Two New Recipes, Book Review, 4 Miles

Thanks you guys! We REALLY did have a blast at the lake - such a good group of peeps and SO much fun! This week hasn't been too rough getting back into work (thank gah!!)

So lately I’ve found myself making the same 10 – 12 breakfast recipes over and over…. and then realized out of those I only LOVED about 5 of them. So it was time to find some new ones! Enter The following:

Sausage & Egg Casserole adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 6 Servings

1 pound reduced fat Jimmy Dean sausage
6 slices Nature’s Own white-wheat bread, ripped into bits
2 cups fat-free milk
6 eggs
1 oz. fat-free cheddar cheese
1 oz. 75% fat-free cabot cheese
1 tsp dry mustard
½ tsp salt
Tony’s Creole seasoning to taste

Preheat the oven to 350. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until brown, stirring to crumble. Combine sausage and next five ingredients in a 13x9-inch baking dish coated in cooking spray. Stir well. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutritional Information: 292 calories, 16 carbs, 16 fat grams and 23 protein grams.

Review: We really liked this one – tasted like a strata and had a great consistency. It didn’t have as much flavor as I would have liked, so above I added the salt and tony’s creole – I think this will make the difference. I will definitely make this again!

Sausage and Potato Bake from Real Mom Kitchen
6 Servings

1 package Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Sausage
3 ½ cup frozen hash browns, cubed
3 oz. 75% cabot cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup of fat-free milk
6 large beaten eggs
1 teaspoon dried mustard
¼ teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray rectangular baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cook sausage over medium heat until browned, about 7 minutes. Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into dish. Bake 50 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes.

Nutritional Information: 299 calories, 17 carbs, 16 fat grams and 22 protein grams.

Review: We LOVED this. We think it has great flavor and love using the potatoes too – a little goes a long way. It was super filling and flavorful – definitely seemed like it was “bad” for you but really had good stats for a filling breakfast. I’ve already made this twice now – it’s going to be a regular!

One more review! Saturday morning at the lake I finished my book club book, Drusilla Campbell’s Wildwood. This book seemed like it was about 3 childhood friends with a deep secret, all reconnecting as adults with the truth coming out. Sounded great! And it was, but to me, it was less about the secret being scandalous and more about how the secret impacted each of the lives, making them each the way they are. So it was very much a character study as opposed to a mystery or shocking story. I’m okay with that – but I really didn’t expect it! For me, I think it was a 3/5. It would have been better if they had explored more about what happened right after the secret/accident occurred, and frankly, if the characters had been more likeable. They just weren’t very likeable and really, for friends especially, weren’t very nice to each other which I found distracting. However, there were a few interesting surprises and I especially enjoyed one of the women’s story of standing up for herself after years of putting her self second. Her story saved the book for me!

On to yesterday! I had a sore throat and congestion so I rested, drank water and stayed in bed. Then I just HAD to get out, so I put on my work out clothes, grabbed an old favorite (Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse) and headed to the gym. I walked 4 miles while reading the book - I forgot how much I enjoyed this book and as i'm reading it again for the first time in a couple of years i'm realizing that they did a pretty good job adapting the movie! Anywho, I got home, did a bit of cooking, listened to my audio book (on the TV/DVD player in the kitchen) and then hung out with Austin and Reuben. I felt SO much better after having worked out. I just hope to keep this sore throat at bay - maybe the emergen-c did its job! I ended up at 1,778 calories, 200 carbs, 55 fat grams and 102 protein grams. Here's what I ate.

Q: Do you ever re-read books?

Q: Do you like breakfast casseroles?