Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups

If you know me at all, you know I have a sweet tooth.  Like, bad.  Ice cream, cookies, cupcakes, chocolate.  I'm up for it all!  And because of that, I have to watch what I eat for meals and really contain my calories.

That's where these babies come in.  Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups.  At around 150 calories each, they're great for my "short workout" (i.e., 30 minutes) days, when I don't earn a lot of extra calories.  Paired with a Greek yogurt, they have lots of protein to keep me going until my next meal.  I bake up a batch and can reheat and eat them all week long.

On another note, I usually try to buy a dozen farm-fresh eggs from a friend, but in a pinch, I'll get cage-free eggs from the store.  I ran out midway through this batch of cups, so some are farm-fresh and some are store bought.  Check out the color difference...it's quite noticable!


Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups
Adapted from http://simplegirlathome.blogspot.com
Printer-friendly copy
Serves 6


Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) frozen hash browns
2 Tbsp. light butter, melted
1/2 c. 2% colby jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. Penzey's 4S seasoned salt
6 Tbsp. (or 6 slices, cooked) crumbled bacon
6 large cage-free eggs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray jumbo muffin tin (with 6 cups) generously with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine hash browns, melted light butter, cheese, seasoned salt, and bacon. Stir with a silicone spatula until mixed well. Divide mixture evenly among the 6 cups of the muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Remove from oven. Crack one egg into each muffin tin. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, depending upon how solid you like your egg yolks. Remove from muffin tins and season with salt and pepper, as desired. Serve or cover and refrigerate.

Calories:  150 calories (approximately, depending on brands and/or specific varieties of ingredients)