Bacon Hash Brown Bake

I think I'm back into my routine enough that I ought to be able to start posting regularly again.

Bacon Hash Brown Bake

8 slices Oscar Mayer Ready-to-Serve Bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 c vegetable oil
4 c frozen hash browns
12 oz pkg frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
8 eggs
1 c fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 t salt
1 c shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add hash browns and cook for 2 minutes; turn over and cook another 2 minutes. Add vegetables and cook 3-4 minutes. Transfer to 9x13 baking dish sprayed with Pam. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and salt. Stir in cheese and bacon pieces. Pour evenly over potato mixture.

Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes, or until eggs are set.

Tip: To save time, prepare this casserole ahead of time, except for baking. Store covered in refrigerator up to 24 hours.

Yield: 9 servings at 6 PointsPlus each.

Note: original recipe used turkey bacon. My kids don't like turkey bacon so I switched to regular. Also, the original used regular cheese, but I switched to fat-free. It also called for "1 cup" chopped onion and red bell pepper, but I used a whole medium one of each.

My family LOVED this. Even the boys ate it, except they picked out the red bell pepper. I thought about substituting Egg Beaters for the eggs, but went ahead and used regular eggs. That change would have lowered the PointsPlus value by 1 1/2 per serving.

After an almost "mutiny" by my sons, I am going to cook "regular" (their words, not mine! LOL) for the next 2 weeks. I'll still be attempting to cut PointsPlus in areas they hopefully won't notice. As an example, tonight we are having meatloaf, but I'm using venison (as lean as 96% ground beef). Another night we are having a casserole that uses a can of cream of chicken soup. I will use the 98% fat-free version. I'll write about my results.