Make Ahead Spinach, Bacon and Egg Sandwiches

It's about to get really really busy up in here. Next week, I'm on the longer shifts at work so I'll be starting early most days, then the week after we have a big big PR event that I'm partially responsible for, then we go on our dark and I'm away for most of two weeks... one week in Antigua, one day in New York, then two or three days in the mountains learning to Snowboard with the new boy. I'm learning, not him. He can already Snowboard quite well,  although there was an incident with a tree last season that best not spoken of.

When I go into a period where I'm about to get busy, I try and be smart and prep ahead with food in the freezer so I'm not busy and tired AND hungry. Honestly, you don't want me to be all three. I'm awful. I'll start by getting cranky, then I'll just live on the verge of tears where any little thing can make me cry. I am not fun when I'm busy and tired and hungry.

But the promise of vacation is coming. I think the last time I went on a real holiday was when I was a teenager. Every other time I've been responsible for someone else, or visiting family, or something else where I can't relax. I'm so happy I get to just take a week on a beach with no one but my Mum and Stepdad, and unlimited food, drink, beach and sleeping.

So anyways. Make ahead stuff. I've seen a version of this knocking around Pinterest for a while. I figured I would go ahead and play around and see what I could come up with. I'm a big fan of adding bacon to things, and when I was making this, I had a really really good idea. I was cooking the bacon, and prepping the muffin cups, and I was about to reach for some cooking spray when I said Nay! Thou Shalt Not Use Cooking Spray, Thou Shalt Use Bacon Grease!! And yea verily, a bacon grease smeared muffin cup was born. For I am mighty in my use of bacon. I love my brain sometimes.

So yeah, screw the spray, use the bacon grease. I made six of these and after they had cooled, I wrapped them in foil and put them in a freezer bag. When I want one, it'll be two minutes in the microwave, add a slice of cheese and an English Muffin, and I'll be out the door on my way to make people fly through the air.

Make Ahead Spinach, Bacon and Egg Sandwiches

6 Eggs
3 Rashers of Bacon, cut in half
1 Cup Spinach
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the over to 350F. Cook the bacon in a skillet until mostly done. Use a basting brush to coat six muffin cups with bacon grease. Layer in the spinach so that it is essentially lining the muffin cup.
Lay a piece of bacon in each cup. I like to flip it over a little so it's like a little ball of bacon. Break an egg into each cup and put a few grinds of salt and pepper over each one.

 

Bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Everything will be cooked through and delicious. Allow to cool then wrap individually in foil, and place in a freezer. To use later, unwrap from the foil, pop in the microwave for two minutes or a little longer if needed. Add a slice of cheese and an English Muffin and you've got breakfast. 

Eat hurriedly whilst heading to your car. Then double back because you left your coffee on the counter. 

Makes 6.

Healthy Scrambled Egg Wrap

I know, I know. I'm on another breakfast kick that I can't seem to shake. I'm not complaining, though, because this one is really really good.

I've mentioned a few times before that I went through a period of weight loss over the last year. It wasn't easy, and I'm still working my ass off to maintain my current level of fitness. I'm so much healthier, happier and I have more energy. These days I try and do a big run on Tuesdays.... hoping to reach my goal of being able to run a 10K (6.2 miles) in an hour by the 1st of December. I'm at 5.81 miles right now and continuing to push. I try and do at least three 20+ minute runs at other times during the week, and I'm also starting to add in some more toning and shaping.

I'm happy with how far I've come and I'm happy with where I'm going. The only problem is that I've come to realize that it's going to be very easy for me to backslide. Gone are the days when I could eat anything that I wanted. Now it's all about portion control. If I make cookies, I eat one or two and I don't eat half a cup of the dough any more.

So I'm frequently on the look out for lower calorie, flavorful food that I can put into my regular rotation. A while ago I decided that I don't eat enough veggies, so I starting going more for scrambled eggs with spinach and other vegetables, instead of my usual poached egg on toast.

I've made this combination as just a bowl of scrambled eggs, as a breakfast sandwich using Sandwich Thins, and as a wrap. Honestly, in my opinion, the wrap is the best choice. It comes together quickly and it's really delicious. It won't break the calorie bank, and it's nice and filling.

