Ali Cooks: Simple Strata

Soooo...I've been SUPER excited to start cooking and baking for myself again.  Sure, eating in the caf during the year was convenient and it was honestly a treat eating so much at one meal with so many options, but let's be real:  cooking and baking excite me a lot.  Up there on the excitement scale with cooking and baking is grocery shopping.  So you better believe after a whole night/day of traveling, Brian and I went grocery shopping on Sunday evening.  Fifty-some dollars later, my purchases were made with this first recipe all planned out in my head.  The best part?  Brian has agreed to join me in on the fun, and we'll each cook one meal for each other each week.  (We'll see how long that lasts with our unique food options for each of us...)

 

 

What else is part of the food fun?  Well, possibly not exactly 'fun,' but Brian and I have committed to eating spinach once a day.  For me, it's for digestive reasons.  For Brian, it's for veggie-eating reasons.  For both of us, it's holding each other accountable.  (Go us!)

 

Other than that, we both want to make pancakes more often.  Yep, that's in the works for Sunday...  Oh, and Brian's making me pizza on Thursday!  (Yay!)

 

But the anticipatory moment was when dinner was served and Brian took the first few bites.  I didn't bother asking immediately (I couldn't pressure him!), but I had to know whether he really truly liked it.  So...I asked!  He said he DID like it!  And he even proceeded to get seconds AND thirds!  (Granted, the slices of strata were super thin because of the pan I used...but still!)

 

How about I share the first infamous recipe that both Brian and I enjoyed eating on a Monday night?  Read on for the not-so-secret how-to.

 

Simple Strata

*Adapted from HouseOfBakes.com

 

 

Ingredients (Makes about three servings):

1 overflowing cup cubed bread

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 eggs

1 cup milk

4 stalks of green onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Instructions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make sure that the bread is broken into small chunks.  Line the bottom of an 8x8 pan.  Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Whisk eggs, milk, and salt/pepper together then pour over the bread and cheese.  Sprinkle on the crushed red pepper followed by the green onion.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the egg has solidified.  Let cool for 5 minutes then enjoy.