Skip the frozen foods aisle the next time you’re at the grocery store and try these savory eggs in a nest instead. Perfect breakfast for the whole family!
How Long do You Boil Eggs?
For medium-boiled eggs, remove after 4 1/2 minutes.
The yolks of medium-eggs should be just about solid, but moist, more like a custard than a hard-cooked egg.
For hard-boiled eggs, remove after 8 minutes.
It’s always an adventure starting school again. We have a fifth and first grader and I’m just going to be totally honest with you, I cried. Again. First grade always makes me weepy.
Anyway, in order to start the year off right we always start preparing a week before. We get back into real schedules again, gather ideas for nutritious breakfasts, snacks and lunches and have our one on one interviews.
Why Eat Eggs for Breakfast?
Eggs are a very good source of inexpensive, high quality protein.
More than half the protein of an egg is found in the egg white along with vitamin B2 and lower amounts of fat and cholesterol than the yolk.
The whites are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper.
School is a blessing and privilege.
We talk to our girls about life around the world and that not everyone gets to wake up in a warm home every day and head off to school for free. Because of this we should all, parents included work hard to make the year successful.
We Were Your Age Once and Here’s What You Need to Know
Personal interviews gives us the opportunity to tell them that we’ve been their age once and discuss different temptations, fears and exciting things that may happen that year. We talk about what to do in different situations and that they can always come chat with us whether it’s friends being mean, kids cheating at school or even just feeling different or lonely at times. It’s also an opportunity for them to have us all to themselves and ask or tell us anything. We are all ears.
Smart Choices Start at Breakfast
School is busy, busy, busy, full of germy classrooms and it’s a lot of work which is exhausting and can break down a little body and end up sick. Now I know we live in a world full of convenience and fast food but not at our house. Sure, we take shortcuts too, but especially since my health went through the ringer in our scary pregnancies we feel it’s so important for us as a family, every single member to appreciate and take care of our bodies.
So here’s how that goes. We chat about our bodies being like a car and while there’s lots of things we can put in a gas tank, water, pop, juice etc it’s only the “nutritional” stuff that will make a car safely function, gasoline. Our bodies are the same, they need the good stuff!
Cade and I are big advocates for protein and milk and you’ll notice that a lot on our site. Milk is present at each of our meals, especially breakfast for three reasons:
- Milk is a simple and affordable way for kids to get natural, high-quality protein in the morning, along with 8 other nutrients they need – like calcium, vitamin D and potassium.
- An 8-ounce glass of milk contains 9 essential nutrients, including 8 grams of high-quality protein.
- Milk helps keep you full longer than other drinks in our house.
Anything that fills bellies in a good way can help kids not only avoid unnecessary snacking, but helps them to recognize good full feelings versus filling up on junk and crashing only an hour later.
How Much Protein in a Glass of Milk?
One cup of whole milk, or the equivalent of an 8-ounce serving, provides about 150 calories, 7.7 grams of protein and 28 percent of the daily value for calcium.
Protein at breakfast can help children start their day off right.
It’s so important for our children to get protein at every meal, and we start with breakfast. When’s the last time you sat through 7 hours of learning day after day? It’s easy to forget how much work school is for kids and even when school is out kids are constantly learning and growing so pairing a glass of milk with each meal, especially breakfast is essential to start the day off right.
A recent study found that kids who ate a high-protein breakfast (18 grams) felt fuller and burned more energy compared to when they ate a carbohydrate-rich breakfast.
So!! Here’s the last thing we do. We grocery shop and get cooking together. We talk about nutritious breakfasts we can have to start the day off right, then we prepare some ahead of time so there’s never a rush without the most important meal of the day. These eggs in a nest are made with shredded potatoes you bake in a muffin tin. The kids love it and the “nests” easily freeze after baking so you have less prep work throughout the month.
Why Are Eggs Good for You?
Eggs are loaded with high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, good fats and various trace nutrients.
A large egg contains: Only 77 calories, with 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein with all 9 essential amino acids.
Rich in iron, phosphorus, selenium and vitamins A, B12, B2 and B5 (among others).
Next, pick some add-ins and let the kids be involved in making the eggs. Did you know that kids who help grocery shop, touch the ingredients being used and then help in the kitchen are less likely to be picky and more likely to eat a well balanced diet when being led by parents? It’s their creation and they can’t wait to eat it!
We keep ours in the fridge and warm them up for a quick, nutritious breakfast. Cade likes his with hot sauce, I’d rather not! You can also use any favorite ingredients, bacon, spinach, mushrooms, etc!
An 8 ounce glass of milk not only helps wash it all down and hydrate everyone but with the potatoes, eggs and toppings it totally tastes good with the dish too. It’s like cookies and milk, it just works well together.
And because you all always have the best ideas, tell us what ways you’re helping your kids get in their milk and nutritious breakfasts! It’s been so fun partnering with Milk Life and you should definitely check them out for more great recipes and ideas as well as hop on over to their social media channels like Facebook to follow along! We cannot wait to hear what you think of our eggs in a nest!
Eggs in a Nest
Eggs in a Nest
Description
Ingredients
- nonstick olive oil spray
- 4 cups frozen shredded potatoes, defrosted
- 3 large eggs
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup fat free milk
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- 1/8 Teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 Cup tomatoes, chopped
- spinach, optional
- mushroom, optional
- 1/3 Cup lean ground turkey sausage, cooked, crumbled and patted to remove excess oil
- 1/3 Cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pair each serving with:
- 8- ounce glass of milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12-well muffin tin with nonstick olive oil spray liberally.
- Press a scoop of shredded potatoes into each muffin tin, pressing up and around the edges to create a “nest”.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove the pan from the oven and using a spoon, gently press any fallen potatoes back up against the sides of each muffin hole.
- Turn the oven heat down to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, add eggs, egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, salt and pepper.
- Whisk to combine and allow to sit in the fridge while preparing green pepper, tomatoes or any additional vegetables desired, to allow the eggs to break down a little, and become fluffier.
- Stir cooked meat and vegetables into the bowl with egg mixture and pour equally between all “nests.”
- Sprinkle a pinch of cheese over each nest.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until egg is set.
- Remove from oven and serve with remaining 8-ounce glass of milk. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Strawberries and Cream Protein Oats
Secret Ingredient Breakfast Burrito
Camille
Hi! On Instagram you mentioned that these freeze well, and could be good to pack for school lunches. Could you explain how you do that please? My kids don’t like sandwiches and these would be perfect. Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Hi Camille! You can freeze the egg cups and then defrost and warm them. Then wrap them in foil and pack them in lunches. You’ll still add an ice pack to the box. Reheating is just so they are not frozen. They end up being room temperature for lunch according to my children.
Allison
Do you think these will freeze well?
Sweet Basil
Hi Allison,
We haven’t experimented enough with freezing eggs, but I know others do it.
Liz Bobo
This looks and sounds great! and I don’t have children! Thanks especially for making it easy to print. On the sites with ads it takes a while to get the copy the way I want.
Sweet Basil
Liz,
So glad to hear you like them. They’ve become a real staple in our home. 🙂
Lisa @ Wine & Glue
This looks like such an awesome breakfast idea!
Sylvie
Sounds like the perfect start to the day!
Gina @Running to the Kitchen
I’m definitely going to make these soon! I bet they are delicious!
Sweet Basil
Thank you!