Healthy Scrambled Egg Wrap

1/2 Cup Spinach
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Egg Whites
2 Tablespoons Goat Cheese
1 Tablespoon Sundried Tomatoes (chopped small)
1 Teaspoon Butter Replacer (I use Store Brand I Can't Believe it's Not Butter)
1 Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla
Salt
Pepper

In a saucepan over a medium/low heat, melt the butter replacer. Add in the sundried tomatoes, egg and egg white, and a few grinds of salt and pepper. The key to scrambled eggs is cook over a gentle heat and to stir frequently. So, stir frequently and gently until the eggs are cooked most of the way through. Add the spinach and cook for a few more seconds, then add the goat cheese.

Warm your flour tortilla just a little by setting over the flame of a stove for 5 seconds each side. Turn out your eggs onto the tortilla, wrap up and serve.

Eat at the dining room table, staring out a window at rare fluffy clouds.

Serves 1.

Bacon, Brie and Spinach Quiche

Normally, I use the phrase "When all else fails, just drink wine". I'm amending that today.

"When all else fails, just make quiche".

I sometimes think that I make too much quiche. It's my go to. My fall back when I have nothing in the freezer, or when I have extras of something that I feel like I need to use up. The story of this quiches inception story involves the latter.

A little while ago, I got into the habit of having a midnight snack of some really good brie on some toasted bread, or a couple of crackers. This with a glass of wine is what became my go-to after work for about a month. I'm still on the kick, but I've been trying to be better about eating things that are delicious unhealthy before bed.

One fateful night, I was heading home. I was tired and sleepy and I just wanted to curl up in bed with my snack of choice, a decent glass of red, and some early episodes of 30 Rock. As I was driving, I remembered devastatingly that I was out of Brie, and also out of cat food. I stopped at the 24 hour grocery store and sleepily grabbed some cheese and friskies, concentrating hard to ensure I didn't mix them up. I got home, toasted my bread and cut into my cheese. This was when I realized that I had picked up some decidedly sub par cheese. This was not the creamy brie that I had been spoiled by. This brie made me sad and unsatisfied. I crawled into bed with just my wine and pouted.

The next day I wrestled with what to do about the Brie. It was a slow day at work. I decided that if I was thinking about it at work, I should just go and pick up some decent Brie, dammit. So i did. The rejected Brie sat in my cheese drawer for a couple of weeks. I felt sorry for it. It hadn't done anything wrong and here it was, lazing around and going to waste.

So when I went through my freezer trying to take stock of the necessary pantry busting that was coming and found some bacon, I realized that I could make this Brie's life worth living. I could restore it to joy and glory. I could turn it into quiche!

So that is what I did.

Spinach, Bacon and Brie Quiche

I've posted a basic quiche recipe before in the early days of my blog. This one is very similar in structure and is a good base to use if you ever want to make a standard quiche. I have a real live quiche pan in the mail right now because I did get a wee bit tired of using my good old pie pan. I'm looking forward to christening it. For the filling, if you don't want to use cream, you can substitute it with half and half or milk.

The Pastry

1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons (1/3rd Cup) Butter
2-4 Tablespoons Cold water

Make sure the butter is really cold. Dice it up and mix it with the salt and flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add a little water at a time and mix or knead until the dough comes together. You don't want it sticky at all. Roll it out until it's the size of the pie dish. Set into a standard pie or tart pan, spread evenly up the sides. If you have a standard tart pan, you may have some excess to trim off. If you are using a pie dish, you'll likely have extra pastry up the sides when the filling is in. Personally, I like the crunch, but feel free to trim it is you don't.

The Filling

6oz Brie
1 Cup Fresh Spinach, Chopped
4 Rashers Bacon, cooked crispy
5 Eggs
1/4 Cup Cream
1/4 tsp Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cook the bacon until it is nicely crispy, then chop in into inch sized pieces. Chop up the Brie and layer it over the bottom of the pie dish. Cover with the chopped spinach, then sprinkle over the bacon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and salt and pepper. Pour over the fillings. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is cooked and the filling is set. Delicious warm or cold.

Makes 8 servings. Believe it or not, this quiche freezes beautifully wrapped in foil and then stored in a zip lock bag.