Foodie Friday: Breakfast Casserole With Sausage and Hashbrowns

Now that it is springtime and the days are longer, my hens are once again producing eggs. I have an extraordinary amount of eggs in my refrigerator. I pawn them off on friends, family, and the friends of friends and family, but I have more eggs than I know what to do with or wish to eat. My girls lay beautiful eggs. Their eggs range in color from blue to dark brown, dark brown with speckles, green, and beige. Looking at my egg-gathering basket filled with colorful eggs makes me happy. However, looking at a refrigerator overflowing with lovely eggs in cartons makes me wish I had more friends.

Not only do I have an extraordinarily large amount of eggs, but I also have a large chest freezer and a half filled with The Bibbed Wonder's pasture-raised pork. The pork is delicious, and nothing pairs better with eggs than pork products, but one tires of sausage and eggs fairly quickly. I know there are far worse problems to have than an overabundance of delicious, farm-fresh food. Finding new and creative ways to utilize this delicious, farm-fresh food has become somewhat of a mission.

Our family enjoys an "egg-based" meal at least twice a week. I have made baked eggs, egg sandwiches, eggs benedict, bacon and eggs, eggs in a nest, quiche, frittatas, and omelets. The Bean has decided eggs have gone the same path as soup, and she is beginning to protest egg-based meals in earnest. Sigh. I am indeed going to have to make more friends to give eggs to in order to keep my child happy. However, until that happens, we will eat a steady diet of eggs.

This week, I made a recipe that received compliments and a smile, and, most rewardingly, my kid ate a second helping of the dish. Although I was given a backhanded compliment about the dish, I consider it a win. I made a breakfast casserole with a hashbrown base, sausage, and eggs. The Bean informed me, "This is good mom. I don't usually like eggs or casseroles, but this is really good." See, I told you it was a backhanded compliment. The proof, however, was when she served herself a second generous helping and didn't complain while she was eating it. Ah, life with teenagers.

My inspiration for this dish is Jordan's appetite for hashbrowns. Of course, the child loves anything with potatoes and deep-fried. I had hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, and cheese on hand, so I thought I could do something with it all. It turned out to be an easy meal—definitely not one pan, but still easy. My recipe is as follows:

Hashbrown and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

-1 bag of frozen hashbrown potatoes

-1 dozen eggs

-2 cups of milk

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-1 tsp. onion powder

-1 green onion, chopped

-1 lb. loose sausage (I like salt and pepper sausage)

-2 cups of shredded cheese (I used Havarti)

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

-Brown and crumble the sausage; drain the fat and set aside

-In the same skillet, brown the hashbrowns ( you may need to add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan)

-Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish with oil or non-stick cooking spray

-When the hashbrowns are brown and crisp, add them to the baking dish

-Top the hashbrowns with the cooked sausage

-In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, spices, and green pepper

-Pour the egg mixture over the hashbrowns and sausage

-Top with the cheese and salt and pepper to taste

-Bake uncovered in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 30-40 minutes

-Let stand for five minutes before serving

I served this with a simple fruit salad to round out the meal.

In our house, we eat breakfast for dinner regularly. Although it feels like too much effort to create elaborate meals most mornings, breakfast dishes make quick, easy, and delicious dinners. This recipe is a delightful way to use up a dozen eggs quickly. Unfortunately for The Bean, egg-based meals will be a staple of our menu until the hens once again slow down in their egg production or her introverted mother makes more egg-eating friends. My money is on a steady diet of eggs (insert a wink and a smile here).

On this beautiful, sunny day, stay safe, be smart, enjoy simple and delicious food, don't cook tomorrow, and come see us at 493 Tonkin Road, Indiana, PA. for a Frank's Red Rocket Burger. And, of course, keep washing your hands.

Looking Forward To Springtime At The Farm

Saturday is fast approaching, and we are doing our best to prepare for our Springtime At The Farm event from 9 to 1 at 493 Tonkin Road, Indiana, PA. I continue to watch the weather forecast, hoping for the perfect day, but we may be dealing with scattered showers. We will hold our event rain or shine. Please keep your fingers crossed that the rain holds off or blows over completely. Stressing about things I can’t control is what I do. I must admit, I am feeling a bit anxious about this Saturday. I am praying it is not a complete washout. Regardless of the weather, my small business owner friends epitomize professionalism, and they will do their very best to ensure coming out rain or shine is worthwhile.

