I am not much of a meal-prepper. I try to plan somewhat, but when I try to meal plan with actual recipes and days we will have them, we end up with way too much food leftover in the refrigerator and it stresses me out. But, make-ahead ideas are great time savers!
We either end up eating the same things for too many days in a row or freezing some of it and forgetting to take it out later. In the end, it always gets eaten regardless … but official “meal plans” don’t seem to be our thing. I am more of a “grab two kinds of meat out of the freezer on Sunday and figure it out later” type of meal planner. I also try to make certain things ahead of time that are versatile – cooked rice, caramelized onions, pasta salad – stuff like that.
Breakfast Meal Prep
Anyway, one thing I do try to meal plan is breakfast. I’ve mentioned this in some prior posts, but I’m not a morning person, and anything I can do to save a few minutes on a weekday morning is perfect for me.
Last week, I made a batch of make-ahead egg cups, and that’s the recipe I’m going to share with you today. I had bought a few too many eggs at Aldi because our chickens weren’t laying yet and I just get so gosh darn excited when I’m in that store.
I had a package of organic oyster mushrooms from the Asian grocery store and some organic fresh spinach. So, it was decided – make some egg cups that we could easily warm up and eat in the morning.
I wanted to use all of my mushrooms and spinach, so I used 18 eggs – which made 18 egg cups. My husband admitted to me that he was getting a little tired of eating them after 5 days. He thought maybe if I had put some sausage in there, he would not be tired of them yet, ha!
We could have frozen some of them for short-term storage – maybe I will do that next time. In the morning, all you have to do is warm up one of the egg cups. Toss it on a bagel or piece of toast, and you are done.
I hope you enjoy!
Make Ahead Egg Cups
Ingredients:
- 18 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 6 ounces oyster mushrooms (or other mushrooms of your choice)
- 6 ounces fresh, organic baby spinach
- 8 ounces shredded Havarti cheese (or other cheese of your choice)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp butter
Directions:
- Put the eggs and milk into a bowl, and beat until combined. Set aside.
- Shred the cheese, and set aside. (I don’t buy pre-shredded cheese – if you do, you can just use that.)
- Chop the oyster mushrooms.
- Put 1 tsp of butter in a saucepan and saute the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the baby spinach and saute 2-3 more minutes until wilted. Let cool for 5-10 minutes so it isn’t too hot when you add it into your egg mixture.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the egg/milk mixture with the shredded cheese, and stir in the cooled mushroom and spinach mixture. Add salt and pepper.
- Rub the other tsp of butter into the cups of your muffin pan (I don’t use papers.) Use a coated nonstick pan or silicone cups – if you use a non-coated aluminum pan your eggs could turn green. You can either rub the butter from a cold stick into the cups or melt it and brush it in the cups with a silicone basting brush. (I don’t use cooking spray either, but if you do you could just do that instead.)
- Fill each of the muffin cups about 3/4 full of the mixture. Put into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. (Exact baking time depends on your pan and your oven. They are done with the egg doesn’t ‘jiggle’ in the middle but shouldn’t be so done that they are turning brown on top.)
- Remove from oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from pan and placing on a cooling rack. I store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for easy morning breakfasts. You could also freeze for short-term storage.
Want more tips from Darcy? Download her FREE Printable – Things You Can Easily Make at Home Instead of Buying Premade right here!
