Sausage & Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

I love a breakfast casserole. Actually, I love a casserole, period! What can I say…they are easy, and I like to have all my food mushed together so I get all the flavors in one bite. That sounds weird doesn’t it? Well, no weirder than my brother, who as a child refused to let any of his food touch. Too the point he had to have a plate with dividers, and he would even take apart sandwiches and eat them one piece at a time. Now that’s weird. You’re welcome little brother.

This one is a little different from my other breakfast casseroles on the blog in that it has hashbrowns. I do love a potato. It also has homemade turkey sausage, but you can use any sausage or meat you like.

This would be great for a breakfast or brunch, and feeds several so it may come in handy over the holidays. You can also easily adapt it to suit your family’s taste buds.

Sausage and Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sausage (I used turkey breakfast sausage)
1/2 cup chopped veggies (optional – I used some very finely chopped onion and green pepper, because my kids are super picky, and only about a 1/4 cup)
1/2 bag of shredded hashbrown potatoes (approx 3 cups), thawed
pinch of salt
8 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups cheese
seasonings – fresh ground pepper, parsley, etc. (optional)
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • In an oven proof skillet*, cook sausage on stove top over medium high heat, breaking up sausage as it cooks. Add vegetables in (if using) when sausage is about half way cooked. (Drain fat if needed).
  • Remove from heat and sprinkle potatoes over the meat.
  • Add a pinch of salt over potatoes.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and desired seasonings.
  • Pour eggs over potatoes in skillet.
  • Top with cheese.
  • Place skillet in over and bake for approx 45 minutes or until eggs are set.
*I used a 10-inch cast iron pan.
Recipe Source: Makin’ it Mo’Betta
Other crowd-pleasing breakfast casseroles:

This recipe was featured at:

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday)  (Tuesday) , ,, (Wednesday) , (Thursday) , (Friday) ,,(Saturday) ;

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

Did you know February is National Pancake Month? I couldn’t let the month go by without honoring my beloved pancakes, and what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway! Free stuff is fun, and free food stuff is mo’funner. Not only are we celebrating pancakes, but I have a new recipe that will make your busy mornings easier and tastier. The idea came for these Pancake and Sausage Muffins came from my Speedy Sausage Muffins recipe.

Pancakes and sausage….made portable! I know right?! Awesome. Even better is the fact that these are quick and easy to make with the help of Pancake Mix, and can be made healthier with turkey sausage. My girls loved them, as did I.
If you are not a sausage fan, I feel sure you could use bacon. Or, skip the meat and add in some blueberries (that’s next on my list. Krusteaz also makes a Blueberry Pancake Mix!), or go all cray and add chocolate chips! I’m also thinking you could add syrup right into the mix, which I didn’t do this time, but I think would work out fine…just cut back on the water used. I love versatile recipes!

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

1 lb. sausage (I used turkey sausage)
3 cups Krusteaz Pancake Mix
2 cups water
  • Cook sausage until browned and crumbled. Drain fat if needed. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Whisk pancake mix with water, as directed on box. (Batter will be a little lumpy.)
  • Fold in cooked sausage.
  • Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes.
  • Scoop batter into greased muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full.
  • Bake until done (12-15 mins) – remember they will not brown like muffins….they’re pancakes!

Serve warm with syrup if desired or allow to cool and store in airtight container in fridge. I’m sure they can also be frozen, but ours didn’t last long enough to try it. I got 18 muffins from this recipe.

FOR THE GIVEAWAY-
My friends at Krusteaz will provide one winner with FIVE FREE Product coupons! Coupons are good for the above pictured pancake mix, plus much more! Check out their line of products . I am a fan of their fat free muffin and cornbread mixes too. To enter, complete the options in the Rafflecopter form. Shipping only available to US addresses.

Disclosure: Krusteaz has provided me and will supply the winner with 5 free product coupons. No other compensation was received. All content is my own unless otherwise stated.

Creamy Sausage Dip {with skinny option}

Sausage is like crack. It rivals the beloved bacon. They each have their own special place in my meat-loving, nitrate infused world. In other words, I love sausage. I don’t eat it often, because let’s face it, it’s not a health food…BUT, let’s make an exception for this dip. It’s a great appie and should make any sausage loving person very happy. Oh, and it has cream cheese in it. And we know cream cheese makes errything a little mo’betta.

