I love this time of year but man oh man, the stress that comes with it can sometimes be suffocating. Sitting down as a family and eating breakfast together on Christmas morning is a tradition in our house, except we don't make breakfast on Christmas day. Confused? My husband and I actually make these delicious breakfast muffins about a week in advance, wrap and freeze them, and then pull them out to thaw on Christmas Eve and heat them up for breakfast on Christmas morning. No cooking breakfast, no cleaning up. Just jammies, coffee, and breakfast muffins while watching Christmas movies.

I adapted this recipe from Keys to the Cucina and want to make sure to let you know that this recipe makes about 16 servings, so remember that whatever you don't eat, you can freeze.

Ingredients:
16 eggs (yes, that's a lot, but each muffin holds about one egg)
1lb. ground Italian sausage (I use sweet)
½ an onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
15 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 6oz bag of fresh baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350. In a large bowl, crack and whisk the eggs together and then season with salt and set aside. Place sausage in a frying pan and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook on medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Then add the pepper, cherry tomatoes and spinach (don't panic, the spinach will wilt down substantially). Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. After 5 minutes, pull the pan off the burner.

Coat muffin tins with cooking spray and then put about a tablespoon or so of the sausage mixture in the bottom of each muffin. Top with the eggs until they just reach the top. I've found transferring the eggs to a measuring cup with a spout makes for less mess.

Sprinkle cheese on the top of each muffin, if you'd like, and cook for 15-20 minutes. You'll know the muffins are done when a toothpick pulls out clean.

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