Indulge In {Spaghetti Squash}

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to eat more vegetables. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I typically avoid the produce section in the grocery store and really don't have any interesting way to use them in a meal. To solve this problem, I started making a weekly trip to the Farmer's Market, buying what's fresh, and forcing my self to use it in whatever way possible. Well, this week I happened to pick up a spaghetti squash. Having failed attempts with it in the past, I took to Pinterest to find the perfect recipe. That's where I stumbled upon this from White On Rice Couple. It's a spaghetti squash with sausage and herbs garnished with a sprinkle of cheese. Talk about major delish and primarily vegetable! Here's the recipe...

:: Ingredients ::

1 Spaghetti Squash

1 Package Raw Sausage of Choosing (I use hot pork sausage.)

1 Small Onion Diced

3 Cloves Garlic Minced

Herbs of Your Choosing (I use oregano) 

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Pecorino Romano Cheese for Garnishing

:: Directions ::

1. Pre heat oven to 375. Cut spaghetti squash in half length wise and clean the seeds out of the middle. Bake rind side up for 40 minutes.

2. Roll sausage into small size balls. Cook in a pan with olive oil until cooked throughly. Set aside.

3. Drain off the majority of the grease but leave enough in the pan to sautee the onion and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent.

4. When spaghetti squash is done, use a fork to pull the squash. 

5. Add squash and sausage to the pan with onion and garlic. Mix in herbs, salt and pepper. 

6. Serve and garnish with Pecorino.

Enjoy!!

Let's Do Brunch {Breakfast Casserole}

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas morning, my step mom makes this amazing breakfast casserole. It's the type of casserole you don't get any other time of the year (part of why it's so good, I'm sure.)  It's so good, though, that the rest of the year I dream about this breakfast casserole. Hers is usually a combination of sausage, egg, cheeses, and bread. Sometimes there's bacon too. Basically it's this gooey mashed up goodness of everything that is bad for you, which is probably why we only get it twice a year. Anyways, while I don't have her exact recipe, I found this one the other day on The Kitchn and it is definitely worth sharing! Hope you enjoy!

Bacon, Potato & Egg Breakfast Casserole
serves 6 as a main dish

4 slices thick bacon, cut into strips about 1/2-inch wide
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 yellow bell pepper, cleaned out and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons salt, divided
8 large eggs
1 cup milk, fat content between 1% and 4% (whole)
1 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups frozen diced potatoes, unthawed

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9" baking dish with baking spray or olive oil.

Put the bacon slices in a large skillet and turn the heat on to medium. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until it is crisp. Add the onion, yellow bell pepper, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon of salt, and cook over medium heat until all the vegetables are fragrant and soft — about 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly and whisk in the milk. Whisk in the remaining teaspoon of salt, and the black pepper. Stir in the cheese, frozen potatoes, and the bacon and vegetables from the skillet. (Don't worry; the frozen potatoes cook just fine!) Pour the whole mixture into the prepared baking dish. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)

When you are ready to bake the casserole, bake for 40 minutes, or until the eggs are firm and the top is slightly golden. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.

Serve immediately with fruit and rolls or toast.

Sunday Brunch {Frittata}

Who doesn't love brunch? I'm pretty sure it's my favorite faux meal! I mean think about it. Weekend brunch is the only time where you can sleep in and still be able to get breakfast food where ever you go. Plus brunch constitutes mimosas. Breakfast does not. Anyways, today we did brunch at home and I decided to make a frittata.  The best thing about frittatas is that you can pretty much add everything but the kitchen sink and it's still good. Every time I make it, it's different.  I just add whatever I can find in the fridge and that's it. So, today's frittata included green and red peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and hot sausage. By the way, it was delicious and the whole thing is now gone. So, since there are no set ingredients for a frittata, here is a little basic step by step so you can make your own, however you please!

{Step 1} If you are including meat that has not been cooked already, cook your meat and set it to the side.  For example, we put sausage in it, so I had R. cook the sausage (I'm afraid to cook anything where grease pops.) and let it drain on a plate while I did the rest. 

{Step 2} In a separate (oven safe) pan, begin to cook what veggies need to cook down. So, since I needed to wilt the spinach, I cooked it first.  

{Step 3} Add whatever veggies do not need as much time to cook.  Example. I wanted my peppers to be a little crunchy still so I added them next, followed by the tomatoes. 

{Step 4} Add your eggs. The number you add is entirely up to you. It depends on the size and how egg-y you like it. I like when the add ins are more prominent than the egg, so when I make it for just R. and I, I usually do 6-8 eggs.  Anyways, crack them in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, mix together and pour in your pan with the vegetables.

{Step 5} As the egg cooks on the bottom, with a rubber spatula, begin to scrape down the sides to let the runny egg on top move to the bottom and cook.  It's almost like scrambling an egg.  

{Step 6} When the egg is about half way cooked, add in the meat.  Move it around to incorporate.  Also, in this step, add in the cheese if you so wish to use it. Obviously, since my recent milk allergy discovery, R. has had to enjoy his frittata sans cheese. But, honestly, I don't think it really makes that much of a difference whether it's there or not. 

{Step 7} When the egg is almost throughly cooked, but still slightly runny, add more cheese to the top (if you included cheese) and put it under the broiler until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly. 

{Step 8} Pull the frittata out, turn the broiler off, cut a slice, pour a mimosa, and ENJOY!

So, I understand this seems like a lot of steps for one little egg dish, but it only take about 10 minutes from start to finish. Swear. Just wondering, what would you put in your frittata?