If you're anything like me, you're not a morning person. The whole process of dragging yourself out of bed and getting dressed feels like it takes place in slow motion. Waking up early rarely happens, despite my best efforts.
My kids, however, are typically awake between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning which is an improvement from desperately pleading with them to go back to bed at 5:30 am. They are usually content to wait until 6:45 while I pick out our clothes for the day, move the potties back upstairs, and generally wake up. Co-living adds a few more complications to our routine.
I find breakfast time particularly challenging; I'm groggy, my kids are vying for my full attention, and I prefer to give them whole foods as often as possible despite how desperately I want to reach for a box of cereal some days. Surely, I could come up with my own convenience foods.
Most of the quick foods I found were cereals, breakfast muffins, and snack bars. A lot of the recipes looked delicious but also contained lots of sugar. Since my kids eat plenty of fruits and vegetables at snacks I like to make sure their main meals are rich with protein so they stay satiated. Like most kids, they are high energy and eat five times a day just to keep up with their metabolism.
One breakfast meal I am becoming particularly fond of are scrambled egg muffins. They're exactly what they sounds like; a scrambled egg in the shape of a muffin, loaded with veggies. Not only can you create a variety of flavours, making a batch in advance is simple. These delicious bites get bonus points for being easy to eat-on-the-go and for feeding us for at least two or three mornings (depending on who is home). It's also nice to have something pre-made so I can spend time with my kids and not with my stove
12 eggs
1 cup loosely packed spinach
1/2 bell pepper (colour of your choice, I favour red or orange)
4 medium button mushrooms
1/3 cup loosely packed shredded old cheddar
1/8 tsp Himalayan sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350 F (you're welcome)
Important: Generously coat your muffin tin with butter or preferred cooking oil. After all of your produce is washed, chop it finely and disperse evenly between muffin tin. Add your shredded cheese on top of the veggies. Crack your eggs in a separate bowl and whisk them together with salt and pepper. Use a large spoon to divide the egg mixture into the muffin tin on top of the veggies but only fill the tin just over 3/4 full. To make clean up easier, wipe any egg splatter off the muffin tin now. Put them in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes and use a spatula to remove the egg muffins from the tin.
Makes 16 servings
Pro-tip: Dividing your veggies and cheese in the tins keeps the mixture even. I mixed everything in with the eggs on my first attempt and the veggies did not disperse evenly.
While grabbing coffee at two different establishments, I spotted these little egg muffins in a few flavours. One shop was selling two servings for $3.29 and another for $4.75. Considering I can get local eggs for $4.00/doz, I'd say I am ahead of the game.
Happy breakfast!