This dip goes by many names: sausage dip, cream cheese sausage dip, Rotel Sausage Dip, etc. Since I was out of Rotel when I made this, I’m just calling it Creamy Sausage Dip! I used salsa in the place of the Rotel, and it wasn’t as spicy as I like, but still delicious. I’ve been making this for years, and originally got the recipe from my cousin. There are variations all over the net, but this is my verison.

Creamy Sausage Dip

1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled (and drained if needed) *hot or mild
1 can  Tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups salsa, drained
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese (1 also works, will just be thicker, as pictured)
Mix cooked sausage and cream cheese in a pot over medium heat. Stir often until cream cheese has mostly melted. Add Rotel or salsa. Stir to combine and continue to heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is warm throughout. Dip can be placed (or prepared) in a crock pot to keep warm while being served.
Serve with chips, crackers, pita crisps, etc.
Want your Creamy Sausage Dip to be a little more waistline friendly?

Skinny Creamy Sausage Dip

1 lb. turkey sausage, cooked and crumbled (buy it or make it)
1 can Rotel Tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups salsa, drained
1 or 2 (8 oz) package(s) fat free cream cheese
Prepare as above.
Serve with homemade tortilla chips, or store bought baked tortilla chips. It’s still not a health food, but a little more figure friendly! ‘Cuz everyone wants to eat party food…dieting or not!
I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , , , , ,  (Tuesday) ,   , , ,,, ,  (Wednesday) , , , , , ,   (Thursday)  ,, , ,  (Friday) ,  , , , , , , ,, , , ,, , (Saturday)  , , , 

Healthier Sausage “McMuffin” Casserole

I know I just posted a breakfast dish yesterday, but what can I say, I really like breakfast food. As a matter of fact, we had breakfast for dinner just last night. This is a variation of the Egg ‘McMuffin’ Casserole I have on the blog. I have to say, I like the sausage version even more!
Sausage McMuffin Casserole EAH
I made an 8 x 8 dish, but you could double it to make a 9 x 13. Head over to where I have the recipe posted today!

Also, don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post, where I have a giveaway going on for Chinet Bakeware!

Pizza Night! {with homemade turkey sausage}

We looovveee pizza around here, and we often have homemade pizza on Fridays.  The perfect meal to kick off the weekend!  My ‘go-to’ homemade crust is this one, and if I use a store-bought crust, it is usually this one.
Many times we have plain.cheese. (because my kids are such adventurous eaters *sarcasm*). But on this night I made a ‘meat lovers’ pizza with homemade turkey sausage. Turkey sausage is very tasty, less fattening, and super easy to make.  I usually buy ground turkey in bulk from Sam’s Club and have been using a recipe from . I couldn’t find it online again when getting ready to do this post (but it was adapted from Judy Culbertson @ allrecipes.com)

Turkey Sausage 

1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ginger
*fennel seeds (optional) Sometimes I will add in a sprinkle of fennel seeds if I am making the sausage to put on pizza. I leave it out if making breakfast sausage.
Crumble turkey in a large bowl. Mix in the salt, sage, pepper and ginger. Shape into patties if desired. In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook meat over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side (if doing patties) or until no longer pink (and 165 degrees F).
I added some onions, red pepper and fresh basil to my pizza!
What’s your favorite pizza?  Do you have any Friday ‘traditions’?!
I’m linking up today with ,

Speedy Sausage Muffins

I came across this recipe for at Susie QTpies Scraps of Life.  It is a recipe from one of the cookbooks.  It seemed simple enough, and more importantly, it seemed like something at least 2 out of my 3 kids would eat.
I took the recipe, and made a few healthier substitutions…..my changes are in italics.

(Healthified) Speedy Sausage Muffins

1 lb. ground turkey sausage, browned and drained
3 c. Bisquick Heart Healthy biscuit baking mix
1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
10-3/4 oz. can Cheddar cheese soup
3/4 c. water

11 ounces skim milk

Directions
Combine sausage, baking mix and cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  Stir together soup and water; add milk to sausage mixture, stirring just until combined.  Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups, filling to top of cups.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden.  Serve warm.  Makes 16 12 muffins. (I filled my muffin tins very full!)

We had these for dinner with fruit salad and grits. (We do love our breakfast for dinner!) The verdict…..AWESOME.  My girls loved them, as did I.  They tasted like a sausage biscuit or a huge sausage ball.  They also freeze and reheat well!

I’m linking this recipe up with , , Mouthwatering Monday @ , , at It’s a Blog Party, at All the Small Stuff, @ 33 Shades of Green, @ IBlog4Me,Wow Me Wednesday at , , ,  , , , , , , s, , , , for Savory Sunday, ,