Healthy Recipe Contest Winner!

The "Healthy Recipe Contest" was promoted by cardiovascular services at IU Health North Hospital through the month of February in support of "Go Red for Women" month and women's heart health awareness. The recipes had to be original recipes (not from a cookbook) and most importantly, healthy. All recipes were reviewed by dietitians at IU Health North Hospital, and the following recipe was chosen as the winner!

Recipe by: Lindsey Carter

Breakfast Bars

"I call these 'breakfast bars' and they are delicious and a good source of healthy protein and lower in calories and sodium than a lot of breakfast casserole and bar recipes."

Ingredients needed

Low SodiumTurkey Sausage (I typically use a whole container)

2 small cartons of Egg Beaters (1 original and 1 all egg whites)

1 cup skim milk

2 cups low fat cheese finely shredded mix (I like colby because it gives you a mix of flavors and mixes well)

salt and pepper to taste  

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a a pan brown and sautee the sausage until cooked-when done put to the side. In a mixing bowl whisk together both the rest of the ingredients...make sure they are mixed together well so when you back it there aren't clumps. When all the ingredients are whisked together, slowly add the turkey sausage making sure its well coated.

There are many different options to bake it. I use a baking sheet I found that is 'square cups' and I use a quarter cup of the mixture to fill them (cupcake tins or a large baking dish will work fine-if pouring it all into one you will need to cut into squares that are about 2" X 2") once baking option has been decided and filled put in oven and bake for around 15 minutes. To make it easy for the completed product to come out of the pan i use a fat free canola oil spray to spray the sheets before putting in mixture. When ready to serve thats when I add the salt and pepper as needed because some people have a different preference for those tastes.