Winging It With Eggs

Try this for a great post-workout snack, or on the morning run 🙂

So do you ever just throw something together and call it a recipe?  I will confess, I am not really one to do that all too much. I am a rule follower.  I read directions.  I find a recipe on the internet, or from a friend, and I follow it – as listed.  At best, I leave something out – – like I know hubby hates mushrooms – – so I leave those out.  Or I might substitute, if I am seriously confident I can get away with the substitution.   But being a self-proclaimed Kitchen Klutz I am not usually known for winging it in culinary arts.  Until today.

I decided I needed to use up some bread and eggs; as well as some pancetta diced meat … and embarked on a journey. I found a recipe for bacon lined muffin tin cups to use as a general guide – but that is not what I made at all.   {and if you do not know what pancetta is, Google it, because until recently I had no idea myself}

First I decided I wanted perfectly shaped circles of bread to put in the bottom of the muffin tin.  I sprayed my pan with grape seed oil and proceeded to figure out I do not really have any circle cookie cutters.  I have a heart, and Texas, and a biscuit cutter thing that is too big – but no circles.  So I decided the bottom of a jello mold would work just dandy.  And it did.

Perfect little circles – if you twist it just right

After I put bread in the bottoms of my muffin slots, I tore up the extra bread and stored it to use for a french toast breakfast casserole.  More on that in a different blog. Then I spritzed the bread circles lightly with butter.  (REAL butter, not margarine).

Next after the bread … comes the cheese.  I had 12 muffins to make and decided to get really whacky and do six one way and six another.   So half of my egg muffin things had shredded cheddar cheese and the other half had Swiss Laughing Cow triangle cheese (cut in half).  After this experience I definitely decided that I do not like working with laughing cow cheese, and you definitely have to unwrap the little triangle thingamabob before you try to slice it.  But alas, messy lesson learned.

Now since I’m being a crazy rebel anyway, I somehow decided to do half of the muffins with pancetta and the other half with thin slices of deli Virginia ham.  Now that this whole experiment is said and done, I will say that the best combination is pancetta and shredded cheddar.  I won’t be doing deli ham or laughing cow in the future.  But you can try it. It wasn’t bad, we just liked the other better.

The cups are filling up! They’re filling UP!

SO… what comes after the meat?  Well the eggs of course.  Some blogs suggested breaking your eggs into a separate bowl and then pouring the eggs into each muffin spot.  I did no such thing.  I cracked the eggs and landed them right there in the holes.  I’m not sure it matters; but I will say that after 10 minutes of cooking … some of the yolks were in like a BIG bubble I had to pop.  It was kind of hilarious.  So maybe if I had poured the eggs elsewhere and stirred them up; and THEN put them in the tin – it would have been better?  Who knows.  At any rate; I use real eggs … not from a carton … but I imagine that works too.  Your choice of course.

Time to cook these babies.  I had pre-heated my oven to 350.  Being the somewhat picky perfectionist I can be sometimes, I decided to return to the blog examples before cooking.  Most of the egg muffin recipes I read stated 400 was the preferred temperature.  Um, okay.  I bumped it up to 400 – but now the oven does not say that lovely ‘pre-heat’ word anymore.  How do I know when it has effectively changed from 350 to 400?  I certainly was not going to turn it off and start over. So I did what any busy mama does; I said screw it and proceeded to cook.  I figured the temperature issue would work itself out somehow.  I baked them for 10 minutes at whatever temperature it was actually at in there – but the digital number said 400. After 10 minutes I had those bubbles I mentioned earlier.  So I popped the bubbles and put them back in.  I baked them for 5 minutes more.  And of course I would have two people ring my doorbell and my phone ring about three times in those five minutes; but nonetheless, the timer sang its song – – and I came a runnin’ !  They were done. They were perfect.  I wouldn’t exactly say they were beautiful, but they were perfect in my humble opinion.  I have permission to do them again.

Finished Egg Creations – very HOT indeed !

So I let them cool off for a moment while I decided (more like figured out) how the heck I was going to extract these handy dandy little egg creations from their holding place and transfer them to something suitable.  Hmmmm….. what to do, what to do?  Well, when in doubt, grab a serving spoon and a round plate and begin.  My timing was perfect, as just about the time all was complete, daughter dear and friend came home and declared them delicious … right about the time she asked me why I am not cooking more, lol. UM, I’m trying here, I’m trying!

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Quick Facts (Kind of like a recipe):

• Pre-heat oven to 400
• Spray bottoms of muffin tin holes with oil
• Place bread or tortilla or similar in bottoms of holes
• Spray with butter (not margarine)
• Add cheese of choice (shredded was easier)
• Add meat of choice (diced meat was easier)
• Crack eggs and add on top of each muffin hole
• Bake between 10 and 15 minutes depending on preference of yolks

As always, make champion choices,
The Healthy Habit Lady