What's for Breakfast? GF Sausage Muffins!

A friend of mine recently asked what we eat for breakfast since going gluten-free.  I had to stop and think for a bit because that meal seemed to be pretty much the same as before, except we use gluten-free products.  That was when I realized that breakfast has changed.....a lot!  I do rely on a lot of great gf products. 

I thought I would share with you the list I gave to her and perhaps a few ideas I have added since thinking more about it:

1. Fruit

Fruit is great since it is already gluten-free.  Try making a berry smoothie, one of my favorites. I use frozen blueberries, strawberries, and Trader Joe's Coconut Milk Beverage (vanilla). Paprika's favorite is a tropical blend with banana, papaya, mango, and pineapple along with thecoconut milk.

Paprika and I also like to take a banana and cut it half.  We then spread almond butter on it and top it with chopped nuts (cashews, almonds) and unsweetened coconut.  Yum!

2. Cereal

We do eat cereal in our house.  Chex is a great brand for gf cereal, but if you are also dairy free,  some of their options like Chocolate Chex is not df, so check the labels.  We also use the Nature's Path brand of cereals.  We like Gorilla Munch, Koala Crisp, Leapin Lemurs, and Peanut Butter Panda Puffs.  Nature's Path also makes some good adult sounding cereals that my family likes: Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise and Crunch Maple Sunrise.  Both of these are spendy on Amazon.  I usually wait until the cereal goes on sale at our local grocery store for around $2.50 a box.  The others I either get on sale or get through Amazon.

We also have instant oatmeal on hand.  I buy the Glutenfreeda variety pack from Amazon.

3.  Eggs

We eat eggs hard boiled, fried, scrambled or in omelets.  One of our favorites is Dan's Scramble. Dan browns about a pound of sausage in a pan.  He then adds sliced fresh mushrooms, one chopped onion, and minced garlic (2-3 cloves).  When everything is nice and fragrant he adds beaten eggs (12 or so for our family).  Seasons it with salt and pepper and mixes until the eggs are done.  We serve this with salsa or ketchup.  You can add cheese or add peppers or even zucchini.  The varieties are endless.  The same is true for omelets. 

4.  Bacon or Sausage with Pancakes

Often times we will have this along with eggs. We use Gluten Free Mama's Pancake Mix.    I  like this particular brand because it is dairy free and I like the taste and texture.  Sometimes we will take a break from pancakes and have bacon with eggs and hash browns.

5.  Bread?  Toast, French Toast, muffins etc.

Just because you are gluten-free doesn't mean you have to give up bread or bread products.  I do spend a lot more time in the kitchen making bread, but I think my family likes that!  I use leftover French bread to make French toast.  I usually have a loaf of bread in the freezer, already sliced, for toast.  I love the Gluten Free Mama's Honey Sandwich Bread from this cookbook, but occasionally I will make a loaf of bread using King Arthur Flour Bread Mix.   I also usually have a loaf of sliced cinnamon raisin bread I make using this Bob's Red Mill gf mix.

Muffins are also a big morning pleaser.  I almost always have muffins in the freezer.  These  Pumpkin Muffins are a favorite in our home and don't last long!   I also use Namaste Muffin Mix to make a wide variety of muffins.  I like the fact that this is a simple muffin mix that you can use as a     base.  We have made orange chocolate chip, lemon poppy seed, pear walnut, apple cinnamon, and blueberry muffins to name a few.  I have posted a few of them on my blog.  Look under the label: muffins.

We have also made cinnamon rolls, apple bread, zucchini bread, banana bread; you name it!  Cinnamon also graces us each Sunday with her latest donut experiment.  Last week she made maple glazed donuts and this week she made triple chocolate donuts.  Yum!

Well, I think that about covers it or at least it is a start anyway.  Oh, I almost forgot!  I was ordering on Amazon the other day and discovered that Namaste also makes a gf muffin mix without sugar.  I ordered it because I had an idea....a breakfast-on-the-go idea!  I decided to make a Savory Sausage Breakfast Muffin.

They turned out great.  I now have a big batch in the freezer!  You could also use these for quick lunches and swap the sausage for diced chicken! 

Sausage Breakfast Muffin

1 pound ground pork
2 stalks celery finely chopped
2 mushrooms finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 of an onion minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme

2 packages of Namaste sugar free muffin mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups of water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian Seasonings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Brown the sausage.  Add celery, mushrooms, garlic, and onions.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Drain any grease.  Add seasonings.  (You may want to adjust the seasonings to taste).  Set aside.

Pour muffin mix into a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, olive oil, seasonings and water.  Mix well.  Add sausage mixture and mix until well blended.  Spoon into greased muffin cups.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

This recipe will make 24 muffins.