Not-Quite-Quiche Mini Muffins

Mmmmm breakfast foods! I love breakfast foods but actually don't eat them often because of the cholesterol in eggs and bacon, the sugar in pancakes and waffles, and with my husband working nights it just doesn't work well for us - but today was different. I tried this recipe last week actually and while it was okay, I knew I could do better. Plus, I'm always looking for a reason to use my mini-muffin pans or my pampered chef cookie/muffin scoops.

When originally searching, I was looking for a quiche recipe and realized I didn't have the pie crust or the patience to try and make one. I stumbled across this recipe and read the reviews - seeing that its not quite your traditional quiche, but its a quick and easy way to get something similar. I have a feeling this is going to be a recipe to stick around for a while since now only are they good fresh out of the over, they are good reheated as well - always a bonus!

INGREDIENTS

6 strips of Bacon, sliced (or half a package)
4 eggs
3/4 C Baking Mix (like Bisquick)
1 1/2 Tbl chopped fresh parsley
2 C FRESHLY shredded cheese (I use cheddar and muenster)
1/2 tsp onion powder

DIRECTIONS:

Fry bacon and drain on paper towel. (I use a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat)

Mix eggs and baking mix in a bowl. Add parsley, onion powder, and cheese. Notice the stress on FRESHLY shredded cheese, it tends to mix in better than pre-packaged shredded cheese. Add bacon and mix to combine.

Scoop batter into mini-muffin tin (do not use paper inserts). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Do NOT over cook since the eggs will get rubbery.

We serve ours with Sirachi hot sauce to add a little kick to it. I was a little hesitant at first, but learned quickly that this is in fact GREAT, and is the only way I'll eat them now.

Quaker Granol Bites

Yum. I received my free trial of these Quaker Granola Bites in the mail and set them on the counter for a few days, basically forgetting about them. Until Yesterday. As I stated in my previous post, my husband was up late, meaning he would sleep late, leading to dinner being later, and ultimately causing me to snack - which brings us to these little morsels of GREATNESS. I have to admit these were far better than I imagined, and I will in fact be purchasing these for work snacks.

The little pouches have 90 calories per pack, 0g of trans fat (3.5g total fat though), and have 10% of your daily value of fiber - and fiber is good.

I tried the chocolate ones and loved them, my stepsister told me the peanut butter ones are also de-lish (I am not a huge peanut butter fan, but I might be will to give these a whirl anyhow), and I can only image the cinnamon ones are addicting too.

So, go out and get yourself a box!

Slow Cooker Brats

Here we have a perfect example of using ingredients for more than one dish to ensure we don't waste the leftovers. What makes this dish even better is that you make it in the slow cooker so you can be busy doing other things or you don't have to have a specific dinner time - which was our case. My husband works nights and normally gets up about the time I get home, but on this day he had a hard time sleeping and ended up mowing the lawn in the middle of the day, meaning he slept past our normal dinnertime. Rather than forcing him to get up and eat or have to deal with leftovers, I just popped this into the slow cooker so it was ready once he wanted to eat (and luckily he's not much of a breakfast person, so this for his first meal is a-ok with him).

This is also one of those easy meals you can get all the ingredients for and not worry about the fresh items going bad - just freeze the brats, buy the sauerkraut you can keep in the pantry and if you're like us and normally have beer on hand, great, if not, omit the beer.

*Note: I was excited one day finding Boar's Head sauerkraut, however I was disappointed in the flavor, or rather lack there of. I love their cold cuts, but won't be getting their sauerkraut again.

INGREDIENTS

5-6 Brats
1 Jar of Sauerkraut
1 bottle of dark beer (again, I suggest Shiner Bock)

DIRECTIONS

(This is the easy part!) Place Brats in slow cooker, cover with sauerkraut and beer. Cook for 4-5 hours on low.

Serve with mustard on a place, in a bun, in a tortilla, or any other way you'd like!

I did put these one more morning before I left for work and we had them when I got home, the flavor was find but the brats feel apart when trying to remove them with a fork. The flavor was fine but I prefer them to hold their shape a little better.