Guest Post: L4L?s Breakfast Strata

Hello, friends of Mara! I’m Leah and I blog over at Leftovers For Lunch. I had the pleasure of meeting Mara at the Foodbuzz Festival and am thrilled at the opportunity to do a post!

As my blog title may suggest, I am a huge proponent of leftovers. I think the key to my success with weight loss, maintenance, saving money, and eating healthy is leftovers! It?s so easy to make a meal a little bit larger than you need so you can have leftovers! And besides, most meals are made for 4 or more servings so that works out perfectly when I am cooking for my husband and myself! But leftovers aren’t just for lunch either! I’ve been known to use leftover pumpkin for oatmeal, leftover carrots for carrot pancakes, leftover rice for a breakfast pudding; the list is endless.

This past weekend, I was bombarded with an array of leftover roasted potatoes. Apparently my sous chef (aka The Huz) was a little over zealous with his chopping. We also had the pleasure (not lying) of my mother-in-law visiting so I wanted a special breakfast feast. The creation of the breakfast strata commenced.

Ok, ok, I know the spinach on top looks a little scary but the whole thing was really flipping good to stick with me.

Start with layering the potatoes on the bottom of a greased casserole dish. I used a mix of red skinned, russet, and sweet potatoes which turned out to be a fun combination.

Sprinkle the potatoes with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cayenne if you are daring. Obviously, if you don’t have this many potatoes left, you can half the whole thing. Use your best judgment. I trust you.

The next step is to add some sauteed onion, garlic, and mushrooms on top. I sauteed in butter but I wish I had the foresight to use the leftover bacon grease. *drool*

Again, use your discretion for measurements. I think I did 4 cloves of garlic and half an onion but it definitely could have used more. Also, I would probably wilt the spinach a wheeee bit with the sauteed veggies and add it then instead of on top – that way you avoid the scary looking strata. I bet bell pepper would also be good here.

Here is the money maker.

An entire pack of bacon, crumbled up. Minus one for yourself. Because you can’t make bacon and not eat it.

Next comes the eggs. I used 6 eggs and some milk, whisked together. Just pour it over the top.

I wish there had been more eggs. I love eggs.

Here is where I put the spinach.

But ignore that. Wilt it with the other veggies. Feel free to top it with copious amounts of delicious cheese. I didn’t, obviously, because I have a dairy sensitive tummy, but I bet it would be divine.

Bake it at 400* for 1 hour. (This is really nice because it allows you to socialize with your house guest and enjoy your morning coffee. You can even assemble the strata the night before then just throw it in the oven the next morning which might work well if you are anticipating a wicked hangover not that that would ever happen to me. *insert eyeroll here*)

I divvied it up into 12 servings. And ate 3. With hot sauce on top. That’s how I roll.

Technorati Tags: bloggers, breakfast, guest post, simple recipe