Breakfast of Champions

Our usual breakfast when growing up consisted of opening the "cereal cabinet" next to the table and making a selection from a wide variety of cold cereals found next to the stash of napkins. In the winter, the options might include hot oatmeal or Cream of Wheat with chopped-up dates adding sweetness to a few lucky bites.

On the other hand, Randy grew up eating hot breakfasts the majority of the time. I got him converted in no time at all - ha!

I love eating an occasional breakfast out at a restaurant. In fact, it's one of my favorite meals to eat outside the home. And, at the Ladd B & B, where we often stay before or after K-State games, a hot breakfast is sometimes on the menu plan. This past weekend, Jill was already feeding a crowd after the homecoming parade Friday night with yummy slow cookers full of chili and chicken and rice soup. When I volunteered to bring food of some sort, she suggested Saturday breakfast.

I sometimes bring banana bread (and I did this time, too). But with an 11 AM start time for the game, I wanted to add a substantial start to our day ... and try to avoid spending a bundle at the stadium concession stand at the same time.

What did we do before we could go to a search engine, type in "breakfast casserole, sausage, eggs, hash browns" and get a list of possible ways to combine those tasty ingredients? Well, we used the shelves of cookbooks I have cluttering my kitchen, but the typing method is usually faster.

This time, I found a simple recipe at The Country Cook, a food blog. While it's not a blog I normally read, I definitely qualify as a "country cook," and the recipe qualified on the ingredients I wanted to use. I made a few modifications, and we ended up with a tasty, pre-game breakfast. (Check out the recipe below). 

Our whole family was able to sit together at the game this time, which was a lot of fun. 

After a week of rain, it was a perfect fall day. 

 And K-State even won the game vs. Oklahoma State with some help from this cute fan club!

Yes, Kinley was able to eat the breakfast casserole ... even with her current lack of front teeth.

Uncle Brent and Eric got to answer plenty of questions about the whys and where-fors of football games.

The girls actually made it the whole game, though they did take a brief time out to play with their cousins on "the hill."

We arrived in Manhattan in time for the Friday evening homecoming parade. The girls enjoyed hanging out with their cousins and a Sunday School friend.

 Who doesn't love a parade? (OK. Don't ask Brent that question. He's not a big fan.)

We saw Willie ... (Brooke hid from him) ...

... and the marching band ...

... and got a head start on Halloween candy. 

After all the candy collected, let's get back to that recipe, shall we? Besides a tasty breakfast, it would make a great breakfast for supper choice. Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

(Hash Browns, Eggs, Sausage)

Adapted from The Country Cook blog

2 lb. bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 lb. pork sausage (you choose the spiciness level)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 sweet red, yellow or green pepper (or equivalent of mini peppers), finely chopped
8 eggs
1/2 cup cream or half and half
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 13- by 9-inch baking pan with baking spray. Set aside.

Cook sausage, onions and peppers in skillet until the meat is browned and vegetables are softened. Drain any excess fat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, 1 cup of cheese, salt and pepper, mixing well.

In the prepared baking dish, spread out the thawed hash browns. Put cooked sausage mixture evenly on top. Pour egg mixture evenly over the sausage layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese on top.

Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Take foil off, and bake for additional 10 minutes, checking to make sure the cheese doesn't become overly brown. Serve with fruit, etc.

Note: I put the casserole together the night before and refrigerated it. Because it started out cold, I baked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes before removing the foil and baking for 10 minutes more. I started in a cold oven so I wouldn't break my glass baking dish.