Stefanie & Tyler

As soon as the reality of 4 hours of class beginning at 8am kicked in, I realized that I needed to come up with a way to have a hearty breakfast that didn’t require me to get up at 5am everyday to make it. I did some research and started reading some of my favorite food blogs looking for the best hearty make-ahead breakfast ideas. While I found a couple good ones, the one that quickly became our favorite I found over at this site. I made my own adaptations to the recipe to fit the local ingredients available, etc. Tyler and I love these little things and I am trying to find time every week to replenish our stash in the freezer. Trust me, this recipe though seeming time-consuming at first is well worth the time.

What You Need For Batter:

1/4 cup cornstarch
 1 1/4 cup whole milk 
 2 large eggs
 2 large egg yolks
 1 cup heavy cream
 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

**note: I often substitute half-n-half and skim milk for some or all of the heavy cream and whole milk to cut down on fat and calories. So far, it has tasted great even with the substitutions so feel free to make them a little healthier.

For Filling:

minced garlic
sliced onions
sliced potatoes
chopped bell peppers
sliced spinach leaves
diced tomatoes
cooked bacon pieces
shredded parmesan cheese
fresh chopped basil
olive oil 

**note on the filling: you can put anything you want inside of these. This is my favorite filling, but I have added all kinds of things to these. You can add any filling you can invent.

Heat oven to 450°F.

To Prepare Batter: Put the cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisking steadily, slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the milk, mixing until quite smooth. Whisk in the whole eggs and egg yolks, mixing again until smooth, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk, the cream, salt, and nutmeg. Be sure to re-whisk well if you let it sit for a little while as you prepare the rest, it tends to separate.

To Prepare Filling: To make my favorite filling I add a little olive oil to a large pan and add the potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper. I heat them over high heat to get them golden brown and then I turn the heat down to low to let them soften up. When they are almost done, I add the garlic and onions and let cook for about a minute, then I add the bell peppers and kick the heat back up. After the peppers start to soften, I add the spinach and stir for about 30 seconds and then remove it from the heat.

Oil mini muffin tins well. The original recipe was for mini muffin tins, but I used regular sized ones because that is what I had and actually found that one muffin tin sized quiche was the perfect amount for Tyler and I for breakfast. Put a pinch grated cheese into each muffin cup, a couple spoon fulls of the veggie mixture and throw in some bacon crumbles and a couple tomato pieces. Then top with fresh basil leaves. Into the cup spoon in the batter. Usually each muffin tin took about 1/4 cup batter.

Bake until the quiches puff and start to turn golden, 15-25 minutes. My oven is finicky, but it is important that they are set in the middle or you will never get them out of the cups. Let cool for 10 minutes and then carefully run a paring knife around the rim of each muffin cup. Carefully lift each quiche out of its cup.

Fresh out of the oven - they look tasty!

I make these babies ahead of time and freeze them for breakfast. I make a weeks worth of quiche on Saturday and Tyler and I can have yummy breakfast all week. I take the quiche out of the freezer the night before (if I remember) and pop it in my toaster oven at about 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until hot.

These will revolutionize your early mornings. And they are hearty enough to keep me going even when I have 4 hours of class in the morning.

Enjoy!