LIttle Mama's Sausage and Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

Eight years ago I joined a group called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) at my church.  I didn't know at the time the impact that decision would have on my life.  This group was a life saver for a young, first time mom like me!  I could go on all day about how much I love being a part of MOPS, but this post is about a recipe.  The reason I mentioned MOPS is because we start each meeting with brunch, and a HUGE part of our brunch is the breakfast casserole.  They. Are. Delicious.  There are a million different recipes for breakfast casseroles, but I wanted to make up my own.  Call me a control freak, but I like to make food my way :)  As always, use what you have and omit things that you don't like.  Don't like onion?  Leave it out.  Prefer ground turkey or bacon?  Use that instead.  Make it your own...the you like it.  Use my recipe as a blueprint.

Gather Your Ingredients

• 1lb mild or hot ground pork sausage
• 1lb frozen hash browns, thawed (use shredded or country style)
• 12 eggs
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced sweet peppers (I used a mix of red, yellow, orange and green bell)
• 3 good size cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup milk
• a good size dollop of sour cream (1 to 2 T)
• 4 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flake
• Lawry's seasoned salt and pepper to taste
• cooking oil spray

Make It

1. Brown pork sausage in skillet.  Begin adding veggies when the sausage is almost cooked through. (If you add too soon the liquid will cook out and your meat will boil instead of fry)  Peppers and onions first, followed by garlic and tomato and pepper flake last.
2. Drain meat mixture and allow to cool.  While it is cooling, grease a 9x13 baking dish.
3. Place hash browns in a large bowl and sprinkle with seasoned salt and pepper to taste.  Add meat mixture and half of the cheese, mix thoroughly and dump it into the baking dish.
4. Whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream and a sprinkle of seasoned salt and pepper.  (Cut down on dishes by using the same bowl you mixed the potatoes in)  Pour over the potato mixture.
5. Top with the remaining cheese.  Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking oil to prevent the cheese from sticking.  I like to let this sit in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to meld.  
6. Bake at 350 for approximately 50 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, or until the cheese on top is bubbly and slightly brown.