Aunty Lyn's Queso

Oh man, y'all, I LOVE queso. Of all sorts, but especially my Aunty Lyn's. I haven't had it in forever because it makes a LOT, but since we had family in town over the holidays, I made some to share. It's super easy, so quick, and SO yummy.

Aunty Lyn's Queso

• 1 box velveeta regular
• 1 box velveeta Mexican
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 lb breakfast sausage, browned & drained (I use the spicy kind!)
• pickled jalapenos & juice to taste

Melt everything together either on the stove or in a slow cooker. Over the stove, be careful that the cheese doesn't get burnt to the bottom of the pan -- this happened to me and it was UNPLEASANT to clean up. 

Get LOTS of scoops chips because this makes a lot of delicious queso. 

xoxo,
janie from scratch

Breakfast Burritos

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. I got laid off two Fridays ago. I've spent the majority of the past week drinking by the pool. But now it's time to focus, really get serious... and move my afternoons to the beach. HA! Anyways, last week I kept waking up super hungry, and I usually eat breakfast at work, but wanted to make something easy I could grab on my way out the door (TO THE BEACH!). I've been craving a breakfast burrito for awhile and have been wanting to make some so I ran to the store, grabbed some ingredients and whipped a few up! So easy (as always), so fast.

Janie's Breakfast Burritos

• breakfast sausage 
• eggs
• grated cheese
• frozen hashbrowns
• sauce -- you could use salsa, hot sauce, spicy mayo, anything!
• large tortillas

First, brown the sausage. I used half a roll of spicy breakfast sausage, but I think you could probably use the pre-formed sausage links. Then, scramble the eggs (of course I scrambled them in the sausage fat!). I used 5 eggs. Then assemble your burritos!

Put a spoonful of sausage, eggs, cheese and a few hashbrowns in the tortilla. I forgot to put the sauce, but some taco sauce or hot sauce would be super yummy! Save your mayo-based or non-microwave friendly for after you zap these. 

Roll up tight.

Then, roll up in a piece of plastic wrap.

And store in a big plastic zip lock bag in the fridge.

This made SO MANY -- 8 burritos in total! I microwave one for 45 seconds IN the plastic wrap so the tortillas don't dry out. Then, since I forgot sauce, I add a little sauce at every bite. (I actually had some leftover bloomin' onion sauce from a dinner party -- mayo-based -- and put that on as I ate, YUM!) Voila.. easy, quick and tasty breakfast. You could even make these healthier using egg whites, whole wheat tortillas, turkey sausage, and sauteed veggies instead of hashbrowns. 

Sausage Balls

This recipe isn't from pinterest (shocker!), but it is an oldie and a goodie! My mom used to make sausage balls for as long as I can remember, and I LOVE them. I also make these for work potlucks, movie nights (shout out to the Estates crew!), pool parties, tailgates, brunches, pretty much any time I can make these, I will. They're ridiculously easy to make, but I recently found a new trick that makes them even EASIER... my KitchenAid! (Okay, so I found this tip from pinterest.)

Sausage Balls
1 package breakfast sausage (I get the spicy kind, you can get the regular stuff, but you probably don't want to get the syrup flavored sausage)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Bisquick

Put all ingredients in your mixer with the paddle attachment (the one you make cookies with).

Mix until incorporated. (You might want to lock the top part down.) It takes a few minutes so have faith, all the Bisquick will mix in!

Action shot!

If you don't have a mixer, you can do this part with your hands. I used to do it this way! I always let the sausage set out for a bit before, because my hands would get really cold.

Then form into balls (I forgot to take a picture.. oops.) And place on a non-stick baking sheet with sides maybe an inch apart (they don't expand much). You want one with sides because these give off quite a bit of grease and you don't want it all over your oven floor. Also, don't try to put these on aluminum foil to spare yourself a greasy cleanup--they stick and it's a hot mess trying to get them off!

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a cookie rack covered with some paper towels (again, more grease). These are amazing warm, but also good at room temperature or cool! I just really love them, so I'll eat them any way I can get them. :)