Sausage Hash Brown Quiche

Oh my goodness, they make preservative free sausage.  I don't know why it took me a year to find this and try it out.. but its probably for the better.  I know pork in itself can be a bladder irritant, but I figure if I want some sausage this would be the lesser of two evils.  I was so excited about this that I might have cooked the sausage and then ate some plain... As difficult as it was to stop eating plain sausage, I did restrain myself and made something.  (Goodness, I am glad some of you have IC and will feel the same way, because I am sure I sound crazy right now!) I found Jimmy Dean brand sausage at Kroger in the preservative free meat section- this little section is a new addition to my Kroger, and it is next to all the other meat sections.

I decided to make a hash brown/quiche casserole thing.  Sausage, peppers, eggs, and hash browns. There is not much more I could ask for.  Clearly I am in a food coma and blissed out on sausage, so I am just going to move on to the recipe.

Sausage Hash Brown Quiche

Ingredients:
3 C Shredded hash browns (thawed)
1/3 C Butter (melted)
8 Oz Sausage
1 Tbl Butter
1 C Chopped bell peppers (whatever combination of colors you want)
1 C + 1/4 C Shredded Cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1/2 C Milk
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Powder

Steps:
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees
-Spread hash browns in the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired (remember, a little bit of garlic powder goes a long way!)
-Pour 1/3 C melted butter over potatoes
-Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until hash browns start to turn golden
-As hash browns are cooking, brown and crumble sausage.
-Melt 1 Tbl butter in small skillet.  Saute peppers until soft.
-Mix sausage, peppers, and 1 C cheddar cheese in a medium size bowl
-In a small bowl, beat eggs and milk until well mixed (add salt and pepper here too if you desire)
-When hash browns are golden, remove from the oven.  Top with sausage mixture and then with egg mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 C cheddar cheese on top if desired.
-Cook for another 20 minutes in oven at 425.  Remove from the oven when top is golden and delicious looking.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve!

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pizza

My husband and I eat pizza weekly.  It is a sort of family tradition... My Grams and Gramps eat popcorn, pizza, and watch a movie most every Sunday evening.  I've always found this so charming and special about them- that they weekly took time to have a cheap and fun "date night."  I loved this tradition of theirs, and I always wanted to do something similar to set aside and cherish time with my husband. Our version of the tradition is to set aside a night each week to make a pizza and watch a movie.  My first thought of pizza after getting IC was, "boring." But after some time playing around in the kitchen, I've come to find TONS of IC friendly pizza ideas.

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pizza is just what it sounds like: not healthy in the least, but so so yummy!  This is one of my favorite pizzas to make because it gets both of us in the kitchen and having fun.  My husband is the bacon fryer and crumbler, and I take care of the chicken, sauce, and dough.  Last night, I twirled and tossed the pizza dough around kitchen trying to imitate all those cool pizza chefs you see on TV (note: I am sure I didn't come close to resembling them, especially since I was already in my PJ's) while he carefully and precisely cooked the bacon to the perfect crispy-ness.  Give this pizza a try.  You will LOVE it.  Its worth all the time and steps, trust me.

Quick Pizza Dough:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour
2 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Alfredo Sauce:

2 Tbls Butter

1/2 C. Heavy cream

1/2 tsp Garlic (minced)

3/4 C. Parmesan cheese (shredded)

2 Tbl fresh chopped Parsley

Toppings:

1 C. Mozzarella (shredded)

1/4C. parmesan (shredded)

1 cup chopped chicken, cooked (I like to saute mine in butter and garlic!)

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dough:  In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, sugar, and the yeast mixture.  Stir well to combine.  Beat well until a stiff dough has formed.  Cover and let rise until dough is doubled, about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Turn out dough onto a well floured surface.  Roll out dough into a pizza crust shape.
Sauce: In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add garlic and cook until golden. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in heavy cream.  While stirring frequently, cook for 5 minutes.  Whisk in cheese, and continue whisking until it is melted and sauce is creamy.  Stir in parsley. 

Pizza: Pour and spread sauce on top of pizza dough, sprinkle cheese, then add the chicken and bacon. 

Bake in preheated oven for about 22 minutes, or until top is golden and amazing looking.