A Day in the Life of Hailee and John: Two of John's Favorite things...Breakfast and Shooting Guns

John loves breakfast...I mean loves breakfast. I, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. Since I don't love it, I have this personal challenge to make really good breakfast that doesn't seem so breakfast-y. I really haven't succeeded yet, but in the meantime John has gotten to eat some really great breakfasts!

This weekend, I decided I would try a few new recipes. Yesterday I made a layered breakfast casserole and today we had some Mexican inspired breakfast burritos.


Breakfast Casserole

I think casseroles for breakfast in general are a great idea. They are easy to make and the possibilities are endless.

1/2 medium onion diced
1 green bell pepper diced (or the combination of 1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 red bell pepper - that is what I did)
1 jalapeno pepper diced (optional)
Hashbrowns (enough to cover the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish) cooked until just beginning to brown
1 package Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat sausage coked until just beginning to brown, but not cooked through
1 cup egg beaters (or 4 eggs beat together with a small amount of milk)
2 cups grated cheese (I used Gouda because my family gave me a whole bunch of yummy cheese for Christmas - it was so good with the gouda!!)
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray. Layer your hashbrowns then your sausage. Set aside. Mix together eggs, peppers, onion, salt and pepper, and cheese (reserve a small amount for topping at the end). Pour over the top of your sausage. Bake for 45 minutes. Pull out of the oven and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 10 additional minutes. Tada...it's gouda! :)

I served this casserole with a side of fresh berries. So good!

I am really not certain why I didn't think this would taste super breakfast-y because it certainly has all the elements of a good breakfast. Oh well, it was a success anyway.

This morning I went for breakfast burritos. Breakfast burritos are very easy to make, they are easy to wrap up and eat on the go, and they make great camping food.

Mmm! John enjoying his breakfast burrito.

Basically, take your favorite breakfast ingredients and wrap up in a tortilla. I used eggs, hashbrowns, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, roasted jalapenos, and sour cream. The tortillas I prefer to use are the uncooked Don Julio found in the deli area. They just make the burritos seem more authentic.

After breakfast, our friend Eric called us to see if we wanted to go shoot some guns. John loves to shoot guns, so we couldn't turn him down. After some research, it turns out there is one gun range open on Sunday. Lucky for us, the wait wasn't too long. Here are a few pics:

Eric

I was going for the Sarah Palin look...I think I succeeded!

Zombie target!

John

John just killing some zombies!

After shooting, we went and grabbed some lunch. There is this little dive in SLC called the Cotton Bottom. If you haven't been, you need to go ASAP. They are infamous for their tacky decor and garlic burgers...or what I like to call GBs. They are so good. Homemade buns, two beef patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and garlic mayo served with a side of sliced pickles and plain old Lays potato chips. I usually just eat a half because they are so big. Freaking amazing! This place is always packed, but it is worth the wait. John and I eat here so much that we don't even have to order. We just come in, sit down and within a few minutes we have or burgers. Such a fun place.