Easy Muffin Mini Frittatas

_{Confession: I’m not terribly good at making New Year’s resolutions. For the past several months, however, I’ve been on a bit of a mission to make sure I’m feeding my family a variety of foods and cooking more from scratch with fresh ingredients whenever possible. (Honestly, I think I blame this partly on Pinterest. I’ve got all these recipes pinned and I decided I really should start trying these out. And you know what? It’s mostly fun!)}

_{I’ll be the first to admit that this can be challenging, however, especially during the week when everyone arrives home after school and work  starving and asking “what’s for dinner?” All while my energy level is depleting, rapidly.}

_{My quest is to eat more fresh and healthy foods – and to find foods beyond boxed macaroni and cheese and frozen chicken tenders that my son will like. I have nothing against those products – I just don’t want Joe to ONLY eat these foods. Which he would, gladly, if I let him. Have I mentioned he’s a picky eater? As in PICKY EATER.}

_{We haven’t had too many break-through moments yet, but we’ve been exercising more regularly as a family together (Joe can run nearly 2 miles now with me!) and talking to Joe about the importance of eating a variety of healthy foods. So far, he doesn’t love much of anything new I’m putting on the table, but he is trying these new things with only an occasional gag reflex – feigned or otherwise – and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.}

_{One of my go-to’s when it comes to a real, fresh food that is packed with protein and nutrients is pretty simple: eggs. If you read my blog regularly, then you probably know I like to bake and use tons of eggs that way. But an egg by itself is pretty awesome too  – all-natural and one of the highest quality proteins of any food available.}

_{And because you all know I’m a bit of a poultry nerd, I must share with you these amazing egg nutrition facts:}

• One egg provides more than six grams of protein (or 13 percent of what’s recommended for our daily intake!), with nearly half found in the yolk.
• _{One egg has only 70 calories.}
• _{An egg is packed with important vitamins and minerals – including choline, selenium, vitamin B12, phosphorus and riboflavin.}

_{All this in one, all-natural egg!}

_{Did you notice that half the protein is in the yolk?  Yes, the yolk! So don’t deny yourself all the nutritional benefits by eating only the egg whites – especially when you realize one egg is only 70 calories. There is no need to deny yourself.}

_{Sunday nights at our house often mean eggs for supper. (I’m a Minnesota farm girl so I still can’t help but call it supper.) And this doesn’t have to mean fancy – often, it means a simple fried egg sandwich, egg salad, scrambled eggs or an omelet. Sometimes simple is best. And eggs can do simple like nobody’s business – any day of the week.}

_{This past weekend, I tried a new egg recipe that was super easy with a ton of flavor – muffin frittatas. Sounds complicated (what exactly is a frittata, you ask?) but trust me, these couldn’t be easier.}

_{Added bonus – along with the eggs, this recipe adds in some colorful vegetables and cheddar cheese to make it a really nutritious, well-rounded addition to a breakfast or brunch. We ate them at our house with toast, jam and a side of fruit and we were filled up all morning. (Another added bonus of eggs: all that protein keeps us satiated until the next meal – less inclination to snack!) I put the leftovers in the freezer and plan to feed off them all week – I’ll just pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to heat them up.}

_{Easy peasy plus fresh and healthy. And great portion control – each muffin frittata is just over 160 calories.}

Seriously, how yummy do these look?

_{I work on behalf of egg farmers every day and am well familiar with the benefits of including eggs in your diet. However, I also feel good about the work they are doing to showcase their farms and how they raise their hens, and, at the same time, fight childhood hunger in the U.S. You can learn more about egg farming and the Good Egg Project here and take the pledge against childhood hunger. For every pledge received, egg farmers will donate an egg to local food banks.}

_{It may not sound like much, but each pledge really adds up – over 48 million eggs have been donated since this project began in 2009!}

_{I hope you will join me in this quest to eat healthy in 2014 and beyond. Check out the muffin frittata recipe below – it’s a really delicious start! – and you can find more egg recipes here.}

_{And if you’ve got any tips on how you create healthy, interesting meals for your family (and any picky eaters you may have), please share in the comments below or on my Facebook page – I would love to hear from you!}

Oh, and just because I love this photo, here’s Earl the pug, about to enjoy a hard-cooked egg all to himself. Whenever I hard cook eggs for my family, I always make sure I have one extra for Earl because he loves, loves, loves eggs – and he also benefits from all the same nutrition that we do!

Muffin Frittatas

Source: American Egg Board

• 6 EGGS
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz.)
• 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2 Tablespoons chopped red onion

Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl until blended.

Add cheese, zucchini, bell pepper and onion; mix well.

Spoon evenly into 12 greased muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each.

Bake in 350°F oven until just set, 20 to 22 minutes.

Cool on rack 5 minutes. Remove from cups; serve warm.

You can view this recipe and all the nutrition details here, as well.

Note: This blog post was sponsored by the American Egg board; all opinions are strictly my own.

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A Good Egg

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