Delicious AND Healthy Breakfast Casserole

Today I have a guest post lined up for you all from Tamara who blogs at Oh Lardy!

Thank you, Homemade Mommy, for letting me guest post for you today!  I am excited to share my recipe for a delicious and healthy breakfast casserole!

I love a hearty, savory breakfast.  My usual go to is a mixture of veggies, eggs with pastured bacon or sausage.  Sometimes I pair this with a slice of sprouted wheat toast slathered with farm fresh butter!  Yum…my mouth is drooling just thinking about it!

So…I got to thinking, why not take all the flavors I love so much and throw them together into a breakfast casserole?  Could be a perfect meal when you have houseguests, for brunch or even for a simple dinner!

I thought back on other breakfast casseroles I have enjoyed over the years.  I remember one that my neighbor, Jen, brought me right after I had my daughter.  I devoured it in 2 days!  (must have needed the energy for breastfeeding!)  I have had several other breakfast casseroles, some were more simple, others more gourmet but all had that delicious combo of eggs, veggies, meat and cheese.

Many people think of something rich and hearty like a breakfast casserole as an unhealthy way to start the day.  However, if you use pastured eggs, pastured meats, organic veggies, whole grain breads raw or organic dairy being you can create a casserole that is quite healthy and very nutrient dense.

I contemplated how I could make my own casserole and use nourishing ingredients. Looking at what I had on hand, I decided to use peppers, onions, spinach, pastured Italian sausage, pastured eggs, raw cheese, raw milk and sprouted wheat bread! Sounds nourishing to me!

I heated up my big cast iron skillet and added a touch of ghee.  Then I added my Italian sausage and broke it up with a wooden spoon to cook.  When the sausage was browned and cooked through, I removed the sausage with a slotted spoon and kept in a bowl.

While the sausage was sizzling, I chopped up half an onion and a red bell pepper.   When the sausage was finished cooking and out of the pot, I added the onions and pepper to the hot skillet and sautéed until medium soft.

Then I added 2 large handfuls of baby spinach that I chopped roughly and cooked until wilted.  I then added the vegetables to the sausage in a bowl and mixed together.

I took 6 pastured eggs and mixed them with 2 cups of raw whole milk in a bowl.  I whisked together and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I had sprouted wheat bread on hand so I used 10 slices and tore them into bite size pieces.  I scattered half of these pieces on the bottom of a buttered 9×13 baking dish.  I think sourdough bread would be fantastic with this recipe also!

Then I spooned half of the sausage/veggie mixture over the bread and topped with 1 cup of shredded cheese.  I added another layer of bread, sausage/veggie mix and the rest of the cheese.  Then to the top of this I poured the milk/egg mixture over the entire casserole.  I let this sit for about 30 minutes to let the bread soak up all of the egg/milk mixture.  Before I put this in the oven, I thought ‘what is better than 2 cups of cheese?  More cheese!’ so I sprinkled about ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese on top!

I popped this in the oven for 30 minutes and voila!  My husband devoured this and said it was one of the best breakfast items he had ever had!

Nourishing Breakfast Casserole

 Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ghee, butter, lard or other good fat – where to find good quality fats and oils
• 1 lb nitrate free, pastured Italian sausage (out of casings)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach, rough chopped
• 6 pastured eggs
• 2 cups whole milk (raw, grassfed or organic preferred) – where to find raw milk
• 2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I used a mix of jack and cheddar)
• 10 slices sprouted wheat bread, torn into bite size pieces – where to buy sprouted bread
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat 1 tbsp good fat in skillet and add sausage, sauté until cooked, breaking up with a spoon.
3. Remove sausage from skillet and place in a bowl.
4. Add pepper and onion to hot fat in skillet, sauté until medium soft.
5. Add chopped spinach and cook until wilted.
6. Remove veggies and add to sausage mixture.
7. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Season with salt and pepper.
8. In a 9×13 pan (buttered on bottom and sides), scatter half the bread on the bottom of pan.
9. Spoon ½ sausage/veggie mixture over bread.
10. Top with ½ of the cheese.
11. Repeat with another layer of bread, sausage/veggie and cheese.
12. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the casserole.
13. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread really soaks up all the liquid.
14. Sprinkle the casserole with the parmesan cheese.
15. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  If top starts to get too brown, cover with foil at the end.

Enjoy your delicious breakfast casserole!

About Tamara @ Oh Lardy: Tamara is a wife, a mother, a Certified Healing Foods Specialist, a blogger and real food advocate/educator. She lives outside Chicago and is passionate about real food, exercise and general health and wellness. She is also just started a Certified Health Coach program through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and cannot wait to get out there and help people learn more about nourishing food!! She blogs over at Oh Lardy about a variety of real food topics.