Sausage Egg Casserole

I love breakfast/brunches/entertaining. I browsed some casserole recipes on two of my favorite cooking websites (delish.com and cookinglight.com), and combined a few along with making healthier substitutions. For those from Chicago, you know how big of a deal St. Patrick's day is and the festivities that go down. I made this for a pre-game brunch this year and both guys and girls a like really enjoyed it.

Ingredients
Cooking Spray
16 oz. Trader Joes Garlic Chicken Sausage (6-7 links), chopped into bite-size pieces
12 Slices Trader Joe's Low-Calorie Bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup Shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
3 cups Skim Milk, divided
1.5 Cups Regular Egg Beaters
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed, reduced-sodium, 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
6 cups Spinach, wilted
3/4 Cup Jarred, Roasted Red Peppers (drained, dried, chopped)
1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions
Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange bread along the bottom. Microwave the sausage for 45 seconds (if you use Trader-Joe's it is pre-cooked). Evenly top the bread with the chicken sausage. Next, evenly layer the wilted spinach, mushrooms, and then roasted red peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine 2.5 cups of milk, egg beaters and Dijon mustard, stirring with a whisk. Pour over the bread mixture in the dish. Sprinkle the top with shredded cheese. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Remove the casserole from the fridge and uncover. Combine 1/2 cup milk and cream of mushroom soup, stirring with a whisk. Pour over the bread mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until eggs are set and the top is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Info / Serving Size: Serves 8. Per Serving: 270 Calories, 5.6 g Fat, 39 mg Cholesterol, 1204 mg Sodium, 34 g Carbs, 8.75 g Fiber, 26 g Protein, 7.5 g Sugars.

Notes
Wilted Spinach: Rinse chopped spinach thoroughly with water. Transfer to a large, microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and punch several holes in it. Microwave on high until wilted, 2 - 3 minutes. Squeeze out excess moisture before adding to recipe.
Make Ahead Tip: Prep the entire recipe through the refrigeration step the night before. Pick up from "Pre-heat oven" step in the AM.
Veggies: You can substitute in whatever veggies sound good to you. If adding significant more bulk to this recipe you may have to add a bit more milk and egg beaters to off-set.
Sausage: You can use any flavor of chicken sausage but keep in mind not all combinations are that palatable when mixed with the rest of the recipe. You also can use turkey or regular sausage instead, but you must pre-cook all meat before adding to this recipe.

Mom's Buttermilk Pancakes

I remember making these growing up every Saturday morning. My dad would have us five kids around him, us four younger ones standing on stools and chairs counting out the number of Tbsp of oil and cups of flour being put into the mix (clearly with 7 people we had to triple this recipe). I've slightly "lightened" it up by substituting egg beaters for regular eggs and All Natural Sweetener (Truvia/Stevia) for sugar -- obviously you can use eggs and real sugar instead.

Ingredients

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Regular Egg Beaters
3/4 tsp Baking Power
3 Tbsp Oil (Vegetable or Canola)
1/4 tsp Salt
1.5 - 2 packets Truvia or Stevia
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions
Sift the dry ingredients (except sweetener) together. In a separate (and larger bowl) whisk the egg beaters, oil and sweetener together. To the egg mixture, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk. [Note: do NOT overbeat, it's good to have some clumps in the batter!] Add 1/2 tsp vanilla and mix. Warm up your griddle (380 degrees) or pan (just shy of medium/high heat). Add up to 1 tbsp oil to the pan -- there is enough oil in the batter to aid in cooking.

Nutrition Info/Servings: About 970 calories for total recipe. Makes about 9 good-sized pancakes.

Yummy & Simple Topping Idea: Make a quick and delicious fruit compote! In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add a pinch of sugar (optional), 1 packet of all natural sweetener (or to taste, depending on how much fruit you use), some berries (chop up strawberries if you decide to use), and a dash each of syrup of choice and balsamic. Let it sit over low heat stirring occasionally--mash up the berries as they cook.