Hash Brown Casserole – Cracker Barrel CopyCat

Posted on December 19, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole is so creamy, so cheesy and so like the real thing, you never need to leave your house again for this restaurant favorite. Serve it with eggs and bacon for a lazy Sunday brunch or alongside meat and veggies as an easy Wednesday night dinner. You can even make this recipe ahead of time and pop it in the oven whenever you need a comfort food fix. With this ultra-versatile recipe, anything and everything goes—literally, we doubt you’ll have leftovers.

Copy Cat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown casserole needs just 5 minutes of prep making it the a great side or potluck dish! The perfect breakfast casserole!

There are lots of recipes out there for this cheesy casserole but this is the one I’ve found to be the closest! This hashbrown casserole is made with condensed cream of chicken soup. I’ve also made it with cream of cheddar soup if you can find it. Both work perfectly in this recipe!

Here is the two versions of this recipe that I make. Less butter and no sour cream on the left. The casserole dish on the right has 8oz sour cream and a full stick of butter. (FYI: The dishes in the photos have been halved.)

While I’ve had a version of hash brown casserole without sour cream, I definitely prefer it with, it adds a little bit of creaminess and tang to the recipe. Since this is a copy cat hash brown casserole recipe, my list of ingredients is inevitably different than the original but the flavor is just like my favorite Cracker Barrel Hash brown Casserole (in fact, it’s even BETTER in my opinion)!

Pro Tip: Thaw hash browns on a triple lined paper towel sheet pan, after 30 minutes place 3 paper towels on top, cover with another sheet pan and flip the hash browns over, continue to thaw. The paper towels will wick the moisture out of the potatoes and make for a better consistency with the casserole.

Sous Vide Turkey Breast Porchetta

Posted on December 18, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

Jackson Mahomes Gets Blasted On Social Media With Epic Post By Kansas City Bar

Posted on December 17, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

Jackson Mahomes is developing a reputation for being unlikable everywhere around the league, and it might be a problem when it’s coming from close to home where his brother is the city’s golden boy.

Jackson has been called out numerous times for things he’s done at games including pouring water on an opposing fan, dancing atop of Sean Taylor’s memorial to film a TikTok, and now he’s pissed others off, this time a local Kansas City bar.

SOT Cocktail Bar was visited by Mahomes and a large party this week, to which he was turned away due to capacity restrictions. Mahomes proceeded to call out the bar on social media to his millions of followers. The bar responded with a post of their own, sarcastically apologizing to Jackson, and it’s incredible.

SOT Bar, 35 minutes from Arrowhead Stadium

All Dogs go to Heaven

Posted on December 17, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

For anyone facing their first Christmas without a special friend! This passage was written by Jerry Wayne Baldwin.

In addition to creating poems about our loveable furry friends that are enjoyed worldwide, Jerry also creates spirit filled devotional poems. A new book with devotional poems, called God’s Way in 60 Days, is in the works.

Heaven
It’s my first day in heaven,
And what a beautiful place,
You’ll be glad to know,
There’s a smile upon my face,
The moment I left you,
Two angels in white,
Carried me up here,
To heaven that night.
All those stories you hear ,
About rainbow bridge are true,
But you don’t walk over it,
The angels carried me through,
There’s a gate at the end,
Made of pearl,
It must be the biggest gate,
In the whole world!
Once I got in
I started looking around,
You just won’t believe,
All the neat things I found!
The first place they took me,
Had to be the most fun,
A humongous field,
With miles and miles to run!
Once I was tired the angels said,
We’ll take you to your new home,
But first we need to stop by this place
Full of tasty bones,
They told me to take one with me,
But one is all I need,
Because every good thing lasts forever,
Up in heaven you see,
They took me to my new house,
It took my breath away,
Most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,
With a huge yard to play,
They said come on lets go inside ,
And have a look around,
They took me to the bottom floor,
You won’t believe what I found,
The floor of my house is a window
And you won’t believe the view,
See my house it sets right over yours,
So I can still keep an eye on you!
I was so worried about you,
When I went away,
Now I can watch you every second,
And know that you are okay!
So the next time you are missing me,
This is what you do,
Step outside and look straight up,
Because I still have my eye on YOU!

Crock Pot Spiral Ham

Posted on December 16, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

This crock pot ham is a spiral cut ham topped with a 3 ingredient glaze, then slow cooked to perfection. This is the BEST way to make your holiday ham, the slow cooker does all of the work!

I’m always looking for ways to make holiday entertaining easier, and this crock pot ham is about as simple as it gets. All it takes is 5 minutes of prep time, and you end up with the most tender and succulent ham of all time!

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Cheesy Sausage Balls

Posted on December 16, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the holiday season, when there’s plenty of food, family, food, friends, football, and … food! I always like to add a little something extra to a holiday feast, to use as an appetizer or maybe just something to snack on while watching the games on TV. These are not your ordinary sausage balls. These are spicy and cheesy and easy and oh, so good.

Jacksonville Jaguars fire first-year coach Urban Meyer

Posted on December 16, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

The Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Urban Meyer, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He finishes his tenure with the franchise with a record of 2-11 and spent not even a full season with the franchise. Meyer signed a five-year deal with the franchise last year, and did not last through his first, tumultuous season in the NFL.

“After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” said owner Shad Khan. “In the spirit of disclosure and recharging our players, staff and fan base, I will not comment further until some point following the conclusion of the NFL season.”

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French Onion Soup Rice

Posted on December 15, 2021 by mike@mikelilley.com

French Onion Soup Rice is a buttery, casserole-like side dish, with Beef Consommé, French Onion Soup, white rice and butter that’s a creamy, holiday favorite!

If you love casseroles and casserole-like dishes, such as Chicken Casserole, but are looking for something a little more unusual to bring to your next potluck, then you should make a pan of French Onion Soup Rice. It’s one of the most delicious creamy rice dishes, and you can make it big enough for a crowd.

French Onion Soup Rice

If you’ve got a few cans of French onion soup laying around and want to try a delicious new oven rice recipe, then you should definitely break out a casserole dish and make some French Onion Soup Rice. There are a few Campbell’s French onion soup recipes floating around out there, but this version is one of my all time favorites, and is sure to become a family favorite of yours as well. This onion rice recipe takes almost no prep and is completely baked through in about an hour, which is a great cook time for a casserole. One of the best things about this butter rice recipe is that you end up with soft, flavorful rice without having to use a rice cooker, crock pot, instant pot, or stove top. Cooking rice in the oven also takes a lot of the guess work out of it and won’t leave you with hard, chewy grains.