Recipe for Breakfast Casserole!

I made a breakfast casserole on Friday afternoon so that I could have a good, fresh, hot and different kind of breakfast (meaning: other than cereal) all ready to eat when we got up on Saturday morning! My husband and I decided to sleep in that Saturday, but set the alarm for an hour before we wanted to get up, so that I could slip out of bed, take the casserole out of the fridge and place it in the oven to bake for an hour while we went back to sleep. The idea worked perfectly!

I don't have any pictures of the casserole, but it looked just as good as it tasted! I LOVE breakfast casseroles, quiches and anything to do with eggs!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb of Italian pork sausage, (then cooked, drained, crumbled)
• 4 1/2 cups cubed day old bread- I just ripped about 6 slices of bread - enough to layer the bottom of the pan.
  
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese- I used mozzarella cheese as well.
  
• 10 eggs slightly beaten
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard - I left this out
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp onion powder- I also chopped up some fresh onions to put into the casserole.
  
• Fresh ground pepper to taste and a few shakes of salt of course! :)
  
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)- I left those out as well since I didn't have any on hand.
  
• 1/2 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes (optional) - I left the tomatoes out, but cut up some of my frozen green peppers that I grew this year to put into the mixture - yummy!
  

Method

1 Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, working in batches if need be, until browned all around. Make sure the chunks of sausage have some space around them or your meat will steam and not brown. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and let sit on some paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess fat. Crumble into smaller pieces.

2 Place bread in a well buttered 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread and cheese. Sprinkle sausage and optional ingredients over the top.

3 At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about one hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

Serves 6-8.

We had this casserole for breakfast on Saturday morning and Monday morning I reheated it for breakfast. I think we still have two more breakfasts left before we finish the casserole! That means that a breakfast casserole lasts us 4 days!!! Almost an entire week of no cereal! I love changes. I think all women love changes and it drives me crazy to eat cereal every. morning. for. breakfast. during. the. week! I like more options to the menu like the frozen french toast, cream of wheat, oatmeal, scrambled eggs and sausages too!

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods???

Banana Caramel Pecan Bread

Ready to be put into the oven!

I got this recipe off of a friend's blog and decided to give it a try.

Caramel Pecan Banana Bread

2 cups flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 ripe large bananas

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup chopped pecans

half a package (5.5 oz package) Werther's chewy caramels, chopped

In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In medium bowl, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, melted butter, yogurt, and vanilla and combine well. Lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until just combined. Don't overmix.


Pour batter into greased 9-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the chopped caramels and chopped pecans over the top of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until bread is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.



The finished product!
I'll wait until my husband is home before sampling, but it sure looks good! :)

Making your own cereal....

Granola is a easy, healthy, filling, and a wonderful yummy breakfast cereal! You can save money by making your own granola at home.

Here is the recipe that I use:

Granola

• 6 Cups uncooked oats




• 1/2 C. brown sugar




• 3/4 C. wheat germ (I usually leave this out because I never have any on hand....and it works quite well without it)




• 1/2 C. flaked coconut




• 1 C. vegetable oil




• 1/3 C. honey




• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat oats in 13x9 ungreased pan at 350F for 10 minutes. Remove and combine with remaining ingredients until well coated. Bake at 20-25 minutes.

See - it's super easy!