Egg Nibbles - Quick Breakfast for On-The-Go Families

Breakfast has been so hectic here these days. Seriously – we're talking tears because there was too much cream cheese on a piece of toast, tantrums because there are no more strawberry yogurts, outrage at the mere mention of ​cereal with milk. And when my pancake-loving kids both told me that they didn't want pancakes, I knew we had a big problem. For many months, I've been making pancake batter at night and having it on the ready in a tupperware in my fridge to make quickly for breakfast. We are all pancake lovers here; how awesome is it to have pancakes on a weekday and not have to wait until the weekend? My kids don't even know how good they've had it.
We're all tired and this long winter is making us all cranky. Lately the back and forth about breakfast has added stress to all of our mornings and whatever my kids end up eating is usually packed inside of a paper towel and becomes part of the morning commute.  

So yesterday I took matters into my own hands and made these Egg Nibbles.​

Egg Nibbles

​They're eggs with avocado, spinach, garlic and chick peas, baked into mini muffin cups. That's what I had quickly on hand. They're a perfect travel breakfast and what's more, they're loaded with nutrition and all of the right stuff to get the day off to a great start. But the honest truth is, my kids didn't like them. My daughter gave the sideways thumb (which means she didn't hate them but she wouldn't ask for them either) and my son said he doesn't like to eat things with avocado. True story. 
So why bother writing about it? Well, these things were yummy. And maybe your kids will like them even though mine didn't? My husband and I have been happily popping them for breakfast for the last 2 days. I am planning to play around with the ingredients here... I'd bet there's some winning formula for Egg Nibbles that my kids will both enjoy. And in the meantime, I'll happily take suggestions. 

Egg Nibbles:
6 eggs
1 cup raw, chopped spinach
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/3 cup chick peas, chopped
1 avocado, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, scramble eggs. Add pieces of avocado and put aside. Saute spinach, garlic and chick peas together in a pan on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes and then add to eggs and avocado. Mix well. Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners. Pour egg mixture into each cup. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Makes about 24 Egg Nibbles. 

Carrot Dill Frittata

Hello Meatless Monday! After the hoopla about Nemo, and the sledding fun we had this weekend, I'm tired! I was left scratching my head for dinner ideas tonight. My daughter complained last night -- apparently we've had chicken too often for her liking lately. Ugh. 

Hmm. What to do? We always have eggs in the house. I *love* eggs. And I was pretty excited to read this in Greatist recently about the egg news. Bottom line, and to quote Shana Lebowitz: "It turns out, for non-diabetic people, there was no association between eating up to one egg a day and CHD (Coronary Heart Disease) or stroke." 

Awesome.

Carrot Dill Frittata

Frittata for dinner? Well yes, don't mind if I do! I don't have time to shop for the week until tomorrow so dinner will have to be something cobbled together from the fridge. Behold! Carrot Dill Fritatta. This was so easy, I almost feel guilty about it. Actually, no. I don't feel guilty at all. It's mid afternoon and a big part of dinner is already done. Ready to whip this up? Here's how:

Carrot Dill Frittata (serves 4-6) 

8 organic carrots
2 onions, sliced
1/3 c fresh dill, chopped
12 eggs
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Slice the carrots into shreds using a slicer. Put aside. Slice the onions and saute in a pan with olive oil until caramelized. This may take a while - for me it took 45 mins. In a bowl, crack the eggs and add the dill and carrot ribbons to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the caramelized onions on the bottom of the pan you'll use to cook the frittata. Pour in the egg/carrot/dill mixture. 
Bake at 375 for approximately 40 minutes or until egg is cooked through (but not so much that it's rubbery). 

Enjoy!

Banana Muffins... If Only There Were Bananas!

I go through phases with bananas.  Sometimes they are the world's perfect food and I eat one every day. Other times I go for weeks without one. My family loves bananas. Right now we're consuming bananas like we're a family of wild monkeys. Bananas are perfect for traveling. You can throw one in a bag, travel for hours and the bananas is as delicious as ever. They are an ideal toddler food and great for a school kid's lunchbox too. They work well as a standalone masterpiece or as a sidekick to things like sandwiches and yogurts. 

Unfortunately, when we're consuming bananas at this rate, they don't stick around in the fruit bowl long enough to make banana muffins - a wonderful snack beloved by my kids (and their friends!)

Banana Muffins

• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TB sugar
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large very ripe bananas (*very* ripe) 
• 1/2 cup plain kefir 
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with liners. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set it aside. Mix the sugar and vegetable oil together (with a spoon or electric mixer). Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mash the bananas completely and then add them, mixing until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring only enough to moisten the dry ingredients and blend them in. Next, add in the kefir and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester or knife inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Cool for about 15 minutes. Makes 12-14 muffins. ​