Today is Grandparent’s Day at my children’s school, which means a rushed morning so we make sure to have a parking space. It is a day for a breakfast casserole to throw in the oven so I have time to get dressed myself!
I was preparing last night…I went to the fridge to get my ingredients, and of course the breakfast sausage that I had checked for before grocery shopping earlier in the day turned out to be expired! Now what to do? I definitely needed a meat to throw in with the eggs, and was DEFINITELY not going to the grocery store with three children at 5:00 PM. Soooo….we are improvising! We all love beef bar-b-que sausage which I had purchased to throw in some spaghetti sauce to serve over zucchini noodles, so what about that? It was fresh, ready to go, and how yummy in eggs!
I did change up the recipe a tad to account for the extra grease from the sausage so here you go:
Bar-B-Que Beef Sausage Breakfast Casserole
1 3/4 pound Beef Sausage
10 eggs
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp ground mustartd
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
Steps:
Cut and brown your sausage in a pan.
Spray your pyrex or ceramic baking dish with coconut oil or butter. I like this one from Trader Joes.
Add your sausage to your greased dish. It should line the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle your grated cheese over your sausage. I did the grating the old fashioned way for this one. My kids love to serve themselves slices of this cheese while we have it out in the kitchen.
Whisk your eggs, cream, and spices together.
Once your ingredients are thoroughly mixed, pour this over your sausage and cheese.
Place saran over your unbaked casserole and let it set overnight. Bake this for 1 hour 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until it is set in the center. You don’t want any jiggling.
This is one of Erin’s recipes that I love. She does many of her recipes by feel and look, but I did my best to measure most of these simple ingredients. I literally did these yesterday, and thought, why not make my post on this now?
We had a dinner party last night, for which I was assigned an appetizer. Sometimes, when dining with many, it is hard to please everyone with a Keto dish, which is why I usually sign up for an appetizer or a salad. You can do a lot of Keto appetizers such as guacamole, hot artichoke dip, spinach dip, stuffed mushrooms, different kinds of poppers, etc. There are many!
Yesterday ended up being busier than expected, and I had all of these ingredients on hand, so I went for the mushrooms. They are always devoured in minutes, and really only take a few minutes to make as long as you soften your cream cheese first. After you make them once, you won’t even need the recipe!
Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Mushroom Appetizer
Your portions will change based on the amount of mushrooms you want to stuff. I did one large package of mushrooms from Costco.
Ingredients:
Large package of mushrooms, washed and stems removed
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese
2 packages of ITALIAN sausage (I did one mild and one hot) removed from casings (There were 5 links per package, and I had a ton left over. I used about 2 cups of the crumbled sausage and saved the rest for breakfast in our eggs.) Use as much as you like though.
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
Kerrygold for baking
That is it folks!
Directions:
Remove casings from your sausage and brown on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until crumbled.
Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl (hopefully in advance to soften)
Add sausage and combine with cream cheese.
Add Cheddar and mix until evenly distributed.
Take your mushrooms, from which you have removed the stem, washed and dried.
Using a teaspoon, fill the caps of the mushrooms until there is a heaping amount. Place in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Put a few slices of Kerrygold around the perimeter of the mushrooms as well as the middle. You want it to melt for a nice non-stick surface that gives a wonderful flavor.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Plate and serve!
Make sure you serve these with a napkin. They are so delicious, you may find yourself drooling!
Let’s face it…being on a Ketogenic diet with REAL food is not inexpensive! We are trying to be as healthy as possible, which comes at an expense to our wallets. In fact, today, while listening to a Livin’ La Vida podcast, a nutrition expert and author was discussing the fact that higher income countries are actually consuming less grains now than low net income countries because those packaged foods and grains cost pennies compared to “real food” which is actually nourishing. Very sad! I totally believe it is worth every penny to feed my family well, but at the same time, I try to save where I can! This is where buying in bulk can help, especially when feeding a hungry family of five. I have two growing boys that eat constantly.
