In the kitchen with Kelley: Muffin-Tin Frittatas

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Kelley Martin, a 46-year-old single mother of three. Will, my 18-year-old son, is a senior in high school. Margeaux, my 15-year-old daughter, is a sophomore. And my 12-year-old son, Chase, is a seventh-grader.

All my kids are very active. Will has a part-time job doing landscaping work. Margeaux is on her school’s volleyball team. And Chase plays soccer for the high school and is a tuba player in the middle school marching band.

I work full time, and all of us participate in church-related activities. As you can probably imagine, our lives are super busy and my budget is tight.

Why would I tell you those intimate details? It’s because I’m going to share with you my family’s favorite recipes, and I wanted to explain who we are and why we eat what we do.

You see, our nutritional needs and our taste preferences are varied. Will, who is tall and thin, wants to gain weight. Margeaux has a sweet tooth, but she wants to eat healthily. And Chase is at that age where he’s growing like a weed. As for me, I’m at that age where it seems I look at food and gain weight.

In addition, we have various health issues. All four of us have allergies. Three of us have asthma. Two of us get migraines. You get the picture. And, frankly, I would prefer not to spend money and time going to the doctor if that can be avoided. So I try to make sure we eat right in order to keep us as healthy as possible.

Lastly, I need to tell you that we live in a small town in the South. Why does that matter? It’s because I cannot get fancy ingredients without driving an hour to the closest big city. So I choose recipes with foods that are readily available to me.

So, in a nutshell, here’s what you can expect from me on a daily basis in this new feature for Easy Health. I will share recipes that I either have made or would make for my family. They will be healthy recipes made with mostly whole foods, including a good many raw foods. Because I am busy, they will include quick and easy recipes, slow cooker recipes and freezable foods. Because I am frugal, they will very likely be inexpensive to make. The ingredients should be readily available in most locales.

In keeping with the philosophy of the founders of this website, I recommend buying organic produce and meats whenever possible and using only raw dairy or dairy products made from raw milk or goat milk. The ingredients may cost a little more, but think of the money you’ll save on doctors and medications.

Let’s get to the recipe of the day. School started back recently. As every parent knows, it takes a while for kids to get back into the morning routine. I figure it’s my job to make that transition go as smoothly as possible. So I’ve been fixing and freezing grab-and-go foods. This is a great one for breakfast or for lunch.

Muffin-Tin Frittatas

makes 24 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 dozen eggs
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• large bag of fresh baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• nonstick cooking spray
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft.
3. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
4. Whisk together the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon veggies into each muffin cup, filling each about a third of the way.
6. Pour egg mixture over the veggies, filling to about 1/8 of an inch below the rim of the muffin cup.*
7. Bake for 20-24 minutes.

*If you like, you can pour the egg mixture to about ¼ of an inch below the rim of the muffin cup and sprinkle with goat cheese.

I usually make at least a double batch of these, allow them to cool, wrap them individually with wax paper, put them in a large zippered freezer bag and freeze them. That way, the kids can grab as many or as few as they like. If they want them for breakfast, they take them out the night before and let them defrost in the refrigerator. Then they reheat them in the microwave for about a minute. If they want them for lunch, they just put them frozen into their lunch boxes. The muffins defrost by lunchtime, and the kids don’t usually even bother trying to heat them in the cafeteria microwave. They like them as they are.

Nutrition Facts

Muffin-tin Fritattas (Serving size: 1 frittata)

Amount Per Serving
Calories 82.1, Total Fat 5.6 g, Saturated Fat 1.6 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2.3 g, Cholesterol 185.0 mg, Sodium 78.1 mg, Potassium 70.0 mg, Total Carbohydrate 1.3 g, Dietary Fiber 0.4 g, Sugars 0.6 g, Protein 6.5 g