#it's so yummy!!! i just prefer the texture and it's way less salty than meat jerky and bc it's made from shiitake it's also a little sweet! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shortsrifle7-blog · 6 years ago

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Healthy Egg and Veggie Muffins

High in protein, these healthy egg and veggie muffins are so yummy and easy to customize to your veggie taste buds. They also freeze great for a make-ahead breakfast, snack or quick lunch!

Did you survive the holidays? Come out on the other side rested, well fed and happy? Haha. I am definitely well fed, but I don’t know about the rested part.

As with all Januarys in the history of my blogging career, I always vow to myself that I won’t post a dessert recipe until at least January 9th. You know, to honor all you brave souls embarking on healthy eating plans (not gonna say the word diet).

I’m not one for intense New Year’s resolution planning, especially with eating/food, and I even tossed around the idea of doing a low-key, no-blatant-sweets January for any of you that wanted to join me, but I wasn’t motivated over the holidays to actually put anything together, so you’ll have to tell me what YOUR healthy eating goals are this year if you are setting any.

I know myself well enough to know that I can probably only give up sweets (especially chocolate) for about 2 1/2 hours, so instead I’m focusing on lean protein as part of each of my meals, and these healthy egg and veggie muffins are the perfect way to kick off Mel’s Set The Bar Low Healthy Eating January Challenge.

The best part about these amazing little egg muffins, aside from the fact that they take literally minutes to prepare, is that they freeze great.

And that makes them a perfect breakfast, snack, or quick lunch to stash away in the freezer for when you need it. Loaded with veggies and super high in protein, I’ve been making a version of these babies for years. It goes without saying that the vegetables, cheese, and meat (optional) are super easy to customize. And no batch really every looks the same.

Toss in whatever veggies you have on hand – adding and taking away based on taste preference. Same goes with the cheese and meat. I very highly prefer using feta cheese because a little bit goes a long way and it adds great flavor. But Parmesan works great too, as well as cheddar and Monterey Jack.

I know some of my cottage cheese haters out there are going to be tempted to give the cold shoulder to these healthy egg and veggie muffins, but I’ll be so very sad if you do. Because the cottage cheese is blended up with the eggs, you don’t even know it’s there (for you texturally averse people), and not only does it pump up the protein, but it adds a creaminess to the muffins that is really wonderful.

I’m excited to see what variations you come up with! Make sure to report back. It makes me happy.

And good luck with any New Year’s resolutions you go after this year! If it involves no sugar/no sweets, you may want to avoid checking back here in, say, a week and two days. Just warning you. 🙂

P.S. In case you missed the big announcement about those awesome custom meal plans, you can check out all the details here! AND…I just added a 30-day quick and easy meal plan to the app!

One Year Ago: Tender Greek Pork Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Two Years Ago: Chicken Tortilla Soup Instant Pot, Stovetop, Slow Cooker Three Years Ago: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps 30-Minute Meal Four Years Ago: Korean Beef and Rice Or Quinoa: Simple 20-Minute Meal Five Years Ago: Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup

Yield: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup cottage cheese

8 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)

Pinch of black pepper (I use coarsely ground black pepper)

1/4 to 1/2 crumbled feta cheese (see note)

1/2 cup chopped spinach, more or less

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, more or less

1/2 cup chopped ham or other cooked meat of choice, more or less (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a nonstick muffin tin with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a blender, combine the cottage cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Process until well combined and fairly smooth. Add the feta cheese and pulse a few times until the cheese is in small pieces (I like the feta cheese pretty finely chopped, but it's really a matter of personal preference).

Sprinkle the chopped veggies and meat, if using, in the bottom of each muffin cup. I just eyeball it, but I use about 2-3 tablespoons of veggies and meat total per muffin cup.

Pour in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup egg mixture on top of the veggies and meat. Add less at first to make sure each muffin cup gets some and then evenly distribute any remaining egg batter. The muffin cups should be anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until no longer jiggly in the center. The egg muffins may puff quite a bit while baking; that's normal. They'll settle as they cool. After removing the pan from the oven, let the muffins cool for a few minutes before taking them out of the pan. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. These egg muffins freeze great to thaw or reheat as needed.

Notes

The vegetables, meat, and cheese in this recipe are SUPER customizable. Add or take away to your heart's content. I eyeball the add-ins (vegetables and/or meat) when sprinkling it in the bottom of each muffin cup, but it's probably right around 2 tablespoons or so (veggies and meat total). Feta is a fairly salty cheese, so I only add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the egg mixture, but if using a different kind of cheese (again, this recipe is super customizable) that has less salty punch, you might want to increase the salt a bit. You can also sprinkle the cheese in the bottom of the muffin cup rather than mixing it in with the egg batter - works fine either way.

I definitely recommend a nonstick muffin tin...and don't skimp on the cooking spray! I have the USA brand of muffins tins and these egg muffins pop right out without sticking.