This past Christmas the hubs and I decided to start a few new traditions. You see, we’ve always been away during Christmas and staying with friends and family, but this year we were home and decided to take advantage of it. We went hiking, cooked a nice meal, watch the Christmas story, and enjoyed OUR time. Then later Christmas day we ENJOYED some other family dinner traditions with the rest of the crew. 😉
We have a lot of traditions in our family. I guess that’s true for any family, but when you have a southern family, you don’t mess with tradition. Am I right?
In fact, when I was a kid, our Holiday traditions didn’t just stop at Christmas. Nope. It lasted all the way till New Year’s Day. Ahh, I can smell it now. Yes, the food. You see, every New Year’s Eve my family would invite other families and friends over for a party. The kids would hang out and the grown-ups with laugh, play board games, and wait for the clock to strike midnight. And when it did, you better believe we celebrated! Lots of confetti, blow horn, sparkling cider for the kids, and champagne for the adults. Then after we worked up an appetite celebrating, we’d eat breakfast. Yes, breakfast, at 2am. The only reason I’d stay up that late would to eat this goodness.
My mom would make a savory sausage and egg casserole and our family friends (from Louisiana) would bring their homemade bread pudding. Can you tell this was way before my gluten free days? Anyway, it was heaven. We’d fill up our bellies and then sleep like babies. Not a bad way to ring in the new year if you ask me.
But times have changed a bit and so have our eating habits. We still try to keep as much “tradition” as we can, just in a NEW approach, a healthier approach. Instead of feasting at 2am on eggs and cream filled goodness (although it never hurts to do so every once in a while), we’ve made this tradition into a New Year’s Day Brunch. And instead of 2 different dishes of casseroles and desserts, I’ve combined the best of both worlds and created one heavenly and savory gluten free bread pudding. Sounds unhealthy, but it’s actually quite the opposite. I have Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Original and Vanilla to thank for that too!
· 50% more calcium that dairy milk
· 100% lactose free
· 30 unthinkably low calories
· Free of GMO’s and verified by the Non-GMO project
· And yes… CREAMY, SMOOTH, DELICIOUS!
Using Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla in this recipe gives it a little sweetness in the midst of savory. Now that’s how to start a new tradition! Yes!
Persimmon and Sausage Bread pudding
Memory Monday: Recipe Makeover
Ingredients
- —–SEASONINGS
- · 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- · ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- · ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- · ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- · 2-4 sage leaves to place on top before baking. Don’t have fresh sage? Just use basil leaves or add 2 tsps. dried sage leaves (chopped) to your mixture.
- · ¼ teaspoon of garlic
- · Chili pepper flakes for topping (optional)
- —–BREAD & FILLING
- · ¾c Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Original
- · 1 ¼ cup Egg Beaters or 4 eggs, 2 egg whites
- · 4 Large Gluten Free bread slices cut into 1-inch cubes
- · 2-3 cups fresh spinach
- · 1 persimmon- diced (you can also use apple, tomato, or pear)
- · ¾ cup diced cooked chicken sausage (If you don’t have fresh sage available, you can always use Apple Gate Farms chicken and sage sausage)
- —-TOPPING
- · 1.5 ounces raw white cheddar cheese or other dairy free cheese (cut in strips or shredded)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish or casserole dish with cooking spray.
- To prepare custard: Whisk eggs or egg beaters and silk unsweetened PureAlmond Vanilla in a medium bowl. Add mustard, salt, pepper and chopped basil and sage. Leave a few leaves to place on top on dish. Then whisk to combine.
- Toss bread, spinach, persimmon, and sausage in a large bowl. Add the egg and seasoning mixture and mix well, coating all the bread. Transfer to your baking dish and push down to even out and until the mixture hits all 4 corners evenly.
- Bake for about 10- 15 minutes, remove and add your cheese on top. Then bake for another 10 minutes until the egg mixture looks almost fully cooked and the cheese is almost melted. Broil the last 3-4 minutes if desired in order to get the cheese browned and corners crispy!
This serves about 6-8 people. The nutrient field is pretty awesome too! Check it out, makes you want to go back for seconds.
This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and Fitfluential, LLC. All opinions expressed are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter. Also, check out more FitFluential Silk Almond Recipes on the Silk Almond FB page. Trust me, you’re gonna want a pen to write all these down.
Does your family thrive off tradition during the Holidays? If so, have you or did you change any of them to make them a bit healthier? Do share!
Cheers,
LC
I adore Applegate Farms ANYTHING… So that means I will LOVE this recipe 🙂 Looks so comforting and PERFECT for the winter months, although Los Angeles was 80 degrees today (WTF? lol).
it’s very comforting. Let me know if you make it Gigi!
