Breakfast Casserole

I get stuck in breakfast ruts with egg muffins or breakfast burritos or savory oatmeal. I don't try to break out of these ruts because the thing is that I am totally fine with eating the same thing for breakfast most of the time. I'm not sure what made me get a wild hair up my ass to try this breakfast casserole, but I did.

Honestly? I would probably not put this into my regular rotation for my weekday breakfasts - it makes a lot, and while I could scale it down, I'd rather not. It's also a little too much work for me for a standard weekday breakfast. This is a great option for brunch or holidays or a weekend with friends when you don't want to be a short order cook. It's hearty and delicious.

Ingredients
1 lb bacon, chopped, cooked, drained
1 small onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
4 green onions, chopped
20 oz bag of Simply Potatoes shredded hashbrowns - I used southwest
8 oz shredded cheese
9 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk


Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 pan with cooking spray, arrange potatoes in a thin later on the bottom, and bake them off for about 10 minutes.

Cook bacon and drain (see my grease trick below). Add onion and pepper to the pan and saute for about five minutes.

Beat eggs and milk together, and add salt & pepper to taste.

Remove potatoes from oven. Layer cheese, bacon, green onions. Pour eggs mixture over. Top with the remaining cheese and green onions.

Cook for about 40 minutes, then hit it with the broiler for an additional five.

Line a bowl with tin foil, place strainer over it, and drain bacon into the bowl.
Much easier cleanup when the bacon grease hardens. 

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Haikuesday

An ode to bacon:

Savory love, sweet heaven.

Pigs would not agree. 

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TWTW - the one home alone

It's nice to start the weekend being ladies who lunch on Friday. Tara and I tried Snap Kitchen Rittenhouse and she brought this awesome piece she made for the shore house. We both love it. 

Friday night trip to Michael's, boiling three pounds of macaroni, purging coat closet and wine cabinet, painting my nails (OPI Go with the Lava Flow), and an awesome massage. I've had an occipital headache all week and this kicked it out. MFD left late for the shore.

Saturday began with terror in the home for the dogs as Mae got shots and they all got their anal glands expressed by the lovely mobile vet service House Paws. Gus shit all over the house in revenge annnnnnd I stepped in it in bare feet. Vietnam Vets also picked up donations. Hallelujah and Amen for purging.

I had to get weekly food prep out of the way early: Three pounds of macaroni salad for Vincent's Big Dumb Face Beef & Beer, breakfasts are egg muffins with asparagus and cheese; snacks are honey crisp apples and nut bars; lunches are turkey burgers with spaghetti squash and snap peas; dinners are baked lemon rosemary chicken breasts and with mashed parsnips and one of my favorite comfort foods: American goulash.

Saturday night was a good time for a great cause - Vincent's Big Dumb Face Beef & Beer. I didn't win anything, but the last beef & beer I went to I won like three baskets so I am not due to win anything for quite a long time. The auction baskets were awesome though and Amanda and Frank did a wonderful job of putting this fun night together.

Sunday MFD returned, I went to see Lola Jean (these are her leopard Toms I got from the zulily sale), miraculously exchanged something at Target without purchasing something else, got my  $6 flowers of the week from Produce Junction, packed my clothes for Ireland (I've already changed my mind about two things), and took a Sunday drive through Bucks County with MFD, picking up some goodies from None Such Farm on the way.

It was a tremendous weather weekend here, I hope you enjoyed the same. 

Let's get down to business this week.

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

What makes me feel peaceful

The piano interlude at the end of Layla

Drinking coffee alone on the beach before sunrise

Riding my bike through quiet streets at the shore

Reclining in the anti-gravity lounge chair out back, looking at the sky through my tree

Sitting on the dock at the lake

Hearing Into the Mystic

Playing solitaire

The space I'm in after a cleansing cry

Being mindful

Looking up to realize I'm one of the last people left on the beach

A nice cuppa honey lavender tea

Realization

Washing dishes

Candles burning 

Tiny Buddhas

An extra 15 minutes in bed

Hugging someone I love

Letting go

Letting myself feel things deep down into my bones

A quiet house

Piling up on the couch with my dogs, a quilt, and a book

Deep breaths

Lavender essential oil

Walks in the woods

I could use some peace after this week. 

What are some things that make you feel peaceful?

This post is a part of the back to blogging challenge on Alyssa's blog. 
To read more like this or write some like this:

Thursday Thoughts - let's start at the very beginning / a very good place to start

1. I dropped my bags at the door yesterday on the pressing topic of the week that I typically address in my Thursday posts. You know it needs its own post when it's too long for Thursday Thoughts.

2. But just for kicks, with all this Donald Trump inspired pussy talk, did you know that in 2012 two women representatives in Michigan were banned by Republican House Leaders from speaking on the House floor because they used the word vagina when talking about an anti-choice bill? Rep. Mike Callton told the press that what they said (the word vagina, which is actually what a female body part is called) was so vile that he could not bear to mention it in front of women or mixed company. Yet pussy is all over the presidential race this week. This is, indeed, real life. It's just words, it's not a big deal...unless you mention a female body part in a legislative body that is legislating about the female body. THEN SHUT UP, YOU VILE STRUMPET. If you don't see the horror and irony in this, you might need an electric shock.

3. Links I liked this week: 38 Hilarious Tweets That Perfectly Sum Up the Second Debate, Donald and Billy on the Bus, 27 Ken Bone tweets, Pro Athletes Say No One Talks Like Trump in Locker Rooms, Muslims Report Stuff. 

3. This week has not gone according to plan. Monday night Jana and I attempted to record The Armchair Librarians and had technical difficulties. Tuesday night the mobile vet thought I was an in-office appointment and never showed up, then I wasted over two hours trying to deal with iPhone Fuckery Take II and got absolutely nothing else on my to do list done, then I was up searching for plain navy Lularoe leggings in vain. Why can't I find these? I think my friend Siobhan helped me find them, we'll see when they arrive! Wednesday more time was wasted wiping my iPhone and restoring it - when I spoke to Apple they said the most recent update was making things "wonky," which is apparently the new technical term for broken down shitshow. That was my actual reply to her. "Is wonky the technical term for the broken down shitshow update you released to the masses?" So the first few days of the week were like a giant error message.

4. I let my hair go past its expiration date this week, which did not help my foray into Sephora on Tuesday. I swear to God every time I go in there it's easily the day of the week I look the worst  - I'm never wearing any makeup and my hair is always on its last leg. Anyone else always roll up into Sephora looking like they desperately need every product in the place and then some?

5. MFD was in town on Tuesday and we went to lunch at Melt Kraft, a grilled cheese place. He loved it; I thought mine was too greasy. We ran into our friend Ellen from school. It's always nice to have an unexpected encounter.

6. Tuesday was National Coming Out Day. I am a supporter of equal rights for the LGBTQ community. My favorite thing is when people are happy - I don't care about their sexual orientation, religion, skin color - I like when people are good, and when they're happy. Life is too short to be otherwise.

7. Vietnam Vets is picking up on Saturday. I was supposed to show you a photo of what I purged on Monday and Tuesday nights but we already covered above how shit has not gone as planned, so trust that I will be ripping through the house on Friday night like nobody's business. Our lady of Victory, pray for us.

8. Currently reading. Did you check out the 49 posts linked up for the second anniversary of Show Us Your Books on Tuesday? Did you enter to win booky prizes?

9. Reminder. Even though I've been in a relationship for 14 years, I have never stopped cultivating alone time. It is important to me to not lose me.

10.  E-card of the week: 

Alright, alright, alright. 

Linking up with Kristin

To be crystal clear

what two consenting adults engage in sexually in private
appreciation for the physical aspects of the opposite sex
reading a book with sexual content
having sexual thoughts about other adults
having conversations about sex
explicit sex talk between consenting adults
actual locker room banter
cheating on your spouse

are not in any way at all related to

Donald Trump saying, "Grab them in the pussy. You can do anything."

Not in any way. 
None of those things are the same as what he said or in any way related.

Attempting to relate them is blindly existing in rape culture.

Attempting to pass it off as just words that liberals are pearl clutching over is absurd. No one gives a good fuck that he used the word pussy. People care about how he said he would grab women by the pussy in a manner that implies lack of consent. Lack of consent is not something to joke or be flippant about. Lack of consent is rape and rape is absolutely something to be concerned about. Acting like it isn't is doing everyone on this planet a disservice.

Attempting to invoke the marital issues of the Clintons and Bill's sexual conduct or misconduct will not lessen the blow of a presidential candidate with a cavalier attitude about how he can take anything from women, whether they consent or not. Let's be honest, this is just the latest misogynist bomb out of Trump's mouth. Are we surprised? No. Are we finally finished putting up with it? I hope so. There are some people who hate the very air the Clintons breathe, and I'm not taking that away from you. Among other things, you are pissed about a blow job Bill got in the Oval Office 20 years ago and how horny and immoral he is. You've been banging that drum for 20 years, so I'm sure you'll excuse us while we take some time to deal with sexual assault language by a candidate who says he respects women but clearly does not. Women make up over half of the population. It's a problem. 

Attempting to blow this off as a distraction from the "real issues" of the election says to me you are happy to live in a world in which women's bodies are assumed to be property of others to do with what they wish and that you won't ever do or say anything to change that.  You're concerned about national security. I get that. What about bodily security for everyone, not just the males?

You can give me any excuse or justification or bullshit about how what he said is not important or a big deal and I will simply tell you I don't care. Because it's a big deal to me. And to many women and men. 

I don't know if you can hear it where you are. It's loud around me. An army of women is marching as we speak. Some of us are out screaming and stomping in the streets. Some of us are looking out the window through the blinds, standing in solidarity in living rooms hoping no one sees us but standing just the same. Some of us can only light a match to illuminate an ideal of equality in our minds, but we're there. It takes all kinds in this army.

I cannot and will not be silent about this. This is not politics. This is humanity and equality and respect and safety and I will press on it and demand it and remind you of it. Loudly and with absolute conviction. That's my role in this army.

If that's not a role you're comfortable in,  that's okay. There's a place for everyone in this army. Men, that means you too. Even if you've stood by in the past while others made comments like Trump's or even if you made them yourself. Perfection is not expected. A willingness to admit when you've been wrong instead of trying to pass it off as not a big deal or turning it around and pointing at someone else for doing something similar in an attempt to excuse yourself is required. So is trying to do right in the future.

By the way guys, we don't need you to stand up for us or protect us because we're the weaker sex, or because we're your daughters or wives or mothers. I know...I've fallen into the invoking relationship trap myself. But I'm finished doing that. I'm not asking someone to treat us equally because of who we are in relation to them anymore. I'm asking them to treat us equally because we are someone.We need you to stand with us - to stand beside us in solidarity - because we are people who deserve the same respect and bodily autonomy you have. Across the board.

Trump is not yet a part of this country's government. Whether he is in the end is up to you on November 8. But plenty of us are currently represented by people who support him. You might want to check and see where your representatives stand before Election Day - hopefully they're not like Jeff Sessions from Alabama who, in his desire to defend Trump, stated that he is unsure if grabbing women by the genitals is sexual assault. I'm not sure about you, but I don't need people like this writing bills or laws in this land.