Breakfast Casserole and Breaking The Rules

I love looking at the world through the eyes of a child.  When my twins were toddlers, they would look out our large picture window, into the backyard and watch the dogs run.  They would laugh and laugh and happily watch them run back and forth chasing each other.  I would get down on my knees at look at everything with them at their height.  There is so much joy at that age (and height) and I think we can all take away a little life learning lesson with that.

As I spent the last week with our niece I was reminded of  how we need to open ourselves up to let the pressures go and enjoy a little happiness every now and again.  We had so much fun with her, she had us laughing every single day.

A special stop at our favorite Happy Cakes.
Oh so good!!!

Painting our very lucky charm, complete with a rainbow
and pot of gold, during "Paint Me A Story" time at Crackpots..

During our "Paint Me A Story" time at Crackpots, we painted a four leaf clover and added the centered rainbow and pot of gold.  My niece asked me to help her with the rainbow.  I did the first two colors and she asked to finish the rest of it.  Now being an art and design major, I tend to get a little particular when it comes to art projects.  She took her brush, dipped in the next paint color and followed my lead in the rainbow.  I watched her diligently try to keep it neat and not mess up the lines...she is 5 years old and of course the lines were not perfect...and it didn't matter.  I just let her paint.  She was so happy and excited with her accomplishment.

So in the end, I learned it is okay to break the rules a little...paint outside the lines and eat a cupcake. 

Do what makes you happy and one day, stop and look at the world through the eyes of a child. 

Breakfast Casserole

24 oz. frozen hash browns (about 3/4 of a bag)
16 oz. ham steak, cut into cubes
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
12 large eggs
1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
(optional) hot sauce (like Franks's) or your favorite brand

1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Add the frozen hash browns, ham, and cheese to a large bowl. Mix and combine well. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. 

In the same bowl you mixed the hash browns in, whisk the eggs with the milk, (a couple dashes of hot sauce) salt, and pepper.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over the hash browns, cheese and ham.

Bake until the center is set and the edges are lightly brown. (about one hour for baking time).

One Year Ago:  Sweet Dreams

Theo, my photography assistant was there to oversee
the photo shoot of this dish during breakfast.

Chile-Cheese Egg Bake

We just finished three whirlwind days at the annual Colorado Crossroads Volleyball Tournament in Denver.  Last year was our first year to experience this competition.  There are no words to describe such an event.
Imagine 90 volleyball courts, back-to-back and all filled with amped up screaming female athletes - Insanity!!

This is just half of the arena.

The other part of the weekend is a merchandiser's dream.  All the volleyballs, t-shirts, knee pads, blinged out headbands and sports paraphernalia you can imagine.

All the free Gatorade a girl could want.

The team did great and took 1st place in their pool on the second day.  They all worked so hard and came home exhausted every night.

Their "Dig Pink" uniforms for the day to support breast cancer awareness.

The tournament's famous donuts - people wait in line
 that is wrapped around the lobby for these little guys.

To start our morning off right, I made our family breakfast casserole.  Love this dish.  Wonderful for any gathering, weekend morning or sporting event for that much needed protein.  We paired it perfectly with blueberry muffins and fresh fruit.

Chile-Cheese Egg Bake

10 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pint creamed cottage cheese
16 oz. package shredded  jack cheese (or mexican blend)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies

In a large bowl, beat eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, cottage cheese, grated jack cheese and melted butter.  Blend and stir in chilies.  Pour into well greased 13" x 8" casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until top is browned.  (Ingredients can be assembled a day ahead and baked at a later time).

** I cut up the left over casserole into individual sizes and freeze for weekday quick go-to breakfast.

A Comfort Food Morning

If you have never heard of Longmont, Colorado....I am quite certain after these past 72 hours, you have definitely heard of it by now.  The Front Range and most of Northern Colorado has witnessed immeasurable devastation by terrifying rains, floods and mud slides from Fort Collins all the way to Colorado Springs.

It all started on Wednesday morning on September 11th.  I work in Boulder and we were seeing the typical rains, but this time it felt different and it was not letting up.  The roof in my office was starting to leak and there were no signs of clear sky anywhere.

