Tag Archives: bell pepper

Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

29 Jun

It has been a while since I’ve made a breakfast casserole. I’ve had the breakfast sausage for a while in the freezer, and while at the grocery store, my girls picked out red, orange, yellow, and green bell peppers. Along with an onion, milk, eggs, and Bisquick, I knew it would make a delicious breakfast casserole! Plus, it was really pretty too, very colorful!

Prepping the breakfast casserole

One great thing about a casserole like this, you can make it up ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours before baking it. So, you can make this the night before, wake up, take it out of the refrigerator, preheat your oven, and then bake it.

Also, if you are hesitant about bell peppers, substitute in other vegetables that you like! I would do this again with broccoli or spinach and mushrooms, maybe even spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Or, change out the sausage for bacon or ham. Whatever you would eat in an omelet or you like with your eggs, try in this casserole!

Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

What you need:

1 pound breakfast sausage (if there are casings, remove them)
1 small red onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (I used 1/2 red, 1/2 orange, 1/2 yellow, and 1/2 green)
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 1/4 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
1 cup milk
9 eggs
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with olive oil or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, break up and brown the breakfast sausage. Add in diced onion and bell pepper. Cook until onions and peppers have softened. Drain the excess grease from the pan, and pour the sausage, onions, and peppers into the casserole dish. Spread the 2 cups of shredded cheese on top.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the baking mix, milk, eggs, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour evenly into the casserole dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a knife comes out clean from the center.

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Eggplant Lasagna

24 Jan

I’ve always wanted to try Eggplant Lasagna, but just hadn’t gotten to it.  After we got eggplant at a recent Market on the Move event, I decided it was time to try it.  Now, I have made Moussaka, so I know how to prepare the eggplant.  Then, I decided to take my favorite Lasagna recipe from Daily Cynema, use the meat sauce and cheese filling, subbing the roast eggplant in place of the noodles. We did a row of 4 slices of eggplant for each layer.  I didn’t get a real good picture showing how the eggplant looked, but you can almost see how in the 2 pictures here.

My older daughter enjoyed working on this with me, and we all enjoyed eating it!Layering the Eggplant Lasagna Eggplant Lasagna

Eggplant Lasagna

What you need:

2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ slices, outer peel removed, if desired
Salt
Olive oil
1 pound ground beef**
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
1 large jar (45 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 egg
1 15 oz container ricotta or cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 teaspoon oregano

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt and set on paper towels for 15-20 minutes to let them drain.  Pat tops with a paper towel.  Spray or brush each side of the eggplant slices with olive oil and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes, flip slices over and bake for another 10 minutes, until they are tender and slightly brown.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper, and continue to cook until soft.  Pour in all but 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg.  Mix in ricotta or cottage cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella, 4 tablespoons of the grated Parmesan, and the oregano.

In a small bowl, mix the reserved 1 cup of spaghetti sauce with the remaining 1 cup shredded mozzarella and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan.

Pour 1/3 of the meat sauce into a 13 x 9 baking dish.  Put down 1 layer of the roasted eggplant.  Next, spread 1/2 of the cheese/spinach mixture over the eggplant.  Then, spread the next 1/3 of the meat sauce.  Lay down another layer of roasted eggplant.  Spread the other 1/2 of the cheese/spinach mixture over the eggplant, then the last 1/3 of the meat mixture.  Lay down the final layer of roasted eggplant.  Spread the sauce and cheese mixture over this final layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, or until bubbly.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Slice and serve.

**Note: If you would like to make this meatless, use diced mushrooms or zucchini/yellow squash in place of the ground beef.

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Un-Stuffed Peppers

18 Jan

I really enjoy Stuffed Peppers, but no one else in my house really likes them.  I think it’s the texture of the peppers after they are cooked that is the problem.  So, at today’s Market on the Move produce event, we got red bell peppers and cherry tomatoes.  Since the “Unstuffed” Cabbage Rolls went over well a while back, I decided that the same could be done for Stuffed Peppers, with a few modifications.  We all really enjoyed this, and I know I will make it again.  It really came together quickly too, which makes it nice for nights you don’t have a lot of time.  I don’t normally have cheese on my Stuffed Peppers, but it was a nice addition to this version tonight.

Un-Stuffed Peppers

Un-stuffed Peppers

What you need:

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup cooked rice
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used the Mexican blend shredded cheese)

How to make it:

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef.  Add onions and bell pepper, and cook until they have softened.  Stir in diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, salt, and ground black pepper.  Turn heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in rice and tomato sauce, and continue to cook a few more minutes.  Turn off heat, and sprinkle cheese over the mixture in the skillet.

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