Bacon & Egg Casserole- Delish!

Who doesn't love a little bacon and eggs? Breakfast casseroles are super easy and significantly budget friendly to make for a large crowd. I'm helping make dishes for our client and staff brunch at work this week. Supposedly between 20-30 people are coming! Hoping this is a crowd pleaser...it sure smelled good and I can't wait to try it! I have plans tomorrow night so I made it two days ahead and stuck it in my freezer. I also got to use my new Rachel Ray casserole dish ;) always a plus!

step (1) layer the bottom of the pan with vegetable spray, croutons, and top with butter. I added extra seasonings like chives, garlic, and onion on mine with the butter. Top with about a bag of sharp shredded cheese. (my pan is extra deep so I doubled the recipe I was following so see below for exact measurements to fit a 9 X 13 pan)

all the goods

Final product. Gosh it looked so yummy and smelled sooo good! I got to chop up my bacon using my small food processor. It was a greasy mess but I think I like that it is more like bacon bites because the croutons are rather large.

Directions for a 9 X 13 casserole dish
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 c. unseasoned croutons (I added more seasoning to the butter and on top of the mixture)
2 c. onion and garlic croutons
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
2 c. milk
8 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Coat a 9 x 1 x 13 inch casserole dish with vegetable spray. Place croutons in casserole dish and pour butter over croutons. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Mix milk, eggs, and mustard and pour over cheese mixture. Sprinkle bacon crumbs on top.

Bake at 325°F for about 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. Serves about 8.

Happy Holidays!

Lasagna...that's healthy!

Its been a few weeks since I succeeded with a recipe I was proud enough to share with the public. Its been a rough couple of weeks with the craziness of the holidays approaching quickly and life happening all around us. However, having said that I have actually NAILED a lasagna dish that is VERY tasty AND good for you! Believe it! I got the recipe off of Good Morning America. Literally, I cannot believe my husband ate this, scraped his plate and got seconds. Amazing. So, therefore, you KNOW it must be good ;)

Servings:Over 8
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 60-120 min
Spinach lasagna was on the Wednesday dinner men for Good Morning America's "Lock the Door, Lose the Weight" series.

Ingredients
2 boxes of frozen spinach (or broccoli, 10- to 12-ounces), chopped ** I used 1 bag of Meijer Spinach frozen (about 12 ounces of a 16 ounce bag)
2 pounds low-fat ricotta cheese ** I used part skim ricotta
1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites
3/4 teaspoon pepper
Garlic, to taste
Basil, to taste
1/2 tablespoon oregano - I used more like 2 Tbsp
4 cups skim-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded **I tried the Philadelphia Cream cheese shredded mozzarella...really good!
Nonstick cooking spray
1 jar tomato/marinara sauce (32-ounce) - I used 2 jars because of the added turkey
1 package lasagna noodles, uncooked (16 ounces) ** I used pre-cooked, no boil needed noodles
1 cup water, for cooking only
1 small package of uncooked lean turkey meat

Cooking Directions
Cook and drain spinach well, then set aside. Brown and thoroughly cook turkey, drain, add pasta sauce and spice up if desired. Mix together ricotta cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic, oregano, basil, and only half of the mozzarella cheese. Add in spinach and mix again thoroughly. Coat lasagna pan with nonstick spray and preheat oven to 350 F.
Cover the bottom of pan with tomato sauce and place down a layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Next, spread half of the spinach/cheese mixture evenly on top, and repeat the layers (noodles and then the remaining spinach/cheese mixture). Place one more layer of noodles on top (total of three noodle layers) and pour on the remaining tomato sauce.
Sprinkle on the other half of the mozzarella cheese. Last, pour the water around the edge of the pan (this will cook the noodles), and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until bubbling. Let stand to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

*I made my lasagna the night before, refrigerated it, and popped it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add salad and some bread. Bam. Dinner.Is.Done.

These were the original Nutritional Values for the "un-altered with" version of the recipe. Calories: 330 Carbohydrate: 30 grams Protein: 25 grams Fat: 13 grams Saturated Fat: 8 grams Cholesterol: 65 milligrams Sodium: 746 milligrams *Calcium 515 milligrams *Fiber 3.5 grams

Happy Holidays, All!