Happy New Year! Just a quick post to show off what I had for breakfast this morning. It was so good!

What I like about this recipe is that it is fairly flexible in that other vegetables, meat, and cheeses can be substituted. You decide!

Simple Breakfast Strata

ingredients

1.5 pounds sausage, pre-cooked or browned in a skillet.

10 ounces spinach, fresh (I cooked with a little orange juice until just wilted.)

9 eggs

2.5 cups of milk

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard, (like Grey Poupon)

1.5 cups of grated semi-hard cheese of your choice. (I used jack cheese with a little parmesan.)

9 cups of stale, cubed, white or French bread

salt and black pepper, to taste

method

Butter a 9 x 13 x 2 casserole dish, set aside.

Brown sausage meat in a skillet with a little oil. If raw, cook until no longer pink. Set aside.

Wilt spinach with about two tablespoons of OJ in the same skillet. If using frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze to remove liquid. Set aside.

Beat eggs, milk, and mustard in a large bowl, then add cheese, spinach, sausage and bread cubes. Mix with a spoon or use your clean hands to mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared casserole dish and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, leave to warm up on counter for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

When ready, top with more grated cheese and dot surface with small cubes of butter, about 2 Tablespoons. Season with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. (optional).

Bake uncovered for about 1 hour.

Wait about 10 minutes before slicing into squares. Enjoy!