A smooth breakfast ritual has eluded me for the longest time. It was always a tough transition from sleeping to eating to beyond with this growing family of mine. Sure, when it was just a baby and a toddler things were simple, but now I need to be more proactive.
Being on the other side, as in having figured out the problem (for now), I’m wondering how I didn’t see the solution earlier. There are only two key things that need to happen to have a smooth morning at the table…
1. It has to happen early. They all want to eat as soon as they roll out of bed. If I’m not prepared for that then it is quite stressful to be getting myself and the baby together while they ask questions like “What’s for breakfast?” or “When is breakfast?”.
2. There needs to be plenty to eat. Me, I could do coffee and fruit or toast for breakfast. I’d probably have a snack later, but I’m not starving in the morning. My husband and these little ones of mine, on the other hand, will eat me under the table at 7:00 a.m. every single time.
So, the first step was to start getting up earlier. With four little ones, that was pretty simple. If I am to get anything done I need to be up by five anyway. The next step was having a few options for things I didn’t have to cook at the last minute. Standing over a skillet of fried eggs and potatoes is too much hands-on time after the kiddos, and most especially the baby and toddler, are up. Instead, I need things I can throw in the oven ahead of time, or things that are already prepared and just need dishing up.
These Sweet potatoes are a frequent breakfast here and I don’t mind frying a big pan of eggs to go with them when that only takes a few minutes. My other most recent discovery is this sausage and pancake casserole. No standing at the griddle flipping pancakes with a baby fussing on my hip. No more cooking them as fast as I can while they sit waiting. Instead, I mix it up by 6:15, throw it in the oven, and by the time they’re up it’s cooked and cooled enough to eat.
Now that makes for a super tasty and smooth morning.
Sausage and Pancake Casserole- Gluten Free
Course: Breads
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Total Time: 45 min
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
- 1⁄4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
- 3 cups oat flour
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1⁄3 cup sucanat
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and set aside.
- In a medium-sized skillet, cook and crumble sausage over medium heat until cooked through. Add the butter or coconut oil and allow to melt into the cooked sausage. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk the eggs into the liquid mixture and begin to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix the sausage and coconut oil into the mixture and stir all ingredients until just combined.
- Transfer the pancake-sausage batter into the prepared pan, scraping out the bowl in order to transfer the entire contents. Place pan in oven and bake until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving with your favorite pancake toppings.
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