Foodie Friday: Gluten-Free Breakfast Casserole

I grew up eating this every Christmas morning. It was never quite the same twice, but my mom always made it, and it always felt like a very special treat. We would eat this while we sat around opening gifts together and enjoying a leisurely day. It's a tradition I'm carrying on in my family now!

The original version called for using Bisquick, but I've substituted potatoes (like this recipe my mom shared with me from Fire and Salt). Like all of my favorite recipes, this one is highly-modifiable—you can use the vegetables you like and leave out the ones you don't, and the same goes for the meat and cheese. (For instance, this time I decided to use a red bell pepper and some spinach to make it extra colorful and holiday-appropriate.)

You will need:
1 pound of meat or meat-substitute (I used sage pork sausage, but ground beef, bacon, ham, or soy breakfast crumbles are equally good in this dish)
1 medium onion, diced
1½ cups mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini and large white mushrooms)
5 ounces of spinach
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 cups potatoes (approximately), cubed
1 medium jalapeño, quartered and sliced
12 eggs
½ cup milk (optional, depending on how much liquid your vegetables contain)
¾ cup shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and Colby-Jack)
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder

• Preheat your oven to 375°F.
• Brown the meat. Set aside.
• Sauté the potatoes and onions over medium heat in the meat drippings until the potatoes are tender:
  
• Add the bell pepper, then the spinach, and sauté until the spinach is cooked down. (You may have to add a little more oil for the vegetables depending on the fat content of the meat you used.) Add the jalapeño in for just a minute and stir around to incorporate it into the rest of the vegetables. Set aside.
  
• Sauté the mushrooms until they are lightly browned and cooked down a bit, then add them to the rest of the vegetables:

  

  If you have a big enough pan, you can do these with the rest
  of the vegetables, but I had to do it in stages.

• Scramble the eggs with the pepper and garlic powder.
• Mix the meat, vegetables, and eggs together with the milk and half the cheese.
• Transfer it to a 9x11" baking dish:
  
• Top with the remainder of the cheese.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned:
  
• Eat with people you love!

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Linked up at Friday Food at Momtrends, Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, and Recipe Swap at Prairie Story.