Recipe Ready: Breakfast Casserole

I have really wanted to create a food/recipe post for quite awhile, and while breakfast casserole would not be my first choice, it is a simple, tasty recipe that (in my opinion) could work for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or as they say on Scrubs, "brinner").

You'll need to make sure you have these ingredients on hand:

• 1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 1 pound pork sausage (mild? spicy? turkey? your choice)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 12 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)

I used Colby-Jack cheese--and only about six ounces of it--because I forgot to buy cheese, and that's what I had on hand.

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with your favorite spray (I love the Crisco spray), and fill with the thawed hash browns.

Brown the sausage over medium heat in your most amazing cast iron skillet.

While the sausage is browning, chop and dice your onion meticulously by hand.

Or, bring out your handy, dandy food chopper and let it do the work for you.

Add the onions to the sausage and finish browning, then drain.

While that cools a little, add five eggs to a medium bowl.

Add your half cup of milk.

Add your spices, too. Here's where taste may differ from person to person. The recipe calls for a 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, an 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. To me, this is a little bland next to the savoriness of the sausage and onion. I would up it to at least a full teaspoon of onion powder, a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. But that's just me. :)

Whisk ingredients together.

And pour over your hash browns.

Layer with half of the shredded cheese, and spread the sausage mixture on top.

Then sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese on top.

Cover with aluminum foil...

...and place in the 350 degree oven. After an hour, uncover, rotate, and bake for ten more minutes.

Your result should be this:

And maybe, if you're lucky, you will also end up with cheese stalactites (you have to think of what they would look like upside down):

If you can insert a knife into the middle of the casserole, and it comes out clean, then you'll know it's done. Let the dish stand for at least five minutes, if not more--it is best when it has thickened.

While you are enjoying your breakfast-y goodness, put some yummy, delicious cookies into your already preheated oven!