Recipe: Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is one of my all time favorites, and it is super easy. It's not the quickest recipe, but it's one you can pop in the oven, go do something else for 45 minutes, and come back.  
Ingredients: 1 bag of hash browns 1 pack of cubed ham (or bacon bits or chunks of bacon. or all of it!) 8 eggs 1 4cup bag of shredded cheese 1 can of crescents nonstick spray

Kitchen Tools: 13x9 glass casserole dish Wisk Aluminum foil
Instructions: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
Spray the bottom and sides of your dish with non-stick spray and unroll the crescents like so:

Next, layer ham chunks (and other add-ins), hashbrowns, cheese and repeat two more times, finishing with cheese. It will look something like this:

You'll then crack eight eggs and wisk to break the yolks. Feel free to use the equivalent measurements of egg beaters, egg whites, etc. Pour evenly on top of the casserole. While it bakes, it will seep into the casserole and cause it to all bake together. With the egg, it will look like so:

Lastly, cover it and cook it for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, slice it so the egg inside is exposed and switch your oven to broil. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-20 minutes, as long as it takes to get the egg to be "non-jiggly" and the cheese all melty. 

I never get a chance to take pictures of the finished product because it gets eaten so quickly, but I assure you it's delicious. Let me know what spins you add. I know of some people who add a layer of cooked bell peppers and onions, where some use chunk potatoes. I'd love to see what you make of it! 

Life

Life has taken a toll here lately.  I miss all of you sweet ladies, and I've been trying to keep up with your lives while I've been on the road! Being in HR, we have one really busy time of year - open enrollment.  I was in Chattanooga this week, I'll be in Knoxville next week.   Here's life as of late... in semi-confession form..   I went to Chattanooga earlier this week for work;  we got to stay at the Doubletree downtown; it was beautiful.  I also got my own room! I'd be lying if I told you I didn't jump from bed to bed....

I went to Target with my daddy when I got back on Wednesday, and found this gorgeous top; it is a maternity top, and I didn't even know it until I came home, but I didn't even care.  It's so soft and comfy and flowy (obviously). I'm totally wearing it for our fall pictures! 
When I got home, I started the crockpot, worked on some laundry, and took an hour and a half nap.  I missed church, but I was so jetlagged it wasn't funny.   I made this chicken noodle soup recipe when I got home Wednesday.  It was yuck! The noodles got soggy, the rosemary was too much, and I had a whole crockpot of bleh to throw down the disposal. #recipefail     I haven't balanced our checking account in a week and a half. oops.   My boss didn't make us go back to work Wednesday when we got back at noonish. Love her!   Insurance has me ready to pull my hair out;  there is no way I could do this all day everyday.  The afforadable care act has made things so difficult for everyone involved.  It's awful.  I'm going to spend today catching up on e-mails, blog posts, etc.  Thanks for sticking around no matter how hectic life gets!!  

Recipe: Potato Soup!

We had a tool and recipe shower last November where we were given family recipes, friends' recipes from their generations in the kitchen, and tools for our home. One of the recipes was a potato soup recipe, and I tried it this Fall in honor of ... well... fall. :) Ingredients: 3 pounds of baby red potatoes (for us it was like 15 potatoes) package of pre-cooked bacon bits 8 cups of milk 4 cups of chicken broth 1 cup whipping cream 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon seasoning salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 cup of butter 1 cup flour kitchen tools: 12 quart stockpot 2 quart saucepan collander knife cutting board ladle Instructions: 1. cut all of your potatoes into bite sized chunks. I did mine into quarters going the long way, and chopped vertically in half-inch slices. Really, there's no science to it. haha. Boil them in stockpot for ten minutes. Pour them into collander to drain all water.

2. In the now empty pot, pour milk, chicken broth, salt, seasoning salt, and pepper. Heat for 10 minutes, but don't let it boil. stir often.

  3. In the small saucepan, make sure you melt the butter completely. Slowly add the 1 cup of flour. This will create what is called a roux. Mine didn't happen. It turned into playdough. Here is a great tutorial in making a roux.  It should not look like this:

 

 4. While the milk mixture is heating, slowly add your roux to it.  This will make it thick. Let it simmer for 20 minutes or so.

5. Stir in potatoes, bacon, and the whipping cream.  Carefully add the potatoes; the splashing milk as a result of not carefully adding potatoes does hurt.

6. Enjoy! It's great with cheese on the top! Sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished product! It went too quickly! :)

What is your favorite soup recipe for fall?

Friday!

Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? I sure hope so! Mine was one that was so busy that I hardly had time to blink before it was gone.  Thank goodness we have zero plans this weekend because I am reeeealllly looking forward to snuggling on the sofa all Saturday.    1.  T-mobile announced that streaming music would not impact your data usage in any way. Meaning iHeart, Pandora and Spotify were my new best friends. Can I just talk about how wonderful the Backstreet Boys radio is for like 2 seconds?!

  2. I got to spend some time with two of my three main men on Monday.  I went to Dad's and got to snuggle with this pup who faked sick the whole day so we would wait on him hand and foot.  I swear, he's too smart for his own good.

  3.  We had our ladies painting class at church on Tuesday. I had never played with the watercolors, but it was so much fun.  My creation is nothing special compared to my ridiculously talented sister (who painted these deer above our bed), but it was a lot of fun.

  4.  I went for a pedicure on Thursday.  It was so relaxing, but took forever.  I hadn't been in over a month, so you can imagine.  She took that potato peeler to my foot and kept recommending some soft foot oil. I felt so awful. So so awful. hahaha. Since I'm holding onto that last bit of summer, I went for Cajun shrimp toesies rather than the white tips.  5. I made these chicken fajitas on Tuesday (Sorry for not having a picture! Jackson had gotten into them before I got a chance) and they were SO good. I highly recommend this recipe.  If you put them on high in the crockpot, they cook in 2.5 hours. So it's one of the quicker slow cooker meals!     I hope you all had a great week as well! What do you have planned for the weekend?!  

Linking up with Karli and Amy, Lauren

Honey Garlic Porkchops

As promised, I'm sharing my recipe for the most delicious porkchops I've ever made! Honey Garlic Porkchops   Ingredients: 3 boneless porkchops 1/4 cup of honey juice from half of a lemon 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 garlic clove (minced)* 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper *I used garlic salt and it was perfectly fine   kitchen tools: large skillet tongs basting brush knife   Instructions: 1. Mix all ingredients (except porkchops) in a small mixing bowl. 2. poke holes in the porkchops using a knife 3. baste one side of the porkchop with sauce, and lay sauce side down in skillet 4. baste tops of porkchops 5. Cook 6-10 minutes on each side (depending on thickness)   I flipped mine every two minutes or so. Every time I flipped them, I basted the top again.  This allowed the sauce to both drip into the holes you poked in the porkchop AND it leaves enough to make a yummy outer layer.  

  works well with: crescent rolls steamed broccoli potatoes  

Weekend Recap

I honestly woke up this morning and jumped right on the struggle bus. 

I don't understand why an hour one way (usually only forward) throws me so out of whack. 

I was fine getting up for church yesterday, but work today?

no thanks!

 

Our weekend was a lovely one, though.

 

Friday was a long day.  We took my car to the shop Thursday because there is a leak in the EVAP system somewhere. After a million tests, they found that my gas cap was leaky.... REALLY!? We picked it up, I was driving it home, and the check engine light came right back on.  I'm SO upset.  I stress over small tiny things, so this is killing me.

However, I did have time to update our chalkboard wall to something Irish-y (and pinspired) for St. Patrick's Day.

 

Saturday night, we went to see some of our littles in their school play, Beauty and the Beast.

They were Mrs. Potts and the Beast; they were AWESOME.

 

Sunday was a great, lazy day.  We had church, Bible study, and I went to the grocery.  Love the mister, but it took me half the time at the grocery without him.  I was gifted this awesome service called e-Meals. You pick a meal plan and it makes a meal and shopping list for the week for you! The one I picked is coordinated with what Kroger has on sale that week. How awesome!?

 

If you'd like to try it with 15% off, let me know by e-mailing your e-mail address to littlehineyhome@gmail.com and I'd be glad to send you an invitation!!

Or you can click this banner:

 

here's to the spring break that doesn't apply to me anymore!! YAY!

#livingvicariously

 

Memaw's Goulash

When we were engaged, our church family threw us a tool and recipe shower.  I received so many wonderful recipes that have fed our hungry bellies many many nights.  

Jackson's mom made us a binder of recipes that Jackson grew up with and loves.  

One of his favorites?

Goulash

This one is very easy and inexpensive and filling... for me at least. 

Ingredients:

3 cans of chili with beans

1 can of chili without beans

1 can of pork&beans

2 pkgs of hot dogs
(if you get the packs with eight, you may only need one pack)

kitchen tools:

large pot

wooden spoon

can opener

Instructions:

1 - cut the hot dogs into small bite sized pieces

2 - put everything into the large pot over low heat

3 - stir

4 - cook for 1 to 1.5 hours stirring occasionally

works well with:

crescent rolls or cheddar drop biscuits

This one is so easy it's crazy!! But it's delicious and simple. You'll definitely have and love left overs!