Healthy Breakfast Frittatas

Healthy Breakfast Frittatas

I have been wanting to make some Breakfast Frittatas, or as we are more likely to call them in the south, Breakfast Muffins. I decided to name them Frittatas because many folks associate muffins with somethings sweet and these are definitely NOT sweet! They are savory and tasty, healthy, carb free and high in good for you protein. This recipe makes 12 individual frittatas. I ate 2 this morning, my husband ate one, but he had an English Muffin with his. I am trying to watch my carbs, my biggest healthy eating challenge, so any time I can get satisfied without eating bread, pasta or potatoes, I am happy!


These come together pretty quickly -- and the prep is relatively easy. I hear you can freeze these, but I have an idea ours will disappear within the work week, reheated easily in the microwave. Also, feel free to substitute the vegetables that you like. What I used here was what I had on hand on a Monday morning after a busy weekend, filled with friends, cooking and gardening. Next time I do this I think I'll try a mixture of spinach, onions and maybe a little feta cheese for something different. Broccoli, cheddar, onion and bacon would be good too. OH, and how about a Southwestern Style one, served with salsa? The possibilities are endless!  Stay tuned, I'll post what else I come up with!

And, Weight Watchers, these weigh in at only 2 Smart Points per piece! Win, win!! To keep the points at 2, don't alter the amount of cheese, eggs, milk, sausage and olive oil. The rest is "free" so you can play around with that to your hearts content! 


Healthy Breakfast Frittatas
makes 12 "muffins"

6 large eggs
1/4 cup 1% lowfat milk
8 ounces turkey breakfast sausage (I used Wegmans)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped roasted red pepper, packed in water
1 small can sliced mushrooms
2 ounces Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp 2% Cheese
1 tsp. olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
Hot sauce to serve, if desired
Non-stick cooking spray (like Pam)

In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up and crumbling it as you cook until browned with no pink showing. Remove the sausage to a paper plate lined with a paper towel to remove any excess fat. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Drain excess fat from the sausage. 

Add the olive oil and onions to the skillet. While the onions begin to soften, beat together the eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and peppers to the onions in the skillet and saute' together for a few minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Spray your muffin tin thoroughly with non-stick cooking spray. Add the sausage, divided evenly to the the bottom of each muffin cup -- it's about a Tablespoon of sausage per cup. Add the veggies on top of the sausage, making sure there is a little of each vegetable in every cup. Lastly, gently pour the egg mixture over the sausage and veggies. I found it is about a scant 1/4 cup egg mixture to each muffin cup.

Bake for 22 minutes at 350 degrees. Let the "muffins" cool in the tin at least 5 minutes or they will break up. We liked ours served with a little hot sauce, but they were good without it too! Yummy!

Add a little hot sauce if you like a little heat! 

Healthy Breakfast Frittatas -- YUMMY! And only 2 WW SP per piece! 

Perfect Fall Brunch: Breakfast Pizza and Fried Apples

Breakfast Pizza with Fried Apples

The weather has turned decidedly cooler this weekend here in Central VA. I've had apples on my mind -- sweet, tart, crispy apples. Yesterday for lunch I made a fruit salad filled with apples, red grapes, pineapple and orange slices. This morning, I made Fried Apples to go along with our Breakfast Pizza Casserole. They were a favorite of my mom, and something she made many weekend mornings.

This Breakfast Pizza is a long time family favorite, and while it is really, really kid friendly, adults like it too. It goes together quickly and will feed 8 easily. You could definitely add some veggies if you've got ambitious eaters or all adults -- roasted red peppers, onions, mushrooms, a little spinach -- all of those would be good, I'm sure.

This is the way I made it when my kids were younger. I've cut way back on the fat in the original recipe simply by making smarter purchases. Instead of regular Jimmy Dean pork sausage, I bought the lower fat version. And when they say "low fat" they mean it! There was barely ANY grease in the pan when I fried it up to use in the casserole, as you can see in this picture:

I have to say that it tasted great in the casserole... I didn't miss the grease at all! I also purchased Low Fat Crescent Rolls instead of the original. You absolutely can NOT tell the difference!

Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls

The next time you need something for more than 2 people to make for brunch, try this. Whether it's a special occasion, or you just want to make it special, this is a great way to go. It's really prefect on a cool fall morning. Your family and friends will eat it up!


