Clean Eating Sausage Egg Casserole (OAMC)

Makes 12 servings
Wouldn't you love to wake up and find that someone else has cooked you a delicious and healthy breakfast? That's how I feel when I pull this egg casserole out of the freezer. It's the perfect blend of savory sausage, eggs, and cheesy goodness. Plus it has some kale snuck in so you can start your day right with a power packed veggie :) I make this using homemade breakfast sausage based on THIS recipe from one of my favorite sites but you can use 3/4 lbs of whatever breakfast sausage you prefer.

How I "healthified" it:

• The original recipe called for 10 whole eggs. I used 2 whole eggs and 10 egg whites.
• The original recipe used 16 oz of cottage cheese and whole pound of shredded cheddar. I reduced both of them by half and added a little bit of Parmesan for some extra cheese flavor.
• The original recipe used butter and white flour. I substituted olive oil and whole wheat flour and added and extra 1/4 tsp of sea salt.
• The original recipe used regular breakfast sausage. I made a homemade version of breakfast sausage using lean ground turkey.
• Finally I added some finely diced kale to boost the nutritional profile. Plus, I like it when my kids eat a green vegetable in the morning because then I don't have to think about it at dinner LOL.
• The results - A decrease in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium and an increase in Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Ingredients:
Breakfast Sausage-

• 3/4 lb ground turkey or chicken
• 1/2 C diced organic dried apples (or 3/4 cup shredded fresh apples)
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or honey
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp Allspice
• 2 Tbsp dried Sage (1 Tbsp if ground)

Casserole-

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 green onions, chopped
• ½ lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 16 oz carton of egg whites (or 10 egg whites)
• 8 oz low-fat cottage cheese
• 2 cups (½ lb) shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• 4oz can diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1 1/2 cups very finely chopped kale/spinach
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil

ONE: In a large bowl, using your hands, mix sausage ingredients well. Place into a large, deep skillet and cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, and set aside. Add olive oil to skillet; cook and stir the green onions and mushrooms until tender.

Browning the homemade sausage

TWO: In a large bowl, mix eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, Parmesan, kale, and chiles. Stir in sausage, green onions, and mushrooms. Cover, and refrigerate overnight (you can cook it right away but refrigerating it overnight lets the flavors blend a bit more).

THREE: Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the olive oil. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake 40 to 50 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Flour mixture before it was blended

Cut into individual servings and freeze using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash. To reheat, microwave loosely covered for 2 minutes at 50% power. Cut into pieces and microwave an additional minute at full power.

NUTRITION INFO:

Per serving "healthified" recipe – 301 Calories (152 Calories from Fat), 17g Fat, 5g Saturated Fat, 77mg Cholesterol, 615mg Sodium, 16.5g Total Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 4g Sugars, 22g Protein, 32% DV Vitamin A, 27% DV Vitamin C, 36% DV Calcium, 10% DV Iron

Per serving original recipe – 393 Calories (252 Calories from Fat), 27g Fat, 12g Saturated Fat, 223mg Cholesterol, 791mg Sodium, 13g Total Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 1g Sugars, 27g Protein, 17% DV Vitamin A, 9% DV Vitamin C, 61% DV Calcium, 10% DV Iron

:)