Bacon Loaded Egg Cups

Ingredients:

o  2 packages of pasture-raised Bacon Ends

o  10 pasture-raised Eggs

o  ¼ cup milk

o  1 ½ cups finely chopped vegetables

o  ½ cup finely chopped green onions, chives and/or spinach

o  6 oz. cheese, finely diced

o  Freshly ground salt and pepper

o  1/8 tsp. ground turmeric (optional)

o  Sweet or hot (not smoked) paprika (optional)

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350-degrees

2.      Chop bacon ends and cook on stovetop over medium until halfway rendered and beginning to crisp.

3.      While that is cooking, whisk together eggs, milk, turmeric, salt and pepper.

4.      Drain excess fat, return to stovetop and add vegetables that need to soften such as onion and peppers. Cook over low until beginning to soften. 

5.      Remove from heat, add chopped greens and stir.

6.      Spoon half of bacon mixture evenly into each of 2-24 count silicone mini muffin pans. If using metal muffin pans, first spray with non-stick spray.

7.      Divide half of the finely diced cheese between each.

8.      Slowly pour egg mixture into each section, filling 2/3 of the way full.

9.      Sprinkle with paprika and place into the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they puff up and are no longer jiggly.

10.  Remove to cool for a few minutes, then remove egg muffins to a cooling rack. 

11.  To freeze, place muffins on a parchment-lined cookie sheet in the freezer until mostly frozen. Place into a labeled freezer bag.

Notes:

·      This time, I used bell peppers, onion, green onion, spinach and marbled cheddar. You can get really creative here with vegetable and cheese combinations, even herbs and meat. Bacon, tomato and mozzarella? Yum. Ham, Gruyere and chives is one of my favorite combinations. The possibilities are endless! 

·      If you only have shredded cheese, that will work just fine. It will incorporate more, however, so you may not distinctly notice the cheese.