#FoodieExtravaganza ~ Sheepherder’s Breakfast

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

This month we're highlight hot breakfast dishes - and who wouldn't be on board with that category! We love breakfast at our house - I wouldn't want to count up how many eggs we go through in a year. It's a LOT. I keep homemade breakfast sandwiches in the freezer for my son to eat throughout the week, and there are always a lot of eggs in use between breakfast and baking especially on the weekends.

I was trying to decide what kind of breakfast dish I wanted to share today, and decided a 1-pan all-in-one dish sounded perfect. I haven't had shredded potatoes in awhile, and this was a great excuse to buy a bag, and enjoy some hearty potatoes alongside some tender eggs, tasty bacon, and of course a soft blanket of cheese.

There are a million ways you could change this one up. The original recipe calls for 8 eggs, and I only used 5 - so depending on how many hashbrowns everyone wants, feel free to add a couple more to your dish. We decided we'd add sauteed mushroom and bell pepper to the onion mixture next time as well, to amp up the flavor profile and veggie content. You can change up the meat, or just add in some chunked ham or spicy sausage if you like that as well! Change out the cheese on top too, use your favorite! Lots of ways to make this one your own, and use up with you have in the fridge. 

Get some more great breakfast ideas right here:

• Baked Duck Eggs from Food Lust People Love
• Banana Pancakes from Palatable Pastime
• Changua (Colombian Egg and Milk Soup) from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Tacos from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Hot Breakfast: Baked Cinnamon & Apple Oatmeal from Hardly A Goddess
• Mushroom and Swiss Frittata from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Saffron Oats & Egg Omelette from Sneha's Recipe
• Sheepherder’s Breakfast from Making Miracles

Sheepherder's Breakfast from Taste of Home

Ingredients
3/4 pound bacon strips, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 package (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
5-6 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Combine diced bacon and onion in a large skillet and cook over medium heat (crank the heat up if your bacon isn't browning) - cook until bacon is well browned, and onion is soft and tender. 
2. Add in the thawed potatoes and season with the salt and pepper. Stir gently, allowing the bottom to brown before stirring. Cook about 10 minutes or so, until a decent amount of your potatoes is browned (if you need to add a little oil to assist with the browning, feel free to do so).
3. Next make little wells in your potatoes for the eggs, however many eggs you intend on using, make that many little holes / pockets in the potatoes.
4. Spray the exposed pan with a little nonstick cooking spray and then crack an egg and pour into the well.
5. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for about 6-8 minutes. When the eggs are almost set, sprinkle with the cheese and cover again, turning heat all the way down or off even. Allowing eggs to finish setting and cheese to melt.
6. Serve immediately.