Egg Casserole Really Fills You Up!

I like to make big egg casseroles on Sundays and eat on them for the week. They are delicious, satisfying, and best of all - versatile so you can switch up the ingredients on a regular basis and will never get bored!

Here are the basic ingredients you'd use each time. I'll talk about suggestions of what types of these foods to use next.

1. Veggies of any variety, cooked (make sure to drain out any liquid that may have been yielded by veggies like mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach. Veggies must be DRY otherwise you get that watery liquid coming out of your completed casserole and its annoying. But don't throw that liquid away! I suggest stirring it into the egg mixture for flavor! The science is totally different when you do that - i.e., it doesn't create the excess liquid in the bottom of the pan.)
2. Meat of any variety, cooked
3. Shredded cheese of any variety
4. 4 extra large eggs
5. 8 extra large eggs - egg whites only
6. 1/2 C. low fat cottage cheese
7. Spices and/or herbs of any variety
8. Salt and Pepper

-Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
-Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam cooking spray (I use a glass pan)
-Sprinkle the veggies and meat evenly over the bottom of the pan.
-Sprinkle the shredded cheese over that.
-In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, and spices/herbs/S&P until completely mixed and fluffy. Putting them in the blender works best, IMO.
-Pour the egg mixture over the veggie/meat/cheese in the pan and bake for 20 mins. Carefully open the oven door (it gets puffy and you don't want to flatten it) and check the center of the casserole. If it's still wet, put it in for 5 more mins. Keep doing this until the center is still fluffy but done and the sides are golden and *slightly* pulling away from the side of the pan.
-Let it cool then cut into six huge pieces. They keep beautifully for about 4-5 days. I usually put 4 in the fridge then freeze the other two. They freeze nicely.

I'm not giving you quantities of meat, veggies, and cheese because this recipe is designed for you to decide exactly how many calories you want each slice to be. Thus, you will have to adjust your ingredient quantities based on that final number. So what I do is put all the ingredients in a recipe on MFP first, look at how much it comes to, and if the calorie number is too high, then I adjust quantities of the meat and cheese. Hopefully that makes sense.

Okay, here are some ideas.

Crumbled Morningstar sausage patties + Sauteed garlic, onion, mushrooms, and spinach + sharp cheddar cheese + Italian seasoning, sage, and garlic salt

Crumbled Spicy black bean veggie burgers + steamed bag of southwestern frozen veggies + roasted poblano pepper + chopped fresh cilantro + monterey jack cheese + taco seasoning

Cubed ham + sauteed mushrooms, scallions, and broccoli (or, a steamed bag of California veggies) + swiss cheese + one Tbsp brown mustard + onion salt, dried mustard, garlic powder

Smoked salmon + sauteed spinach, red onion, garlic, capers, and tomato + cubed up goat cheese + fresh sliced basil, garlic powder, and onion powder

Cubed chicken apple sausage + roasted cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash, onions, and apples + monterey jack cheese + sage, rosemary, oregano, garlic, and onion powder

I did something REALLY daring once - don't know if you like Hawaiian pizza, but I made a casserole like it once! Cubed ham + sauteed onion, mushroom, spinach, and PINEAPPLE + mozzerella cheese + I stirred some pizza sauce and lots of italian spices and garlic powder into the eggs! It was weird but DIVINE.

P.S. - you can make the above recipe into little individual mini-quiches as well! Just do the exact same thing but put the stuff in muffin tins instead of a 9 x 13 pan! When I make these, I adjust them to be 100 calories a piece and they make a FANTASTIC little snack. They taste good hot or cold, too.

Hopefully this is giving you some ideas and inspiration to get creative with your own ideas!