Backyard Casserole

 

 I love cooking with the things that we have produced ourselves over the past year. I made this casserole all with food from my back yard, exciting right? I just pulled some garden stuff out of the the freezer and got some eggs out of the coop to make this. You could do this with anything really. It's hardly worth blogging a "recipe" but just in case you need an easy idea- here's what I did:

 

I chose to use sausage, spinach, onions, bacon, green peppers and garlic.

I also put a little cayenne, salt and pepper into the whisked eggs with some milk.

 

Here's the method:

 

-Pre-cook whatever meat you're using and put it in your baking pan.

 

-Then layer whatever veggies you like, one at a time.

 

 

 

-Next, whisk 10 eggs and 2 cups of milk in a large bowl. Add whatever spices you like and some salt and pepper.

 



 

-Pour egg mixture over meat and veggies and sprinkle with any cheese.

 

-Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until eggs look puffy and cooked.

 

 

 

I made this as a supper but then ate the leftovers for breakfast. It was just as good the next day.

 

Here is a picture of it cut. I'm a little addicted to kimchi right now so that's what I ate it with for breakfast when I took this picture. I also melted a little extra cheese over the top..mmm!

 

 

Next time you don't know what to make (for breakfast, lunch OR supper) give this casserole a try and tell me what ingredients you used.



Spinach, tomato and sausage Ziti

 

You know the nights when you have nothing ready for supper...When your husband's already on his way home? Usually when this happens to me I find myself reaching for a simple pasta dish. Well the other night I was going to do my standard ziti recipe when I happened to notice a fresh bag of spinach in my fridge and my gleaming cans of garden fresh tomatoes that I had learned to can over the summer. I decided to just throw some fresh stuff in my dutch oven and hope it was delicious...And boy was it ever! Like top 10 best things I've ever made kind of delicious. I had to write the recipe down and tuck it into my recipe box. I'm kind of good at just coming up with recipes on the spot but I'm not very good at writing them down so I can make them again! This one was worth it though. Again I'm not great with measurements since I don't measure stuff but here is what I did.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 lb- fresh loose sausage (preferably from your own backyard pigs. haha)

1 bag of the freshest most locally grown spinach you can get

1- box of ziti or any other noodle

1 small can of tomatoes (preferably from your garden canned stash)

a generous sprinkling of garlic salt

and any white cheese you have on hand. I used Parmesan and mozzarella.

And like a Tbls. of butter

 

I cooked my pasta in my dutch oven (stove top, of course) and drained and set aside. Then I put my sausage in the dutch oven with a small bit of water and let it cook until browned. Add spinach and let wilt. Then put everything else in, including the ziti and stir. I also added a generous amount of cracked black pepper to the top.

 

I'm telling you this meal is delicious! Serve it with freshly baked bread...mmmmm!