A Recipe by Meghan McKeever
Breakfast is important. But, then again so is sleep. So, how do you ensure that you get a tasty balanced breakfast, while still allowing yourself those precious extra minutes under the covers? The Megg McKMuffin is my solution. A vegetarian delight, it is packed with protein to stave off hunger (about 13g), and prepared in about 3 minutes in the morning. I first heard of the concept at a Weight Watchers meeting, where they suggested using real eggs and adding turkey sausage or Canadian bacon. I modified it to accommodate my dislike of real eggs and my vegetarian diet. I’ve gotten the preparation down to a science and every few weeks I whip up two or three batches and keep them on hand. Crisis averted with a healthy breakfast and ten more minutes of sleep.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Makes 6 muffins
Ingredients:
12 oz. egg substitute (Egg Beaters, although the generics are just as good. I use plain, but you can use any of the varieties)
¼ cup of shredded 2% cheddar cheese
3.5 oz. (¼ of a package) “Gimme Lean” vegetarian ground sausage
2 Tbsp. dried onion
Diced jalapeños to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Whole-grain light English muffin (Thomas’ or some grocery stores have their own brand)
Recommendations:
- A silicone muffin pan. I experimented with metal pans, Pam, olive oil — anything to make release and cleanup easier — and trust me, unless you want to spend 30 minutes cleaning cooked egg off your metal pan, the silicone muffin pan is the only way to go.
- Mixing ingredients in a 2-cup measuring cup.
- You can add any other vegetables to this recipe, but I recommend using only dried vegetables, or cook and squeeze the moisture out of veggies like spinach, mushrooms, and peppers. Any excess moisture will make the tops of the muffins a little watery.
Cooking instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I find the best way to mix these up and eventually pour them, without making too many dirty dishes, is to use a measuring cup as a mixing bowl. Combine Egg Beaters, cheese, onion, jalapeños, other veggies, salt and pepper, in the measuring cup. Using a fork, mash the vegetarian ground sausage on a plate and add to the mixture in forkfuls. Using the fork and a little elbow grease, stir the faux sausage into the egg mixture; it will break up into bits as you mix.
The silicone muffin pan is floppy. (If you try to move the thing full of liquid Megg McKMuffins, you will end up with a very eggy floor.) So before pouring, put the pan on a flat cookie sheet for transport.
Pour the mixture into the muffin pan in equal amounts. As they cook, they fluff up a bit, so fill to just below the rim of the cup.
Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes.
Allow a few minutes to cool, Then, run a rubber spatula around the edge of the McKMuffins to release them. Freeze in one layer in a zip-top bag and store flat until frozen.
In the morning:
Defrost one McKMuffin (my microwave does a good job at 50% power for 2:30)
Toast a whole-grain light English muffin.
Enjoy! (with ketchup, or hot sauce, yum!)
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