Savory Egg and Oatmeal Casserole

Made an amazing egg casserole for my mid-morning meal this week and wanted to share. It takes a little time to put together but it makes 6-8 servings so it's worth it to this single gal! It’s a bit unusual as it’ s a savory twist on something my mom used to make, where you whip eggs into oatmeal and make a sweet breakfast “cake” out of it. I did it with ham and cheese instead and it’s amazing!! Good protein and fiber, it’s filling, and low in calories. This is one of those great "basic" recipes that you could twist up any way you like (i.e., swap out whatever meat, cheese, veggies, or spices you like). It’s like a fluffy, savory, chewy, cheesy soufflé and I’ve got 8 thick pieces of it. If I could afford the calories I would have cut bigger slices! Also, it freezes and reheats beautifully.

Ingredients:

1 Cup uncooked steel cut oats
6 C. water
12 large egg whites
1/2 C. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 oz. sarah lee honey ham diced fine
3 C. chopped mushrooms
4 chopped scallions
4 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 bag frozen sliced zucchini
1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
Spices of your choice (I used 2 tsp. garlic powder, a bunch of sour salt (has citrus in it), a tsp. of penzey’s chip dip blend, and about 2 Tbsp. of Wildtree brand’s powdered Alfredo sauce blend (very cheesy).

Heat oven to 400 degrees and spray a glass 9 x 13 pan w/Pam.

Cook the oats with some garlic powder and sour salt in the water (or whatever spices you like) and cool them.

Steam the zucchini, squeeze out the water, then toss it in some garlic powder

Sautée the ham/onion/mushrooms/zucchini/spinach and cool the mixture. Be sure to drain any liquid.

Whip up the egg whites in a big bowl with the spices and mustard. Whip in the oatmeal. Stir in everything else (including the cheese).

Pour everything into the pan and bake it about 15 mins. Check it and if it's still wet in the middle, bake in about 7 min increments until it's fluffy and slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan, but not hard. Let cool then cut into 6 or 8 slices.

Macros:
6 servings = 245 cals, 26g carbs, 8g fat, 21g protein, 5g fiber
8 servings = 184 cals, 19g carbs, 6g fat, 16g protein, 4g fiber