I gently suggest that if you plan to come out (and I hope you do), you dress for the weather on the farm. Wear your rubber boots, bring an umbrella, and wear a jacket with a hood. Good grief, I have turned into an overly fussy grandmother-type worrying about dressing properly. Sigh. I guess it’s what one does when one cares. Hopefully, the rain will not be heavy or blowing. Each of our vendors will be under tents. This group is experts at outdoor events, and everyone knows how to deal with various weather-related issues. Small business owners are a resilient and adaptable lot.

I looked at my calendar this morning and realized that Saturday is the beginning of our market season. Beginning on Saturday, we will not have a weekend without an event until mid-October. Our market season will start here at the farm, then Ligonier Country Market, The Shaker Woods Festival, and a sprinkling of events organized by our friends. It is our busy season, and ready or not, in-person shows are here. We will do our very best to be prepared. I am excited to showcase our new foaming hand soap scents. I have a bottle of our honeysuckle-scented hand soap at my kitchen sink. Each time I wash my hands, I inhale deeply and smile at the lovely scent that lingers on my hands. I am trying to convince The Bibbed Wonder that the honeysuckle scent should become part of our permanent collection. We have made four batches of honeysuckle-scented bar soap, which might get us through the first few weeks at Ligonier. What do you think, dear reader? Should honeysuckle be a permanent fixture?

Our farm event is a showcase of our new spring-inspired scents. Honeysuckle, lilac, lily of the valley, and osmanthus flower blend that I have called Devotion, and rose and grapefruit blend that I have named Summer Rose will be displayed and ready for your sniffing pleasure. Also, our two new foaming hand soap scents, almond, and honeysuckle, will be available. Our events showcase our latest products and our many talented small business friends. The list of vendors is as follows:

Food Vendors:

Aunt Julia’s Donuts

Broken Locust (Herbal Teas)

Frank’s Red Rocket

Lone Oak Farm

My Wellness Cafe

Simply The Best Kettle Corn

Artisans:

Ashleigh Bowman Artwork

Buds To Blooms

Canine Confections

Color To Dye For

Rooted In The Forest

Pamela Jean Creations

Lulu Lux Jewelry

PrAiry Girl

Our friend, Mrs. Nut Roll, had to cancel due to health issues. We are keeping Sharon and her family in our thoughts and prayers. Every year, I am amazed at how many wonderful people have been brought into our lives. I never thought goats and soap could have many positive outcomes. We hope you can join us to celebrate the spring season. Our fields are filled with baby goats, the lilac bush beside the barn is blooming, the wild honeysuckle is in bloom, the lily of the valley patch on my walking path is beginning to bloom, the fields are green, and the oak trees are showing young leaves. It’s a beautiful time of year to be in the countryside. I hope you can join us, meet our friends, eat delicious food, and support this hardworking community of small businesses. We are genuinely looking forward to seeing everyone. Please don’t allow the weather to inhibit your attendance. Even in the rain, the farm is beautiful this time of year.

On this lovely, summer-like day, stay safe, be smart, we can’t wait to see you at our farm on Saturday, we hope you come out to enjoy the day, and keep washing your hands.

Man Blog of May: I Call It Mind Blown May

It is time again for the man blog. This month, I realized that somewhere along the line, I turned into the librarian in The Twilight Zone and have become… obsolete. We have always said that we struggle with social media and don’t understand what is happening. Jordan informed me that I was not using YouTube correctly. It seems easy enough to me. I set up a camera with our herd doing something they do, record and put it online. Apparently, there has to be editing, subtitles, some sound effects, and even music. It can't be just music; it has to be trending music. The Bean informed me that we should have sponsors by now. As a matter of fact, “we should be sponsored to have our goat feed.” I said, “So, we would get free goat feed?” She replied, "Yep!" Apparently, that isn’t where it stops. She assured me if it was done right, we would also get paid to have free feed and to mention that we use it.

