Basic Breakfast Casserole Recipe --- Use What You Have

I really love the idea of breakfast casserole (or strata, if you prefer) but the recipes I've tried have been hit and miss with my family over the years. I've found that the ones they love best are the ones I just put together with basic ingredients I have in the fridge. Today I'm sharing the basic recipe for breakfast casserole and you can choose whatever ingredients your family loves! This is perfect for using up smaller amounts of leftovers, so get creative!

Breakfast Casserole

8 c. cubed bread (I've used leftover challah, garlic toast, french bread, whole wheat, hoagies, etc.)

1.5 c. grated cheese (or more! Any kind of cheese you love is great. I usually use sharp cheddar**)

8 eggs

1 c. cooked meat (I use ground turkey, smoked beef sausage, or non-pork bacon)

2.5-3 c. milk

2-3 TB dijon mustard (this changes everything!!)

seasonings (I usually do 1.5 tsp. salt; 1 tsp. pepper; 1 tsp. thyme; 2-3 TB chives)

other fillings (about 1.5 c. total): onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, salsa, etc.

Instructions:

Begin by cooking your meat completely and set aside. Whisk the eggs, milk, and dijon mustard together and set aside. In a large bowl, add the cubed bread, grated cheese, and any other fillings and seasonings. Stir well before adding in the cooked meat and liquid mixture. Stir everything together and pour into a 13x9 baking dish. Preheat your oven to 350 and leave the dish on the counter or put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then bake it uncovered for 50-60 minutes. Let it sit about 10-15 minutes, then cut and enjoy!

**Lately I've been buying sharp cheddar any time I need cheddar. Since grocery prices are skyrocketing, I'm looking for ways to conserve. I find that I can use less (in some recipes) when I use a richer cheese and get the same flavor. 

Peach Orange Marmalade -- Yum Yum!

This article was originally posted on my former blog, Classical Homemaking.

Good Morning! Hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing day and keeping spirits up!

I love to make jam as it's so simple and so pretty! I recently made two kinds of jam---mixed berry jam, using my freezer jam recipe, and peach orange marmalade, which I'd not made for about 15 years!

 To prepare the peaches for the marmalade, I began by using the boil/soak method to remove the skins. Just get a pot of water boiling and then set a bowl of ice water beside it. Put your peaches into the hot water first, letting them roll around for a couple of minutes, then plunge them into the ice bath. After a couple minutes in there, most of the skins will slide off very easily!

I also used this little zesting tool to remove just the part of the orange where the aromatic oils are found. When I was a kid, I despised marmalade because it was so bitter. That's because it contained pieces of the whole peel. Using just the zest will keep your jam sweet and flavorful.

After chopping up the peaches and oranges, I used this newly-devised method to crush the fruit. This is a photo of the mixed berries being crushed for my berry jam but I used the same method for the marmalade. It's important to crush the fruit so it will release the juices that make your jams so delicious. I used a stockpot with its strainer insert and this Pampered Chef Mix n' Chop tool. This allowed the juice to drain into the pot below and I was able to better crush up the berries. Before, I would do them all in a bowl but once it got pretty juicy, the pieces would slide around and were difficult to smash.

The last tip is in regard to the froth one will see when boiling the mixture. Jam can get pretty frothy and you don't want that in the jars, of course. I've found I just need to keep it boiling and it will eventually move past this super frothy stage as it thickens up. Any froth that is left on top when you're ready to fill your jars will be thick enough to easily remove with a slotted spoon.

I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe. Let me know if you try it out!

Peach Orange Marmalade

5 c. chopped and crushed peaches (about 4 lb.)

1 c. chopped and crushed oranges (2 oranges)

zest from one orange

2 TB lemon juice

6 c. sugar 

Wash fruit. Remove stems, skins, and pits from peaches. Zest one or both oranges, remove peel, pith (white portion), and seeds from oranges. Chop and then crush the fruit. Measure the fruit into a large pot, add the remaining ingredients, stir. Boil rapidly, stirring often, until the mixture thickens. (This will be about 9 degrees above the boiling point of water.) Remove from heat and skim off excess froth.

If you are freezing the marmalade or just storing in the refrigerator, you can fill plastic containers, let them cool on the counter, and then refrigerate/freeze. If you are canning the marmalade, read the following instructions entirely before beginning.

To can:

Before beginning the marmalade preparation, wash and sterilize canning jars and prepare two-piece canning lids according to the manufacturer's instructions. This recipe makes approximately 3.5 pints of marmalade. Leave your jars in the hot canning water until you're ready to fill them.

