MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - SAUSAGE, SPINACH AND MUSHROOM BITES - 6 SERVINGS

Sausage, Spinach & Mushroom Egg Bites - 6 servings

This is a very nice change of pace from our usual breakfast. I found the original recipe at Eating Well at this link. The author is Craig Ruff. I always recommend visiting these blogs to see the original recipes. They have great photos, great tips and other great recipes.

Total time from prep to table: 50 minutes.

Active time: 25 minutes 

Servings: 6

Calories for 1: 232 

1 tablespoon canola oil (I used olive oil in a spray bottle)

6 ounces pork breakfast sausage

4 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

2 cups coarsely chopped baby spinach

8 large eggs

2/3 cup whole milk 

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. 

Add sausage; cook, stirring often and breaking into crumbles, until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes. 

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the drippings in the pan. 

Reduce heat to medium.

Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned in most spots, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Add spinach; cook, stirring constantly, until wilted, about 30 seconds. 

Transfer the vegetable mixture to the plate with the sausage. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. 

Stir in the cooled sausage/mushroom mixture. 

Divide the mixture among the prepared muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each. (I was a little concerned we had filled the cups too full but they didn't overflow in the oven, it worked out well.)

Bake, rotating the pan front to back once, until puffed and set, 14 to 16 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before removing the egg bites from the pan.

To make ahead:

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap individually in plastic and freeze for 1 month. (We used small snap-lid containers).

To reheat, remove from packaging/container and  cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave until hot, about 1 minute. 

Full nutritional values can be found at the website.

I copied down a few of the commentors suggestions in case we want to try next time.

One substituted half and half for whole milk and added onions. Commentor said they were absolutely delicious. Also said they would make them in small Pyrex dishes instead of muffin tins as found it a little difficult to remove them. (I have a note about that at the end of my recipe.)

Another person said about having to thoroughly oil the muffin pan well or they don't come out. Now sprays muffin cups for easy removal.

Someone else added bacon as a protein source and found that delicious. They also cut the mushrooms in half, sprinkled fresh Parmesan cheese on top in the last 5 minutes of cooking, and topped with avocado and Tapatio sauce. 

Next person had no spinach, so used minced onions and thinly sliced portabella mushrooms. No pork sausage but had chicken sausage links in the freezer. Used half whole eggs and half egg whites. Added feta cheese and kalamata olives. Used small custard cups. Took a little longer due to the greater volume (1/2 cup of egg mixture). Also felt there was too much sausage for their taste. (We had no such problem and enjoyed with the pork sausage. Also felt they would have been perfect without the breakfast sausage.

What did we think? Excellent and will definitely be making these again. We both enjoyed them. 

A nice side was a few strawberries and blueberries. We thought avocado another time. 

I added about 1/2 a sweet red pepper, diced.

I bought these a couple of years back after reading very good reviews about them. 

I also have a 12-cup silicone muffin pan slightly smaller sized cups. I am very happy with the result. I sprayed the inside of the cups just in case, and the egg bites came out very easily.

The egg cups took a few minutes longer to cook, a) because our oven runs a little cooler when following usual cooking times, and b) the muffin cups were a little larger.

Here is the website address for copying and pasting.

https://www.eatingwell.com/sausage-spinach-mushroom-egg-bites-8654583