Monday, June 17, 2013

Rewind: Crockpot Breakfast Casserole


     Yesterday being Father's Day as well as a church day for us, I decided to again put my Crockpot Breakfast Casserole in the crockpot Saturday night so that when we all woke up, my hubs would have a yummy, hearty breakfast ready to be served up and eaten right away. (How do you like that dinosaur party plate? My son turned 4 last week and he insisted I use one of his plates for this photo...I couldn't resist that sweet face and how nicely he asked!) I've made it a handful of times since then, but it's been 6 years since my original post, so I thought it was time for a reminder of how awesome this casserole is! My boys like theirs with ketchup; me, I just like it plain as is. I changed a couple minor things, which I'll share with you today, and out of my whole 6 quart crockpot, we've only got maybe a serving left of it. 


Makes 6-8 Servings

1 lb. ground pork sausage, browned
1 20oz. package refrigerated shredded hashbrowns
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 8oz package cream cheese
12 eggs
1 cup half & half (or milk, if you prefer)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions:

Place hashbrowns in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Sprinkle sausage evenly over hashbrowns. Slice cream cheese into about 1/4" thin slices and lay evenly on top of sausage layer, covering the layer as well as you can. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheeses over the cream cheese.  Whisk together the eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and ground mustard and pour over the cheese. Cover and cook on low 4 to 4 1/2 hours until set. *If your crockpot runs extra hot, like mine does, you can cook this on the "Keep Warm" setting overnight.*




     7 years ago when I first posted this recipe, I had an older crockpot...loved that thing, may she rest in peace...the crock dish broke and I couldn't find a replacement for it, so I bought a new, digital crockpot. I kinda hate it. It cooks SUPER hot, way hotter than my older one, apparently because of new food safety concerns...which I can understand, however, none of us ever got sick on my old one and she got plenty of use, so I'm still bummed about it. So with this one, I have to watch it VERY carefully, and if I think I'm going to be gone all day long and something's in there that doesn't need a long cook time, I'll put it on the keep warm setting, which I'm convinced is the same setting as my old crockpot's low. I'm telling you, this new crockpot will be boiling on low and end up burning the edges. Drives me crazy. This time around I added a layer of cream cheese which got all melty and delicious and warm and really helped keep the casserole from being too dry. Of course, my hubs and boys still doused theirs with ketchup, but what can ya do? I used one bag of refrigerated Simply Potatoes shredded hashbrowns and they were perfect. They are buy one get one free at Publix frequently, so I usually stock up on those for soups, casseroles, breakfast, etc. Such a tasty and versatile product!

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