Mama's Breakfast Casserole

 Found this in the SL Jan/Feb 2026 magazine and it seems perfect for our spicy family. Ivy says her mom never makes it the same way twice. If the eggs are small, she adds more, that type of thing.

12 large eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
24-oz container whole-milk small-curd cottage cheese
3 (4-oz) cans diced green chiles, drained and patted dry
5 tbsp salted butter, melted
1 tsp kosher salt
4 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese (16 oz.), divided
Thinly sliced scallions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Place eggs, half-and-half, flour, and baking powder in a blender; process on medium speed until smooth and slightly foamy, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl.
Stir cottage cheese, diced green chiles, melted butter, salt, and 3 cups pepper Jack cheese into egg mixture until just combined, and transfer to prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup pepper Jack cheese. Bake until center is just set but still slightly jiggly and cheese is browned around edges, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Remove from oven, and let cool 15 minutes. Garnish with scallions. 

 

Enchilada Casserole

10-15 tortillas
2 cans of Old El Paso enchilada sauce
2 cans of diced tomatoes or 6 fresh tomatoes, diced
onion, diced
2 cups of shredded chicken
2 cups of pinto beans
4 cups of Mexican blend cheese

Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam. (I also sprayed a smaller one because we have 7 to feed)
Slice flour or corn tortillas into strips and then "bite" size pieces.
Heat a bit of oil in a pan and saute onion.
Add diced tomatoes (2 cans) into oil, chicken (I had 2 cans of it on the shelf) and 2 cans of enchilada sauce.
I put the tortilla pieces down first and then poured the mixture on them. To make next time I will stir it all together before pouring into the bowl as the tortillas clumped together.
Sprinkle Mexican blend cheese all over the top and bake for about 20-30 minutes. Be generous with the cheese. :o)
Next time I'm going to try it using beans.

Leftover Turkey Casserole

This was a great way to use up our leftover turkey!!

1lb cooked whole wheat pasta (I did elbow macaroni)
½ chopped red onion
1 bag of frozen broccoli normandy (broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower)
½ bag frozen broccoli
handful of shredded cheddar (reduced fat works fine)
chopped leftover turkey (no idea how much, but maybe the equivalent of a couple of chicken breasts worth - however much you want, really)
1 cup light mayonaise
1cup light sour cream (more or less depending on how much moisture you want, etc)

Mix all together and bake for 45 mins at 350°.

chicken pot pie

makes 2 pies:
1 large can of Campbells cream of chicken soup
1 small can of Campbells cream of mushroom soup
1 egg
2 cooked chicken breast (these are the ½ ones with rib meat)
4-6 cups cooked mixed frozen vegetables, cooked (taste better, don't get so mushy)
4 deep dish pie shells

Heat oven to 350°. Let pie shells thaw a bit. Precook the vegetables in a pot of water then drain.
Mix up everything but egg in a big bowl, you can use less veggies, but if it looks like it's too dry add another small can of soup (depends on the weather whether it seems dry or not). Put ½ of mix into 2 pie shells. Take other 2 pie shells and flip over on top of the filled pie shells. As they thaw more they will fall out of the tin pan. When they thaw enough pinch the 2 edges of the shells together so that it seals the pies.

Beat the egg in a cup, then brush all over the top of the 2 pie shells. Put them on a big metal cookie sheet (I use the one with sides on it) and put in the oven for 25 minutes. Pull them out, re-baste with egg, and put them back in but flip the pan) cause the oven always seems to bake faster in the back!) and leave for 20 minutes. Pull out and scoop away. This is not one you can really cut into slices. It's super yummy, not so waistline friendly with that cream soup, but seriously good!

If you want to double this, just double everything. I've frozen them recently to see how that was. I left it in the freezer for about 3 months. It was still good but not nearly as moist. I cooled it, then wrapped in saran wrap, then foil. Maybe wrapping it differently would help?