Entertaining at breakfast

Anyone who knows me knows I love Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa. To ease some of the work that is involved with entertaining guests in your home, say for dinner or a large meal, she often suggests having folks over for breakfast. I love breakfast foods and tomorrow I get to host six of my craftiest friends for a meal before we head out on a thrifting extravaganza (more on that tomorrow!)

My go to recipe for entertaining is a one pot wonder - the breakfast casserole. It's basically all the things you'd eat for breakfast in one dish. I have no idea where I got this recipe from but I've had it for at least 10 years and have made it dozens of times. In addition to saving you from slaving over several pans on the stove this dish is made the night before! All you do in the morning is pop it into the oven and viola! - breakfast is served. Tomorrow I will be splitting the recipe to make a vegetarian version. I'm heading to my local grocery store now to round up the ingredients for the casserole, grab some fresh fruit to serve along side and finally get some coffee so I can use my french press which still has the tags on it. Perhaps I'll pull down some china for ladies as well!

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. ciabatta bread, cut into cubes
• Cooking spray
• 1 lb. turkey breakfast sausag
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 (8 oz.) carton egg substitute
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until toasted.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.
4. Combine sausage, bread, and onions in a large bowl. Combine milk, cheese, eggs, and egg substitute in a bowl stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to bread mixture, tossing to coat bread. Spoon mixture into a 2 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350 F.
6. Uncover casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.