Holidays can be chaotic. Children are excited, guests arrive and tear up the house, and you may feel like there’s no catching up before you run on to the next thing. Between your other activities on Easter morning, what will you serve for breakfast? Will it be a quick bowl of cereal, or are you planning a big meal? Start the day off right with this awesome crock pot recipe that will make at least one part of your morning a little bit easier.

I tried this recipe last weekend, and though the photo doesn’t do the dish much justice, it’s tasty and really easy to make. I visited the site of Stephanie O’Day, a slow cooker genius who has enough recipes to take you through the entire year. If breakfast out of the crock pot isn’t your thing, she’s sure to have another recipe that will fit the bill. As for breakfast, I tried the recipe below, which works best in a 6-quart crock pot.

Crock Pot Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

30 oz package of plain frozen hash brown (shredded) potatoes
4 already-been cooked sausage, or leftover diced ham (I used chicken and apple sausage)
1/2 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
12 eggs
1 cup skim or fat free milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the whole package of hash browns. Spread them out with your fingers, and break up any clumps.

In a mixing bowl, mix the dozen eggs with the milk, salt and pepper, cheese, cut up sausage, and diced vegetables. Pour everything on top of the hash browns.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. This is done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges start to brown a bit. If you want the cheese to brown and get a bit crispy on the sides, cook it longer.

Spraying the inside of the crock pot makes clean-up a LOT easier, so don’t skimp on this step. Sausage can be substituted with any number of different meats, ranging from bacon to ham or even Spam. O’Day states that she’s tried the recipe without meat, which also worked out well. You can read about her variations here.

If this isn’t quite what you had in mind for Easter breakfast, never fear. You’re sure to find a recipe on her site that will please you and the mouths you’re feeding over this very busy weekend!

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