Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake

This was what I made Christmas morning - It was divine! I'm definitely going to make this again.
You should try it too!

BACON AND HASH BROWN EGG BAKE 
SOURCE: BETTY CROCKER

SERVES: 8-12;   PREP-TIME: 30 mins;   TOTAL TIME:  9hr 40 mins
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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (3/4 cup)
• 1 pkg. (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms 
• 2 Tbsp.s of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 cup milk
• 12 eggs
• 1 package of (2lb) frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (16 oz)

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DIRECTIONS:

1. In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Using slotted spoon. Remove from pan to small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Drain drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan. Add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms; cook 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in mustard, salt and pepper. In large bowl, beat milk and eggs with wire whisk.

2. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread half of hash browns in baking dish. Spread onion mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese. Spread remaining hash browns over top. Pour egg mixture on top. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

3. Heat oven to 325°F. Uncover; bake 50 to 60 minutes or until thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and the bacon. Bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean, top is puffed and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole

This is what we're having for dinner tonight - it is so simple and tasty!

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP CASSEROLE
ADAPTED FROM: ALLRECIPES.COM

Serves 4-6, Ready in about 1 hr 10 minutes
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INGREDIENTS:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 1 cup of carrots, finely chopped
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 cup of butter
• 6 oz. egg noodles
• 1 (10.75oz) cup of cream of mushroom soup
• 2 (10.75oz) cup of cream of chicken soup
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1 cup of sour cream
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 cup of crumbled buttery round crackers
• 1 cup of cheese, shredded

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Start sauteing the onion, celery, and carrots with 1/4 butter and garlic in a skillet. Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces and add to the skillet. Cook until chicken is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender.

2.  Boil noodles for 8-10 minutes

3.  In a separate bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, milk, and sour cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Gently stir in chicken, vegetables, and noodles and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

4. Melt 1/2 cup butter in sauce pan, remove from heat, stir in crackers.  Top casserole with the buttery crackers.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30-45 minutes.

The Best M&M Cookies You Will Ever Have

Okay, well I'm pretty sad to find that the site that I had found this recipe on (mm.com) doesn't seem to have it anymore.. SO if you do happen to find where else this recipe may have originally been found, I'd be more than happy to site it.

These are THE best m&m cookies that you could possibly make and eat EVER! Not to mention, the cookie dough itself is to die for.. Here's the recipe:

Red's M&M Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies, in about 30-40 minutes

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INGREDIENTS:

• 3c flour
• 1 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/8 c butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 18 oz bag of m&m's

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DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add one egg at a time.

Add vanilla.  Blend the rest of the ingredients together, then add to creamy mixture.

Add half of the m&m's in with dough mixture - spoon dough onto a greased cookie sheet, adding 3-4 individual m&m's on top of each cookie.

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Alfredo Sauce

Finally! My first recipe post is going to be of one of mine and my husbands favorite dishes. We had it this last friday for our at-home date night because he and my son were sick.

Creamy Tomato Alfredo Sauce

SOURCE: Kitchen Trial & Error

Alfredo sauce adapted from cooks illustrated

30 minutes, serves 4

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For the tomato sauce:

• 1 1/2 lbs fresh tomatoes (about 9 med)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c minced fresh basil
• olive oil

For the Alfredo Sauce:

(if you want to lighten it up, halve the Alfredo and keep the tomato sauce the same)

• 1Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2Tbsps flour
• 3/4 c milk
• 1/4 c half and half
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, and crushed
• 1 c grated parmesan cheese

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1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. (1/2 pound farfalle or other short cut pasta - I like to use the raviolis that you find at Costco instead)

2. Start the tomato sauce. Bring another large pot of water to boil. Score the bottom of the tomatoes, then blanch in the boiling water for about a minute.  Cool instantly in ice water, then peel. Discard skins.  Roughly chop tomatoes and set aside.

3. In a small sauce pan, sweat the diced onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until soft.

4.  Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic.  If you want thin sauce, blend the sauce with an immersion blender. Cook for about 15 minutes until thickened.

5. While tomato sauce thickens, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.

6.  While the pasta and tomato sauce are cooking, make the Alfredo sauce.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook for about 2 minutes, until browned.

7. Whisk in milk, half and half, and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Continuously whisking, bring to a simmer and cook for about 2 minutes until thickened.  Fish out the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard.

8. Whisk in the parmesan.  The sauce will be very thick, so add 1/3 cup of the hot pasta cooking water to the Alfredo sauce to thin it out a bit.  Remove form heat.

9.  Drain the pasta and add to the Alfredo sauce.

10.  Add basil to the tomato sauce and add to the pasta.  Mix well and serve.

I know that my finished picture is not as pretty as the first original picture.. but I'd thought I'd give myself a pat on the back for trying anyway. I promise it tastes amazing!!

Another New Thing

Hello.

I'm Becky Florence and I'm starting a cooking blog. I know what you must me thinking.. wait, another thing to keep me busy?!  (I'm already a full-time stay at home mom/housewife and the owner of my own Graphic Design Etsy Shop.)

Well.. I thought that I might as well keep my life full of things that I love and cooking is pretty high on my "things I really, really enjoy doing list".

I mainly wanted to start a blog, just for the sake of talking about how I love to cook and what I've made recently. A blog to share and get new recipes from potential readers and followers. A blog to get insight on what others would do to change-up or even better the recipes I share.

I'm NOT starting a blog to brag about how great of a cook I am, because let's face it.. I'm not that good. and no body is perfect.

Now that, that is out of the way.. let's get cooking! I can't wait to share some recipes I have and try new ones too!!

xoxo ~ Becky Flo.