This special series on the Fruits of the Spirit is continuing on with a focus on peace and patience! I'll be quick to admit that patience is not my strong suit, and that's probably become more obvious since becoming a mama. My peaceful moments have also become fewer and farther between, but I'm learning to have peace about less peace.. if that makes any sense (insert monkey emoji that's covering their face here). This holiday season is the perfect opportunity to practice being patient and to resolve to find peace even in the hustle and bustle.

Below you will find some amazing recipes that embody peace and patience. Peaceful recipes are soothing beverages or anything with calming ingredients, like lavender. Patience recipes are ones that require a little patience, such as slower cookers or overnight oats/bakes. Thank you so much to all the amazing dietitian bloggers who kindly submitted their recipes for this special series. Make sure to check out the love and joy recipes if you haven't already!

Thank y'all so much for checking out this special recipe series! Since I do this Fruits of the Spirit Recipe Series every December, you can find all the previous year's posts here. Wishing you and your family a Christmas season full of peace and blessings!

We always hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I also happen to think it's the most delicious. It just happens to be the easiest meal to prepare, which is helpful when all those extra out of town guests arrive for the holidays! But whether you're feeding the holiday crowd, or just trying to stay on track this month, this sausage and mushroom breakfast casserole is your best solution!

I love casseroles because they're a great way to get some veggies in at breakfast, but who has time for all that chopping?! I don't! I'm relying on Monterey Mushroom's Let's Blend finely diced and pre-seasoned fresh mushrooms and some frozen spinach to boost the nutrition and flavor of this casserole. Let's Blend is basically my best friend in the kitchen. I use it in meatballs, stuffed peppers, nachos, and the list goes on, but I had yet to incorporate it into breakfast until this casserole!

Another cool thing about this recipe is you can customize it to include your favorite ground meat or even make mini breakfast muffins! When developing this recipe, I took some polls on my Instagram stories and the results were split almost 50/50 for turkey or pork and for casserole versus muffins. Thankfully, there's no elaborate substitution instructions based on what protein you choose (I just add a smidge of avocado oil when using turkey breast since it's so much leaner) and same thing with the muffins. 

I will make one disclaimer about the muffins- cleaning the pan is not the most fun things in the world. I was generous with my avocado spray oil to coat the pan and the egg still adhered much more than I would like it to. My suggestion would be to use silicone muffin cups or just prepare yourself to have a muffin pan that will need some elbow grease and soap action.

I don't know about you, but I like sausage. The flavors of sausage are wonderful, but the extra fat, casing, etc. aren't as lovely in my book. That's just one more reason Let's Blend is the perfect addition to this casserole. Since the finely diced mushrooms are pre-seasoned, the turkey, pork or whatever lean ground meat you choose ends up tasting like sausage without any added fat! And let me tell ya- the seasoning is spot on. Whether it's the Classic, Mexican or Italian flavor; they're all PERFECT! Plus, the mushrooms add additional juiciness so a dryer lean ground turkey breast has moisture, flavor and the recipes stretches further. One word: winning. 

I feel like one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves during the holidays is time. Time for ourselves and for our families is precious all year-round, so I am always looking for ways to cut time in the kitchen without sacrificing quality and nutrition. All I have to do when using Let's Blend is open up the package and blend with my favorite protein- it's just that simple. Check out all the ways you can use Let's Blend in the in link below!

Wishing every single one of you a joyful and blessed Christmas and holiday season. More than anything, I hope you get to slow down for a bit and relax with good food and those you love. <3 Shannon

Sausage and Mushroom Breakfast Casserole
Time: 45 minutes (15 minutes hands on)
Serves: 8

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 package Monterey Mushroom Let’s Blend Italian
1 Tbsp Avocado oil
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
12 eggs
1 cup mozzarella, shredded (optional)

Instructions
1.) Preheat oven to 350°.
2.) In a large skillet over medium heat, add the avocado oil and cook turkey about 5-7 minutes until minimal pink is present.
3.) Add Italian Let’s Blend and cook about 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach* and cook 1-2 minutes, remove from heat and stir in red pepper flakes.
4.) Pour mixture into a 9x13" greased dish followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese, if desired.
5.) In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Pour over the turkey and vegetable mixture and bake 25-30 minutes or until a knife, inserted in the center, comes out clean.
6.) Let cool for 5-10 minutes then cut into squares and enjoy!
 
If you want to make these as muffins, heavily grease a muffin tin or use silicone, if possible. Follow same instructions and use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to evenly distribute mixture into greased muffin tins then pour whisked eggs on top. Top with a pinch of cheese, if desired and bake for 20 minutes.

*Make sure spinach is drained very well; you don't want a lot of extra liquid added to this recipe. I thawed it under running water in a colander then put the ball of spinach in a paper towel and squeezed out any excess water.

Pin for later:

I've been eagerly anticipating this series the past few months! I started it in 2016 when I was in a particularly tumultuous season of life and was doing all I could to focus on the good, even during the particularly hard times. Life will always be a stretch of valleys and mountaintops and without one, we couldn't fully appreciate the other. Making an intentional decision, especially during the holidays, to focus on positive qualities can make a world of difference. I can't think of better qualities than the Fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

​First up in the series is love and joy! Below you will find recipes that embody love and joy, specifically heart shaped-recipes or heart healthy recipes and some of the brightest recipes you can find that are sure to bring some joy to your plate! And a huge thank you to the dietitian friends of mine who were so kind to let me feature their recipes!

​The below recipes are sure to make your heart happy for more reasons than one!

​​This particular fruit of the spirit is especially meaningful since we named our daughter Joy earlier this year. If you'd like to know more about how we chose her name, make sure to check out her birth story! The below recipes are bright, cheery and guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Thank you again to all those who have supported this series the past couple years. Whether you shared a recipe, shared this post or just scrolled through the recipes, I appreciate your involvement on such a meaningful collection of posts! Wishing you all an incredibly blessed December and stay tuned for peace and patience recipes coming your way soon. <3 Shannon