Breakfast Pizza
serves 6 - 8

1 pkg. Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls (8 count)
6 eggs
1/3 c. low-fat milk (I used 1%)
1 roll Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage, regular flavor, 10 oz.
1 1/2 c. part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
pinch of salt and pepper
a few chives for serving
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large non-stick skillet, cook your sausage, breaking it up into small pieces. Cook it until completely done, with no pink showing. Remove the sausage to a small bowl and wipe any excess grease from the pan. Set aside to use for the apples. Spray a 9X13" Pyrex casserole dish with cooking spray. Unroll the crescent rolls in one piece and fit them into the bottom of the dish, pressing the seams together, like this:

Unroll the crescent rolls in one piece for the crust.

Layer the cooked sausage over the crust and sprinkle with the cheese:

Crumble the sausage on top of the rolls  

Add cheese on top of the sausage.

Beat the eggs together with the milk and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the pizza. Cook at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned and "set" in the middle. Sprinkle with chives if desired, because after all, it's got to look pretty too! We eat with our eyes first, right? 

Breakfast Pizza

While the pizza is cooking, prepare your apples.

Fried Apples

5-6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 T. Land o' Lakes Butter
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Melt the butter (medium heat) in the same pan you cooked the sausage. Add the apples, making sure they have good contact with the pan, so that they begin to brown slightly. After a few minutes, stir them gently, with a spatula, and turn them over so that both sides of each slice gets cooked. Sprinkle the apples with the sugar and continue to cook for about 5 minutes and then add the cinnamon. Be sure not to over-do the cinnamon. You want them to be lightly sweetened with just a touch of cinnamon. 

Sprinkle them lightly with cinnamon.

Continue to stir the apples until they begin to soften and release their juices. When you are there, cover the pan, and cook for 3 more minutes. Don't want to cook them to mush, you want them to retain their shape and texture. Turn them off and hold them until brunch is ready to be served. 

Fried Apples. There are 5 fairly large Granny Smith apples in the skillet.
They cook down a bit. You can add them gradually as you cook them so they don't fly all over the kitchen! 

Bon Appetit! 

Happy New Year...start out right with a fabulous breakfast!

Fabulous poached eggs with biscuits and Country Ham! 

I love breakfast food, and the majority of the time I try and keep it healthy and low cal. However, every now and then, I love to get creative in the morning with a sinfully rich starter that's worth blogging about.

Many years ago, there was a great little restaurant within walking distance of our very first home together, called the Gallery Cafe. Some of you native Richmonders may remember this gem on Semmes Ave. They served a great brunch and made some mean bloody mary's! The dish I remember best, and get to craving now and then was a heavenly egg creation with a rich sauce, and broccoli. Here is as close as I can come to it, without knowing the recipe and filtering through about 25 years!

I used a little help from the store, and purchased a hollandaise sauce mix. I have a great recipe for hollandaise, but frankly, 9 am on New Years Day, was NOT the time to break it out! SO, I grabbed the mix I keep stached at the back of my cupboard, and cooked away. The envelope went into the trash so quickly, no one knew the difference! I also used refrigerated biscuits, but if you feel like making your own, go for it. The original recipe was made served over English muffins, so if that's what you've got around, use them.

Gallery Cafe Eggs

Serves 4 big eaters

8 eggs

8 biscuits or English Muffins

2 c. hollandaise sauce

2 cups cooked broccoli florets

4 slices procuitto or your favorite ham

Heat your oven and bake the biscuits according to the directions (or split the muffins for toasting). Set a wide deep pan half full of water and bring it to a boil, for poaching the eggs. Make your hollandaise sauce and steam the broccoli. Turn off the broccoli and keep the sauce warm while poaching the eggs.

To poach the eggs, the water must be boiling gently. Break one egg into a bowl, and swirl the water to create a vortex. Slip the egg into the center of the vortex and let it cook about 2 minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon onto a warm plate, and continue cooking the eggs.

Now, for the assembly process:

Split the biscuits on a large plate (or a toasted English muffin). Top with a slice of ham, and 2 poached eggs. Arrange some broccoli attractively on the plate, and drizzle the entire dish with about 1/2 c. hollandaise sauce. Dig in and enjoy!

What a way to start out 2010! Let's hope it will be a happy, healthy and prosperous year!