Fit Fare

Like a lot of women (and men too probably), when I was in college, I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I’d skip breakfast, have a bacon cheeseburger (with fries) or a personal pizza for lunch around 2 and eat whatever came to mind sometime around 6 for dinner. My calorie and fat intake were, well, abysmal, but I was still a size 4. I miss those days.

When I started to work on improving my health, one of my first goals was to start eating breakfast. I tried a number of different types of food. I started with cereal. Unfortunately, even the healthy cereals like bran flakes or oatmeal left me hungry an hour later. Then I moved onto yogurt. This worked slightly better, except for the fact that I really didn’t like the taste. Next, I started making little egg sandwiches. These worked out great for my weight and my hunger level. I’d fry two egg whites in a very small pat of butter, add a slice of turkey, ham, or low-fat salami, and smoosh the whole thing in a whole wheat English muffin. The only problem with this plan was that it took me a good 15 minutes to prepare every morning. I tried making them ahead of time and just reheating them, but the eggs never quite tasted right in the microwave.

Once I moved to my current job and started working out first thing in the morning at the gym, breakfasts became even harder. Now I needed something that I could not only prepare ahead of time, but something that would be portable. I personally cannot eat before workouts, so my breakfasts are eaten 90 minutes after I leave the house, right after I leave the gym.

After much searching, my husband and I came across the perfect breakfast for us. They are portable, easy to make on the weekends, are diabetic friendly, and can be made extremely healthy.

I present to you… Mini Frittatas!

Mini Breakfast Frittatas
10 servings

4 slices of bacon
1 red bell pepper
2 Tbsp pureed chipotle chilies in Adobo sauce
2 large eggs
6 egg whites
1/4 cup fat free half and half
3 oz Feta cheese (or other low fat crumbly cheese)

Chop the bacon into small bits and cook until crispy. Dice the bell pepper and cook thoroughly. Drain both the bacon and the pepper on paper towels and set aside.

In a small food processor, puree the chipotle chilies.

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and egg whites until frothy. I use a Kitchenaid Mixer and beat them for at least 7 minutes. This might seem excessive, but the frothier the eggs, the better the frittatas.

Pour in the half and half and continue to beat for another 1-2 minutes.

Add the pureed chipotle chilies, the bacon, and the bell pepper and beat on a low speed for 30 seconds.

Divide the mixture into 10 muffin cups. The solids will settle at the bottom, so use a measuring cup to be sure that you get some of the bacon and pepper in each cup.

At this point, I prefer to cook the frittatas for 6 minutes, then pull the muffin pan out of the oven and sprinkle some cheese on top of each frittata. If you do this, the cheese will remain at the top of the frittata, which I personally prefer. If you don’t want to hassle with this, sprinkle some cheese in each cup before you put them in the oven.

Bake for a total of 25-27 minutes. When you pull them out of the oven, they should be puffed up, much like a souffle. Within minutes, however, they will fall.

Cool for at least 30 minutes on a wire rack. Store in a large ziplock bag in the refrigerator along with a paper towel to absorb the excess moisture. These will keep for a full week.

You can experiment with this recipe to your heart’s content. I’ve added onion before, used red pepper flakes instead of pureed chipotle, used real bacon, even cheddar cheese. This is the version I like the best, but you may find your own perfect mix.