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Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast for a crowd has never been easier thanks to this incredibly easy to assemble, make-ahead ham and cheese breakfast casserole that some may call a soufflé or a strata, but we just call delicious.

This recipe has been on the blog since the beginning, because it’s one of my very favorites. But just like everything worth keeping around, it was time for it to get a refresh and update.

My family isn’t steeped too deeply in legendary traditions. As kids, we didn’t go to the same summer vacation spot year after year nor did we play the perennial party games at the annual family reunion.

But we did always gather together on Thanksgiving and Christmas. And that’s why it’s my favorite time of the year. Memories of grandmas and grandpa, all the aunts and uncles and cousins too, together to eat, share, arm wrestle—and beat—my boy cousins and watch TBS’s 24 hour A Christmas Story marathon.

Each and every Christmas morning of of my 29 ‘plus’ years, I’ve had this ham and cheese breakfast casserole we assemble the night before and then bake on Christmas morn in all of its gooey, cheesy, ground ham you’ll breakfast ingredient lovers union.

And this casserole is special, because this casserole never makes another appearance at any other time of the year than on Christmas morning. We simply don’t ever want it to lose it’s special shining sparkle.continue to the recipe… about Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stuffed Bell Peppers

Fresh green bell peppers become their own all-in-one serving vessel when stuffed with chicken, rice, mushrooms, and a creamy mushroom-infused sauce to create a weeknight dinner that puts the all the essential nutrients in one easy-to-make and totally delicious dinner.

You know how you have staples in your culinary repertoire? Those dishes that no matter how gourmet you try to fool your family and friends into thinking you are—and more often trying to convince yourself? The recipes that are the staple for Sunday night comfort food cravings and oh so easy to make on a weeknight, too?

This here recipe is one of them. Crave-a-licious.

I first shared this stuffed bell pepper recipe nearly 5-years-to-the-day-ago and after referring back to it so many times over the years, I felt it needed an update. Five years ago it was one of our go-to, favorite dinners then, and it absolutely still is today.

My mom used to make stuffed peppers with hamburger and tomato sauce, but as I kid I was so. not. into. peppers. Ew. But true to form, I began to like them the more I had them. I keep telling myself my little girl AliSmudge would be making the turn too. And she has. Oh yes, she’s a fan too.

My man and and I came up with this stuffed bell peppers recipe that will forever be in our top 5 favorite meals to make at home: Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stuffed Bell Peppers for the all-in-one-dinner-for-the-stuffed-bell-pepper-win.

continue to the recipe… about Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stuffed Bell Peppers

Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Sweet Potato

I’m not going to lie. The process of coming up with recipes to put on the blog is sometimes, just, well, weird. And sometimes the outcome can be a little, well, weird too. Like Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Sweet Potato. But in a good way and with 10 more food blogger’s oatmeal recipes at the end of this post.

When I’m brainstorming recipe ideas I usually go for a few tried and true methods. Around this time of year they include:

Go with an event: The World Series, Halloween and Thanksgiving or any event that features sweets
Choose a seasonal ingredient: Apples, pumpkin, comfort food or sugar on anything that might bear a hint of dessert
Select a trendy ingredient: Kale, bacon, quinoa or sugar on anything again and again and again
Or just stuff something sweet with something else and call it a cookie, or a cake, or something that is ooey and gooey and makes everyone deem it “drool-worthy”

continue to the recipe… about Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Sweet Potato

Chocolate Pancakes and Friday Faves

During the week we’re the quick breakfast kind of family. Usually eggs or oatmeal and toast. Smudge always has toast because she’s a dunker. I don’t get it, the girl dunks her toast in everything from cereal to orange juice. Ew.

But when we have time, mostly on the weekends, I like to cook something tasty, and a little more sweet for my little lover girl. And when chocolate is involved, pony up and order seconds.

The killer part of this recipe is making the master recipe of dry ingredients, doubling it, then storing the rest away for a later breakfast, or two. The result is a pancake breakfast I can whip up even on the weekdays.continue to the recipe… about Chocolate Pancakes and Friday Faves

Fried Avocado Tacos Recipe

Creamy Avocados from Mexico might just be one of my favorite fruits.

I eat them for breakfast in my egg white omelets with a little feta cheese. I love them on turkey sandwiches with a little cranberry sauce and a thin slather of mayo on fluffy white bread. And I absolutely crave them as a base for tostadas topped with a ton of lettuce and spicy hot sauce.

