Cracker Barrel Copycat- Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

I can't be the only one who lusts after these unhealthy things, right?  I mean, they are just so tasty, you can't help but wonder why they don't offer seconds!

This prompted me to try a copycat recipe.  I tried a couple and they were way out of the park, I mean like, WAY off.  I have read so many of these recipes and some are so completely different I wonder which one is out of their MIND and which is close!  I have heard they use Colby, no they use cheddar, no they use Velveeta....well guess what?!?!  I took my own ideas with a few hints from these other recipes and though I wouldn't say it is "OMG, EXACTLY" on, I would say it is the closest I have come. 

I am using a cream soup in this bad baby.  If you have a recipe for a cream soup, go with it, I am using it for the sake of time, and yes, even the flavor.  I would venture to say you could change cream of chicken out for cream of mushroom as well.  Sometimes I used canned cream soups, sue me.  I don't necessarily enjoy the fact they are processed and sodium laden but hey, sometimes, a girl wants that kind of thing in her food.  You have choices, just use them if you don't groove on it. 

This is really easy and even if it isn't EXACTLY like Cracker Barrels, it is really good and such an easy side, especially for a crowd!

You will need
2lbs (or just under) frozen hash brown potatoes, THAWED
1 can cream of chicken soup (reg size small can)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups shredded Colby cheese
1/4 cup mild cheddar, shredded
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a large bowl, combine ALL ingredients and stir.  Better yet, wash your hands well, or use gloves and do it with your hands, because this is serious mixin' kids.  Pour into your 9x13 pan, which you have sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, spread out evenly and bake 50-60 minutes.  They will be golden and bubblah when you take them out!

Please let them cool a minute before you serve, nobody needs to lose mouth skin here.  And let's face it, everything tasted better in my mom's very old 9x13 she gave me. 

Geo-Normous Breakfast Casserole

And GEO-NORMOUS it is!  Ok so it is Ginormous but since this is hubby's recipe, he gets to call it Geo-normous!

He has been telling me "you don't have a breakfast casserole on your website", because, I guess he trolls my website for hours at a time and checks on these things! ROFL.  Seriously, do you guys know how fun and hilarious this guy is?  Anyway, so he said, just make something easy that anyone could make and that will feed a ton of people.  My response was "Ok, give me an ingredient list and I will work it out".  I guess he didn't realize how easy a breakfast casserole would be to make!  He gave me his list, and I picked it up.  Now fast forward to today, when I finally made it.  SO good, so perfect for a crowd.  SO PERFECT for making ahead, so perfect for...everything!

You might shriek at the ingredients.  Keep two things in mind, 1) a man requested this and these ingredients, and 2)this should feed a good 8 people.  I would serve this with some bread and some fruit and call it breakfast!

Heeeeeeeeeeere we go...............!!

14 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. pork sausage, browned
1 lb. bacon, fried crispy and then cut into small pieces
2 cups cheese (your choice, I went with cheddar)
1 pkg (just short of 2lbs) shredded hash browns.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  In a frying pan, brown sausage, when it is done, remove and place on a paper towel lined plate.  In the same skillet, crisp up your bacon well.  Crumble or cut into smaller pieces when cooled and drained of grease.  Now brown off your hashbrowns, in 2 or 3 batches.  When they are done, place them in the bottom of a 9x13 (ish) pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil.  Spread them out evenly and sprinkle on the sausage and bacon.  Now in a bowl combine the eggs, milk, onion powder, salt and pepper and whisk well.  You could even use a hand mixer to incorporate a little more air into these eggs.  Gently pour over the ingredients already in your baking dish, top with the cheese  and bake 30=35 minutes. 

Now, put on the coffee and dig in!