Breakfast Casserole Supreme

-Tara Flake

This is so easy to make the night ahead!

1/4 cup margarine
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped
(or, substitue about 1 cup chunky salsa for the veggies)
1 (24 ounce) bag frozen hash brown potatoes (the shredded kind)
12 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb to 1 lb cubed ham or cooked crumbled bacon or sausage
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Melt margarine and place in the bottom of 9" by 13" baking pan.
2. Spread potatoes (still frozen) in bottom of the pan.
3. Sprinkle chopped vegetables or salsa over potatoes.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Sprinkle meat over potatoes and vegetables.
6. Gently (and barely) mix the veggies and meat into the potatoes; just poke it around enough so there isn't a solid layer of meat on top.
7. Note: At this point you may continue or casserole may be refrigerated overnight (or frozen for later!).
8. Pour beaten eggs over potatoes.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese evenly over top.
11. Bake another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.
12. Remove from oven and let set for approximately 5 minutes.

Serve with more salsa or ketchup if desired. Lots of possibilities here - we like to use really spicy sausage and salsa for more of a kick, but when we have kids over for company we'll go basic. We also like more meat so we'll do a full pound, though 1/2 or 3/4 lb seems to be enough. Here's the link to the original recipe, I've altered it a little after making it so many times.