Meaty, cheesy, bundles of joy! (AKA Sausage and Cheese Muffins)

Who likes to wake up early and make a huge breakfast?
And then have dozens of dishes to do.
Anybody??

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What if I told you that you could easily make these puppies in 45 minutes or less:

I had high hopes for my first recipe post.
Unfortunately our "Frankenhouse" has horrible yellow lighting in the kitchen.
I  also learned that cheese soup photographs a lot like vomit.
Who knew?

Stay with me people -
These meaty, cheesy, brick house muffins are de-lish and SO easy to make.
There's even a good chance you have three of these ingredients in your house right now!
There's nothing that frustrates me more than when I have to go buy a dozen new things at the store to make something. Am I right?

On to the starting line up:

 

Mmmmm....Tillamook cheese. 

It's a whole other food group for me. 

Step 1:

Brown your sausage.

I 'm confident you lovely people know how to brown meat, so no picture of that step.

You're going to want to let that cool down before you add it to step 2.

I tend to cook up my sausage the night before to speed things up the next morning so there's no waiting for that cool down.

One less step between me and my muffins!

Plus, if I have hungry vultures circling the kitchen that extra half hour just might be the difference between me and my sanity!

Step 2:

Combine your sausage, shredded cheese and baking mix in a large bowl, make a well in the center of the mixture.

Step 3:

Stir together soup and 3/4 cup water.

Apparently cheese soup turns radioactive when you add water - HA!

Never fear friends, it tastes much more appetizing.

Step 4:

Add to sausage mixture.

Step 5:

Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Step 6:

Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups.

They don't rise much, so really pile it in!

Step 7:

Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Step 8:

Pacify a grumpy toddler for half an hour!

See. I told you it was easy.

AND

You have so many options here darlin'.

Don't like turkey or sausage?

Use chopped ham, chicken, or ground beef.

Vegetarian?

Use soy sausage!

If you're watching your weight, you could use fat free Bisquick and maple flavored ground turkey.

No Bisquick in the house?

Use 3 cups of self-rising flour and then mix in about 1/4 cup of Crisco.

You know what else?

These babies don't have to be just for breakfast.

You could throw in:

Chopped onion

Green onion
Green pepper
Red pepper
Diced apples instead of meat. With the cheese? Oooo la la!
Spicy (hot) sausage or some red pepper flakes to give it some zing
Bacon
More cheese (freshly grated if you have the time)
Worcestershire sauce
Broccoli cheese soup and diced chicken is an amazing combo.

Not only are there endless ingredient combination's, there's endless reasons to make them!
You could make mini muffins if you're entertaining and want finger food.
My favorite is to make a double batch and freeze half for later.
Defrost and presto - breakfast!
(Or lunch, dinner, snack....)
Pack 'em on a pic-nic.
On a road trip. 
(All in an insulated lunch bag or cooler, of course.)
You could even take some to work for lunch.
Now you have no reason to skip lunch or run through a drive-thru!
::::::Wagging finger::::::::

Y'all ready for the recipe?

Sausage and Cheese Muffins
(Based off the recipe found in Southern Living, OCTOBER 2006)

Ingredients
1  (1-lb.) package ground maple flavored pork sausage (or your meat -or non meat- of choice)
3  cups  all-purpose baking mix
8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese (or whatever you have on hand, to some degree.)
1  (10 3/4-oz.) can condensed cheese soup, undiluted
3/4  cup  water

Preparation
*Preheat oven to 375
1. Cook sausage in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and cool.
-cook, cool, and cover in the fridge overnight for easy prep the next morning-
2. Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
3. Stir together soup and 3/4 cup water.
4. Add to sausage mixture.
5. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
6. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups.
7. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Prep: 15 min.
Bake: 25 min.
Yield: Makes 12 muffins

Southern Living never lets me down when it comes to delicious recipes.
Have you ever checked out their magazine or website?
When they say "The Best of Southern Life" they aren't jokin. 
And you don't have to be in the South to appreciate all they have to share!.

Enough chattin'......you get to bakin', I'll get to nomin'!