Breakfast Egg Muffins - To Go!

I found this recipe a while back for Egg Muffins that looked do-able, and seemed like a great way to have a healthy on-the-go breakfast readily on-hand. I tend to not get breakfast, since I spend my morning herding the  Princess. And sometimes SHE doesn't get breakfast before we have to go, and cereal in the car is just so messy!

I changed it up a bit, since I didn't have the spice Kalyn recommended. Also, my husband was making meringue cookies and only needed the whites of 4 eggs, so I took his yolks for this.

Breakfast Egg Muffins

Kalyn's Kitchen's Ingredients: (she has a lot of great South Beach diet recipes and advice!)

15 eggs

2c shredded cheese (Kalyn recommends low-fat, like sharp cheddar or Colby Jack)

1-2 tsp Spike Seasoning

3 green onions (optional but recommended)

Chopped veggies (optional)

Chopped low-fat ham, Canadian Bacon or sausage (optional)

MY Ingredients:

15 eggs (although I used 11 eggs plus 4 yolks and a dollop of 2% milk to help make up for the missing whites)

~2c shredded Colby Jack cheese (I didn't measure. I grated a little over a cup and it wasn't enough so I grated some more until I was satisfied)

1 tsp Schilling Season-All

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning blend

3 green onions, diced small

Broccoli buds

Makes 12

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 F. Prep muffin tins. For silicone, use nonstick spray (I couldn't find mine so I just brushed on olive oil.) For metal tins use 2 paper liners per cuppy and use nonstick spray on liner that will touch the food. I have no opinion on the efficacy or necessity of this, but Kalyn has done this many times, so I trust her trial and error!

I *highly* recommend putting muffin tins on a baking sheet. The silicone ones tend to get a little floppy, and Kalyn says it is also good for catching drips or overflow. 

Step 2.1 (Optional): Prepare meats. If using bacon, I'd probably cook it a little first.

Step 2.2 (Optional): Prepare veggies. 

Since I don't know the first thing about blanching broccoli, and I didn't want big hunks of stem in my face, I opted to shave off the buds from the broccoli florets. I had 3 largish stems worth, plus a few smaller stems.

I chopped up the green onions. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use the green leafy part at the top, but I tasted it and it seemed green-oniony, so I used it until it became too annoying to cut.

Step 3.1 (Optional): Put meats in bottoms of muffin tins.
Step 3.2 (Optional): Put veggies in bottoms of muffin tins.

Broccoli'd

I couldn't find my regular muffin pans, so I used my Jack-O-Lantern and flower-shaped ones! The others have too many little narrow parts, like the stars and trees, and I didn't know how small protrusions would fare, since they might cook differently than the centers.

Green Onioning

Step 4.1: Grate cheese.

They're Grrrrrrrate!

Step 4.2: Put in muffin tins, on top of veggies and meat, until cups are around 2/3rds full.

Step 5: Open eggs into largeish bowl with pour spout.

 Step 6: Add spice(s) to eggs. Blend.

Step 7: Pour eggs into muffin cups until around 3/4ths full. The eggs take a little time to settle, so I kept having to go back and add a bit more after the eggs had oozed down into all the crevices.

Step 8: Bake 25-35 minutes until risen, set and slightly browned.
I didn't get any pictures of them after they came out of the oven, since the Princess woke up and needed me and "the Ladies" to help get back to sleep, so my husband took them out of the oven for me.

Step 9: Loosen the muffins with a knife to remove them from the tins.
My husband didn't know this part, so my tins have a lot of egg bits stuck to the sides, and my shapes are a little less, well, shape-y.

Step 10 (Optional): If not eating them all right away, let cool for 15-20 minutes before putting them in an airtight container in the fridge. Divide into pairs (or whatever serving size you want) and put into freezer bags if freezing. (To save on high-cost freezer bags, we use cheaper small baggies for individual servings, then put THEM into a larger freezer bag. We can usually keep using the outer bag, since it doesn't get dirty touching the food!)
Kalyn says they can last for around a week in the fridge (so far not a danger in our house. 2 days and we only have half left!) Longer in the freezer, but I don't know how long.
Thaw in fridge before reheating.
She says you microwave a pair of muffins for 2 minutes to reheat.

I love how the Jack-O-Lantern face came out! Too bad it's Christmas!

Not as attractive on the top!

I had my first one still a little warm right out of the fridge (since my husband had just bagged them up.) It was a little green-oniony for me, but I don't like green onions. I'd probably try just 2 next time, or 3 but not bother with the green tops.
I tried 2 more the next night, but again got interrupted as they were heating, when the Princess woke up. Darn you, girl! Don't you WANT me to get Christmas ready?! I like them, but would LOVE if they had bacon in them. Definitely trying bacon next time! Can't even taste the broccoli, which is great, since then the kids won't spit it out! Cauliflower would be a great one to sneak in, since it's fairly flavorless and colorless.

Unka Seesee says they're great, and would be a big hit at a brunch or breakfast.