If I manage to venture out to the store, even though I have a short list, what are the chances I find a few other yummy ALDI holiday treats waiting for me on the shelves? 100%.

But also, what about if you’re not wanting to / able to leave the house right now? VERY RELATABLE. You can shop ALDI via Instacart which is how I do 90% of my real-life ALDI shopping. Not sure about you, but I almost always have to work a little harder to make my cart total get past $35 for free delivery because ALDI is so affordable! Oh darn, looks like I need to throw in a few extra boxes of our favorite wheat crackers, a couple of packages of amazing marinated olives, and at least three bricks of goat cheese with blueberries. Shoot. Bummer. …How soon can it get here?

Okay, biscuits and gravy egg bake.

Here’s what happens: we just layer all the good things. Whisked eggs, biscuits, cheddar cheese, green chile sausage gravy…

What results from this mind-bendingly easy combination of ingredients is nothing short of a holiday miracle. Bless you, Homemade Oreos.

The fudgy cookie, the thick swirl of cream cheese frosting, the dense, soft, buttery texture of all of it together after chilling in the fridge (or sitting on your snow-covered Midwestern porch) for a few days is a specific brand of joyful moment that I wait all year for.

Put on the cozy sweater, get a mug of milk, or eggnog, or hot dark coffee (omg), and let the magic loose.

MORE OLD-SCHOOL DESSERT GEMS
Give us all the retro baked goods and desserts (like good Midwesterners). Some other favs from the blog:

The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies (classic of all classics!)
The Best Easy Peanut Butter Pie (peanut butter, cream cheese, whipped topping, YES)
Blender Lemon Pie (grandma’s favorite)
Golden Grahams Bars (gimme all the cereal bars)
Modern Scotcheroos (modern makeover on a classic)
Fruit Pizza (more cream cheese frosting happiness!)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Saltine Toffee (yes, saltines – trust)
The sweet mom of the family that I babysat for in high school used to make these, which is why I’m calling these old school. ♡ Sometime in the early 2000s, I got the recipe from her and then gave it to my mom who went on to make these for all our swim meets. To this day, I have friends who make these every year as a Christmas cookie (myself often among them). They’re wonderfully basic, charmingly old school, and dangerously good.

This recipe was originally published way back in 2012 (woah!). We spruced it up with some new photos a few years ago, and it’s still one of our ultimate easy-cozy favorites that we just keep coming back to again and again. If you haven’t yet experienced its magic, please, please make it happen tonight.

Now is a good time to:

wear cozy sweaters
get a few candles going
immerse your house in the flavors and smells of your favorite classic comfort-food-but-still-kinda-healthy simmering stovetop recipes.
For example, RED CURRY LENTILS DUH.

These red curry lentils are one of my all-time favorite recipes. As is usually my vibe, we’re working with very basic pantry ingredients here and simple, straightforward prep. It’s hard to mess this one up.

Just cook your lentils and toss them in up this spicy red curry sauce with sauteed onions and a shot of coconut milk. OH MY PERFECTLY SPICY GOODNESS.
I’ve kind of had a fling with lentils lately. Or wait, like, over the last 8 years. These guys, this one, that other one, and now a walk down memory lane back to the original that started my love affair? I can barely stand it. If you’ve never made lentils before, this is a perfect recipe to introduce you to the magic of the most cheap, healthy, versatile, and absolutely delicious little food in the pantry. The Humble Lentil reigns supreme.

We’re always trying to eat a little better around here. Right? Maybe.

But there is one thing that I love more than anything in the world – yep – going there, and that is a really good, thick, soft, chocolate chip cookie with a glass of milk.

Today, tonight, whenever it is, if you’re going to eat a cookie, please make it count.

Please make it a soft, hugely huge and always soft, and buttery and chocolate chippy and perfectly soft (did I already say that?) chocolate chip cookie that will take your life to the next level.
I replicated the ULTRA THICK, ULTRA SOFT texture (it called for bold, right?) and maybe even improved the flavor with this version that is similar, but way easier and more sensible than the original.

And by sensible, I mean… just… like, lazy sensible, okay? I don’t mean THAT kind of sensible. You might need to start looking for another blog if you need your cookies to be sensible.

There is nothing sensible about this beautiful sugar and butter perfection.

Holiday times mean big food times, and big food times mean WE START WITH BRUNCH.

My love for this biscuits and gravy egg bake is borderline over-the-top. There are zero things not to love about a casserole-style dish of fluffy eggs and cheddar baked up with little bites of tender flaky biscuit pieces poking out the top, and buried under a blanket of creamy, savory, mildly spicy green chile sausage gravy.

It is THE brunch dish of 2020 for me because:

It’s so easy.
It’s a crowd favorite.
Each piece gets smothered in green chile gravy.
Repeat: green chile gravy.
And how about just a little more gravy.
It’s really, really delicious.
I like to pick up all the ingredients for this at ALDI: Simply Nature Organic Whole Milk, Simply Nature Organic Cage Free Eggs, Bake House Creations Jumbo Buttermilk Biscuits, Appleton Farms Premium Pork Sausage, Pueblo Lindo Chopped Green Chiles and really good Happy Farms Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese. Super short ingredient list.

Holiday times mean big food times, and big food times mean WE START WITH BRUNCH.

My love for this biscuits and gravy egg bake is borderline over-the-top. There are zero things not to love about a casserole-style dish of fluffy eggs and cheddar baked up with little bites of tender flaky biscuit pieces poking out the top, and buried under a blanket of creamy, savory, mildly spicy green chile sausage gravy.

It is THE brunch dish of 2020 for me because:

It’s so easy.
It’s a crowd favorite.
Each piece gets smothered in green chile gravy.
Repeat: green chile gravy.
And how about just a little more gravy.
It’s really, really delicious.
I like to pick up all the ingredients for this at ALDI: Simply Nature Organic Whole Milk, Simply Nature Organic Cage Free Eggs, Bake House Creations Jumbo Buttermilk Biscuits, Appleton Farms Premium Pork Sausage, Pueblo Lindo Chopped Green Chiles and really good Happy Farms Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese. Super short ingredient list.

Holiday times mean big food times, and big food times mean WE START WITH BRUNCH.

My love for this biscuits and gravy egg bake is borderline over-the-top. There are zero things not to love about a casserole-style dish of fluffy eggs and cheddar baked up with little bites of tender flaky biscuit pieces poking out the top, and buried under a blanket of creamy, savory, mildly spicy green chile sausage gravy.

It is THE brunch dish of 2020 for me because:

It’s so easy.
It’s a crowd favorite.
Each piece gets smothered in green chile gravy.
Repeat: green chile gravy.
And how about just a little more gravy.
It’s really, really delicious.
I like to pick up all the ingredients for this at ALDI: Simply Nature Organic Whole Milk, Simply Nature Organic Cage Free Eggs, Bake House Creations Jumbo Buttermilk Biscuits, Appleton Farms Premium Pork Sausage, Pueblo Lindo Chopped Green Chiles and really good Happy Farms Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese. Super short ingredient list.