Ingredients
8 slices 0f white bread (Wonder Bread); crust removed and cut into 1-2 inch chunks
8 eggs
2 1/2 cups 2% or whole milk
1 pound sausage; browned (Jimmy Deans spicy is my favorite)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2-3 cups cheddar cheese; shredded mixed cheddar melts nicely
4 T butter
Pam cooking spray
***TIP: I normally double my ingredients and make two casseroles because this stuff goes like hot cakes!!!
1. Take a large skillet and place over medium heat. I add about 1-2 T of olive oil into the skillet while it is heating up.
2. Once the skillet has come to temp, place your sausage into the skillet. Use your potato masher to help break up the meat into even chunks, and brown until cooked through
3. While your meat is browning, take a 9×13 deep dish casserole dish and spray with Pam non stick cooking spray. If you don’t do this step then good luck getting your casserole out after it has finished cooking.
4. Take your slices of bread and lightly butter one side, this allows an extra level of richness.
5. Stack your slices of bread and remove the crust. Yes, I said remove the crust….this will be the only time you ever hear me say such a thing because the crust is my favorite part.
***TIP: place the removed crust into a baggie and take your kids to go feed the ducks or geese. You aren’t wasting food and your kids get a fun memory.
6. After your crust is removed, cut your bread into 1-2 inch cubes. The best way to do this is cut the bread like a tic tac toe board. Gather your bread chunks and layer them on the bottom of your casserole dish
7. Now that you have completed the bread step it is time to check back onto your now cooked sausage. Remove the sausage from the skillet and into a strainer. You must get the extra grease off the meat otherwise your casserole will come out greasy.
***TIP: I will even blot the sausage with a paper towel if I didn’t think the stainer got all the excess grease off of the meat.
8. Once your grease is strained off of your sausage, sprinkle it over the bread chunks evenly.
9. After your sausage layer is down, sprinkle your cheese over the sausage. I personally like more cheese than not, so my bag of shredded cheese is almost empty when I’m done covering the sausage.
10. Finally it is time to mix your egg, milk, salt, and pepper into a small mixing bowl. Once you have mixed the eggs thoroughly, pour it over the ingredients in the casserole dish evenly.
I always press a my breakfast casserole ingredients down a little after I pour my eggs over it. I just want to make sure everything is coated with egg.
11. Cover the casserole with foil and refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.
12. When you wake up in the morning removed the casserole from the refrigerator and bring to room temp. While the casserole comes to temp, pre heat your oven to 350 degrees F. (this normally takes about 15-20 minutes, or after my morning shower)
13. Remove the foil and place your casserole into the oven for 40-60 minutes. I normally check the casserole after 30 minutes because if it starts to brown to much you might want to cover it with foil.
14. The way you check to see if your casserole is done is….stick a knife in the middle and see if it comes out clean. The same way you check a cake. As soon as your knife comes out clean your casserole is done cooking.
15, Remove and cut into squares for your gathering family or guests
16. Enjoy!!!
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