Southern Grits Casserole

Ingedients


I made this for Christmas morning breakfast since I have been on a grits kick lately! Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was super easy! I will definitely make it again...

Ingredients

6 cups of chicken broth (original recipe calls for water but I think broth flavors the grits better)
2 cups uncooked grits
1/2 cup butter, divided (I cut this in half by not putting any on top)
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 pound ground pork sausage
8 eggs (original recipe calls for 12)
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan, and stir in grits. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Mix in 1/2 the butter and 2 cups cheese until melted.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned. Drain, and mix into the grits. Beat together the eggs and milk in a bowl, and pour into the skillet. Lightly scramble, then mix into the grits.
Pour the grits mixture into the prepared baking dish. Dot with remaining butter, and top with remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

Ariel made this for the Bluegrass for Babies event. I wasn't able to try it out, but according to the ratings on the site - it is 5 stars out of almost 4,000 reviews! I am going to try it for sure!!!

Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

From - http://www.allrecipes.com/
By: Laurie Bennett

Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

My friend Whitney was talking about these the other night at our get together for Tara and they sounded really good. I am so glad I asked her for the recipe. They are really healthy - without any added sugar. Alex loved them! I did add about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. They have the consistency of a CLIF bar. Whitney was joking that she could never make 12 cookies like the recipe says, she said no matter what she does, she only can get 11. I made a conscious effort to try for 12 and couldn't do it! They didn't last long around here...

The recipe comes from a great website, with a lot of good recipes - check it out:

http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/

Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:50 min
makes:12 Servings

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter (unsalted and unsweetened)
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Preparation:
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
2.Using a ¼-cup measure, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2¾-inch round, about ½ inch thick.
3.Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

Tara's Sausage Egg Caserole

I am late putting this on here, but I just saw Tara's recipe from the December meal exchange, when I pulled our her casserole to serve it to my family this morning!

Ingredients:

6 slices of bread
1 pound of sausage, browned, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon, salt
pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cube bread and place evenly in greased 9x13 pan or baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with sausage and cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over ingredients in pan. May cover and chill overnight. (If left overnight, remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking). Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until set. Cut into squares to serve.

Serves 8 to 10.

Turkey Sausage Breakfast

I was trying to get rid of half of a bag of hash browns and found this recipe. I used 8 eggs and it was really good! My favorite turkey sausage is Honeysuckle Italian - I can only find it in the frozen section, but it has a great texture and taste!

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey sausage
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 (16 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese


Directions

Place turkey sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, stir together eggs, green onions, hash browns, milk, cheddar cheese and cooked sausage. Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes.

From allrecipes.com

Asparagus, Ham, and Fontina Bread Puddings

Krista made this and said that really you could add any type of veggie, meat & cheese to the egg base! I think she also made it in one big pan since vs. individual ramekins. Can't wait to try it in the new kitchen :)

Yield 6 servings

Ingredients
1 pound asparagus
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
Cooking spray
5 (1.4-ounce) slices firm white sandwich bread (such as Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped reduced-fat ham
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
1 2/3 cups fat-free milk
3/4 cup egg substitute
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut a 3-inch tip from each asparagus spear, reserving the stalks for another use. Cut asparagus tips into 1/2-inch pieces.
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add asparagus; cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Coat 6 (10-ounce) custard cups or ramekins with cooking spray; place in a large baking pan. Place bread cubes evenly into custard cups. Top evenly with asparagus mixture, ham, and cheese. Combine milk and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour evenly into custard cups; let stand 20 minutes. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2001

Mushroom Asparagus Quiche

Susan made this for the March meal exchange. She partially baked them because she didn't want the crust to be overcooked, so when reheating, turn oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes. You might want to cover the crust with foil so that it doesn't get too done!

Ingredients:

1 tube refigerated crescent rolls
2 tsps prepared mustard
1 1/2 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 med onion, chopped
1/2 c sliced mushrooms
1/4 c butter, cubed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 c shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp each dried basil, oregano, and rubbed sage

Directions:

Place crescent dough into 9 in pie pan. Spread with mustard
In a lrg skillet, saute the asparagus, onion and mushrooms in butter until asparagus is crisp tender. In large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in asparagus mixture . Pour into crust. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until knife inserted in edge comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Crustless Quiche

This recipe is from Lisa - she made it for us one day when we had a Deloitte Mom's playdate and it was so good. She said it only took five minutes to get everything in the pie dish and she let it bake while she was getting ready - good idea! I have made this twice for visiting family since she gave me the recipe and everyone loves it!

Preheat to 350 degrees.

4 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 package dry Knorr vegetable soup mix
Cheese – shredded asiago and cheddar mixed (I probably used almost 1 cup) – although use whatever you like.
½ bagel toasted and torn

Spray pie dish with Pam
Bake for 45 – 50 min.