I really don’t need much else.

continue to the recipe… about Fried Avocado Tacos Recipe

Sweet Pear and Rosemary Honey with Havarti Grilled Cheese

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. They’re not just for lunch anymore…and National Grilled Cheese Month continues.

This past weekend was a rainy one, where the clouds hugged the mountains and raindrops fell in sideways sheaths thanks to the whipping wind and fast moving storm. There is pretty much nothing I like better than a rainstorm, except for a thunderstorm. Or an epic snowstorm. Cocooning. That’s my idea of a good day.

With Smudge’s soccer game cancelled we had an unexpected opportunity to slow down from our regular weekend schedule filled with postponed errands, playdates and soccer games. Yep, the life of a parent is rarely your own. But its pretty damn awesome.

It was too wet to wander out for brunch, so we were definitely eating at home. And what did Smudge request? Grilled cheese. I don’t know why I was surprised—what kid doesn’t request grilled cheese as their go-to meal? But for breakfast?continue to the recipe… about Sweet Pear and Rosemary Honey with Havarti Grilled Cheese

Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

I’ve been a bit obsessed with food in cups. You could say its due to my uber-busy life right now that I’m looking for ways to maximize my family’s food/eating/nutrition schedule while keeping it nutritious and delicious but fast and portable. Those start-of-school-bells ring early!

I first discovered a version of these egg strata cups 3 years ago at a local bakery that is no more (damn economy), that I’d drop into after dropping off my daughter for pre-school.

I was just going in for a latte, but those breakfast cups would always draw me in, flirting from the deli case, batting their baked bread, cheese, eggey-ness until I would at the last minute tell the cashier, “I’ll have one of those too.”

continue to the recipe… about Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

Craving > Family Food Flashback and Some Der Wienerschnitzel

There are precious few things that can take one right back to my childhood like food can. And when looking back on some of our childhood faves, you either crave it like its no tomorrow or laugh in hysterics at what was considered haute cuisine.

Ambrosia anyone?

So when a group of us food bloggers got together regaling stories of what mom used to make, a few of us got a little misty eyed, a few laughed with disdain, but all of us cherished the memories of our childhood faves.

photo >foodiecrush

My mom was given this recipe from my dad’s mother, Grandma Frieda, in an attempt to help this young bride satisfy my dad’s love of his German mother’s cooking. I mean the guy likes head cheese. Really dad?

continue to the recipe… about Craving > Family Food Flashback and Some Der Wienerschnitzel

Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

I’ve been feeling a bit DIY these days. And I blame it all on fall.

Homemade pizza dough, fresh baked bread from MY oven and even making tofu from scratch (a blog post is coming soon, I promise you won’t want to miss it!)

So after trolling through several recipes for homemade ricotta, I pulled up my bootstraps, dashed to the store for a new aka un-cracked candy thermometer and gave it a whirl.

May I just say, in my best Giada voice with a trill of the ‘R’, “REEE-COOOAAA-TA!” Seriously? Making ricotta is THIS EASY? And THIS QUICK? It takes me more time to put on my makeup in the morning. Why have I never tried becoming a cheesemaker before?

Next time I’ll experiment with the amount of time I let the cheese drain in the colander—similar to the tofu pressing process—and see what sort of variety I get in the cheese’s texture. Maybe a bit creamier, maybe a bit firmer. Either which way, I know I’m going to love it.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

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Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

Fresh and easy appetizer for any occasion.

Ingredients

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

from Donna Hay magazine
makes 1 1/4 cups
6 cups 48 fl oz full cream milk
2 T white vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
In a saucepan adjust a candy thermometer to side and cook milk over medium heat to 176 degrees F. Remove from heat, add vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes until curds form. Line a colander with cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Using a slotted spoon, Carefully transfer curds to the colander and allow to drain for 5 minutes. Spoon ricotta into a glass or ceramic dish, cover and store in refrigerator for up to one week.

Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

inspired by Donna Hay magazine
serves 4-6 as an appetizer
for peppered ricotta crostini
1 1/4 cups fresh ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic pressed
kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
8 slices french or sourdough baguette
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl combine ricotta, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper. Spoon ricotta into 2 large ramekins or other bake-to-serve vessel (6 oz) and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden. While ricotta is baking, lightly oil baguette slices and toast. To plate, serve baguette slices topped with baked ricotta mixture, roasted tomatoes* and sprinking of fresh thyme leaves. Serve additional ricotta on the side for extra dipping opportunities.
*for roasted tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
olive oil
kosher salt
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl toss tomatoes with a few drizzles of olive oil, just enough to coat. Cut tomatoes in half and place seed side up on a foil-covered cookie sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and roast in oven for 2- 2/12 hours, depending on size of tomatoes. Remove when edges are crisped but tomatoes still have some plump. Store in olive oil for up to one week.