Proceed with the instructions above for preparing and cooking the marmalade. Then fill the hot jars with the hot marmalade, leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel, then adjust the lid/ring combo on top of the jar---firmly but not too tightly. Process in the water bath for 10 minutes (15 min. for 6,000 ft+). Remove the jars and let them sit for 24 hours before checking the seals to make sure they're secure. Label the lids and store in a cool, dark place for up to 2 years. 

Expand Your Worldview Without Sacrificing Your Faith

Wouldn't it be great if we could learn how to separate our feelings about a person's value from our feelings about their behavior? It's an ability that must be practiced on purpose. If there's one thing social media has taught me, it's that there are lots of opinions out there and only some of them are tolerated. In my opinion, that is the epitome of ignorance---but we often see that kind of behavior from some of the most "educated".  I have had the opportunity to form relationships with women of all different ages and from many different countries and cultures and have a few ideas about expanding one's worldview without sacrificing one's faith. I hope some of my experiences will encourage you if you find yourself struggling in this area.

In this context, I'm defining "Faith" as one's principles, the things that form their character. This could be religious based or not. My faith is based on a historical understanding and literal interpretation of the Old and New Testaments found in the Bible. The result of that learning and understanding has been a saving relationship with the Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

What's interesting to me is that many people who are called "ignorant" by others who disagree with their point of view don't see themselves as ignorant at all. Truly, to be ignorant of something means to lack knowledge of it, but in today's culture, it implies one is uneducated or unsophisticated in most things. Both terms are relative---anyone who thinks there is a set standard of "educated" or "sophisticated" is pretty ignorant themselves. I would argue that many people who are called ignorant have no idea they're acting that way at all---it's not on purpose. And if it's not on purpose, then why do people get so angry with an ignorant-acting person? Wouldn't the educated and sophisticated thing be to teach that "ignorant" person so they can make better decisions about their behavior?

We are all a sum total of our experiences and influences and we can all learn from one another. I get really excited when I hear that someone is interested in culture studies, people watching, languages, etc. This means they want to know more about their world and how to better function in it. They want to talk less and listen more. This gives me hope! 

One experience that has expanded my worldview tremendously is my participation in the worldwide hobby of BookCrossing. I've been a BookCrosser for almost 15 years---which means I started in my mid-20s. Through the years of sharing books, reviews, ideas, presents, and more, I've met people from all over the planet in many different walks of life. I've been a student of how people think and respond based on the culture around them, as well as how they view my culture. I've read books I never would have chosen had they not been recommended to me---many that aren't sold in the US by authors we've never heard of! It's been an amazing experience and I've not had to leave home to enjoy it! (I'm elizardbreath on BookCrossing, if you choose to join us!)

I've also had the opportunity to travel extensively through England, sometimes with multinational tour groups, but this worldview-growing technique can be done anywhere. I've learned to ask questions---and ask the right questions. I don't ask about their culture's favorite foods or entertainment---that can all be found easily online. I ask personal things about their religious practices, how they view marriage and family roles, education, social issues, how they interpret the American culture. This is how we break stigmas and get to know individuals. When I do this, I find that the many differences in individuals within a culture is what makes us all similar. Don't be afraid to ask a polite question to someone you're interested in knowing better. Very few people will be offended by someone who is genuinely curious and people love to talk about themselves!

The activity that has probably grown my worldview the widest and the quickest is my international pen pal matching service, The Victorian Letter Writers Guild. I created this organization in the summer of 2017 and we're currently got over 700 members worldwide. Interested members fill out a detailed profile before participating in the many group exchanges and pen pal matches I offer each year. I have made so many friendships this way with ladies from all over the world and of all different ages and lifestyles. I haven't yet invested a dime to make this happen and the benefit to my ever-growing understanding of people and their cultures is priceless. Maybe you can join a multinational group such as this---or start your own!

In all of these experiences, I have been both the ignorant person and have encountered the ignorant person. In almost all cases, I've found that it's really just a lack of knowledge---and a plethora of preconceived ideas---that causes the ignorance. When I've assumed things about the other person, I've gotten myself into trouble, but never have I had a conflict when I asked a question instead. 

We Christians have a saying: "love the sinner, hate the sin", yet we often refuse to learn how to truly value a person who is living a lifestyle different from what we believe is acceptable to God---or even just one that is hard for us to understand. However, when we take the time to really learn about someone who thinks or lives differently from us, we find that we can form a genuine relationship based on our commonalities and can eventually positively influence each other. As much as I want to keep myself holy and set apart for the Lord, I've found that the act of pursuing a better knowledge and understanding of this great big world of people He created helps me to better live here as long as He allows. Keeping close to the Father as I travel through it ensures I can expand my worldview without sacrificing relationship with Him.