hashbrown breakfast casserole

Another hearty favorite from Cooking in the Midwest on Instagram. 

 INGREDIENTS

• 30oz bag of frozen shredded hashbrowns
• 1 lb cooked and drained sausage
• 12 oz cooked chopped bacon
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 6 eggs
• 2 chopped green onions

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place your bacon on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes. While that cooks brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat and remove any excess grease.
2. Remove the sausage from the pan and make your gravy. Add the butter and flour stirring constantly until well combined. Let cook for a minute or two still stirring. Add the milk, stir, and let cook until it thickens.
3. Once the bacon is cooked to your liking remove any excess grease and chop it into small pieces.
4. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and add the hash browns, cooked sausage, chopped bacon (save a little bit of the bacon to top the casserole), and a cup of cheddar cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic.
5. Add the gravy, stir everything together well, and spread it out evenly in the baking dish.
6. Scramble 6 eggs and pour them over the top of the casserole sprinkling another cup of cheddar cheese over the top.
7. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until the eggs and hash browns are cooked through!
8. Top the breakfast casserole with a handful of the chopped bacon and green onions. Serve and enjoy!

cheeseburger potato skillet

From Cooking in the Midwest on Instagram, this one was a favorite, but I need to increase the recipe next time. Everything below is 1.5x the original recipe. 

Ingredients

• Burger sauce - 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup mayo, 1/8 cup mustard, 2 TBSP sweet relish (I just use Trader Joe's)
• 8 small/medium potatoes
• olive oil + salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika (for potatoes)
• 1.5 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 tsp each of salt, pepper, ground mustard
• 1.5 tsp each of onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika
• 1.5 tbsp minced garlic
• Shredded Colby Jack cheese
• 8 pieces bacon, cooked & crumbled
• 2 green onions, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the burger sauce by mixing all ingredients together and set aside.
2. Peel, wash potatoes, and cut up into cubes. I use yellow potatoes and don't bother peeling them
3. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika (I don’t use exact measurements for this part).
4. Cook potatoes on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until they are browning and crispy. 
5. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground beef to the skillet with a chopped onion. Season with salt, pepper, ground mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Once the beef is fully cooked, drain any extra grease. Add the minced garlic and stir well.
6. Once the potatoes and ground beef are cooked combine them together in the skillet and top with shredded Colby Jack cheese and cooked crumbled bacon. Put the skillet in the oven at 400 degrees F to melt the cheese.
7. Top with the burger sauce and chopped green onions. Serve with any of your favorite burger toppings. Enjoy!

Arroz con pollo

 From Cooking in the Midwest

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 tsp each cumin and dried cilantro
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cayenne
• 3 packs Ben’s Original Ready Rice Cilantro Lime
• 1/2 cup water
• Queso
• Pico de gallo
• Tortillas
• Cilantro

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken into small strips or cubes. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and the cut up chicken. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, cumin, dried cilantro, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir everything together well.
2. 
   
3. Add the packs of rice to the griddle and pour a little bit of water over the rice. Cover with a griddle dome and let cook until the rice is hot.
4. 
   
5. Once the chicken is fully cooked combine the chicken and rice. Remove it from the griddle. Heat up some white queso and pour the queso over the chicken and rice. Top with fresh cilantro.
6. 
   
7. Heat up tortillas and serve with pico de gallo. 

French silk pie

 From Handle the Heat. Only sub is GF oreos.    

Ingredients 

For the crust

• 20 Oreo (230 grams) cookies (regular-stuffed, keep filling intact)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

• 1 1/3 cups (266 grams) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 8 ounces (227 grams) bittersweet baking chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream, cold
• 4 teaspoons powdered sugar

For the topping

• 1 cup heavy cream, cold
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Chocolate shavings or cocoa powder, for garnish if desired

Instructions

Make the crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch deep pie dish with cooking spray.
2. Place the Oreo cookies in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse until moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pie dish. Bake for 10 minutes, or until fragrant and set. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the filling:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the granulated sugar and eggs. Set over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160°F and coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature (around 75°F), stirring occasionally.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually add in the cooled chocolate mixture then beat on high speed for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
3. In a separate clean bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the pan, smoothing evenly. The pie will be tall with filling. Chill for 6 hours. At this point, the pie can be stored for up to 2 days ahead of time.

Make the topping:

1. Use an electric mixer to beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on high speed until stiff peaks form. Top pie with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings or dust with cocoa powder.

buffalo chicken twice baked potatoes

From A Dash of Mandi

Ingredients

Potatoes

• 3 russet potatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Filling

• 1 tbsp dry ranch seasoning
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• black pepper to taste
• 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup cooked and shredded chicken
• 1 tbsp sliced green onion
• buffalo sauce and ranch dressing for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Wash your potatoes and poke them all over with a fork. Coat them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and add to a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour.
3. Once cooked and slightly cooled, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Carefully use a spoon to scoop out the center of the potatoes and place in a medium to large sized mixing bowl. Do this step gently so you don’t cut through to the skin of the potatoes!
4. Add ranch seasoning, smoked paprika, pepper, cream cheese, buffalo sauce, 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese to the bowl with the potato insides.
5. Mix together until well combined. You can use a spoon for a chunkier mixture depending on your preference! I used an immersion blender to make everything super smooth and creamy but a hand mixer would work too.
6. Fold in the shredded chicken.
7. Fill the potato skins with the buffalo chicken potato mixture.
8. Top the loaded skins with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cheese is melted.
10. Drizzle with buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. Top with sliced green onion to garnish and enjoy!