Sausage and Egg Breakfast Boat

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it should be filling and bursting with flavor!  This breakfast boat is stuffed with sausage and eggs and is sure to be a favorite.

It's no secret that I love breakfast.  I could eat it every meal of the day.  And sometimes I do!

For instance, this recipe.  I made it for dinner one night.   Then I enjoyed it the next morning for breakfast, and Mike had it for lunch.  That's the beauty of breakfast food, you can eat it for every meal.  Other meals?  Not so much.  Anyone want a stir fry for breakfast?

This recipe was inspired by a recipe my friend Becky posted on her blog, Eliorah.  She made an Italian Sausage Boat and was telling me about it one night when we were at their house.  Her husband loved the meal and requested her to make it again.  You know meals are great when your husband can't stop talking about it!

Anyway, as she was telling me about her recipe, I had an idea forming in my head.  Mike and I love breakfast scrambles and I thought a bread boat would be the perfect vessel for a scramble.  It didn't take me long before I made this meal for our dinner.  It came together quickly, which made it a perfect meal after working all day.  I served it with a side of fresh strawberries and it was the perfect breakfast.  Or lunch.  Or dinner...

Sausage and Egg Breakfast Boat

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread
1 pound breakfast sausage
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Cut the center of the loaf of bread out, leaving about 3/4" of bread on the sides.  Set the extra bread aside, you won't need it for this recipe.

2.  Cook breakfast sausage in a large skillet until no longer pink.  Drain grease.

3.  Whisk together eggs and milk.

4.  Pour eggs into the skillet with the sausage and cook until the eggs are scrambled and cooked thoroughly.

5.  Spoon egg and sausage mixture into the hollowed out bread.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

6.  Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  You could also put it under your broiler for 2-3 minutes.

Slice and serve warm.

Inspired by Eliorah.

Breakfast Scramble

Breakfast for dinner.

It's become a weekly staple in our household. Not only is it pretty simple to make, but it also tastes good, and if you make enough, you have leftovers for the next day! 

The past few weeks have been so busy at our house.  Between Mike's crazy work schedule and going up to the hospital to see my dad, I felt like had been severely lacking in the food department.  When we don't have good dinners, that means Mike doesn't have leftovers to take for lunch and he ends up eating junk.  I decided this past week would be different--so far I've cooked and we've had leftovers every night!

Back to breakfast for dinner.  This scramble is one from my "youth group days".  Every time we'd have a youth trip, one of our breakfasts was guaranteed to be this breakfast scramble.  I remember crawling out of our tent and seeing one of our leaders standing over a huge griddle making breakfast.  The ingredients are pretty simple: potatoes, eggs, sausage and cheese.  You don't even have to add milk unless you want to.  I think it makes the eggs fluffier, so I put a good dose of milk in.

You can eat it as is, or stuff a tortilla with the filling.  Plus, this makes enough for dinner and then some!

Breakfast Scramble

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
3 pounds diced hashbrown potatoes (frozen)
1 pound ground sausage (your choice!)
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Drizzle a large skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat.

2.  When the oil is warm, add the potatoes.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

3.  Push the potatoes to the side of the pan and add the sausage.  Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.

4.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs and milk.  Whisk until eggs are beaten.

5.  Pour the egg mixture into the skillet with the potatoes and sausage.  Cook until the eggs are no longer runny.

6.  Sprinkle cheese over the mixture and stir to distribute.

Serve as is, or with tortillas.

Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup

A few weeks ago, we had some unseasonably warm weather here in Michigan.  When temperatures are typically around 40 degrees, we experienced a week of near (or above) 80 degree days!  It was incredible, and gave us a chance to do some grilling.  Much to our dismay, though not a surprise at all, the weather has returned to normal and in fact it seems much cooler because we had such hot days.

I try not to make a lot of soup during the warm summer months, I prefer to grill meat and vegetables and eat a lot of fresh food.  But now that we're back to our typical cooler temperatures, I decided to take advantage of it and make some hot soup.  It's especially delicious on gray rainy days!

Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup

Serves 6

You will need:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups kale
salt
pepper

1.  In a large pot, warm olive oil over medium heat.

2.  Crumble sausage and add to the pot.  Cook until browned, about 5 minutes.

3.  Transfer sausage to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

4.  Discard all but 1 Tablespoon of fat from the pot.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.

5.  Return sausage to the pot and add chicken broth, water, and beans.

6.  Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.

7.  Stir in kale until wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Season as needed with salt and pepper before serving.

Adapted from All You

Sausage Stuffed Potatoes

Sausage Stuffed Potatoes (1/19/11)

I came across this recipe a while back and thought it looked fabulous! Mike and I eat a lot of potatoes, I fix them in many different ways, but I had never made twice-baked potatoes. My dad has, we used to have them on special occasions, and I know they're delicious! When I saw these potatoes I knew they would be perfect for Mike and I, a simple one dish meal. I made quite a few changes to the original recipe (mostly substituting healthier ingredients), and Mike and I both really liked these.

You will need:

4 medium sized potatoes
3/4 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1 Tablespoon garlic
1 "rope" smoked turkey sausage (I used Eckrich)
Olive oil
Salt

1. Cook potatoes in microwave until baked through.
2. Cool potatoes until they can be easily handled.
3. Scoop the insides out of each potato, leaving enough potato near the skin to form a sturdy shell. I did this by cutting an oval in the middle of the potato and then scooping out the potato with a spoon.
4. Place insides in a mixing bowl and add sour cream, cheese, and garlic. Whip until potato mixture is creamy.
5. Slice the sausage rope down the middle lengthwise. Then slice each half in half again lengthwise. Dice sausage into small pieces.
6. Stir sausage into potato mixture.
7. Scoop potato mixture into potato shell. Rub potato shell with olive oil and sprinkle with salt to create a crispy potato shell.

8. Place each shell in a baking dish and bake at 350 about 20 minutes, until potatoes are hot.
9. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.
Adapted from: A Southern Fairytale

Pancake and Sausage Bites

Pancake and Sausage Bites (12/7/10)

We keep on seeing commercials for a restaurant that has a similar dish. It sounded so yummy and seemed easy enough, that I decided to try them out myself! It took only about 5 minutes to whip these up and then 20 minutes to bake, quick enough for breakfast, but we had it for dinner!

You will need:
1 cup pancake mix (prepared according to directions on box)
5 breakfast sausage links

1. Prepare pankcake mix as directed on box (I just had to add water to mine).
2. Cut sausage links into 3 pieces.
3. Place 1 piece of sausage in each hole of a greased mini-muffin tin. (Learn from my mistake and grease your tin, please!!!)
4. Pour pancake mix over sausages.
5. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
6. Serve with syrup and enjoy!