Is the amount of almond milk missing, or am I just missing it somehow?? Thanks for this Lindsay!!
oh thank you, i missed that! just updated it. it’s 3/4 cup.
Totally thrive of tradition. 🙂 I can’t help it. And this recipe? Really? Amazing lady. 🙂 Cheers for Silk Almond Milk! He he!
throw on some red chili pepper flakes and sauce and this is so a STUFTMAMA meal, yes?
Ooh I want to try this right away! Huge Almond milk fan. My family’s Christmas traditions are non-too-healthy: lotsa mince pies, Christmas pud, trifle, and of course turkey and trimmings. Leftovers lasted well into the New Year and beyond!
that’s what my husband family has too. haha. maybe we all need to start new traditions together.
I love our family holiday traditions and they haven’t changed in years. I think the only thing we have changed is maybe go a little bit lighter on the appetizers. HA! PS: Can we make a special Dream Big Katie Healthy Bite? I will roll the balls…
um, yes! it should have funfetti in it too!
I loved reading about your traditions! My family has a ton of them too and they’re what I look forward to every year. My fiance and I have taken turns with holidays at our parents’ houses, so either way, we miss out on our home traditions while learning new ones from the other’s family.
But we talked about it, and like you two, I think we may try a holiday at home this next year to really spend time together and maybe make a tradition or two of our own. It’s so lovely to bring two family’s traditions together, especially with food and festivities.
Your recipe looks so yummy. I love savory and sweet things and this looks just perfect. And my fiance would die for this since he loves bread pudding and sausage!
i have a feeling you will make wonderful new traditions and food creations. Please share them when you do! xxoo
love your old and new traditions! hopefully one day we will break bread together 🙂
★★★★★
I think we need to find a real date to visit! really! hugs.
This is clearly MUCH better for you than the casserole my mom used to make… it was a sausage-brie thing with challah bread. I need this though… and with persimmon?! Brilliant, my friend. Please bring this when you come nurse me back to health.
LOVE family traditions and holidays. There is something so peaceful and calming about being with family and enjoying traditions.
Your creation looks devine! So creative and always pushing the envelope, I love it.
I have to agree – you don’t mess with our traditions! Deviled eggs are definitely a part of many traditions here!!
God love them too! YUM!
each year we aim to make our families holidays and traditions a little bit healthier but still fun 🙂 we are trying to make new memories as well, a little healthier too!
I love this story! What a fun tradition when you were young…but totally agree that it probably now makes MORE sense to carry that brunch idea over into a new year’s DAY thing, hehe. Sounds absolutely yumtastic though, holy moly! Will you make this bread pudding for me please? Can you believe I’ve actually NEVER had bread pudding but have always wanted to? PS love silk!
Love thinking back to the holidays, and yes this year we made some new traditions. In fact, I didn’t realize we where making them. Glad you are making memories with your new fam – the hus and you need special things to carry on as well. Great, warming post:)
Sadly, the traditions of my youth have died down except for our New Years Day meal of ham/pork, black eyed peas and greens. Tony and I always seem to go to others’ homes for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we don’t seem to have any traditions built for those because of that. We talked about it this past year and that is going to change. From now on, the holidays will be ours and we will enjoy our little family.
i like your new traditions you have created. You can already tell how ROOTED they are because of you love of your family.
My grandma always made the BEST deviled eggs too 🙂 Another tradition we have, on my dad’s side, was lasagna for Christmas, and watching the parade on Thanksgiving day, in my grandma’s kitchen on her 1 foot by 1 foot tv. Great memories!
I use unsweetened Almond Breeze milk in EVERYTHING. I’m obsessed. I also love the Trader Joe’s version of it. It’s rich and creamy, but still only 40 calories!
Oh my gosh delicious! Times have changed a lot. I think our generation is more willing to change. My mom seems to be stubborn and so does my grandma. Their recipe is the way it is and they won’t try anything new.
i know i know! in fact, i changed my great grandmas recipe but never told anyone because i knew they wouldn’t like it. haha. They never knew it was healthier. LOL!
Ohhh! This looks so unique and awesome! Awe, I like learning more about your family traditions! I always wonder what other people do! I try and get my friends/family to eat a little healthier. It’s great because my Mom really loves it too!
a little goes a long way with eating healthier. I don’t want to change tradition either, just tweak it a bit. Yes? Real food. xxoo
I couldn’t imagine the holidays without tradition – it just wouldn’t be the same. My mom makes a lot of traditional Polish dishes for Christmas, and even though I’m not crazy about them, the smells coming from the kitchen when I go home to visit are one of the most comforting things in the world.
those smells are priceless. Maybe i need a new tradition to come visit you next year? 😉
That sounds like the most perfect holiday imaginable!! Happy new year to you!
