Breakfast casserole recipe and cost

This week’s article is actually the recipe and cost breakdown of dinner tonight. It was so yummy and easy I thought I would share it with all of you. I had planned to have London Broil, but decided I was more in the mood for a breakfast casserole so we will have the London Broil later in the week. Eggs are .99/dozen at Harris Teeter this week so I thought I would take advantage of the sale today. Well, actually, I thought I would go to triples and the eggs were one of the many good deals I bought!

Every once in a while I like to have breakfast for dinner. Tonight I made a breakfast casserole with eggs, veggies, croutons and veggie bacon. You can easily use real bacon, but I like the veggie bacon because of the lower fat and calorie content. We also happen to really like the taste. In addition to the casserole, I served some leftover pasta from last night and broccoli.

Ingredients

1 box or 2 bags of croutons, seasoned (I used 2 bags of Texas Toast Garlic and Butter Croutons)

½ green pepper, diced

2 cans mushrooms, sliced

6 Morningstar veggie bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (6 strips cooked in microwave for 2 and ½ minutes) – of course you can also use real bacon, bacon bits or no bacon, if you prefer)

8 oz. shredded cheese (cheddar or cheddar/mozzarella mix work well – I used 2% cheddar)

12 eggs

3 cups milk (I used skim milk)

Garlic and pepper to taste

Place croutons on bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Put veggies over croutons. Spread crumbled bacon over veggies. Sprinkle approx 6 oz. cheese evenly over pan. In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk and spices together well. Pour into pan. Sprinkle remaining 2 oz. cheese over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

2 bags of croutons, seasoned (I used 2 bags of Texas Toast Garlic and Butter Croutons): FREE with sales and triple coupons a few months ago – currently .39 at Harris Teeter with triple coupons and .50 coupon from 3/21 inserts

½ green pepper, diced: .40 from Walmart (on sale for .78 for whole green pepper)

2 4 oz. cans mushrooms from Walmart, sliced: .58 each – total $1.16

6 Morningstar veggie bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (6 strips cooked in microwave for 2 and ½ minutes) – of course you can also use real bacon, bacon bits or no bacon, if you prefer): .75 for 1/3 package on sale with $1.00/2 coupon a few weeks ago

8 oz. shredded cheese (cheddar or cheddar/mozzarella mix work well – I used 2% cheddar): .50 at Kroger a few weeks ago with BOGO Kraft cheese coupons and Buy 10 items Get $5 Promotion – will be on sale at Lowe’s Foods Friday 4/30 – Sunday 5/2 for .99 each

12 eggs - .99 at Harris Teeter this week

3 cups milk (I used skim milk) – FREE using Walmart gift card from cashing in credit card rewards

Garlic and pepper to taste: .15

Approximate total cost using ingredients on sale this week: $5.92

The kids had free Shamrock brand chocolate milk (triples with .50 coupon) mixed with skim milk to drink. Even with the leftover pasta from last night and the free Steamfresh broccoli, we were well under $5 for the whole meal. We also have at least 1/3 of the casserole left for breakfast or lunch tomorrow.

If you have any favorite breakfast for dinner favorites, please share them!