Recipe #87: Sausage French Toast Casserole

I will be the first one to admit that I do not like french toast. Quite frankly, I have never liked it and I did not think I would ever change my mind about french toast going forward. As a little kid I would try to give the classic breakfast option a fair try but no matter how many times I ate french toast I would always end up feeling nauseous and unsatisfied. I imagine it was the "eggy" and sponge-like consistency that made my stomach feel discontent after eating french toast every single time. It is the same reaction to pancakes as well.

Yet I have always been, and continue to be, a huge fan of Belgian Waffles. In fact, I love waffles so much I am excited to eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. (I think I proved my waffle-fanatic characteristic when I hid fried chicken bits in our waffles.) But unfortunately, this is one area Ian and I are not compatible; he loves french toast and pancakes while he is (somewhat) indifferent to waffles. (Sigh.) But I am bound and determined to like at least one of the two breakfast items so I can happily enjoy the same dish in the mornings with Ian.

My first challenge to myself is re-trying french toast and just to make it a little bit more appealing I found a recipe that comes in the form of a casserole, which is immediately a plus. The recipe also includes breakfast sausage, which is also another plus. The recipe can be found here: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/breakfast/breakfast-casserole/apple-and-sausage-french-toast-casserole-with-2.html. It happens to work out very well that I made this tonight for tomorrow morning's breakfast. Ian and I do not get to spend too many mornings together and I wanted to make him something he can reheat when he first wakes up. As an added incentive it happens to be his favorite breakfast item ever. With Ella Fitzgerald's medley stuck in my head, "Can't help lovin' dat man of mine", I made a dish I have intentionally not eaten in years for Ian.

Ingredients:

* 1 lb of Breakfast Sausage
* 1 loaf of French Bread (mine were pre-cut slices)
* 8 oz of Cream Cheese
* 1/3 cup of Brown Sugar
* 1 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
* 6 Eggs
* 2 cups of 2% Milk
* 1 tsp of Vanilla Flavor
* 1/2 cup of Seedless Raisins
* 1 large Granny Smith Apple

Cooking Directions:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large frying pan cook the sausage over medium heat and crumble with a spatula. Then set aside.

On a cutting board, peel and chop the granny smith apple.

In a large mixing bowl add the cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon and stir until well mixed.

Then add the milk, eggs, and vanilla flavor and mix into the cream cheese mixture.

In a 9x13 baking dish spray generously with non-stick cooking spray.

Place two layers of bread slices on the bottom of the baking dish.

Then add the raisins, chopped apple, and breakfast sausage over the top.

Then pour the wet mixture over the top.

Place the baking dish in the oven for 35-40 minutes and serve hot.