a simple real food recipe :: christmas breakfast casserole

As a mama of 2 toddlers, every Christmas for the last couple years has been more fun than the last 🙂 To see my oldest *finally* getting it – the wonder of the season, time with family, and celebrating!

I remember the cozy-ness of Christmas morning with my family growing up, and I really want to create memories of comfort, enjoyment, and wonder for my girls.This is such a great start to Christmas morning. It will feed a crowd if that is what you have, or you can save the leftovers to warm in the oven later in the week. You can prep everything the night before so all you have to do is set it in the oven while you spend time with your family!You’ll need:

1 lb pastured pork sausage or bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp thyme

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

2-3 cups day old sourdough or soaked bread (If grain free use potatoes and fry them up in the veggie cooking step)

8 pastured eggs

1/2 – 1 cup organic cheese, shredded

2 cups whole sour cream (Daisy has the cleanest ingredients where I live. You could do just plain cream – just be sure if you are doing that it is organic and NOT ultra pasteurized) (If dairy free use coconut milk)

1. Brown the sausage or bacon in some butter (or coconut oil) and using a slotted spoon scoop it out into a medium mixing bowl.
2. Using the sausage or bacon grease in the pan, sauté the onion and peppers (if using potatoes instead of the bread, put those in on this step too). Add the seasonings and sauté until veggies are soft (if it looks dry add more butter or coconut oil). Add the cooked veggies to the bowl with the sausage.
3. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, cheese, and sour cream, then pour in the sausage/veggie mixture, and toss in the bread.
4. Pour the egg/sausage/veggie/bread mixture into a buttered (or coconut oiled) 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Check it at 45 minutes in case your oven temp is different than mine.
5. Let it rest for about 10-15 minutes to finish cooking the middle before you cut it.

Kitchen Tips:

1. I do EVERYTHING the night before! Keep the sausage/veggie mixture that has been cooked in a the bowl covered in the fridge and in the morning add the eggs/sour cream mixture and bake it off. It is fun to prep everything Christmas Eve night with the girls before bed and then in the morning it only takes a few minutes to get together and into the oven while we open presents! I even butter the baking dish the night before! So easy!
2. I actually half this recipe in a smaller baking dish at other times of the year, and use other veggies sometimes too! I like broccoli the best, or use some of that asparagus this spring! The method is the same, although the cooktime is more like 30-45 minutes.
3. Read THIS on how to pick out pastured eggs.
4. If you want a more portable single serve breakfast recipe, try my sausage egg muffins!

YOUR TURN!

What are your favorite Christmas morning memories? Let me know if you are going to add this to your holiday menu and how it turns out!

This post was shared at The Polivka Family’s Family Table Tuesday, and Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday!