Meat and Veggie Egg Muffins (Primal/Paleo)

In the real world I am part personal assistant. The family I work for are dealing with a loved one in the hospital, and are crazy busy trying to balance a good summer for the kiddos and being there for their loved one. This is where I come in; I've been cooking up all kinds of delicious easy foods for them to have on hand so they don't have to think about cooking. They eat low carb, but not paleo, but I've been successfully making tons of high fat, high protein, high veggie meals to give them lots of energy without them realizing they're eating grain free! Egg muffins, frittatas, and crustless quiches are big on my list of things to make during busy times. Not having to cook but still having a filling breakfast that gives you tons of support to start your day off right is the perfect combo for hectic times. I've started whipping up egg muffins once a week using anything available and got them totally addicted! I've done bacon, shallot, mushroom, spinach; tomato, basil, turkey; salami, peppers, onion, kale; and this week I used a Trader Joe's 8 veggie mix they had on hand (broccoli/carrot/cabbage/jicama/bell pepper/radish/celery), as well as some potatoes and tomatoes from their garden and an onion that was hanging out in the fridge. Combined with a little bacon and turkey, these egg muffins are perfect for a busy day. Here is the generalized recipe.

Meat and Veggie Egg Muffins

primal / paleo / grain-free / gluten-free

Yield: 24 muffins, about 12 servings

1T cooking fat of choice*

1/2 onion, diced (about 3/4c)

1/2 sweet potato, diced (about 3/4c)

1.5c meat, diced and cooked

1.5c veggies, small dice

18 eggs

S+P

1/2c milk**

1/2c cheese, optional

Tomato slices, green onions, or herbs, optional

*I use coconut oil

**Cow, coco, almond, whatever!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two muffins tins.

If you need to cook your meat, do so first. Bacon works really well in combination with any leftovers in your fridge (ham, lunch meat, baked chicken, sausage, beef, whatever!). If you are cooking the meat now, instead of using oil, just use the meat drippings. If your meat is already cooked, start with oil in a large saute pan. 

Add the diced onion and sweet potato. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked through and start to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the diced vegetables. Any combination will do. Leftovers work great as well. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook until any raw veggies are just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, preferably with a spout, whip up the eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. 

Put one tablespoon of meat in each muffin cup, followed by two tablespoons of vegetables. Top with cheese, if desired, then divide the egg mixture evenly between all the muffin tins, not quite to the top. Top with tomato slices, green onions, or fresh herbs if desired.

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. These also freeze well.

Fiesta Frittata/Holy Taco Pie

 So I had all these leftover onions from cooking fajitas and made this delicious frittata. Seriously - it's amazing. I want it all the time. The onions that I had were already cooked and definitely had flavor from the meat they were cooked with, but I'm writing the recipe how I'd make it without the leftover onions.

Fiesta Frittata/Holy Taco Pie
primal / paleo option / grain-free / gluten-free

Yield: 8 servings

1 yellow onion, crescents

1-1.25 lb ground chorizo sausage

4-6 mushrooms, sliced thin

1-2 bell peppers, sliced

1-2 c greens, I used kale

10 eggs whisked with

1/2-3/4c whole milk*

S+P

Cooking fat of choice (coconut oil, bacon fat, olive oil)

1/4c cheese of choice (cotija!)**
*Coconut for paleo
**Omit for paleo

Topping ideas:

Green onions

Cilantro

Jalapeno

More cotija

Fresh diced tomatoes

Cabbage

Pico de gallo

Sour cream/yogurt

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 1T cooking fat of choice to the pan, followed by the onions, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until translucent (you could add some spices here if you want, but the chorizo from our butcher is super flavorful. If you do, I'd do a dash of cumin, maybe a touch of paprika). When the onions are soft and translucent, remove from the pan. 

Add the chorizo and cook until done. Remove from the pan. Add a touch more oil, and throw in the mushrooms. Salt and pepper them. Let them soak up all the fat/flavor that rendered out of the sausage. Add the peppers (and any other veggies besides greens), give them some S+P, and stir fry for a minute. 

Add the onions and chorizo back in the pan, followed by the greens. Stir everything together. At this point I added a touch of butter to melt along the bottom of the pan because the particular pan I was using sometimes sticks in crucial situations. 

Pour in the eggs and milk evenly over the top of the fiesta in the pan. Top with some cheese. Cotija preferably, but cheddar or colby jack would suffice if necessary. 

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are completely set but not overcooked! Top with anything and everything and devour.

Store leftovers in the fridge. Reheat in a 350 degree oven wrapped in foil for 15-20 minutes. Or eat cold. Whatevz.

Oh hey cell phone photo. Oh hey Grandma plates.

Do you like frittata or quiche better?

Poached Egg atop Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Our real food pledge is going so well! This morning I woke up and did an hour or two of recipe researching. Then, I woke Mikey up and made him a yummy breakfast of parmesan roasted asparagus topped with a poached egg off of For the Love of Cooking. I think sometime, for a treat, we'll wrap par-cooked bacon around the asparagus before roasting, too:)
[update continues below recipe]

Poached Egg atop Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Serves 2

10 spears of asparagus, woody ends snapped off

Olive oil spray (mist your own!)

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the asparagus on a oiled baking sheet. Spray them with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cheese. Set aside. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Spray silicone or glass prep bowls with oil. Put an egg in each bowl, set atop the water, and cover.

Put the asparagus in the oven. Cook both for about 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of your asparagus, and how well done you like your egg. We like our whites cooked, and the yolk runny. 

Place 5 spears of asparagus on each plate, and top each bundle with a poached egg. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy :)

After breakfast, we went out to Central Market and bought a bunch of real food baking supplies. Spelt flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, brown rice flour, sucanat, raw unrefined sugar, raw sesame seeds, raw peanuts, pine nuts, etc, etc, etc. We headed over to Yakima Fruit Stand afterwards and stocked up on produce! We came back home, moved our patio table onto the sunny grass, and ate lunch by the creek. We've been loving local turkey with havarti, Vegenaise and lettuce on Dave's Killer Bread. Then, I made chocolate-peanut granola! Now, I'm editing photos while hubsface takes a bath before work. Tonight, we will be making roasted vegetables with orzo. WHEW.