By: Anne Kristine Etherton, MS, RDN, LDN, NASM-CPT
In an attempt to do meal prep for the week, I took a try and creating some easy morning eggs. The idea came because my daughter loved the popular chain Egg Bites, but since I don’t want to spend tons of money, I attempted to create an acceptable substitution. Also, I am limiting my shopping and trying to use what’s in the fridge and freezer. If this wasn’t the case I would have thrown in some onion and peppers, but instead used what I had in the house. Side note- so looking forward to having fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden next year!
So I started with the egg base and then chose to use sour cream since that was the only cream option in the fridge to give the creamy texture of the pops. Also, used a hand blender to get the sour cream and eggs blended till smooth.
Spray the muffin tin to help with removal after cooking- if you’re like me, you’ll forget this step- which is okay because in a nonstick pan they still came out relatively easy!
I filled each to about 3/4 full because adding the other ingredients would add more volume. Then sprinkled cheese to each serving, using about 1/2 of the cup. Here is where you can also add in the other ingredients you chose to include. I had some deli ham, we use the low sodium preservative free kind, and then to about half of the pops I added a few of the frozen black beans and chick peas. I did not add any salt or other seasoning to this batch, the cheese and ham were providing salt and I was trying to keep to the basics, but next time I will be adding in some other seasoning to spice it up a bit- I’m thinking maybe a chipotle version.
I then put them in the oven for about 20 minutes- watching closely- when they were close to being done I sprinkled the last amount of cheese on top.
While the benefit of making food at home is having more knowledge and control of what’s included, the initial intent was to make something simple and tasty for a quick morning breakfast. It just so happened to be a good option to keep my morning within my daily nutrition goals.
For 12 servings of 2 pops
8 eggs
1/2 cup sour-cream
3/4 cup of shredded cheese
1oz of deli ham (or other protein)
About 1/4 cup of frozen black beans and chick peas ( or any other vegetable of choice)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin pan and set aside. Blend together eggs and sour-cream until smooth, divide into sprayed muffin tins evenly( filling about 3/4th full). Using about 1/2 cup of the cheese, add small amount to each serving. Small cube ham or other pre-cooked protein and add small amount to each serving, add a few beans and peas to each serving. If you have selected alternative fresh vegetables, I recommend finely chopping and possibly sautéing prior to adding to the egg mixture for better taste since the egg bites only take about 20 minutes to cook. Bake for about 15 minutes and then add the remaining cheese to the top of the egg pops. Once they are cooked through, you can use a toothpick to test them, remove and enjoy immediately or refrigerate and enjoy for up to 3 days.
Serve with your choice of bread, fruit and several other possible options to have a balanced and compete breakfast or snack!
This can easily be a gluten free option by checking that the added meats and vegetables are gluten free.
Enjoy!
