Bacon, egg, and cheese strata

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Strata

This is one of the meals that is on regular monthly rotation in my house.  It takes a bit longer than my customary 30 minutes, but the cost more than makes up for that. I make 4 loaves of homemade bread every week. Because it's homemade, it gets stale more quickly than store bought bread, so we always have ends and bits that don't get eaten before the next fresh loaf is ready.  I cube this bread and sit it on a plate to dry out for a day or so, put it in a plastic bag, and use it for bread crumbs (by running them through the blender), bread pudding, and this recipe. You can use any bread for this recipe, as long as it is around 1 pound/10-11 cups.

We also keep chickens. We have 28 laying hens. Assuming we average a dozen a day over the year, which is probably a low estimate, and figuring in what we pay in feed, we have about $1.50 in a dozen eggs. However, even if you are buying eggs, this is still a very affordable meal!

The cost of milk was figured on a gallon of Great Value 2% from Wal-mart. I buy shredded Colby Jack cheese in 5lb bags at Sam's, separate and freeze it. You could use whatever shredded cheese you prefer. The bacon here is kind of a splurge. I buy bagged bacon crumbles. It's one of the few convenience foods we purchase, but it saves so much time. This is also just as good with breakfast sausage or leftover ham, depending on what you have on hand. In addition, you could add green onions, spinach, mushrooms, and/or roasted red pepper, but it would change the cost a bit.

This makes a great overnight casserole. Just assemble the casserole and store it covered in the refrigerator overnight and pop it in the oven in the morning. It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week (though it never lasts that long around here). You can also wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months.

Cost of ingredients:

1lb loaf of homemade bread  -79 cents

18 eggs  - $2.25

4 c milk - 67 cents

shredded cheese - $1.28

bacon crumbles - 90 cents

Total - $5.89

Cost per serving - 49 cents

Prep time - 15 minutes

Cook time - 40 minutes

Yield - 12 servings

Ingredients

10-11 cups of cubed bread

18 eggs

4 c milk 

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground mustard

2 c shredded cheese

1/2 cup crumbled bacon

Instructions:

1. Place cubed bread in a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk; Stir in salt, garlic powder, ground mustard, shredded cheese, and crumbled bacon; pour over bread cubes; Allow to rest for 20-30 minutes to allow the egg and milk mixture to soak into the bread.

3. While the casserole is resting, preheat oven to 375 degrees; Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and puffy in the center.