baby bunching bites: sausage and cheese breakfast casserole

Dinnertime woes at your house? Make breakfast for dinner. My kids highly prefer breakfast to any other meal of the day--other than dessert--so when in doubt we serve up anything with eggs and everyone eats. This recipe is also adapted from Cooking Light, but I usually go ahead and put in the eggs instead of the egg substitute. This meal is a great "make-ahead" that can be made during nap time or the night before. We love meals that are either super fast or make ahead.

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Cooking spray
12  ounces turkey (or pork) breakfast sausage
2  cups  1% low-fat milk
2  cups  egg substitute (about 9 eggs if you go this route)
1  teaspoon  dry mustard
3/4  teaspoon  salt
1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper
3  large eggs
16  (1-ounce) slices white bread
1  cup  (4 ounces) finely shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4  teaspoon  paprika (optional)

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring and breaking sausage to crumble. Remove from heat; cool.

2. Combine milk and next 6 ingredients (through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

3. Trim crusts from bread. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. Add bread cubes, sausage, and cheddar cheese to milk mixture, stirring to combine. Pour bread mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking or 3-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray, spreading egg mixture evenly in baking dish. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. I have even left it for 2 nights for Christmas preparation.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. Remove casserole from refrigerator; let stand 30 minutes. Sprinkle casserole evenly with paprika. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes.

Other meals we recommend:

• Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
• Peanut Chicken Satay
• Sausage and Spinach Pasta
• Cornflake Crusted Halibut

If you're looking for other kid-friendly meals, check out Tastebudding.com. 

Comments

[kelly]

This sounds so yummy! I can't wait to try it!