Day 78: Weird Breakfast-y Thing

Today I experimented with making a portable breakfast snack for early mornings. Sadly, my apple-cinnamon steel cut oatmeal is getting very old. So for dinner tonight, I decided to make a sort-of low-fat quiche with hash brown crust to go with a huge, huge salad — it’s like my detox meal after high-fat family stuff is over. The quiche-thing worked, but the crust didn’t turn out as crunchy as I’d have liked. For the portable part, I made two small ones in these 4” ramekins I have lying around. They turned out looking like pancakes for fatties, but they’re pretty good.

Breakfast-y Thing
2 eggs
1/2 container egg whites (or about 6 separated egg whites)
1/4 c. fat free half & half
1/4 c. milk
4 button mushrooms, sliced, or a small tomato, seeded
3 T butter
4 cups hash browns, frozen
2 T minced onion
couple handfuls of grated cheddar
salt & pepper
pinch of oregano or your favorite seasoning (Mrs. Dash is also good here)

Heat oven to 450 degrees and oil a pie pan and two small ramekins, or two pie pans. Melt the butter and hash browns in the microwave for about a minute, until everything’s a little soft. Mix with onions, salt and pepper, and oregano. Spread into the pans and press down firmly. Bake 15 minutes, or until tops are crispy and browned. In the mean time, mix up the eggs with the dairy. Add more salt and pepper to taste. When the hash browns are crisp, spread the mushrooms or tomatoes across the bottom, then pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the oven on the bottom rack, and turn the temperature down to 400 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. The egg mix should puff up when cooked through. Serve with a big ol’ salad.