And now, for a little more cheesey appetizer goodness.

photo > Dishing Up Delights

With just a 5 ingredients, making sure they’re at optimal freshness is the secret to Dishing Up Delights’ come-together-in-five-minutes Figs with Fresh Ricotta and Pistachios appetizer. For a creamier cheese texture, next time give marscarpone a try.

photo > Bell’alimento

Bite size poppers from the homemade ricotta queen herself, Paula shares Bell’alimento’s Fried Olives Stuffed with Cheeses and Herbs of which she has annointed “the incredibly addictive app”. I’m puckering already.

photo > Five and Spice

When Amy described her Zucchini and Ricotta Fritters as “sizzling little guys practically grow legs as they come off the griddle and go leaping right into your mouth” it was a no-brainer that this recipe from Five and Spice was going to put my zucchini garden straight out of business.

This Wednesday will be our Family Food Flashback with a round-up of childhood faves. If you have a fave you’d like to submit to the Flashback, e-mail me by Tuesday, Oct.4 by 3 p.m. with a link to your post or link to your post on Twitter with the hashtag #familyfoodflash.

We’re ramping up for debut issue of FoodieCrush magazine. When will November 15 get here already? If you’re interested in advertising and partnership opportunities, contact me at heidi at foodiecrush dot com.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitter, Facebook and Pinterest

Dutch Baby for Breakfast

Growing up my family didn’t do many baked breakfasts. We weren’t the pancake or waffle crowd, it was more bacon and eggs for us.

So when we head for our friend’s mountain cabin, it’s all about what we’re going to eat. Dutch Babies is a traditional breakfast that my friend Sherrie has made for her kids for years, and once I got a taste of it’s sweet but custardy goodness, it was like a whole new world appeared.

The puffed pancake with crispy edges rounding out the eggey-custard-gooey-ness, with a light sweetness from a sifting of powdered sugar and a tart note from fresh squeezed oranges (or lemons if you like it tart) is a must-have whenever we head to the hills.

photo > foodiecrush

Sherrie combines her egg mixture in a blender, and depending on how many she’s cooking for, will use a cast-iron skillet, a 9 X 12 casserole dish or sometimes a Corning baking dish. It doesn’t matter so much what you bake it in, just make sure that you pre-heat the baking dish and butter in the hot oven before adding the batter—so that when you add the batter it sizzles a bit and has a head-start in crisping up.

When right out of the oven, the Dutch Baby looks like a giant popover but will deflate after it sits for a couple of minutes. Don’t worry, you didn’t mess up, it’s supposed to come back down to earth.

photo > foodiecrush

A couple of Dutch Baby tricks I learned from an old issue of Cook’s Illustrated:

Use skim or non-fat milk to make the batter crisp and light (they also sub 1/4 cup of flour for cornstarch for added crisp)
Using an ordinary skillet with sloping sides gives an even rise
Brush the inside of the cooking vessel with veggie oil to prevent sticking, then add in the butter for flavor.

And now for a few variations:

photo > The Moonlight Baker

On a smaller scale than the tradtional Dutch Baby, The Moonlight Baker‘s Lemon Scented German Pancakes topped with blueberries and blackberries are similiar in texture and flavor, but portioned for one. The secret to Kim’s recipe? Fresh ingredients so the simplicity shines through.

photo > Karmic Ktichen

A self-professed bacon lover, Karmic Kitchen‘s takes the traditional recipe for dutch babies and adds a super spin with self-contained eggs and bacon strips in Mini Dutch Babies with Bacon and Eggs. Genius individual servings.
photo > Cooking With My Kid

Cooking With My Kid’s German Apple Pancake is the perfect example of Rebecca’s knack for creating tasty food kids are begging to try thanks, to the custard-egg-flavor topped with sweet apples and powdered sugar. And maple syrup of course.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitter and Facebook and Pinterest

milk

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stuffed Bell Peppers

Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Sweet Potato

Chocolate Pancakes and Friday Faves

Fried Avocado Tacos Recipe

Sweet Pear and Rosemary Honey with Havarti Grilled Cheese

Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Baked Peppered Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes

Dutch Baby for Breakfast

How to Make the Best Potato Salad

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon

The Best Greek Chicken Marinade

Follow @foodiecrush on Instagram

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