Omelet Casserole

Every St. Patrick's Day I like to throw a wildly fun and hugely green breakfast for all of my favorite friends. We serve everything from green pancakes with green butter and green syrup to green coffee cake and green grapes and green....you name it, we got it.

Today I tried a new dish with green---an omelet casserole. I only saw a picture of it in a magazine and decided to try making up a good enough recipe to serve to my friends. I think it was a hit! And since so many people asked what the recipe was (and I didn't HAVE a recipe), I thought I'd write what I did down (here) and hope that would suffice. So, here it is:

OMELET CASSEROLE

(9 x 13 dish)

About 10 russet potatoes baked

About 8 oz ham

About 1 block medium cheddar cheese

About 3 roma tomatoes

About 3 cups baby spinach leaves

About 18 whole eggs

About 1 whole yellow onion

1 cup milk

3 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

Slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and place on bottom of pan

Layer with ham, onions, and tomatoes (all chopped into small cubes), chopped spinach, and shredded cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Layer this way twice more.

In a bowl set aside, combine eggs, milk, flour, and spices and beat until frothy. Pour whole bowl of egg mixture over the potato/onion/tomato/spinach/cheese layers and throw it in the oven.

Bake at 375 for an hour! Serve hot!

Super yummy!

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

Eggs need to be room temperature (or as close to it as possible)

1. Fill a sauce pan with water 3/4 full
2. Add a dash of salt to increase boil
3. When water is boiling and bubbling, add eggs one at a time carefully
(I use a wooden spoon to dip the eggs in with)
4. Let boil for exactly 10 minutes
5. Separate water from eggs and let eggs cool on their own in the room temperature air until they are fully cool. DO NOT run under cold water as shells may break and yolk will not set correctly.
6. Mark hard-boiled eggs so that they aren't mistaken for normal eggs

Quick Egg Fact:
The cholestrol in eggs is actually not that bad for you, but yolk is what carries most of the calories in an egg. The egg white is mostly all protein.
One egg white is only 17 calories where as a yolk alone is nearly 55 calories.

Classic Potato Salad

We just tried this for the first time tonight and we LOVED it.

• 8 medium potatoes, cooked and diced (we used red potatoes)
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 1 cup minced onion
• 5 hard-boiled eggs
• paprika

Directions

1. Boil peeled potatoes in salted water till done. Cool to room temperature.
2. Place diced potatoes in lg bowl.
3. Mix next 7 ingredients in another bowl.
4. Add to potatoes.
5. Add celery and onions and mix well.
6. Stir in eggs.
7. Sprinkle a little paprika on top.

*We left out the celery, onion and paprika because we didn't have it and it was still delicious. Enjoy!

Spinach and Potato Fritata

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 small red potatoes, sliced
1 cup fresh chopped spinach
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Place potatoes in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes cooking them until tender (but still somewhat firm). Stir in spinach, green onions, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted.
In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Pour into the skillet over the vegetables. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until eggs are firm.

*You can also add bacon, sausage, or any other kind of breakfast meat if you want.