Sausage & Stuffing Bake

Original recipe HERE

 

This is marketed as a brunch dish, but I made it for dinner.  It's a simple one to tweak according to your own tastes: type of sausage, variety of vegetables, or type of cheese.

 

My kids liked it and asked for seconds.  They even ate most of the vegetables.  I wish the egg element had been a little firmer, so next time I might cut the amount of egg whites and add in a few full eggs.  Also, the cheese congealed on top as the casserole cooled, so perhaps stirring the cheese into the stuffing mixture would prevent that and distribute the cheese flavor into every bite.

I used the cubed stuffing, but it still pretty much just turned into one mass of mush (which I say in a good way) along with the egg.  I thought there would be more of a bread-like substance throughout, but it was just egg-y.  The taste was fine, but the consistency wasn't what I was expecting...just an FYI.

 

Ingredients

1 lb sausage, precooked [I used Italian chicken]

1 small onion, diced small

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 to 3 carrots, peeled & diced

2 to 3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 cups herb seasoned stuffing mix [I used Pepperidge Farm cubed style]

1/2 cup broth

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

5 oz sharp cheddar, grated

2 cups milk

16 oz carton fat-free egg substitute [I used a container of egg whites]

salt & pepper, to taste

 

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish.

(2) Cut sausages in half lengthwise, then into slices.

(3) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

(4) Add sausage, onion, mushrooms, celery, carrot, and garlic to skillet.  Saute until sausage is browned and vegetables are softened.

(5) In a large mixing bowl, combine stuffing and sausage mixture.  Stir thoroughly.

(6) Transfer stuffing mixture to the baking dish.  Drizzle with broth and melted butter.

(7) Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly over the stuffing mixture.

(8) In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg substitute, salt, and pepper. 

(9) Pour milk mixture evenly over the stuffing mixture. 

(10) Bake about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until egg is set and casserole is cooked through.  Allow to cool several minutes before serving.

 

Kid Participation: None.

Pineapple Stuffing

Original Recipe: from a message board

I made this for Christmas dinner because I thought it would be a nice accompaniment to the main dish (spiral ham).  It was SO good - my favorite part of the whole meal.  Too bad everyone else liked it just as much because we had to ration our portions so that everyone got enough.  We each might have consumed the whole thing if left to our own devices.  I'm making it again for Easter and will double the recipe.

Update: I made this two more times.  Adjusted/doubled amounts appear below.  It fills a 9x13" baking dish, but leftovers are still sparse.

Ingredients

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple
1 cup white sugar
3/4 to 1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs
10 slices white bread, cubed into 1" pieces and dried overnight [I just used an entire loaf]

Directions
(1) Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13" baking dish.

(2) Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer.

(3) Add eggs, one at a time.  Mix after each addition.

(4) Drain pineapple.  Stir into egg mixture.

(5) Gently fold in bread.

(6) Scoop into dish.  Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.  Stir stuffing several times during cooking to prevent top from burning.

Kid Participation: Not much to do besides stirring.

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

Original Recipe HERE

This recipe isn't going to win any points for being healthy, though a few ingredients can be modified (like using low-fat or reduced sodium condensed soup...just be sure to read the labels carefully to make sure that what you're saving in calories isn't being negated by scary additives and chemicals).  The original used an insane amount of butter, so I followed several comments and substituted milk for some of it.  But...it was easy, fast, filling, and a good way to use up the abundant zucchini.  Because my other option was making chocolate zucchini bread.  I think that this was the lesser of the two evils.

Ingredients

1 6-oz box whole wheat stuffing mix

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

3 cups diced & peeled zucchini

2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken [about 2 large breasts]

1 10.75-oz can condensed cream of chicken soup

8 baby carrots, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

additional seasoning, such as garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc. [optional]

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.

2) In large bowl, combine stuffing mix, butter, and milk.

3) Add zucchini, chicken, soup, carrot, onion, sour cream, and optional seasoning to the remaining stuffing mixture.

4) Transfer to a greased 2.5-quart baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Notes: Next time I'll take substitue all but 2 tablespoons of butter with milk.   Adding shredded cheese, pressed garlic, or finely chopped onion could work, though they're not necessary flavor additions.  Different condensed soups could be used to tweak it.

Kid Participation:

* Stir ingredients

* Transfer mixture to baking dish (and then clean up the subsequent specimens that escape)