Jason's Birthday Breakfast!

This a few days overdue but Jason's Birthday was on Saturday so, of course, he got Birthday breakfast! He requested something cheesy and unhealthy. I had just read the perfect recipe in my "Gluten Free For Dummies" book and tried it out for him:

Breakfast Quiche
3 cups frozen hash browns, thawed
1/3cup melted butter (even though this was supposed to be unhealthy, I couldn't bring myself to use that much butter!)
nonstick spray
5 eggs
3/4cup milk
1cup cooked diced ham
1/3 cup diced onion
grated cheese (they recommend 1 cup grated swiss cheese and 1/4cup of both cheddar and monterey jack cheese... I used probably 3/4 marble and 1/2 monterey jack. Use whatever you have)
2tsp chopped fresh basil (I used dried)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. To prepare the crust, mix the hash browns and butter carefully, making sure the potatoes don't turn to mush
3. Spray a 9" pie plate or quiche pan with nonstick spray. Press the potato-butter mixture evenly on the bottom and sides of the pan.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on low speed. Add the milk, ham, onion, swiss, cheddar, monterey jack, basil and salt and pepper. Stir until they're well mixed.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the crust and bake it for 45 minutes. To test whether the quiche is done, insert a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, the quiche is ready.

MY REVIEW: I don't suggest you eat this often and I'm not even particularly proud that I cooked it.... but Jason loved it and I guess that's all that matters on his Birthday! This could easily be made more healthy by adding vegetables - spinach would be a great addition. The ham could be left out for a vegetarian breakfast or if you're a "lazy vegetarian" just pick the ham out! Ever since I've had to become so incredibly aware of what I'm eating with my gluten issues, I can't muster up the energy to care about what meat is on/in/touching my food.  I'm really not setting a good example with this post at all.

JASON'S REVIEW: He loved it! Even took his own picture of it. It fueled him to go for a winter bike ride.

Mini Chicken Quiche

I was looking up Bento Lunch Boxes last night on the Internet... so many great ideas out there! I found this idea for mini-quiches that are easily frozen for lunches and gave it a shot tonight:

1-2 cups diced ham or chicken or meat of your choice (i used some frozen/cooked chicken)
8oz shredded cheese of your choice (we only had marble)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Bisquick or similar baking mix

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.
Cover the bottom of each cup with meat, then sprinkle cheese on top of that (maybe a couple of teaspoons of each).
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, milk and baking mix till the lumps are gone, you may want to use an electric mixer here.
Pour a little of the egg mixture over the meat/cheese mixtures till the muffin cup is filled almost to the top.
Bake 400 for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

MY REVIEW: I made two sizes... super mini and normal mini. The super mini's turned out a lot better for some reason. The big ones just didn't stay together. I'm not giving up on this yet though. I think I didn't leave them in the oven for long enough. Tasted good and it will be nice to have something in the freezer when we're scrounging together lunches by Friday.

JASON'S REVIEW: He thought it was good. I'm going to try ham tomorrow so he's looking forward to that. He said "it hit the spot" even though I know he's lying because he already had the quarter chicken meal tonight at Swiss Chalet... how could MORE chicken hit the spot??


**** EDIT: I tried some ham and swiss quiches but this time used my new single silicone muffin containers and they turned out much better!