Smoked Sausage & Sauerkraut

In a dutch oven, heat a Tblsp. of veg. oil until hot.

Saute 1/2 onion, thinly sliced for a few minutes.
Add 1/2 cup grated apple - saute until soft and wilted.

Add a 15 oz. can or package (or two if you LOVE kraut) of sauerkraut along with a cup of water, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 tsp. salt, a shake of cayenne,  1/2 tsp. caraway seeds -  cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Slice up 1# (or more) of smoked sausage/kielbasa - and arrange it with the cooking sauerkraut.  Cover and continue simmering for another 1/2 hour.

This is great served with spaetzle, dumplings or potatoes - and good, crusty rye bread.

Lentil Soup

This is more like a stew because it's rather thick. I prepped all my ingredients and made TWO pots of it, side by side. One contained cooked Italian sausage and the other remained meatless, for the vegetarians in our family.  You can omit the sausage completely if you want to make this meat-free. The photo shows the vegetarian lentil soup on top with the soup containing sausage beneath it:

For ONE pot of soup:

Start by cooking 1/2# (3-4 links) of Italian sausage, casing removed - either bake or fry it, then drain it well, mince it and cool it off. Set aside.

In a dutch oven or small soup pot, heat 2 Tblsp. olive oil (or vegetable oil) and once it's hot, add:

1-1/2 cups chopped onion

1-1/2 cups sliced celery

1-1/2 cups sliced carrots

few cloves of minced garlic

Saute until softened.

Add 2 C. chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned) with their juice.

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. Trader Joe's 21 season salute (OR 1/2 tsp. all-seasoning, like Ms. Dash)

a few 'grinds' of Trader Joe's South African Smoke seasoning

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (or cayenne) - or more, if you like more of a zap!

Simmer for 20 minutes and then add one (16 oz.) package dried lentils.

Add 6 cups water and 1 cup tomato sauce.

Add the reserved sausage at this point.

Cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.  If (toward the end of the hour) the soup appears to be TOO thick, add another cup or so of water.  Test for seasoning.  Add more S&P, if needed.  After an hour of cooking, taste the lentils to make sure they're softened enough.  If not, cover and continue to simmer a bit longer.

Sausage-egg-cheese breakfast bake

Here's another 'no-brainer' for holiday mornings or ANY morning!

Spray a 9 X 13" pan with nonstick spray.
Cube 8 slices of plain, white or LIGHT wheat bread. Scatter the bread cubes in the pan evenly.

Saute a 1# roll of loose breakfast sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain any excess fat from the pan, but leave a Tblsp. or 2 for flavor. Cool - break into small pcs. and spoon the sausage over the bread cubes evenly.

Sprinkle 1# of shredded co-jack cheese evenly over the bread & sausage.

In a mixing bowl, beat 8 eggs with 2 cups of milk. Add 1/4 tsp. pepper. You don't really need salt since the sausage is pretty salty already. Slowly pour the milk/eggs over the top of the pan mixture - let it sit for a couple minutes to absorb.

Cover with foil. Refrigerate several hours or preferably, overnight.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake - UNcovered - for 45-60 minutes, until the top is golden and the center is set.