Hashbrown Egg Bake

You may have noticed on my monthly menus that I make breakfast for supper quite often.

This is one of those recipes and I love it because you can bake it or microwave it.  Microwaving it takes less than half the time, which came in handy when we stayed at the park longer than I anticipated on Saturday.

And, you guys, I didn't find this recipe on the internet.  

I know, it's hard to believe!

I got it out of a cookbook my mom made me, and I have no idea where she got it.

Dare I say it's an original?

The ingredients are really basic, plus you can get them all at Aldi!

Winner winner chicken dinner...or winner winner hashbrown egg bake.  Whatever :)

You need:
Tater Tots (or almost any frozen potato product)
Cooked Bacon, crumbled or cooked sausage links, sliced
1 cup shredded cheese
5 eggs
4 tablespoons milk

Spray an 8x8 inch pan with nonstick spray.

Line the bottom of the pan with tater tots.

Microwave for 2 minutes.  Use a fork to mash flat.

If it's not mashing flat very well, go ahead and microwave it for 30 more seconds.

Sprinkle bacon and cheese over the mashed tater tots.

Let's say the people in your family aren't, shall we say, vegetable hesitant.  You could quickly sautee up some bell pepper, mushrooms, and onions (other any other veggies you would put in an omelette) and sprinkle those on, too.

Crack your eggs in to a bowl, add the milk, and a little bit of salt (you're already getting salt from the bacon/sausage and cheese) and pepper.  Friends, even the Bible says you need to salt eggs ;)

Those eggs just look so cheerful to me!

Pour the egg mixture over the smashed tater tots/bacon/cheese.

At this point you can bake it at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes OR microwave it!  If you microwave has a turntable that turns the whole time, microwave it for 10 minutes and check it to see if it's done.  (If your microwave doesn't have one of those, turn it every 3 minutes).

If it's wiggly and damp, it's not done.  We all know how I feel about wiggly and damp food.

Not a fan.

After the initial 10 minutes, microwave it for 2 minutes and check again.  If it's still not done, microwave for a minute at a time, checking after each minute.

The last time I microwave this, I had an older, smaller microwave, so it took longer.  I overcooked it a bit this time, because I didn't make adjustments for a more powerful microwave.  The directions I just gave you reflect the way I should have done it :)

Now, brace yourselves for this, but there have been times that I've made this that EVERYONE in my family has liked it it!!!

Saturday was not one of those times, but Aaron and I are consistently big fans of the delicious simplicity of the classic Hashbrown Egg Bake.  

These are also ingredients that I tend to have on hand 90% of the time, so if supper time is hectic, I can scrap what is on the menu and make this.

Serve it with some yogurt and/or fruit for a complete meal.

Enjoy!

OK, I feel like I've been posting kind of a lot of breakfast recipes lately...so next week it will be a NOT breakfast recipe.  Any recipe requests?