Oh my gosh, LOVE that tradition of saying up for breakfast at 2am on New Years!!! I kind of want to start that for our family. Maybe next year….
And your hike looks beautiful,I remember seeing pictures on Christmas Day of it on Instagram I believe,and thinking that a hike sounded so nice!!
oh i have a feeling your sweet family is already creating new traditions! Looove it!
DROOOOOOLING!!! I have never thought of a savory bread pudding, but OMG I want some of this!
I love deviled eggs and A Christmas Story is a must. Great traditions. We do gingerbread decorating, fabulous, but not at all healthy.
that is fun with kiddos. I always like gingerbread decorating! in fact, i go all out. Well i think i just like playing with frosting.
I have NEVER had bread pudding in my life!! It sounds yummy and perfect for a brunch with family though. 🙂 I’ll have to find a plain jane recipe to test out first I think though- start small 😉
you can easily nix all the spices and the sausage and just add GF bread and spinach with daiya cheese or no cheese. You will love it!
What a great recipe to makeover! We used to have egg casseroles as well, and I don’t think I’ve made one since we’ve been married… love your substitutions. And those are fun NYE memories!
I lovee traditions : ) My family has a few and as we are all getting older we’re building new ones, which is a lot of fun!
i like building new ones too! i feel so grown up! LOL!
oh that’s awesome and i wish my family had tons of traditions, but really we don’t. i guess the tradition is on christmas eve my dad will make dinner but he chooses something different every year…and since my mom NEVER cooks i suppose it is just keeping sync with the rest of the year…haha.
oh i like it! so spontaneous!
Love this recipe. Can you believe I have never had bread pudding??? and I’m from the south!!
i can believe it. hehe, it’s a deep south dish. We need to get you here to try it!
aww! I love this story and tradition ‘anew!’ and what a delish looking dinner!! Can I come over? 🙂
yes! then can i come to your brunch next year?
Love new traditions. We definitely had traditions growing up – especially the menu for Thanksgiving then for Christmas. It took a while after we were grown up for family members to start trying to step out of that strict tradition and try new things. Now it’s almost a tradition to not have a tradition (well with my mom and sis anyway). LOL
good old italian tradition, yes? at least they make it GF now for your sis!
I love this!! Our family still eats from 24-1st haha. In fact I have found it even more difficult to balance tradition and health during the holidays since we got married. Now there is that much more tradition and that many more meals!
Love the idea of putting a health twist on an old favourite
true true! i guess that means more opportunity to share a healthy meal too, yes?
Mmmm, that looks delish! We always have brunch on Christmas morning, usually after opening presents. But I was so surprised this year that we were able to eat breakfast and wait until after to open presents! A sign that we’re all becoming real adults?
haha, yes, a real sign! We did the same.
Our traditions had more to do with gift giving than food, but we did have one tradition about food growing up. Every year, on Christmas Eve, we’d go to the 4pm church and then try to find a restaurant that was open to eat dinner. Every year was different, from McDonald’s to Domino’s in desperate years, to supper clubs and real restaurants in good years. We never planned it ahead of time, which was fun in retrospect, but 7 hungry people in one minivan wasn’t always the most peaceful way to spend christmas eve.
I guess my mom didn’t want to make a big meal for our huge family before staying up all night wrapping presents. That would also explain the dinner drinks. 😀
I’ve never had a savory bread pudding–this sounds delicious!
This looks so good! I miss eating eggs and bread…darn food allergies! I would make this in a flash : )
Still getting that user name thing blocking commentluv. Will send you what is says in an email.
Anyway – love this post & new traditions!!! There are some deviled eggs in this family too that get made at all the holidays – ALL OF THEM! 🙂
That is a great recipe – will you send me some – I am too lazy to bake that! 😉
Love unsweetened Almond milk although I go for vanilla…
Mmm looks SO good!! A Chanukah tradition for us is to eat latkes (potato pancakes). I’ve actually never made them myself, but I would like to try and make them healthier by sneaking in some veggies and not cooking them in oil!
I love bread pudding! This looks gorgeous!
I love your posts because you always share fun memories or just fun things period 😉 You are a beautiful soul, as you know <3
I love silk almond milk, only milk I buy!
Happy Monday! <3
Awe! I love this and learning more about you and your family is always a highlight of my day 🙂 <3
What a great recipe, sweetie!
I think I've made the Christmas dinner at my Aunts house a little healthier this year with my quinoa salad instead of heavy coated Caesar Salad 🙂 And instead of white store bought garlic bread I made sweet potato biscuits and everyone LOVED THEM 😀
oh that sounds lovely. Love sweet potato biscuits!