Lazy Casserole Day

I'm at the 1 week mark of my hubby being gone which means the bags under my eyes are getting darker and darker, my stress level is get higher and higher, my sanity is getting lower and lower, my house is getting dirtier and dirtier and my cooking is getting simpler and simpler.  When he isn't here I tend to do all the unhealthy "kid food" for my kids and then I'll make something for me that will either last me the week or I'll eat cereal and things like that myself.  In the beginning it's nice for a little bit of a break from the kitchen and meal planning, but then I get bored.  I'm at the bored stage today.  I'm missing my hubby and I'm ready to have someone besides picky kids to cook for.  Last night I tried a new recipe and took it to my friends house for dinner before T-ball practice...  We can safely say I won't be blogging about it anytime soon.  LoL!
 BUT.  Earlier in the week I made Lazy Casserole and I've been eating it all week.  Again, it's a recipe I found on Pinterest from Kayotic Kitchen.  It is another recipe that has soon become a favorite around our house.  It is easy enough to throw together, has great flavor and is loaded with veggies.  The recipe uses sausage.  The first time I made it I used Kielbasa, after that I've used Italian sausage, which I now prefer, but both were good.  I think you could easily use chicken instead of sausage if you wanted to as well.  I wanted a lot of left overs this last time, so I used double the sausage and used an extra amount of veggies.  Let me know what you think of this Lazy Casserole.

Lazy Casserole

Ingredients: 
4 sausages (beef or pork)
1 pound potatoes
1/2 pound carrots
1/2 bell pepper (I use a whole one)
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
(I add a head of broccoli cut up too)
 2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp oil
freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/2 tsp Italian herbs
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Heat oven to 450.  (I do 425)
Peel potatoes and carrots.  Cut into chunks.  Slice pepper, onion and fennel into slices/wedges.  Put all the veggies into a roasting pan or large baking dish.

Look at all those delicious veggies!

Combine in a separate bowl garlic, oil, pepper, Italian herbs, and chicken broth and pour over veggies, tossing to coat.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

The sauce that gives the amazing flavor

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
That gives you plenty time to brown the sausages. No need to cook them all the way through, just lightly brown them.  Then cut them in half.

Beautifully browned sausages

After 45 minutes the potatoes and vegetables should be fork tender. If they’re not, cover the tray with the foil and pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes. If they are fork tender, place the sausages in there and pour the balsamic vinegar all over. Place the tray back in the oven, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. 
Take it out after 15 minutes, flip over those sausages and ladle some of the juices lurking at the bottom all over the vegetables and sausages. Put it back in the oven for the remaining time, until everything is nice and brown.

Ta-Da!  The yummy finished product!