Breakfast, anyone?

I've always had problems with breakfast.  "Why?" you ask.  Well, I'm not really an egg eater.  I sometimes tolerate an egg over-easy (and occassionally sort of enjoy one), but I pretty much don't like eggs done any other way.  I don't even like the breakfast casseroles that are mostly egg.  And then you try to eat HEALTHY (aka go on Weight Watchers, which I am trying to get myself in the habit of again), and you lose the only redeemable part of an egg - the yolk.  I mean, without the yellow, you've taken what was only slightly pallatable and turned it into metallic-tasting rubber.  BLECH!

Now, I DO love breakfast meats.  Bacon and Sausage? Seriously, YUMMO!!!  But, if I eat those first thing in the morning, well, let's just say I'd better not have anything important planned before lunch.  My stomach does NOT find them to be a pleasant way to start the day.

But to succeed on a diet (and to survive my workdays), I have to eat breakfast.  It's not an option.  And protein bars are high in points, high in carbs, and I'm starving again in an hour.

Then I found THIS idea in a Parenting magazine.  It is my personal breakfast heaven..  It's yummy, has enough cheese to cover the taste of egg whites, is full of my favorite veggies, keeps me full for hours on end, AND can be made ahead of time and heated up in mere seconds in the morning.  This, my friends, is a WIN!

So you start with finely chopped veggies of your choice.  I use zucchini, onion, celery, red bell pepper and tomatoes.  (For the hubs, I use turkey bacon and green bell pepper.  Really anything you like works here. If you use meat, make sure it's fully-cooked before step 2.)  Sautee them until they are tender.  (I use a tiny smidge of EVOO.)

Spray a 12-muffin pan with non-stick spray and divide your sauteed veggies evenly amongst the muffin cups.  Then take a 12 oz. container of egg whites or egg alternative OR about 11 real eggs, beat them, salt and pepper them, and divide them evenly amongst the muffin cups (on top of your veggies).

Put a little cheese (I use 2% colby jack) on top of each.  The recipe calls for shredded.  I was out, so I just broke cheese slices into 4 parts and put them on top.  It was PERFECTION.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.  You can eat them immediately OR refrigerate them (or even individually wrap in Saran Wrap and freeze them).  If you make them ahead, it takes about 15 seconds in the microwave OR put them on foil in the oven at around 450 degrees for 5 or 10 minutes.

You've got yourself a healthy, low calorie, high protein (and low WWpoints - 1 point per muffin) breakfast that's quick, easy, and DELICIOUS - even for your non-egg eaters. :)

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie