Hello again!

I just put supper in the oven, a really yummy sounding hash brown bake with bacon, onions and peppers. The recipe will follow this note. It looks a lot healthier than the other hash brown bakes I came across that called for cream cheese or sour cream. I opted for the one that used a milk sauce thickened with flour.

I've come to the conclusion that my body really does hate eggs... and all the willpower in the world isn't going to make my histamines change their minds! Auntie Gloria has provided me with a really great looking egg desensitization protocol but for this to work I have to eliminate eggs from my diet altogether. I really hope this protocol works because I'm dying for a hard boiled egg!

So I was looking around for healthy egg-free breakfasts and this one looked pretty ok. Its a bit more work than I would go to on an average morning (actually its WAY more work than I would go to!) but it looked delicious enough for supper.

If anyone out there has egg-free breakfast ideas that don't involve cold store-bought cereals (ick) then let me know! Or any other egg-free recipes are good, for that matter! I have a chocolate cake recipe already but will clearly need to be experimenting with tofu as a binder in baking. One problem I find is that egg-free recipes often call for fruit like bananas or applesauce.

I'll forge ahead!

In other news, Jill went to the Corb Lund concert last night in Vancouver and had an absolute hoot! I think she went with some cousins and other friends but they're playing again tonight in Surrey so she's going again with some Farrier friends. There's a couple other people preforming tonight, too, like Dustin Bentall.

I started crocheting the rabbit I'm making Rowan based on the rabbit my Great-Grandma Nowlin made for me. I bought the wool yesterday and jumped in with both feet this afternoon... I had to make and re-make the face about half a dozen times before I worked out the pattern exactly. I figured it out eventually and am quite proud of myself now. The hard part is over (I hope, though the ears do look like that might pose somewhat of a challenge). Michelle is going to crochet one for Sebastien but I need to work out the kinks in the pattern before I can teach her.

Should get a move on, supper should be done shortly. Afterwards I'm going to attack the masses of cardboard I have stacked up in my storage closet... haha.

Talk to you soon!

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Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon

Ingredients

• 8 ounces bacon
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 lb frozen hash brown potatoes
• 1/2 cup snipped fresh chives
• 1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Butter an 8-inch-square glass baking dish.

2. Cook bacon in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove slices; drain on a paper-towel-lined plate In same skillet over medium-low heat, cook onion and pepper in bacon dripping 8 minutes, until softened, stirring often.

3. Keep skillet at medium-low. Stir in flour. Slowly pour in milk, ½ cup at a time, stirring to incorporate smoothly with the flour. Cook until mixture thickens and comes to a simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Crumble bacon into mixture

4. Evenly spread potatoes in prepared dish. Top with half of the chives, 1 cup of the cheese, and the vegetable-bacon mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Bake 40-50 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with remaining chives before cutting into squares.

http://www.recipezaar.com/hashbrown-casserole-with-bacon-and-cheddar-406719