Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast is the best meal.  The foods that are typically eaten for breakfast are fantastic and I’m pretty sure it is ok to eat a “breakfast” meal anytime of the day.  Like breakfast, a good casserole is always a win.  First off it’s easy, secondly the leftovers are amazing.  This morning I decided to come up with a dish that would utilize some peppers that were getting old and satisfy the taste buds.  Rage on.

Ingredients

1. 6 Eggs, scrambled
2. 1/2 Red Pepper, diced
3. 2 Jalapenos, seeded and diced
4. 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
5. 1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
6. 6 Sausage Links(I used honey maple but regular works)
7. 1/2 a Package of Tater Tots
8. 1/2 tsp. Salt and Pepper

Quick Directions

1. Cook sausage links till done.
2. Dice the red pepper, jalapenos, and sausage.
3. Place into a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray or rubbed with butter.
4. Whisk eggs into a scramble with the salt and pepper.
5. Pour half of egg mixture over the sausage and peppers in pan.  Mix.
6. Sprinkle the cheeses over on top.
7. Cover cheese with tater tots, enough  to fill the top nicely.
8. Pour remaining egg mix over the top.
9. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until golden brown on top and eggs are no longer runny in center.
10. Enjoy!

Detailed Directions

Start off by browning the sausage links.  You want them fully cooked and normally I would say make sure they reach a temp of 165 inside, but  for this dish it is ok if they aren’t completely cooked in the middle since they will be in the oven for about an hour and should finish there.

 

While the sausage is cooking you can get the red pepper and jalapenos diced up.  Be careful with the jalapenos though.  If you like real spicy, go ahead and leave a little bit of the flesh and seeds inside but otherwise you will want to remove them.  Wear gloves if you have them, or make sure to wash your hands very well once you are done with the jalapenos.  And DO NOT touch your  eyes with that juice on your hands.

Add the diced up sausage, red peppers, and jalapenos into your baking dish.  I used a 3 quart Dutch oven but a small baking pan or casserole dish will work great.  When doing a big batch, go ahead and double the ingredients for a normal cake pan.  Also make sure to use cooking spray or grease the pan with butter.

 

Whisk the eggs and salt and pepper together.  You want a nice consistency for scrambled eggs here.  If you find yourself in a rage over something, take the anger out here.  You won’t hurt the eggs!

 

 

Pour half of the egg mixture over your sausage and  peppers and mix up.  Then sprinkle the cheese over this.

 

 

 

Now it is almost ready.  By now, you should have your oven preheating to 350.  Get the tater tots out and place a generous amount over the top of the cheese.  Nothing fancy here, just want nice coverage.

It is almost finished!  Take the rest of the eggs and dump them on top.

 

 

 

 

Toss the pan into the oven and let it cook until it is golden brown on top.  It will take a little bit, about 50-60 minutes.  To make sure the middle is done, take a spoon or fork and slightly pull the middle open and if its not runny then you are good to go.  Dish it out and enjoy.

 

 

The Weekend Fridge Cleaner

The nice thing about this dish is how versatile it is.  You can follow the simple steps listed above and easily add in other things.  Dice up an onion and toss it in with the peppers.  Bacon can be used as well, cook it and crumble it up and put it in with or in place of the sausage. Ham works just the same, chop it up and in it goes! The peppers add a delicious sweetness along with a subtle hint of heat but they aren’t for everyone, so leave them out if you want too. Mess around, find things in your fridge that are going to be tossed out soon and add them into the dish. Don’t be afraid to use regular ground up breakfast sausage instead of the links either. You are the master of your kitchen and as the man/lady in charge you can make up your own rage.

Italian Chicken Meatballs

Can you really go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs?  Well yeah you could if the meatball isn’t great.  Hopefully, you will agree with me about how delicious this one is.  It is a fairly simple recipe, but you will get your hands dirty.  Best thing about this is that you can easily make it ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to make the meal.  Rage on.

Ingredients

1. 1.5 lbs. Ground Chicken
2. 1 lbs. Ground Italian Sausage(whatever your favorite is)
3. 2 T Fresh Parsley, rough chop
4. 2 Slices of Bread(I used 2 white heels, but the middle regular slice is fine)
5. 1 Egg
6. 1 Garlic Clove, minced
7. 1/2 Tbsp. Garlic Chili Sauce
8. 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
9. 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
10. 1/2 tsp. Salt and Pepper

Quick Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Rip bread into small pieces before adding.
2. Mix well, but don’t over mix.
3. Form into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until 165.
5. Makes about 24 meatballs.

