Sky-High Brunch Bake

This comes from a dear lady at church, Jane Merle. She's an amazing cook!

• 1 pkg (17.3 oz.) frozen puff pastry - 2 sheets - thawed
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup Ricotta cheese
• dash hot pepper sauce
• 2 pkg (10 oz. each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained very well
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 1 and 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 C. chopped red bell pepper

Preheat oven: 400 degrees

Unfold pastry sheet & roll out one sheet to about 11 inch square and one to 12 inch square. Line bottom and side of greased 9 inch spring form pan with the 12 inch pastry sheet.

Beat eggs with whisk. Reserve about 1 Tbsp. of eggs and set aside. Add Ricotta cheese, pepper sauce & spinach to remaining eggs; mix well until combined. Layer half each of the bacon, cheese, spinach mixture & red peppers in pastry line pan. Repeat layers.

Place remaining pastry sheet over mixture; fold and tuck pastry edges in pan. Pinch edges to seal. Brush top with reserved egg. Cut 5-6 slits in top crust with tip of sharp knife to allow steam to escape.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 400, or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around edges of pan before removing rim.

To make ahead: Assemble and bake ass directed. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. When ready to serve, uncover and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until heated through.

Lauralee's Rotel King Ranch Chicken

1 stick butter
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (undrained)
2 C. chopped cooked chicken breast
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas; torn into bite size
2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion, cook and stir about 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in soup, tomatoes, and chicken - blend well.

Spray 9 x 13 pan, layer 1/3 of the tortillas, chicken mixture, top with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat 2 more times.

Bake 40 minutes, uncovered.

Creamy Baked Ziti

Prep time: 30 min. (or less)
Bake time: 20 min.
Servings: 6

4 cups ziti pasta, uncooked - something similar like penne is fine too

1/2 pound ground beef

1 jar (26 oz.) Ragu sauce

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

6 oz. (3/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed

3/4 cup Sour Cream

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt. Remove from pan; drain. Brown the ground beef, drain. Meanwhile, add marinara sauce, tomatoes and cream cheese to same pan; cook on medium heat 5 min. or until cream cheese is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently. Return pasta and ground beef to pan with sauce; mix well.

LAYER half the pasta/meat/sauce mixture in 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with layers of sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella and remaining pasta/meat/sauce mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. (just like making a lasagna)

BAKE covered for 20 min. or until heated through. Remove lid and bake for 5 more min. until cheese is melty and delicious!

This one was adapted from Kraftrecipes.com. It's yummy with garlic bread and steamed broccoli on the side.

Ravioli Lasagna

Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 35-45 minutes
Serves: 8

• 1 jar of Ragu or other pasta sauce
• 1 16 oz. container of cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 bag of frozen ravioli - cheese stuffed or whatever you like
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• seasonings to taste (I use 1/2 tesp. each of dried basil, oregano, and garlic)

Spread a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce into bottom of lasagna pan. Place layer of frozen ravioli on bottom, pushing them together tightly to form a solid layer. Mix together the cottage cheese, eggs, and seasonings. Then spread half the mixture on top of the pasta. Add a layer of tomato sauce (half the jar). Repeat layers. After second layer of tomato sauce add shredded cheese. This should fill up the pan about how a lasagna would.

Bake covered for 35-40 minutes at 350. Then remove foil and bake 5-10 minutes longer until cheese is melted. Let it set up for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe was made for a friend at church after she had a baby. She passed it along because she liked it so much. And now I'm passing it along too because we love it! We've had it 3 times in the past 2 weeks! This is a great, easy, family friendly dish that even picky eaters enjoy.

Baked Spaghetti

Servings: 8-10
Prep time: 25 min.
Bake time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 ounces) spaghetti
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 jar (26 ounces) meatless spaghetti sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 16 oz. container cottage cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the beef and onion over medium heat; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter. Drain spaghetti; add to egg mixture and toss to coat.
Create layers in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish: half of the spaghetti mixture, then half of the cottage cheese, then meat sauce, then mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with mozzarella cheese on top.

Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole

• 8 large potatoes; peeled, chopped, and boiled
• 1 (16 oz) container sour cream
• 1 stick butter
• 1 pkg. bacon bits
• 3 scallions, sliced thin (use green & white parts)
• 2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese (or more if you like)
• salt & pepper to taste

Peel, chop, and boil potatoes until fork tender, drain. Mash with sour cream, butter, and salt & pepper. Stir in bacon bits and scallions.

Transfer into greased glass 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes until warmed through cheese is bubbly.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole

Makes: 9 x 13 pan (which serves 8 or 12 depending on how hungry you are!)

• 10 slices of bread; diced up
• 1 pound package Jimmy Dean sausage; browned & drained
• 2 C. potatoes; peeled, diced and cooked until half-way softened (can be added to sausage to cook)
• 1/2 medium onion; diced
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper; diced
• 2 C. milk
• 8 eggs
• 1 T Worcestershire
• 1 tesp. dry mustard
• 3 C. shredded cheese (colby-jack or cheddar)

Dice up bread and place in bottom of glass 9x13 pan.

Brown the sausage. Peel and cut up potatoes, add to sausage to soften up a bit. Drain off grease.

In a large bowl beat eggs, whisk in milk, Worcestershire, dry mustard. Dice up onion and green pepper. Add veggies, potatoes, and sausage to egg mixture.

Pour over top of bread. Top with shredded cheese.

Better if refrigerated overnight before baking.

Bake covered in foil for 1 hour @ 350 degrees. Uncover for the last 20 minutes.

This is a close variation of the dish we always have for breakfast on Christmas morning. I'm not usually a big fan of egg, but this one is very good with all the other ingredients.

We like to have this with our favorite Christmas Citrus Salad.

Congratulations Casserole

Prep time: 25 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Serves: 10 - 12

• 3 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
• 1 bag egg noodles, cooked
• 1 C. real mayonnaise
  
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 C. chicken broth (use water from boiling the chicken)
• 1 1/2 C. chopped broccoli or frozen peas
• 3 C. shredded cheddar or Colby-jack cheese (or a mixture of both)

Boil the chicken, cool, chop into bite sized pieces. Use broth to boil noodles until al dente. (DO NOT over cook the noodles!)
In large bowl mix cooked chicken, cooked noodles, mayo, soup, 1 C. broth, frozen veggies, and 2 C cheese. Place mixture in 9 x 13 pan.
Bake covered for 1 hour at 350. Then uncover, place remaining 1 C. cheese on top, and bake another 15 minutes (or until cheese is bubbly).
Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

I call this "congratulations casserole" because I got it from a wonderful lady at our church in Indy who makes it for everyone who has a baby. I changed her original recipe by adding veggies so we can have a one-dish-meal. It's so good -- and carries lovely memories for me from when Elijah was a new-born.

Chicken n' Stuffing Yumm-o-rama

Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6

• 4 chicken breasts; boiled (or other pre-cooked chicken is fine)
• 1 C. sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/2 C. chopped broccoli; thawed
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 pkg stuffing mix
• 1/2 stick butter; melted
• 3/4 C. chicken broth (left over from boiling chicken)

Boil chicken breasts in salty water until cooked through, cool slightly, then chop into bite sized pieces. Reserve 3/4 C. broth for later use. Combine chopped chicken, sour cream, can of soup, broccoli, curry, and poultry seasoning in bowl. Place mixture in 9 x 13 baking dish. Combine stuffing mix, melted butter, and broth in bowl. Spread on top of chicken mixture.

Cover and bake 45 minutes at 350. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I got this originally from a church cookbook and modified it to suit our tastes. I love to make it for company, especially on a cool day. I always get compliments on it.