I felt like I was talking to someone in a different language. I said, “Let me get this straight: companies would send us feed.” Jordan, “Well, we need more followers, and then, yes. A company would sponsor us to use their products on our goats.” After a solid ten minutes of being unable to grasp the concept of exactly why in the world all of this happens she finally dumbed it down enough for me to understand, somewhat. “Dad, this is an actual job for people.” Again, I needed clarification: “You mean they just get things and post them online?” Giving me another look like I cannot simplify this enough because you are an analog clock in a digital world, she said, “Exactly!” We watched a few minutes of people opening products and discussing them. I can honestly say I don’t understand it. I somewhat understand companies endorsing athletes, but regular folks I don’t get. I had to suffer through multiple videos of a woman whose lips looked like they were attacked by an entire swarm of bees, opening up products and rambling on and on about them. “You do understand that all of the stuff in the background is there because they paid her to put it there?” Jordan asked me. I felt like I was a horsewhip maker at a horseless carriage shop. “Does everyone know this?” Apparently, everyone in the entire world knew this but me.

We watched a “Famous YouTuber” chat and rambled about nothing. How did they get famous? "For being on YouTube." What are they famous for? "They're famous for being famous on YouTube." It was like trying to debate which was first, the chicken or the egg. It turned into something I knew I couldn’t wrap my head around or comprehend, and I had to move on. It occurred to me that I had hit another milestone. I have become dated and cannot comprehend what makes most of the world tick.

Milestones when you are young are always memorable and pleasant, something to look forward to. Jordan is less than a year away from starting to drive. There is much planning and saving and car looking building up to this. Adult milestones are not fun. They sneak up on you out of the blue and remind us that we are turning into people who lament about today's youth, how the world has changed for the worse, and how the new generation will be society's downfall. The first ear hair that poked out of my head was another moment where I knew old age wasn’t far away. But like every significant event, the first one is the most memorable. It was a moment when I could not find tweezers fast enough. Several years after the fact, I feel that I don’t care about my ear hole forest unless they make it hard to hear.

Speaking of forests, we had to clean up some downed trees this month, and I managed to get into some poison ivy. Luckily, I didn’t have to get any medical attention over it this time. However, I did notice when I was rubbing Calamine lotion on my arms that they had turned into flabby old man arms. When I mentioned it to Tina, she asked if I would be looking for a weight bench on Facebook Market Place. That had never occurred to me. “Nope, I was just letting you know and getting ahead of this one so you weren’t surprised later.” Yet another mid-age milestone has been met.

The good thing about the month of cleaning up some downed trees and making mountain pies is that I have discovered that chicken salad and cheese mountain pies make a mighty fine meal when you are out of pizza ingredients and don’t feel like running to the store. I was also informed that we should have a small event where people buy tickets to cook and eat mountain pies in a goat pasture. Obviously, we would need influencers to influence everyone on how great it is. More than likely, we need to connect with Oscar Meyer to see if they want to supply hotdogs. If the wiener mobile is available, it could be worked in. We should also contact Cabellas to see if they would give us their camp chairs, hotdog sticks, and mountain pie makers so we can tell people how wonderful they are and how much they need them to have a successful camping experience. Perhaps an equipment brand will supply what is required to mow and gather the brush. Why stop there? Perhaps some company will donate a log splitter and a chainsaw so we can build a campfire. Don't forget the company that makes matches or lighters. We need matches and lighters for a campfire. If we are really going for broke, maybe Jet Puff will donate marshmallows, Hershey's will donate chocolate bars, and Nabisco will provide the graham crackers for us to make s'mores. Of course, we would have it all in the background of the official Mountain Pie Cooking Festival video. It all baffles me.

I have reached the point where I don’t understand any of this. I do know this Saturday is our little Springtime At The Farm event here at the farm from 9-1. It is apparently old school. There will be no Farris wheels, no famous for being famous people (None that I know of. I don’t get out enough to know the difference between an influencer and an average Joe), no bells, no whistles. We and our small group of vendor friends will be set up in our field. There will be goats, great food, amazing small businesses, and some excellent goat's milk soap. It's not fancy or famous, but it's us, the people we love, in our favorite place in the world.

Until next month, if we don’t see you on Saturday, I guess it is your mistake to make. After all, you won't find better company. Stay safe, and wash on.