Detailed Directions

Get all ingredients into a bowl.  Make sure to shred the slices of bread into small chunks before adding them.  I have heard soaking the bread in milk will help make a more moist meatball, but I didn’t try this so I can not confirm.



Go ahead and go in there with your hands.  It will combine the ingredients well and won’t over mix which can cause the meatball to be tougher.  You just want to make sure everything is incorporated or close to it.



Once you have it mixed, use some cooking spray on a baking pan and get ready to form your balls!  Try to make about 1 inch balls.  This doesn’t have to be exact but you do want each one to be about the same size as the rest so that they will cook in the same amount of time.

Bake them at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  Pull out the thermometer at 15 minutes and see what you have.  We want 165 for the meatballs.  An easier way to get the thermometer into the center is to put it through one, then stack that on another ball and push the thermometer through it as well.  This way part of the thermometer that will get the temp should be inside and get the actual temperature.

Once they are finished pull them out and let them cool if you don’t plan to use them right away or get ready to add them to your favorite tomato or Alfredo sauce.  They will work great with both!  Enjoy!



Things to Consider
The nice thing about baking these meatballs is how many applications this opens up.  You can cool them down, and have a stand by ready to go in your freezer.  Or have dinner almost complete for tomorrow’s dinner when you don’t have as much time in the kitchen.  They work great in Alfredo sauce or tomato based sauces, the choice is yours!  If adding them to a sauce, I suggest you add them before the sauce is warmed up in a sauce pan or frying pan.  Heat on medium and let the sauce and meatballs come up to temp together.  This will also help the meatballs take on a bit of the sauce flavor to make the dish more cohesive.  If you like spicy, don’t be afraid to use spicy Italian sausage, or even add a dash of your favorite hot sauce into the mix.  The choice is all yours and you should not be afraid to remember that.  Rage on.

Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad

Sometimes, I am sure a recipe has already been created to satisfy what I am wanting to eat.  This dish, however, I could not find anything about.  I had to wing it, and it turned out way better than I ever could have anticipated.  Luckily, I didn’t make too much or I would have been devouring it all night long.  I love to experiment, but I like to go into my experimentation with a bit of an idea of what others have done that they felt was worthy enough to share.  Feel free to share this gem.  Rage on!

Ingredients

1. 1 6oz Package Chow Mein Stir-fry noodles(the uncooked kind)
2. 1 T Sesame Seeds
3. 2 Green Onions, thinly sliced
4. 1 tsp. Sesame Oil
5. 1 T Oil(vegetable or olive oil works fine here)
6. 2 T Granulated Sugar
7. 1 tsp. Brown Sugar
8. 1/2 tsp. Soy Sauce
9. 1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger
10. 3 T Peanut Butter(crunchy is what I used but either works)
11. 2 cups of the crunchy Chow Mein Noodles(the already cooked kind)
12. 1/2 cup Chopped Nuts(this is optional)

Quick Directions

1. Cook the pasta for about 3-5 minutes or until done but not much past al dente.  Cool.
2. Mix sesame oil, vegetable or olive oil, both sugars, soy sauce, ground ginger, sesame seeds, and peanut butter till combined.
3. Wash and cut green onions.
4. Combine dressing with noodles, then fold in the green onions and chopped nuts if you decided to add them.
5. Top with the crunchy noodles shortly before serving so they don’t become soggy.
6. Enjoy!

Detailed Directions
Start by cooking those noodles off.  The noodles won’t take long, only about 3-5 minutes once added to a pot of boiling water(remember to stir a little bit so they don’t stick while cooking).  Once they are done, rinse in cold water and place in the refrigerator.  They will stick together a bit, but you should be able to separate them just fine when stirring in the sauce.  However, if you like, you can take a knife and cut them up a bit with a rough chop to help the process out.






Mix the sauce together.  It will take a little bit, but it is supposed to be thicker to cling to the noodles nicely.

 


Wash and slice the green onions into nice little rings.  They don’t have to be uniform, but try to keep them close.



Combine everything together except for the crunchy noodles.  Once that is done, the dish is complete…except for the crunchy noodles.  Add those on top not long before you plan to serve it.  Otherwise they could become soggy and will really take away from their purpose of adding a nice crunch.



Closing Thoughts
There are several things  you could add to this dish, and they are all your choice.  The color is not really the greatest as is, but some thinly sliced carrots could really add a nice pop or even some red peppers diced up in there.  More green onions would add more of that nice green accent.  Toasting the sesame seeds for 4-8 minutes at 300 would add another dimension to it also.  Don’t be afraid to experiment on my experiment.  Cooking is not for everyone, my only hope is to bring those timid people into the kitchen.  It is more fun when more people join the rage!   Rage on my friends.