Egg 'McMuffin'

I call these Egg 'McMuffins', but they're really more like omelette muffins, or a crustless quiche, or maybe even more like mini frittatas. 


I made these one morning for Pete and a few of his buddies a while ago when they came down for a Saturday morning in Laguna. That morning, Pete and I took an early Saturday morning stroll and walked down to the market to get some groceries for breakfast. Peter got a call on his cell phone and the next thing I heard, he was saying, "Sure, Meg's about to make breakfast- come on down!" Suddenly, my menu changed and I had to get back and throw a feast together fast! I had never made these before, but it was the easiest way to throw together a bunch of breakfasts for a bunch of boys with about NO times notice. They were such a hit that I have loved making them ever since then. This week, these little egg muffins made their debut as our St Patricks Day pots of gold :) 


Besides the fact that they are fun and fast for breakfast, they are also great because you can use ANY ingredients that you would normally like in an omelette or quiche. PLUS, they are awesome to keep in the fridge and reheat for an instant breakfast on a work morning. That's what we have been doing all week; Pete has just been loving these quick healthy little 'omelettes'. 


Recipe (for a large (6 muffin) sized muffin pan): 

• 10 Eggs
• 1 cup Skim Milk, or fat free Half & Half
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheese (I use low moisture part skim Mozzarella, but Cheddar, Gruyere, or Swish would be good too)
• Toppings (I use 2 Bell Peppers- 1 red & 1 green, 1 diced Yellow Onion, for the boys I added 8 oz. lean Sausage, I just used the veggies for Peter and I and it was great too!)
• *Optional 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Directions: 

1. (*If using sausage or bacon, cook that in your pan first.)
2. Heat some Canola oil in a sautee pan and cook your diced onion and bell peppers for a few minutes. 
3. Whisk your eggs and milk together (you can add a little salt here too. If you are using a breakfast meat though, those are usually pretty salty already; also cheese adds a little salt to it as well)
4. Spray your muffin tins with nonstick spray.
5. Divide your sauteed veggies and/or meat evenly between the muffin tins. 
6. Ladle the eggs into each muffin tin over the fillings
7. Sprinkle a little cheese on top of the egg
8. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes. 

Bake until they puff and golden on top:

Look at how beautiful and golden they get!

However, they do deflate within minutes of pulling them out of the oven. I've tried using a little baking powder whisked into the egg mixture to make them stay puffed... but that just leaves a funny taste to them. 

Nevertheless, these deflated little omelette muffins are still SO SO yummy and convenient just the way they are. 

I let these cool, then store them in the fridge in a giant ziplock bag. I've been SUPER busy with work and have had a lot of early mornings, so these are great for Pete. He just pulls one out heats it in the microwave and dabs a little tapatio on it. Instant homemade breakfast to go!

Other Ideas: 

• If you have guests staying the night, you can make these ahead of time and cover them in the fridge until the morning when you can bake them off fresh.
• You can toast a whole grain English Muffin and put one of these little egg muffins between it to make a breakfast sandwich.

Huevos Rancheros

Peter absolutely LOVES huevos rancheros for breakfast. Luckily for me, they are super easy and fast to make. In fact, this is ready so fast that it is another one of those quick, weekday work-morning staples, just like our breakfast b-egg-les.


Huevos rancheros is a traditional Mexican dish served upon fried corn tortillas. However, in an attempt to make it healthier, I've found that toasting my tortillas under the broiler gives them that same traditional crisp but without those fried calories.


Shopping List: 

• Corn Tortillas
• Grated Cheddar Cheese
• Eggs
• Tapatio or hot sauce of your choice
• Pico de gallo Salsa
• fresh Cilantro
• *Other possible additions: Avocado slices, and Refried beans.

First I turn the broiler on in my oven. When the broiler is hot and ready, toss your corn tortillas directly onto the top rack (one tortilla for each huevo ranchero). 


While the tortillas are crisping, start the eggs:
Make sure the frying pan is nice and hot before the eggs are cracked into it; this will help the eggs firm up when they hit the pan and prevent them from running all over. We want each one in a nice little size that will fit on top of each tortilla nicely, so we can't have them running all over the pan. Use your spatula to corral each egg together if you need to.
When the eggs get white and opaque on the bottom, but still shiny and slightly runny on top, break the yolk into the top of the egg and turn off the stove top. Sprinkle a little grated cheddar on top; let the cheese melt and the the eggs continue to sit in the pan to cook through with the heat off.

