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!