooth out.
8. Return to the oven, and bake until eggs are set.
9. Remove from oven and cover with cheese.
10. Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted as desired.
11. Return from oven, and let dish set for 10 minutes.
12. Eat. Enjoy. Tell me how much you love it.