While the eggs are finishing cooking, flip the tortillas so that they are nice and crispy on both sides. Then, gather together all the other ingredients. Sprinkle a bed of cheddar on top of the warm, crispy tortilla. This will act as a glue that will hold the egg in place on top of the tortilla. (Or you could opt for the more traditional 'glue' here; refried beans.)

Slide your soft cooked fried egg right on top of the cheddar melting on the tortilla. Then simply dress up the egg with your desired toppings. I like to adorn with a couple spoonfuls of fresh salsa, a few big shakes of Tapatio, and finally some freshly chopped cilantro. If I have avocados on hand, sometimes I will even place a few slices of avocado on top of this simple and flavorful breakfast. 

Pick 'em up like an open faced sandwich and eat with your hands :) but keep some napkins handy. 

Oh man, looking at these pics makes me want to cook up some more huevos rancheros right now!

Breakfast B-egg-le Sandwich

This is a work morning staple around our home because it is ready so quickly, and is great to take on the go for a busy work morning. However, this quick, delicious breakfast was an accidental invention from a relaxing morning off...


Peter and I had just returned home from a ski trip to June Mountain. A good friend, Rose, came home with us to visit for a few days, so we thought it would be fun to make breakfast burritos together on our first morning back. However, on the road trip home we (of course) payed a visit to the world famous 'Erick Schat's Bakery' in Bishop, California, where Peter grabbed up all of their asiago cheese bagels until he had cleared the shelf. 'Oh my goodness!' I thought, 'Why would we ever need so many?!' Naturally, when it came time to make breakfast burritos with Rose, Peter wanted a burrito AND a bagel! Thus came the creation of our breakfast b-egg-le!


'What happened to the rest of the bagels?' you wonder... Well, they freeze very well, so now it is so easy to pull them out one by one to recreate this scrumptious and fast dish whenever we need a good breakfast in a hurry. Now Peter looks like a genius :)


If you don't happen to be passing by Schat's Bakery anytime soon, I have found that Von's (or Pavillion's or Safeway... they're all the same company) has a fabulous asiago cheese bagel at their bakery counter.


Ingredients (for each serving):
1 asiago cheese bagel
2 eggs
a couple pinches of shredded cheese
a few slices of avocado
Tapatio

(Look at how fun these fresh eggs are! Some of our friends have a chicken coupe and get to collect fresh eggs daily! ...yes it is possible to raise your own chickens in Orange County, haha! Thanks for sharing with us guys!)


1. Cut your bagel in half and put them in the toaster. By the time they are done toasting, everything else will be ready to assemble:

2. Crack your eggs in a medium hot pan:

3. Pan scramble your eggs (when they are somewhat firm underneath but still wet on top, scramble them up with your rubber spatula)

4. Before the scrambled eggs are completely firm, pull them together with your spatula so that they are in a unit that will fit nicely on the bagel. Then turn off the heat.

 5. Grab your bagel out of the toaster; Slice avocado on one side and sprinkle some cheese on the other. The cheese not only adds a little flavor, but it will melt onto the hot bagel and act like a glue to hold the eggs in place like.

6. Then transfer your eggs to the cheesy bagel and sprinkle with Tapatio to your liking.

7. Enjoy!

** Nutrition Noteworthy: 

-If you are watching your cholesterol levels, you can skip the cheese, and omit one or both egg yolks to make this a healthier egg white and avocado breakfast! 

-Avocado is high in Omega-3, which is a GOOD fat that helps fight bad cholesterol.

If you choose to remove the yolks, frying or pan scrambling are really the best methods I've found for cooking egg whites. Otherwise, when the whites alone are mixed with a fork or whisk before going into the frying pan, they get too foamy and don't cook to the same egg texture that you're used to.

These are easy to wrap in foil or package in a little to-go box for a healthy, hurried breakfast on the go. Peter says, "These keep me away from fast food restaurants in the morning."   ..Oy vey!