Christmas Breakfast - Sausage Egg Casserole

This is Christmas morning breakfast in our house. It's a tradition we adopted from Mike's family. I was only willing to give up my beloved "catastrophe" breakfast from my childhood because this egg casserole has been a secret obsession of mine since I was a teen. Someone brought it to a church breakfast I attended, and I couldn't get enough! So when I saw that it was staple in Mike's Christmas traditions I welcomed it.

We love this dish because we set the oven to preheat before we wake up Christmas morning. That way we can quickly put on the topping and let this bake while we open presents. The smell is just part of the holiday now. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

You prep most of this casserole the night before and pull it out of the fridge in the morning. Don't let the layers of directions scare you. I just divided them for you between night and morning.

Merry Christmas (or random Saturday).

Ingredients:

• 12 slices of white bread, cubed

• 10 eggs

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/8 tsp pepper

• 1 pound of ground sausage

• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

• 1/4 c. diced green onions

• 1/3 c. diced green and/or red peppers (optional, for picky eaters)

• 1/3 c. sliced mushrooms (optional, for picky eaters)

Pre-bake Topping:

• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup

• 1/2 c. of milk

Night Before Directions:

1. Brown sausage in frying pan, drain grease and set aside.

2. Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.

3. Cube bread to crouton size and add to dish.

4. In a bowl, mix together eggs and 1 c. of milk plus salt and pepper. Whisk together.

5. Add browned sausage on top of bread in dish.

6. Add shredded cheese on top of sausage.

7. Sprinkle onions, peppers and mushrooms on top.

8. Pour egg mixture over the top of bread, sausage and cheese dish.

9. Cover with tin foil and place in fridge overnight.

Morning Of Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 c. milk together

3. Pour / spread over egg casserole mixture.

4. Replace tinfoil and bake for 45 mins.

5. Remove tinfoil and bake for additional 15 mins.

6. Let rest for 15-30 mins before serving.