Sausage Gravy and Biscuits Breakfast Bake

My daughter started driver's training this week. And, while I am completely overjoyed for her and in total celebration of this exciting milestone in her life, I will freely admit to feelings of sadness since I know that a teenager getting their license means less of a need for mom and dad. It's a big deal. Yes, it's the beginning of a new stage in her life, but it's, also, the ending of one. Another one of our children is entering the transition in adulthood. One child closer to an empty nest.

And, let us not overlook the obvious - it's a reminder that I am getting old(er). Ughh! On the flipside, it's a reminder to cherish every moment and every stage of life. My, oh my, how the time truly does go by oh, so fast.

Since we have a few weeks of non-stop evening driver's ed classes filling up our schedule on top of quiz bowl and play practices, I know sitting down to home-cooked meals as a family right now is going to be a challenge. Our schedule will mean eating very early dinners (like, four o'clock early). Yesterday's dinner was actually a breakfast recipe that we've come to love - this breakfast bake to be exact.

There's not much to say - it's simple, scrumptious and super satisfying. It's great for a weekend breakfast or as a breakfast-for-dinner option. All of our favorite breakfast components are combined into one casserole - biscuits, sausage gravy and cheesy eggs.

NOTE: I chose this time to leave the biscuits whole, but they can be cut into fourths if you'd like. Doing so allows more of the gravy, eggs and cheese to coat more biscuit surface.

Serves 4 - 6.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole

This recipe couldn't be easier, folks.  Unroll a rube of crescent roll dough, throw on some breakfast sausage, pour on some eggs that have been whipped with milk and top with lots of cheese. Super easy peasy!  Of course, you can use ham or bacon (or leave it meatless) and you can add in peppers, onions or mushrooms.  Make it your own.  But, this is a recipe that everyone seems to love!  It's great for holiday mornings and weekends.

We had it for dinner tonight with some fresh fruit on the side and some orange juice.  It's nice when we have breakfast for dinner because the hubby is usually gone for work before the rest of us get up.  So, sharing breakfast - even at dinnertime - together is always a real treat!

Stuffed Breakfast Rolls

 

This idea woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.  Literally!  I had a dream I was making these. 

(I'm a pretty clever dreamer, if I do say so myself!)

My family members are huge fans of breakfast foods.

But, it is hard to get them to eat a lot super early in the morning when getting up at 5:45 a.m. for school.  They're just not usually that into a big, heaping plate of eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes or the like when they've only been up a short time.  So, they often just have a banana, a bowl of cereal or a yogurt.

So, after waking up to this idea in the middle of the night, I got to thinking that something small like a hand-held roll or biscuit stuffed with their favorite breakfast items might be a perfect little thing for them to eat on school mornings ... without being too filling and heavy.

Mini Quiche

Quiche is something that can be made with a variety of whatever meats, veggies or cheeses you may have on hand or leftover in your fridge.  The custard filling recipe is listed below.  Once you mix that up and have a pie crust ready (I use store-bought, but homemade is even better), the sky is the limit on the fillings you can use.

It's hard to give you measurements for the filling ingredients because it depends on what items you use and how many.

For this mini version of quiche, I used little pie tins.  But, this can be done in muffin tins.

We often use a combination of chopped deli ham and crumbled, cooked bacon for the meat portion of our filling.  We sometimes add in spinach, but today I just used some chopped scallions for the veggie portion.  Peppers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms or zucchini are, also great options.  And, we like Swiss, cheddar and grated Parmesan for the cheeses.  But, any type is fine. 

This recipe yields 8 quiche using the mini pie tins.  If using muffins tins, the amount may be different depending on the size of the "wells" in your muffin tin.

Rise and Shine Breakfast Casserole

I think everyone has breakfast for dinner every once in a while.  It's not unusual for us to have french toast with bacon or loaded omelets every few weeks for dinner.  We are breakfast food lovers in our house, but with my husband leaving so very early every morning for work, it isn't often that we sit and enjoy a big, home-cooked breakfast during normal breakfast hours.  So, we sneak it into our dinner rotation every now and then.

So, it's funny that this recipe is called "Rise and Shine Breakfast Casserole" since we don't usually have it during the part of the day when we're rising! 

I've been making a version of this recipe for years.  I've always called it by the recipe title above.  Mine has usually had some kind of a crust or soaked bread in it, however.  So, when I came across a very similar recipe without bread or a crust posted by Ashley on her blog, Center Cut Cook, I decided to try her version.  And, wouldn't ya know it ... I liked it much better!  She calls her version "Amish Breakfast Casserole."  (She posted that she adapted the recipe from All Recipes.)

I don't always put potatoes in mine.  When I do, they are chunky bites of spuds.  In Center Cut Cook's recipe, shredded potatoes are a key component and I really liked it this way!  She, also, used cottage cheese in her recipe, which is something I had never tried!

She does mention that this recipe can be changed up using different types of meats or veggies ... ham would be delicious in this!  Spinach or various kinds or colors of peppers would be tasty, too! Whatever you like!

Egg Yolk Ravioli with Bacon-Sage Butter

I think of this recipe kinda as a play on eggs and bacon ... with a twist. Homemade pasta would be amazing for this, but since Santa has yet to put a pasta maker under the tree for this mom, I relied on egg roll wrappers from the produce section of my supermarket. I think the visual of this dish is simply breathtaking ... but, I've always been a sucker for a beautifully perfect, sunshiny-yellow runny egg yolk! And, this dish really glorifies thee almighty egg yolk! Add in some parmesan, ricotta, a little fresh sage and melty, salty butter ... and you've got a pretty tasty dish! Oh, and there's bacon ... need I say more?