PW's Sleepin' In Omelette

I was slightly afraid of this recipe.... and it's all because of the cream cheese. You see, cream cheese and I have a strained relationship. It's one of those foods that I used to be convinced that I hated. I thought it was the devil in creamy white form. Then one day I tried strawberry cream cheese, that got me over the texture - so now I'm just working on accepting it in it's natural form, mainly by using it in recipes. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to just smear it on a bagel and eat it plain ::shudder::

But this recipe seemed like a good place to try cream cheese... although I was a little skeptical. I wasn't sure what it would be like baked and mixed with eggs. And, truth be told, it wasn't bad. I liked the lite sour taste it provided throughout the dish and the texture actually worked really well with the eggs and the bread. I will definitely be more open to this once hated dairy item in the future.

I did make a few changes to this from how the Pioneer Woman does it. For the bread in this I used a bag of wheat dinner rolls that I found on the bakery clearance shelf at Wal-Mart. I could not find onion rolls anywhere and I figured this was a great place to use some already slightly stale rolls. I think they worked really well, although I think the onion rolls would have provided a little extra flavor. I also left out the chives that PW calls for, I don't really care for them. And I cut the butter back to 1 stick, I think it's plenty. And I left out the dash of cayenne because I didn't have any.

We actually ate this in waves. We both had some, and it was delicious, and then a couple hours later had a tiny bit more (we had this on a lazy weekend). And it was so incredibly good a few hours later. But then I had a little more the next day and was not too impressed, it was kind of soggy and lost it's omph. So if you're only making this for two people you might consider halving the recipe.

Sleepin' In Omlette

Adapted From The Pioneer Woman

6 Wheat Rolls

1 Cup Shredded Cheese

1 Stick of Butter

10 Eggs

2 Cups Milk

1/2 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Spray a 9x13 pan. Tear rolls into pieces and place in pan, cover with shredded cheese. Cut or tear cream cheese into small chunks and place in pan. Cut the butter into small chunks and place it in the pan too. Mix everything else together and pour over the items in the pan.

Cover and put it in the fridge over night. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake for 25 minutes, covered. Then remove cover, crank oven to 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Impossibly Yummy

I'll admit it: I use Bisquick. I use it for pancakes, cheesy garlic biscuits, and this cheeseburger pie. Go ahead and judge if you must, I don't mind. I like Bisquick. It is a great way to make things quickly, easily, and on a budget. We buy the big box from Sam's and it lasts us quite a while. I first made this recipe when I still lived with my parents and was amazed at how easy it was. This is one of the recipes off the back of the box and, according to the Betty Crocker site, is one of the most requested recipes for the company.

This is a great item to make on a night when you want something quick and easy but still warm and filling. When I made this I actually cooked my hamburger the night before so that I could quickly mix this up and throw it in the oven when I got home. I also doubled the recipe to make two pies so that we could get a couple of lunches out of it, it really reheats very well. So, if you can handle using Bisquick (and I'm sure you can) you should give this a try, it really is great.

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

From: Bettycrocker.com (also on the Bisquick box)

1 Pound Lean (at least 80%) Ground Beef
1 Large Onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (4 oz)
1/2 Cup Original Bisquick® Mix
1 Cup Milk
2 Eggs

Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.
In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.
In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.
Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

The Great Exchange

The cooking board I frequent does a recipe exchange every few months, I did one last year around Christmas but hadn't done one since. So when the last one's roundup was posted I decided to do it. And I'm glad I did! The recipe I got is for a great veggie chicken rice casserole. It was really easy to put together and tasted great, especially today when I had some of the leftovers for lunch. This was the perfect thing for a cool, windy night like we had last night. And it is great because it makes a lot, which means a lot of leftovers, which I love. This is a simple recipe that doesn't call for any outrageous ingredients, which is a great thing. Try this one out on a cool fall evening, you won't be disappointed.

Veggie Chicken Rice Casserole

Source: allrecipes.com

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 whole cooked chicken, cut into pieces (the person who sent this to me likes to buy the rotisserie chickens from Sam's or Walmart; I used a couple chicken breasts that I had previously baked, shredded and frozen)

1 pkg. frozen mixed veggies, thawed and steamed

2 c cooked rice

2/3 c water

1/2 c crushed Ritz crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the soup, chicken, cooked veggies, cooked rice and water. Mix well and spread mixture in a 9x13" baking dish. Sprinkle crushed cracker crumbs on top and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then serve.