Tasty Breakfast Recipes for the Holiday Season

(StatePoint) The holidays are all about hearty and delicious meals shared with friends and family. And while those big afternoon and evening meals may get most of the attention, there are many ways to make breakfast more festive without added stress.

Whether you’re entertaining a big group of out of town guests, or just feeding the family, give breakfast center stage. Ditch the cold cereal and bland eye openers, and greet everyone with something special in the morning.

You can balance out those rich desserts and extra helpings at holiday dinners and start the day off with easy-to-prepare, “better for you” breakfast choices by following a few simple tips:

• Instead of pork or beef breakfast meats, try healthier meats that are naturally lower in fat, such as chicken.

• Look for ingredients that are lower in fat and sodium, with no artificial ingredients or additives. For example, al fresco all natural’s chicken sausage has 70 percent less fat and 30 percent less sodium than pork sausage, without any gluten, artificial ingredients, nitrates, nitrites or MSG.

• For quick meals, opt for products that come pre-cooked, allowing you less time in the kitchen and more valuable time with loved ones during this busy season.

• Save time by assembling the ingredients into a breakfast casserole with eggs, vegetables and chicken sausage the night before, then just pop in the oven in the morning.

• Or, for a simpler breakfast that is big on taste, use naturally-flavored pre-cooked breakfast sausage varieties like Country-style, Apple Maple or Wild Blueberry. With just a few minutes of browning, they can be served on a sandwich for a quick, portable and healthy breakfast.

Try this easy yet elegant recipe for Apple Maple Chicken Sausage Sliders:

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz package al fresco Apple Maple Breakfast Chicken Sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick

• 6 large fresh eggs

• 1/4 cup nonfat milk

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 6 whole wheat mini bagels, dinner rolls or biscuits

• 2 oz low-sodium cheddar cheese, shredded

• 1/2 cup apple jelly or apricot jam

• Cooking spray

Directions

• In a small non-stick frying pan, gently brown the chicken sausage. Remove, cut into 1/4 inch slices and keep warm.

• Crack the eggs in a small bowl. Whisk with milk and black pepper.

• Place a medium skillet prepared with cooking spray over medium heat. Scramble the eggs until done, but still a bit soft (about 2 – 3 minutes.)

• While the sausage and eggs are cooking, toast the mini bagels, then spread the top and bottom with apple jelly.

• Divide the scrambled eggs and sausage on top of the jellied bottoms of the mini bagels.

• Top with a sprinkle of the shredded cheddar cheese. Then put the top of the bagel on to make a delicious, healthy breakfast slider.

More healthy breakfast recipes can be found at alfrescoallnatural.com.

This holiday season, give breakfast the center stage, without extra calories, fat or stress!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of al fresco all natural