Texas Style Christmas Breakfast Casserole

I LOVE breakfast casseroles, but, I am not a big fan of the ones that include bread in them.  This is why I was excited when I saw this AMAZING sounding recipe for a Texas Style Breakfast Casserole on the Weight Watchers site.  It is FAST to make and can even be assembled ahead of time.  Since I can rarely stick to a recipe, I made a few additions and adjustments.

I started off chopping up some fresh CHRISTMAS COLORED vegetables ~ 1/2 a red & green bell pepper plus 1/2 a red onion.  If I was making this just for The Husband and I, I would’ve totally added a chopped jalapeño too.

Mix them all together and set aside.

I used this a low-fat Poblano Pepper Mexican Cheese Chicken Sausage to spice it up.  Slice it in half, then, slice in in quarters and chop away.

Check out ALL the spicy CHEESE and PEPPERS in the sausage – YUM!  Did I mention each link is only 3 points (130 calories, 4.5 g fat!)

 

Shred up 1/2 a block of Low Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese.  I like using SHARP over regular because it gives off a CHEESIER flavor.

Pull out  a bag of your favorite frozen potatoes.  I like Ore-Ida because they only use potatoes and salt – nothing funky is added.  Western style is the BEST since it has peppers and onions 🙂

Ok ~ All the prep is done, now the fun begins.  Start by prepping a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Add your layer of frozen hash browns. 

I sprinkled the hash browns with Garlic salt and freshly ground pepper to season them up a bit. I think adding Veggie Terrain’s Fabulous Taco Seasoning (I double this recipe and keep it on hand for spicing up everything ~ it rocks!) would be an AWESOME addition too for a “Mexican” style casserole.

Mix in your pepper and onion mixture.

I LOVE this part ~ add a layer of sweet frozen white corn.  The Fire Roasted Smokey Corn from Trader Joe’s would be an AWESOME addition!

 

Add your layer of sausage.

Whip your eggs, mix, sea salt and black pepper together.

But, don’t forget to add your secret ingredient ~ HOT SAUCE.  I used this oh so spicy sauce we got in the Caribbean ~ I LOVE it but a little goes a LONG way.

Pour your egg mixture over your potato/sausage mixture and top with your shredded cheese.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.

Layers of goodness = LOVE!

Here is the BEST part ~ You get 1/6th of the 9 x 13 dish for a 5 point serving iif you follow the Weight Watcher recipe using Spicy Italian Sausage!!!!!  Although the nutritionals calculated using SparkRecipes.com with my substitutions count as only 3 points!

Nutritional information per serving (1/6ht of the casserole)

Calories 173.9, Total Fat 5.1 g, Saturated Fat 2.0 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g, Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g, Cholesterol 104.8 mg, Sodium 485.2 mg, Potassium 302.9 mg, Total Carbohydrate 15.0 g, Dietary Fiber 1.9 g, Sugars 2.2 g, Protein 16.2 g

You can totally get creative with this casserole using different types of low-fat cheese or vegetables.  I think adding broccoli or asparagus would be fun.

MAKE IT VEGETARIAN: Simply use an awesome VEGETARIAN Breakfast Sausage, fakin bacon or omit entirely.

MAKE IT VEGAN: OMIT the sausage, use soy milk, Ener-G Egg Sub and VEGAN Cheddar Cheese.

But, most of all ~ Just enjoy this healthy, low-fat cheesy potato casserole!

Happy Holidays!