Egg Muffins

While I was perusing the Food and Drink board of Pinterest, I saw egg muffin pictures and thought, "Those seem pretty easy...I bet they're not too hard to make."  And you know what?  I was right. Easy, delicious, and they can be made to be as healthy as you want.  I gave one to my boyfriend to try and he texts me later in the day and said "They're actually pretty good."  High praises from the pickiest eater I've ever met.

Ingredients You'll Need:
Liquid eggs or egg whites
Veggies (your choice)
Meat (your choice)
Oil (for muffin tin)
Other additions like cheese, optional

I chose liquid egg whites, red and green peppers, italian sausage, and cheddar cheese.  I was going to add mushrooms but the fresh mushrooms I had were no longer good when I made these. Sad.

First, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I then chopped up the peppers and chopped half of the red and half of the green. It was almost the perfect amount for 12 muffins, but depending on what else you're putting in the muffin then just adjust the amount. Set aside.

I used 1/2 lb of Italian sausage, and just browned it right up. Again, it was almost the perfect amount for my muffins.  You could really use any meat you want though. Chopped bacon, ham, breakfast sausage (I really want to try maple flavored sausage..I think it'll give the savory muffins a little sweetness).  I have a food saver and I just froze the other half of the sausage.

I then sprayed the muffin tin with spray Canola oil (use whatever kind you want) and wiped off (and wiped out) excess oil.  You just need  enough to keep everything from sticking.  I started the layer by adding some of the sausage in the bottom of the oiled tin. Then I added the peppers and just a little bit of cheese because I love cheese.  If you want, you can mix all the ingredients together in a separate bowl to make sure they're combined well and then spoon the mixture into the muffin tins, but I didn't mind adding them all separately. I filled the tins about half-way with the meat, cheese, and peppers.

I then just poured in the egg whites, almost all the way to the top which was about 3-4 tablespoons, and baked the egg muffins for about 35 minutes and turned the pan halfway through because the muffins near the back of the oven were cooking a little faster than the front.  They'll get nice and poofy while cooking but don't worry, they don't stay that way.

 I took the muffins out of the oven and let cool in the tin about 5 minutes, then removed them from the tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack. I just stored them in a large ziplock bag (remove as much as air as possible) in the refrigerator and they were good up to 5 days after cooking them. I'm not sure if they'll last longer than that because we ate them all within 5 days but use your judgement. Personally, I wouldn't eat them if they were older than a week old just due to the fact that there really aren't any preservatives.

They reheat really nicely in the microwave (35-45 seconds was long enough for the microwave at work) and kept me surprisingly full. I ate two for breakfast and got hungry right around lunch time.

It's a nice change from typical on-to-go breakfasts (granola bars) and it's like an omelette in muffin form! After reheating, drizzle some hot sauce (I like Original Cholula) or spoon some salsa on them for an extra kick! Guesstimating, the total calorie count for my muffins is probably right around 100 calories. Obviously changing the meat, omitting the cheese (or adding more), or using liquid yolks that contain the yolk, will also change the calories. I guesstimated using the MyFitnessPal calorie counter app.

 Until next time, Fire Away!

Garlic Oven Roasted Asparagus

It has been a crazy, exciting, busy 2015 so far! We decided to remodel our upstairs bathroom, which led to wanting to remodel our master bedroom and closet, which led to wanting to remodel our second bedroom and closet.  The master bedroom and closet is done, the second bedroom is in process, and the bathroom has not even begun! We became godparents to the best godson ever and it's only the end of March.  I think 2015 is off to a great start and looking forward to what it will bring!

Last year I learned just how much I love asparagus.  I started out buying the green giant asparagus cut steamers, but my absolute favorite is grilled asparagus. However, living in Minnesota makes grilling really hard to do about 7 months out of the year so I had to learn a new way to get yummy asparagus in my belly without buying a tiny box for 2-3 dollars. I turned to buying fresh asparagus (like I do in the summer to grill) and decided to roast it in the oven. And guess what?  IT WAS SO EASY. 

Ingredients you'll need: 

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

Oil, olive or canola

Minced garlic

Salt & Pepper

First, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees and cut off those hard ends of the asparagus. If you miss some, oh well. Just spit it out.  Just don't make it for a first date then if you're not going to care a whole lot. 

In a bowl, pie tin, casserole dish, whatever you have on hand (even a large paper plate would work), pour enough oil on the asparagus to and cover it generously, but not to the point where it's soaked. I used an 8"x11" casserole dish.  I used canola oil because I like it better than olive oil, but I'm betting olive oil will be just as good. Then sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste, and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic and toss to coat as evenly as possible.  Add more or less of the salt, pepper, and garlic depending on how much asparagus you have. 

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (just for easy clean up) and add the asparagus in a single layer on the baking sheet. Make sure to get as much of the garlic on the asparagus as possible! Then bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how thick the asparagus stems are, until tender-crisp.  All done! Easy peasy lemon squeezy. What a delicious, healthy, greeny side to add to any meal. 

Until next time, Fire Away!