Leftovers for Breakfast Casserole Slow Cooker Recipe


I'm a hermit. Is it okay to be a hermit? 

I like to go for walks, and I certainly get enough Vitamin D by pulling weeds in the yard and hanging out at soccer practice, but if I had a choice I'd prefer to hang out at home in my jammies.

It's too bad WebVan went under. It'd be great to have milk, bananas, and orange juice delivered (why is it we're ALWAYS out of those things?).

And don't forget to bring fresh coffee.

There you go: that's a business venture to get behind! Breakfast delivery for lazy busy moms.


Or you could just load up the crockpot.
it's probably easier.

The Ingredients.
serves 8


1 (30-ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes
2 cups diced already-cooked meat (whatever leftovers you have in the house. 

Great way to use up shredded chicken, pot roast, corned beef, ham, turkey, or any combo you might have)

2 cups diced already-cooked veggies (asparagus, broccoli, roasted veggies, whatever)
8 eggs
1 cup milk (cow, soy, rice, goat)
2 cups shredded cheese (your choice, we usually have a combo of mozzarella and cheddar)
salt and pepper to taste at the table

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart slow cooker and spray the insert with cooking spray. 

Dump the still-frozen hashbrowns into the pot.

 In a mixing bowl, whip together the eggs and milk and stir in your cut up veggies, meat, and cheese.

Don't season right now, because your meat and veggies will have whatever flavor they had when they were first cooked (and ham and corned beef tend to have a lot of salt taste already), but instead season at the table. 

Pour this mixture on top of the hashbrowns.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for about 3-4. 

If you've never cooked breakfast overnight in your cooker, opt for the low end of the cooking time. 

You can always let it cook on high if it's not quite done in the morning, or let it happily sit on warm until you're wide awake and ready for breakfast.

Michelle says she can't cook food overnight, though, because the smell keeps her awake! 

I don't have a suggestion for that... sorry. :-)

The Verdict.

This is a GREAT way to use up extra food from having company over or food left from holiday dinners. 

I know some of you are uncomfortable not having an exact recipe to follow, and I get it. I really do.

I promise though, that there is little room for error when crockpotting. 

If you like the ingredients going in, they'll taste good mixed in a casserole. 

If you can't stand asparagus, please don't use it! Use what tastes good TO YOU.

I know, I know. I sound like SUCH a mom...!

more breakfast dishes for the all day jammy club:


Hardboiled Eggs (no! don't try these!)

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at September 09, 2010

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What they say about this article

  1. Absolutely you can be a hermit. And thanks for a recipe that includes hashbrowns. I've got some in the freezer I don't know what to do with.

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  2. what about almond milk as an alternative? I hate having to go out and buy special milk just because...

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  3. LOL! I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...

    I purposely left out almond because it's so sweet and I think it'd give the eggs a funky flavor.
    but hey, if you normally use almond milk in eggs, go for it.

    xox

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  4. Anonymous9/09/2010

    I found your blog quite sometime ago & have enjoyed your recipes. A few months ago my daughter & I went vegan. Most of your Slow Cooker Recipes are adaptable to vegan & very yummy. Best of all we always have soy milk in the pantry and never use eggs :)

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  5. Christal9/09/2010

    a tip for cooking at night...open the windows and leave a fan on, and hope your kitchen is far enough away from your bedroom. We often take the crockpot with us camping with hookups and will make a breakfast casserole, but in the trailer it was really hard to sleep with it cooking all night-I was sooo hungry! DH thought of putting it in the bathroom with the door closed and the fan running so the delicious smell blew away. It worked! And it is soooo cool to wake up to breakfast already made when you're on vacation.

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  6. Anonymous9/09/2010

    I would love to be a hermit too, but it's always the grocery shopping that ruins a good hermit weekend. We just made the original hashbrown casserole recipe for labor day breakfast and it was delicious. I'll certainly be trying this out. My problem, though, is that by the time I have amassed leftovers that need to be thrown into the crockpot, I'm completely out of eggs. Usually because I've just used the last ones in brownies...

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  7. Sometimes I love being a hermit. I might be hermitish this weekend, in fact. Mr. GFE is heading off on a scuba trip and I'll be home alone! Have to get ready for a support group meeting, but otherwise I'm sleeping in and not cooking much. Might make your black-eyed pea soup for the meeting and this new casserole sure looks good, so maybe a trip to the grocery store to get some hash browns is in order. That does mean getting dressed though because I am not one who can go to the store in jammies like the kids do. ;-)

    Thanks, Steph!
    Shirley

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  8. I used to love WebVan! Like having my own personal assistant. (And when they were around I had my own personal assistant.... those were the days...)

    Looks like a great breakfast!

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  9. A person could serve this for dinner, and call it "crustless quiche."

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  10. Anonymous9/10/2010

    I have the same problem as Michelle! I made pulled pork overnight a couple weeks ago and woke up starving at 2 a.m. because of the delicious barbecue aroma. Thanks for all the recipes Stephanie. You rock!

    -Jenn

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  11. Ok, is it just me, or do the instructions not say when or what to do with the hashbrowns and cheese?? :)

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  12. LOL! nope, not just you. I'll clarify... :-0

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  13. I have a solution for those that wake up in the night smelling the food. That used to be me...and instead of making me hungry, it made me nauseous- like I had eaten the whole crockpot of food already.

    Put it in the garage. Seriously.

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  14. You are my hero, Stephanie. For real. Breakfast is my absolute FAVORITE meal of the day. I could honestly eat breakfast from sun up to sundown. At least once a week in my house we have 'breakfast for dinner' and this seems like a fun new option for my clean out the pantry/being lazy night of slow cooking!

    And I adore being a hermit so not having to go out to pick up a pizza or chinese makes this recipe even better!!
    Thanks!

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  15. Anonymous9/10/2010

    i always cook my food outside on my back patio- I don't like smelling food at night, in fact i don't really like smelling it all day either- by the time dinner rolls around i'm sick of it!

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  16. Oh, how I miss WebVan!

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  17. As autumn cools us down I have pulled out my crockpot once again and am thrilled to be back checking your blog. I hope your baby is doing well.

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  18. Glad to know that I am not the only hermit-wannabe out there LOL! This looks wonderful, I will definately give it a try...we love a good breakfast and I love using the crockpot, so perfect combo!

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  19. crockpot lady, i love you. waking up to a crock pot full of breakfast goodness???

    SHEER. BRILLIANCE.

    just finished 3 months working all kinds of crazy hours, and will be on the road for a month straight later this fall...your recipes are going to enable some serious nesting/hermiting at chez moi pre-trip.

    Thank you!

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  20. Anonymous9/13/2010

    Sounds yummy!

    I saw a new line of McCormick's slow cooker seasoning packets at the grocery store today and wondered if you or your readers have tried them yet. Are they any good?

    Dee

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  21. I am a hermit, too. Most mornings I work out, take a shower, then put on my pj's. Life is nice that way.

    I agree totally that there's room for error when CrockPotting. And, I'm on board with no almond milk with eggs. Ugh. Rice milk is pretty neutral. I think it would well in your recipe.

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  22. Thanks for the recipe.
    Sounds interesting!

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  23. Has anyone tried this with a combination of eggs and egg whites only instead of 8 eggs including yolks? Wondering if that would be okay or too rubbery. I'm trying to cut back on all that tasty cholesterol.

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