The next day at 4:30 in the morning, the school district notified everyone that school would be closed due to excessive rains and immediate flood warnings.  I went ahead on to Boulder just to make sure our offices were okay and to get our computers out before the inevitable storm.  As I came into the city limits the mud slides in neighborhoods had already begun.  After a couple hours at work, we were hearing another 7 inches would be coming down - time to head back home before it was too late.

Zweck's Farm around the corner from our house - this is how we usually see it.

As I came off the highway on to the main road that goes to our house I could see the flashing lights...not a good sign.  I saw some water on the road, but had no idea what was about to take place. I quickly took the detour to the next main road.  Again, more lights, but I was just barely able to get through before they closed that road down also.  I looked over and saw the St. Vrain "Creek", now look like whitewater rapids and at street level, ready to make the jump across the main road.

Zweck's (the same farm as above) on Thursday afternoon, September 12th.

When I returned home our cell phones and television were in constant EAS (Emergency Alert System) mode and warnings were going off every hour regarding flash flood watch.  The early afternoon dark skies and rains came around.  We started to hear the fire trucks and police sirens whirling all around us and getting louder.  They were coming from every direction and then we started seeing them drive through our neighborhood one after the other.

The quiet little "creek"  running through our neighborhood is now 10 feet in depth.

We put on our rain gear and walked down the street to see what was happening.  I had remembered about the small creek that runs through there and immediately thought perhaps someone got caught in the ever increasing water and was being rescued, you know in your heart at that point something terrible had just happened...I prayed that a child was not hurt.

When we came upon the adjoining neighborhood we had no idea what had just happened.  We walked up to the area that had been completely taken over by once  a creek, now a 1 mile wide raging river.  All the streets were covered in water up to the top of garage doors of every house.  Residents were running as fast as they could to get out with their families, pets and whatever they could immediately grab... they had no warning whatsoever. There were 3 fire engines, divers, boats, sheriff and local police department units surrounding the area.

The amazing rescue teams in our neighborhood and the flooded streets.

The sky was dark, rain was engulfing everyone and I stood there in shock of the devastation we witnessed.  We saw rescuers in boats and divers looking for people in need.  Just then the loudest horn I have ever heard went off. At that moment I see a large fire engine pulling out from a house half way engulfed in the moving water.  This engine had just rescued a woman, her children and dog.  They pulled them out in the most amazing rescue I have every seen.  In your lifetime, you see these "Hollywood rescues" on t.v. shows and in movies, but you are never prepared to see the real thing happening before your eyes.  I have all the utmost respect for these natural disaster survivors and the emergency crews that save lives everyday.

We returned home in our soaked clothes and no electricity.  By this time, our girls are starting to panic a little.  We went into emergency preparedness: candles, flashlights, pack overnight clothes, snacks, drinks, and getting the truck ready in the event we had to evacuate.  All we could do at this point was wait it out and be as best prepared as possible.  A few hours passed and power came back on in the house.  The rains never let up that night, but thank God we were high enough that the water stayed away.

My guardian Theo, looking out for more emergency units this morning.

Today is much quieter, although it is a beautifully sunny morning we have heard emergency flood alerts and the forecast is more rain tomorrow.  The city is still divided in half by the river, but it is slowly starting to recede.  Now the ever daunting task of debris clean-up begins.  This whole experience certainly puts a person's life in perspective.  Only God knows what tomorrow will bring, but for now I knew my family and I could use a comforting breakfast to calm the nerves of the past few days.

I made a coffee cake, husband cooked the bacon to perfection and my daughter made her always flawless and fluffy scrambled eggs.  We enjoyed it with our orange juice in freezer chilled glasses and just took in the beginnings of a sunny and tranquil day.  It was not a fancy breakfast or fit for the cover of a foody magazine, but for now it certainly hit the spot.

Streusel Coffee Cake
Cake:
2 Cups Original Bisquick Mix
2/3 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbl. Granulated Sugar
1 Egg

Streusel:
1/3 Cup Original Bisquick Mix
1/3 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 Tbl. Butter (room temperature)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch round pan.  Make streusel and set aside.

Stir remaining ingredients until blended.  Spread in pan.  Sprinkle with streusel.

Bake 18 - 22 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy with melted butter drizzled on top to soak in each slice.


Count your blessings each and every day....