Golden Oatmeal Muffins

This is a favorite in our house. It is easy to make and goes well with a fruit salad for a lovely breakfast.

1 box Duncan Hines Butter yellow cake mix
1 cup dry oatmeal
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 TBS melted butter
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with Pam or grease with Crisco, or line muffin pan with paper cups. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Spoon into muffin pan. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 large muffins.
Serve with butter and/or honey.

Sticky Buns

18-20 Rhodes frozen bread dough rolls (not Texas style)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 small box butterscotch pudding mix, dry (cook and serve type)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick margarine
1 tsp. cinnamon

Generously grease a Bundt cake pan (never use a two piece angel food cake pan) with shortening. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Arrange frozen bread dough rolls in pan. Sprinkle with pudding mix.
In a sauce pan, cook margarine, brown sugar and cinnamon together until just boils and sugar is dissolved. Pour over rolls in pan. Cover loosely with a sheet of foil and allow to sit overnight on stove or counter. Remove foil and Bake next morning at 350 degrees for 30-35 min. or until brown on top and hollow sounding when thumped. Turn over onto platter and serve.

I like to make this the night before and put in the oven on timed bake. It will start baking the next morning and be ready for us when we get up. I always do this for Christmas morning or when I plan to take the rolls to work with me in the morning.

Betty’s Sausage and Cheese Strata

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 med. Onion, chopped
6 eggs
1 c. sharp shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups milk
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
6 slices white bread, cubed

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Brown onion and sausage together. Drain grease from sausage. Beat eggs, milk, salt, mustard in bowl. Layer bread cubes in bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Put sausage/onion mixture on top of bread. Put cheese on top of sausage. Pour milk/egg mixture over all. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 45 min. or until center is set and top is golden.

If recipe is increased to 1 ½ x then increase baking time to 1 hr. or 1 hr. 15 min.

Pecan Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. package breakfast sausage, browned, crumbled and drained
1 16oz. loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread cubed
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ cups half-and half
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
3 Tbl. Maple syrup

Brown sausage, crumble and drain fat. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place bread cubes in dish. Add browned sausage. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pouir over bread and sausage, pressing sausage and bread into the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Prepare topping: In a bowl, combine brown sugar,pecans, butter or margarine and maple syrup. Drop by teaspoonfuls over top of egg mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or till knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Lumber Jack Potatoes

3-5 large, long white baking potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼ in. thick (about 6 cups)
1 cup chopped onions
6 Tbs. butter or margarine
1 Tbs. dried parsley
1 tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
3/4 tsp. dried sage, crushed
3/4 tsp. dried crushed rosemary
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
In a large saucepan, cook the potato slices in lightly salted boiling water for 12 to 14 min. or till just tender. Drain off water.
In a heavy, large skillet, melt butter and cook onions and potatoes over medium-high heat till potatoes are lightly browned, turning often. You can add a couple more TBS of butter if they seem to dry. Add dried parsley, garlic, pepper, thyme, sage and rosemary. Toss lightly. Lightly spray a 13 x 9 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes till heated through.
NOTE: You can add 1 lb. of cooked breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean, etc.) to this and make it a breakfast casserole/ Side dish.

You can also add more seasoning if you like and for a more rustic dish, scrub the skins and slice and cook with the skins on.