Recipe #45: Ham and Cheddar Breakfast Casserole

So today is Sunday and it is my "Friday". I have Monday and Tuesday off of work and I'll be spending my days off cleaning, exercising, and spending time with the three males in my life -- Ian, Axl, and Mick. But to kick start my "Friday" I fell asleep after I got off of work and did not have time to make the side dish I had planned to make for my family dinner tonight. On top of that I missed our scheduled Margarita Hour and a potentially rousing game of Bocce Ball.

So with my parents already making dinner with chocolate chip cookies for dessert I knew I had to prepare something tonight for tomorrow morning. Well, as you are aware, both Ian and I love breakfast and since we rarely have days off together anymore I thought I'd make us a very hearty dish that takes a lot of time to prepare. I found this recipe: http://mymansbelly.com/2012/04/09/easy-breakfast-casserole/ and I will post pictures in the morning of the baked product. If you want some of this it does serve 8 people so come on over for a taste if you are in the area!

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 cups of Milk (I used 2%)
* 1 cup of Eggs
* 1 1/4 cup of Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided
* 8 oz of Diced Ham
* 1 cup of White Onion
* 1 lb of Bread Loaf
* Freshly Ground Pepper



Cooking Directions:

Stir together the milk, eggs, half of the cheese, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

In the blog it required 1 cup of whisked eggs...I had to measure to find that 1 cup = 4 eggs!

On a cutting board, dice the onion.

Afterwards stir in ham, onion, and milk into the egg mixture.

In a casserole pan, about 13x9 in diameter, spray generously with canola oil.

Rip up the entire loaf of bread into bite size pieces and place in the casserole pan.

Then pour the mixture over the bread pieces and then sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over the top.

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator overnight. (This will allow the bread pieces to completely soak the egg mixture making for a great souffle!)

In the morning:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and then cook the souffle with the foil on for 40 minutes.

Then remove the foil and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.

Take the souffle out of the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.