Now, I do have to say, a high fat, real food diet, keeps you full much longer that the recommended, low fat Standard American Diet (SAD), so in terms of food, you are not eating the same quantity. There are certain foods that we consume more often than others, so using a store like Costco or Sam’s can help you. One of the more frequent questions we receive is where we buy our groceries. The answer is…everywhere, but I don’t shop at every store every week. I probably make a Costco run every two weeks, so I thought I would share the basics I keep on hand in bulk.
From left to right:
1. Almond Flour: I have said this before, but do not even try the other brands…Honeyville is far superior to any of the others. I have tried all of them, and hands down, Honeyville bakes the best with the least amount of heavy texture. Costco saves you a ton…you can’t find a lower price even on Honeyville’s own website!
2. Berries: (On both sides – All organic!) While we do not recommend a large amount of fruit on a Keto diet, berries are by far the best choice. They are the lowest in fructose and have a high amount of anti-oxidants. These are primarily for the children, but every once in a while, I will have a small handful in a bowl of sugar-free whipped cream (homemade) with Swerve and vanilla for a sweet treat. Remember to always eat protein and carbs with lots of fat so you stay a fat burner!
3. Avocados: Costco usually has bags of five or six avocados. I use these for lunch filled with shrimp salad or plain with salt and lime or on salads. We ALWAYS have guacamole in the house. We use it on eggs in the morning and meat in the evenings. You can never have too many avocados.
4. Cheese: One of the biggest differences between the Ketogenic diet and the Paleo diet is the allowance of dairy. We love cheese! I bought the blocks of cheese because many of the shredded cheeses use potato starch to keep the cheese from clumping. I use my food processor attachment to shred the cheese for large quantities. I DO cheat, and buy shredded cheese on occasion to keep in the fridge for morning eggs and a quick grab, but the blocks are better as well as cheese sticks. All are a great buy at Costco or Sam’s.
5. Organic Ground Meat: I keep these in the freezer for an easy throw together dinner. You know we prefer the Grass-fed beef, but in a pinch these are great to have stored. While not as great as Grass-fed, it is a better alternative than your antibiotic and hormone ridden meats.
6. Kerrygold Butter: Need I say more? I think you all know how we feel about Kerrygold. It is delicious Grass-fed butter from Irish cows! It comes in packs of 3 at Costco, so I always pick up a couple when I am there!
7. Sausage: My kiddos love sausage. My husband grills it, and we serve it over zucchini noodles or eat it plain. Kiolbassa is also made in San Antonio so you are supporting a local business if you live here!
8. Daisy Sour Cream: I always have sour cream and cream cheese (I buy cream cheese at Sam’s) on hand for sides to add more fat. Remember, you want full fat. The low fat and fat free versions are NOT REAL FOOD! They are filled with chemicals and additives. Stick with the good ingredients our great-grandparents used, and their ancestors before them!
9. Veggies: We LOVE veggies…We are fortunate that Costco has many organic vegetable options. Not all of them are organic, however, so please wash well! A friend was over recently, and I was washing fruit with soap and water when she questioned me about it. Water alone will not wash off the chemicals. You really need to wash in a fruit and veggie wash or use a soap. I make a bath of soapy water and soak them in the wash and then rinse in a colander with cold water. This still does not guarantee the removal of all chemicals, but it is a better bet. I love the cauliflower, spinach, and mushrooms at Costco. These are always on my list. I also stock up on limes in the summer to make infused water and iced tea. I must admit, that I also like a cocktail on the weekends made with a lot of fresh lime juice mixed with vodka and soda, or dare I say, tequila, for a homemade sugar-free margarita! One drink usually takes 4 to 5 limes (or more) so that explains the bulk on these. Broccoli and celery were also on the list this week. Please make sure you wash your celery VERY well. It can be a really dirty one!
10. BACON: Who can have too much bacon? Always on the list. Try to buy bacon as naturally as possible without a lot of curing ingredients. Each Costco carries different bacon I’ve noticed, so look at your labels.
11. Coconut Oil: It is not in the picture, but another staple that we all buy at Costco is Coconut Oil. This makes great Bulletproof Coffee for all of us each morning! A definite staple, and a much better buy at Costco or Sam’s.
Any questions or comments? Leave us feedback. We would love to hear what Low-Carb High-Fat foods you like to buy at Costco or Sam’s!
