I can't believe it. After all the food my boys ingested yesterday at our combined celebration of Thanksgiving and my son's 9th birthday, they still expected to be fed today. Drat. I have a kitchen full of evidence of my mad food preparation for the holiday, and not a darn thing I feel like fixing for breakfast. Hmmm. So with delicious memories of Aunt Pooh's stuffing still lurking in my blood chemistry, I started nosing around in the fridge. Eggs...a couple of lonely slices of bacon...some spinach...aha. AHA!! And bread...yesssss. A half-loaf of bread I made last weekend. Just the right amount of dry. Here goes brunch!
Morning-After Breakfast Casserole
Dry, cubed bread (1/2 a home-made loaf did the trick for us...you might need a whole loaf of storebought to fill a 9x13 baking dish)
12 eggs
1/2 c. milk
4-6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 c. chopped mushrooms
4 c. fresh spinach, chopped
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Cook the bacon in a large skillet, just until it begins to crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, then toss the onion and mushrooms into the bacon grease. Cook over medium heat until they are soft and the onion is translucent. Add chopped spinach to the pan and toss with onion and bacon, then turn off the heat. Sprinkle the nutmeg and salt and pepper over the spinach, stir to combine, and leave it to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Stir in the cooled vegetable mixture and the bacon, then add the cheese. Fold the bread in gently.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, and pour the mixture in. Cover with foil, and bake in a 400 oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.
No word on how it fares as leftovers....
