Salsa Egg and Cheese Cup

High protein in breakfast is easy to get. Stay away from starches, high-sugar and low-fiber cereals, breakfast bars loaded with sugars, slider foods, and sweet pastries. The worst being is skipping breakfast. If you skip meals, you run the risk of placing yourself back into starvation mode, reducing or stalling your weight loss process, as well as a myriad of other potential health risks.

Your best source for morning protein is eggs. It's a good thing an egg is versatile and can be cooked in many different ways, too! I'm going to show you one way, that you can change up for however you want. Adding and subtracting things from this recipe will help you vary your diet as well as get the nutrition you need.

Salsa Egg and Cheese Cup
Prep Time: <5 min, Cook Time: 25 min,  Servings 6

Ingredients:
5 Eggs
1/3 Cup Cottage Cheese

6 Tbsp Salsa
1/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and cottage cheese.
3. Spray 6 muffin cups in tray with cooking spray (or line with cupcake liners). Distribute egg mix evenly between cups.
4. Bake for 12 min, remove from oven and spoon salsa into the middle of every cup. Then sprinkle 2 tsp of cheese over each cup.
5. Bake again for 12 min or until eggs are puffy, and cheese is melted and lightly toasted.
6. Enjoy warm and store remaining in sandwich bags and refrigerate for an easy warm up for breakfasts!

Gather and measure out your ingredients. Since cottage cheese is a great protein stack, my husband and I go through enough to buy it in bulk from Costco. Eggs we find at Aldi's cheaper, but Krogers occasionally has a sale that makes them comparable or cheaper. Cheese is often on sale at Kroger as well, and I stock up and freeze extra. If you don't have a Kroger in your area, you may have Cala Foods, Copps, Dillons, Fred Meyers, Fry's, QFC, Ralphs or another grocery store owned by the same chain. They all tend to run the same deals.

I personally have had problems with onions after surgery with reflux issues, so finding a salsa without onions is on the top of my list. There are recipes you can find to make on your own and save a bit of cash. For convenience I like Mrs. Renfro's Black Bean Salsa - 2jar pack, some Kroger and Walmart has this in store too. The salsa favors flavor over spice, which is a good thing to look for in salsa.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Crack your eggs and whisk together with the cottage cheese. You can easily mix it all by hand, but if you have large curd and issues with texture, you may want to use a stand or hand blender to whisk together.

Once blended, fill the cooking oil sprayed muffin cups. If you don't usually have cooking oil, muffin cup liners will help, but you may want to lessen the amount of egg in each cup, as it will puff up. I use a small half tray for cupcakes, but a full size muffin tin will do the job as well. Pop the tray in the oven for 12 minutes.

Once the time is up, pull the tray out carefully, the outside of the egg should be cooked, and the inside will still be pretty liquid.

Now you can put in your ingredients, try not to put more than 2 Tbsp of anything in, as it will make the cups overflow. You may want to keep a towel handy for accidental overflows.

I used a Tbsp of salsa for each, and then about 2 tsp of cheese on top. Once it is full, and the tray cleaned off of any spills, carefully place it into the oven for another round of baking. 12 minutes or greater will be needed to cook the egg thoroughly. You can tell it's done when the egg is puffy and the cheese on top is melted and lightly toasted.

Eat fresh and store the rest in a sandwich bag or small reusable container. It will last for up to a week in the fridge, so make certain to date it. In my house this amount lasts about 2-3 days before it's all gone and another batch is made.

I have not frozen them, but freezing cooked product typically allows it to last a month or two. Just be sure to cook it as soon as it's thawed.


Enjoy your breakfast! -Bariatric Barb