Christmas Breakfast for a Crowd With Kids

Every year for the last 4 years our class has planned, shopped, cooked and served a Breakfast Buffet for the adults in our offices and the teachers in the hallway. It is sort of a 'thank you' for putting up with us year round. It's a lot of work and a lot of fun. The student look forward to it every year. They put their heart and soul into plaaning and preparing a virtual feast for a very large group of people - usually around 30. As they look through recipes and plan how to increase the ingredients to make enough of each dish they fail to realize they are using their reading and math skills (fortunately for me). I find myself marveling at the fact that these same children who resist reading a book will sit and pour over recipes, reading them over and over until they find the perfect ones. The student who would like to run screaming from the room when I mention the word math are quietly figuring out how much more we need of what ingredient to make the recipe stretch to cover so many people. I am amazed every year by how much they learn and how much they enjoy it.

We make our usual mound of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, and a heap of french toast. We also make zucchini bread, cranberrry bread, and banana nut bread. For those with a sweet, sweet tooth, we make a variety of cookies. We throw in a bowl of cut up fresh fruit, some fancy dips and raw vegetables and you have a table full of food. To drink we have hot coffee, orange juice, some Christmas punch and a pot or two of hot tea.

This year we will be using some of our old tried and true recipes for the breakfast but we wanted to add something new. We have taken a vote on three particular recipes and have been unable to come to an agreement. They each sound great which makes it even harder to decide. So I decided to put it on hubpages and let people vote for their favorite. Whichever recipe wins is the one we will use. So get busy and vote folks.

Ingredients:

4 pkgs bulk pork sausage (12 oz each)

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 medium onion, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

6 cups frozen hash brown potatoes

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups Bisquick mix

4 cups of milk

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

8 eggs

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare two baking dishes, 13"x9"x2", by spraying with butter flavored cooking oil spray.

Cook sausage, red and green peppers and onions in large skillet until sausage is browned.

Drain the excess grease from the pan.

Add thr potatoes and 3 cups of the cheese, stiiring until mixed.

Stir in the Bisquick mix, milk, pepper, salt and eggs. Combine well.

Pour equally into the two prepared serving dishes.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Casserole is done when you insert a knife into the center and it comes out clean.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese and bake for another minute or two, until the cheese has melted.

This recipe will feed 24 people. We figured with all of the other breakfast items we are maing this should be enough.

Ingredients:

10 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 lbs of bacon

1 1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 cup red pepper, chopped

1 cup green pepper, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup pimentos, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups four cheese mix, shredded

30 eggs

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Add potatoesand cook for about 15 minutes, until tender yet firm.

Drain, let cool, and chop.

Cut bacon into 1-2" pieces.

Cook bacon over medium heat until evenly brown.

Add onions, red and green peppers, mushrooms, pimentos, garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes.

Salt and pepper and cook until all vegetables are soft, approximately 5 minutes.

Sprinkly vegetables with cheese.

Drop eggs into pan an inch or so apart.

Cover pan and allow eggs to cook.

Remove pan from heat and serve.

This recipe will serve approximately 30 people.

Instructions:

30 large eggs

1 1/4 cup corn

3/4 cup milk

2 lbs ham, diced

1 red pepper, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 oinion, chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp prepared mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tbsp hot pepper sauce

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

30 flour tortillas

1jar mild salsa

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend together egggs, corn, milk, ham, red and green peppers, onions, prepared mustard, garlic, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.

Pou egg mixture into a large baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake for 1 hour.

To heat tortillas: Spread on large cookie sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and bake for 3 minutes.

To serve: Scoop egg mixture into middle of tortilla and roll. Serve with a tbsp or 2 of salsa.

This recipe makes 30 Breakfast Burritos