Food For Thought

Some of you might remember my post from last July where I described some of my favorite supermarket shortcuts from the freezer. In that post, one of the shortcuts I listed was Jimmy Dean Breakfast Scrambles, which my husband and I love for a quick meal anytime. They are soeasy and convenient that I usually have one of these handy little time-savers in the freezer at all times! A few days ago, after we had another of our “breakfast scramble” suppers, I started thinking that it would be cool to try and make my own kits and see if I could do it for less money. Since my husband’s favorite breakfast scramble is sausage, I decided to try and copy that one first. 

After a quick trip to the store for ingredients, I am delighted to say that my experiment was a success. For the same price as one Jimmy Dean Sausage Breakfast Scramble (purchased at the local Superstore for $3.48), I was able to purchase enough ingredients to create three kits of my own, equal in size to Jimmy Dean’s, for just $2.65 each! In addition to the great savings, the best part was that I had total control over what went into my kits! I like that there were no worries about excessive sodium, that I could adjust the ingredients to suit our tastes, and that I could make it healthier by using turkey breakfast sausage instead of pork sausage.

Now that I know how easy and economical it is to make my own meal kits, I plan to experiment with some more and blog about it in future posts (so stay tuned)! If you have any meal kit ideas, please give me a shout out…maybe your idea will be a feature on Food for Thought here at Half Hour Meals!

Penny’s Breakfast Skillet Meal Kit:

In a large skillet, brown turkey breakfast sausage in vegetable oil; remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. In a large bowl, combine cooled turkey sausage with potatoes and pepper/onion mix and toss ingredients to combine evenly. Divide mixture in equal amounts among three gallon-size freezer bags (I found scooping it out with a one-cup measure worked great). Label and freeze, use within 6 months. Note: Since you only need 1 ½ lbs. turkey sausage for the recipe and it’s sold in 1 lb. rolls, you obviously have to buy two lbs. I cook it all, and then just freeze the extra ½ lb. for use later (or use it to make up a quick quiche)!

To prepare Breakfast Skillet:

In a large pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, add contents of Breakfast Skillet Kit. Cook Breakfast Skillet until potatoes are beginning to brown and onions and peppers are soft. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk eggs and milk until combined. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, push Breakfast Skillet to one side of the pan; pour egg mixture into the empty half of the skillet. Using a wooden spoon, constantly stir and scrape the eggs until they begin to scramble. Once eggs are scrambled, stir to combine with Breakfast Skillet. Remove from heat and serve.

Variation: Breakfast Skillet Kits make a great frittata!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take contents of one kit, thawed, and arrange in a greased 9-inch pie pan. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk; pour over breakfast skillet mixture; sprinkle with pepper. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.