Breakfast Scramble

When I discovered I had a problem with gluten in 2014, I had no idea what to eat for breakfast! Since I had wheat at every meal, it’s no wonder I had no clue that it was causing a problem, and I just had stomach issues constantly. I’d start the day with pancakes, french toast, biscuits, waffles, scones, bagels, or some other wheat-based food.

When I first cut gluten from my diet, I ate oatmeal for breakfast every day. Then after three months, I started to feel nauseous every morning. After realizing that my body did not like the idea of eating the same food day after day, I started looking for something new to eat for breakfast.

I don’t remember exactly how I came up with this idea, but it quickly became a favorite. It was delicious and filled me up until lunch. With my previous carbohydrate-based breakfasts, my blood sugar would plummet within a couple hours of eating, and I’d need more food so that my hands would stop shaking. 

Another thing I really love about this recipe is that you can change it up regularly, so it does not feel like you are eating the same thing every day. I’ve used lamb, goat, turkey, beef, and pork at various times. And I use whatever fresh vegetables we have available that day. If it’s in the dead of winter, I pull vegetables from the freezer or winter squash that has been stored in our basement. 

This scramble also makes great leftovers. When you use a pound of meat and a pound or two of vegetables, it makes four servings. I put leftovers in 2-cup glass storage dishes and put them in the refrigerator, so I am only cooking breakfast twice a week, if no one else eats this.

My husband usually has our goat milk yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast, which is fine with me. I love being able to take a couple of minutes to reheat this and then sit down to a hot breakfast that will keep me going strong until lunch. 

The recipe below is an excerpt from my fourth book, Homegrown and Handmade, second edition.

Autumn Pork Breakfast Skillet

This is the recipe that I shared in the raising pigs section of the second edition of my fourth book, Homegrown and Handmade. Although it calls for ground pork, you can use any kind of ground meat. In the video I use ground dark turkey meat. You can also use whatever vegetables you have on hand. The photos here have butternut squash, whereas the recipe in the book suggests kale and apples, and in the video, I use spinach. You could fix this every day for weeks, but it could be different because you can use different meat, vegetables, and even fruit. Prep time will depend on whether you are using frozen vegetables or fresh, which need to be cleaned and chopped.

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Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 tablespoon sage
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 apples peeled and chopped
• 1 pound kale chopped

Instructions

 

• Melt the lard and crumble the pork in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
• Sprinkle spices over pork.
• Stir as the meat browns.
• When it is completely cooked, add the chopped apples and kale.
• Continue to cook until the meat is done, apples are browned, and kale is wilted.

Notes

Winter variation:

We use apples from our own trees for this recipe until we have used them all up, which is usually around January (Granny Smith is a great storage apple) unless I also have some chopped apples in the freezer. Once the apples are gone, I switch to using chopped butternut squash in this recipe. I use up all of the fresh apples first because fresh winter squash last longer in storage. If you have kale and butternut squash in the freezer, this makes for an easy and quick breakfast.

Summer variation:

Use whatever vegetables are coming out of the garden.