Breakfast Casserole Fit for Bees

My wonderful Bee-in-laws will be hosting Thanksgiving this year at their home up in beautiful wine country. DaveBee's mama always makes a wonderful spread and she is ultra-conscious of not using gluten ingredients which can be no easy task especially when cooking a large meal like Thanksgiving! She does delectable gluten-free versions of the traditional stuffing and gravy! I am a lucky girl.

I am making a few things to help lighten the meal load!

This breakfast casserole is a first for me.  Two of my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law make versions of it so here's to hoping it lives up.  Mine is currently in the freezer ready to heat up on Black Friday morning while we are cozily tucked in up in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  If smell is an indicator I think it will be good. With these simple ingredients how can you go wrong?

Simple Breakfast Casserole {Naturally Gluten Free}

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bag of frozen Tater Tots (Trader Joe's has some with simply ingredients)
1 pound of Breakfast Sausage (out of the casing)

10 ounces shredded cheese (I used a mexican blend but cheddar or jack would do)

8 eggs

1/3 cup of Milk

Seasoning (Salt, pepper, garlic powder)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook up your breakfast sausage in a frying pan until the are not pink and it is crumbly. Remember to remove casing if there is any.  While cooking up the sausage, layer the bottom of a casserole dish with frozen tater tots. Drizzle evenly and generously with olive oil. Season with salt. Stick in preheating oven to lightly toast while sausage is cooking and oven is preheating.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add milk and any seasonings you like.

When the sausage is done, pull the tater tots out of the oven and layer the sausage on top.  Next, layer the shredded cheese over the sausage. Lastly, pour the egg mixture over the cheese layer. Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  You will know it is done when the top is lightly browned and there is no more liquid egg mixture.

Cool and serve with salsa or hot sauce! (We always have hot sauce with anything with eggs!)

Sausage Kale Soup: Quick and Easy {Gluten Free}

I have eaten it. I have loved it. I needed to make it!

I googled the above recipe name, perused the various recipes, and came up with this winner.

My mom stopped by in rush hour traffic to try it, DaveBee wants it to enter our weekly rotation, and there is ONE small bowl left over.  This is a MUST make this week! Check it out:

Sausage Kale Soup

Ingredients
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion chopped
10 Small Potatoes chopped to about 1/2 inch pieces
2 - 32 oz. Boxes of Broth (chicken or vegetable, gluten free)
5-6 Italian Sausages (uncooked and gluten free)
1 Head of Kale chopped (or 3/4 bag of Trader Joe's organic cleaned and cut kale)
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt to taste

Directions
Saute 2/3 of chopped onion in olive oil at bottom of a dutch oven (can use a soup pot too!) on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Add broth and potatoes.  Bring to boil then turn down to simmer.

Add red pepper flakes to pot.  Start light and you can always add more later if you want more of a kick.

While dutch oven simmers and soften potatoes, saute the rest of the onions and cook sausage in a separate frying pan.  When sausage is cooked, cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add sausage and contents of frying pan (optional) to the pot.

Add chopped kale.  Add salt and red pepper flakes to taste.

Stir it up and simmer until dinner time!!

So, go and make it.  Tell me your variations. And impress your loved ones.