Good Morning! Breakfast Casserole

Start the New Year off with some breakfast in your belly. Here are two of my favorites for Christmas morning.

Breakfast Casserole


This has been part of my Christmas morning breakfast for the last, oh some years now. It's really easy and you can bake it right away or let it sit over night, so in the morning you just bake it off while opening gifts! I think I'll make it more often, especially for the weekends or better yet, school mornings! The possibilities could be endless, use ham, bacon, veggies...

6 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (30 oz bag Ore-Ida Country Style Hash Browns)
2 cups shredded cheddar-jack cheese
1 pound cooked crumbled sausage
1/2 cup chopped green onions
8 eggs, beaten
2 (12 fluid ounce) cans evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Arrange hash brown potatoes evenly in the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle with cheese, sausage, and green onions.
In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, evaporated milk, pepper, and salt. Pour the egg mixture over the potato mixture in the dish. The dish may be covered and refrigerated at this point for several hours or overnight.
Bake for covered, 40 to 45 minutes (or 55 to 60 minutes if made ahead and chilled) in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, remove foil last 10 minutes to brown the top. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.


Over Night Stuffed French Toast -Blueberry Lemon

-adapted from here

12 slices day old french bread loaf (sliced 1" thick)
5 eggs
2 1/2 Cups milk
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp. cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbl sugar
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
8 oz blueberries
additional blueberries and cinnamon for garnish

In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; set aside. In a mixer combine cream cheese, sugar, zest and juice, mix well until softened. Gently stir in blueberries.
Spread some of this between half of the french bread slices, top with a second slice to make a sandwich, sprinkle with some additional blueberries. Arrange sandwiches in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Pour egg mixture over all in pan (the bread will absorb most of this by morning). Cover and refrigerate for 8 hrs or overnight.
Remove each sandwich from pan and place on a lined baking sheet. Garnish with more additional blueberries and cinnamon. Bake uncovered at 350' for 35-40 mins.



($2.99/1 pound bag from Trader Joe's)