Breakfast Casserole

Here at the C house we got a surprise when we came home from a shopping trip on Friday night - our refrigerator croaked!  Thankfully between our basement freezer and the mini fridge Mr. C uses for beer (now all in the garage) we were able to rearrange things and find spots for almost everything.  Even so, the last two days we've been trying to make meals that use up cold things.  Here's what I decided to do with some of the fridge and freezer groceries we needed to use up.

Ingredients:

3 cups hash brown potatoes

1 cup chopped bell peppers

1/4 cup diced onions

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup salsa

4oz (about two cups) shredded cheese

8oz cubed ham steak

8 eggs

1/4 cup milk

salt, pepper, spritz of olive oil

1. Sauté peppers and onions with a little olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  I used very generous heaping measurements and wouldn't hesitate to make this again with even more.

Aren't they pretty?  While they're cooking...

2. Spread hash browns over the bottom of 2.5 quart baking dish.  I microwaved them for 3 minutes just to soften a little.

3. On top of the hash browns layer cooked peppers and onions, ham, spinach, and salsa.  

4. Beat eggs with milk.  Add salt and pepper, as well as any other spices you choose.

5. Gently pour the egg mixture over the casserole.

6. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  I used Colby.  Sorry, forgot to take a picture!

7. Bake in 375 degree oven for 50 minutes.

Not so pretty like this, but it set up well and was easy to cut and serve.

When I make this again I'd like to try a little less of the hash browns and more peppers, onions, and spinach.

There are lots of ways to play with this recipe!  How about broccoli and feta?  Bacon?  Vegetarian?  They all sound good!

Easter Eggs

I was in the store looking at a kit to dye Easter eggs and it was $3.  That's more than the eggs!  I'd seen on Pinterest that you could dye eggs with food coloring, (which now seems like an obvious method), so I opted to skip the kit and do it myself at home.  Here's how it worked out.

I followed the McCormick directions found here.  You need boiling water, white vinegar, food coloring, and the hard boiled eggs, of course.

I added 1/2 cup boiling water and 1tsp white vinegar to a water glass, then added the dye.

There are so many choices of colors to make!

The colors we made were:

Watermelon - 24 drops red, 2 drops blue

Yellow - 20 drops yellow

Jungle Green - 14 drops green, 6 drops yellow

Blue - 20 drops blue

Plum - 10 drops red, 4 drops blue

The only color I wouldn't choose to do again is the plum.  I thought it came out too brown and only made 1 because of it.

Last year little guy was only 6 months old at Easter so he just got to watch.  This year he had a great time coloring eggs with Mr. C.

Here are our finished eggs!  Happy Easter!

Coupon Shopping at Kohl's

With warm weather coming I've been busy putting together a summer wardrobe for my son.  I look for nicer clothing and shoes second hand but for casual play shirts I just can't justify paying $3 when I can get some brand new for almost the same price and on better condition.  When I wrote about shopping at consignment sales I mentioned that I have lots of ways to find kids clothes for a good deal.  Kohl's is a place I can find affordable things for my son.  I don't have many store credit cards, (just this one and Target), but I love my Kohl's card.  It is absolutely a store card worth having if you are going to shop there.  There are lots of sales and coupons that you can only take advantage of if you have a Kohl's card.

I was a little short on casual shirts for the little guy, so I was excited when I saw these coupons in my mailbox!  I went to Kohl's and found boys shirts on sale for $6.99, and after my $10 off coupon and 30% off, they were $3.49 each.  Though I would never ever pay it, 5 shirts could have cost me $70.  Yikes!

My little guy is almost ready for summer!  Today it snowed here but I'm holding on to hope that it will warm up soon!

Biscuit Donuts

This is a "too good to be true" simple idea that I've seen on Pinterest quite a few times.  I was at Real Deals this week and saw honey butter refrigerated biscuits for $1 so I decided to give it a try!  It is really just as easy as it looks and the donuts are delicious.

All you need is a can of biscuits and some oil to fry them in.  I used a Dutch oven to heat the oil, the handle of a wooden spoon to pick up the donuts, and a cap for a wine bottle to cut the holes.

I found lots of different topping ideas on Pinterest but I chose to just sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top for my first attempt.  I found one with a chocolate red wine frosting.  How fantastic does that sound?!

Pour about 2 inches of oil in the Dutch oven and heat it on medium about 5-10 minutes to get it up to temperature.  There were no bubbles or boiling in my pot.

While the oil is heating, cut holes in the biscuits using whatever small round cutting tool you have, or use a knife to freehand.  The hole helps them cook thoroughly and makes them easier to handle.  Also prepare a plate or baking sheet with a few paper towels on it.  After the donuts fry you will need a place to put them to cool and the towels will absorb extra oil.

Using the spoon handle to pick up the biscuit dough by the hole, gently place the dough in the hot oil.  It doesn't bubble very furiously.  I was pleasantly surprised that this made zero mess on my stove and I didn't get burned with splattering hot oil.  The dough will puff up very quickly.

Let it cook only about a minute and then flip using the wooden spoon handle.  Cook one minute on the second side as well.

Transfer to the paper towels to cool.  I sprinkled a little cinnamon and sugar on top of each one as they came out.

Don't forgot to toss the little donut holes in at the end!  I used a slotted spoon to flip them and remove them from the oil.

This is not by any stretch a healthy breakfast, but it is very simple to make and inexpensive.  I think it has a little bit of a "wow factor" too if you want to serve for a special occasion like a birthday or for visiting overnight guests.  Donuts don't get any fresher than this and these taste great!