Do morning rush hours often cause you to skip breakfast or opt for a quick pastry that doesn't provide lasting fuel? If so, you're not alone.
But reaching for empty calories or skipping a meal altogether can lead to problems. Without breakfast, midday hunger is likely to hit hard, making it tougher to make smart choices. You may find yourself ravenous by lunch time or later in the day. But it doesn't have to be that way.
This delicious high-protein make-ahead breakfast recipe provides lasting energy to power you through your day. And by starting your morning off right, you'll curb cravings later, prevent overeating at lunch, and fuel your body and brain all morning long. So don't let the morning time crunch derail your nutrition. With this easy make-ahead breakfast, you can set yourself up for a day of optimised nutrition, focus and appetite control.
Make-Ahead, High Protein Egg Breakfast McMuffins
Ingredients
(Makes 8 McMuffins)
-8 to 10 whole eggs
-2 heaped tablespoons fat-free cottage cheese
-3 red bell peppers (I used one of each colour), cored, deseeded and finely diced
-500g sausage of choice- optional (you can use chicken, pork, beef, vegan)
-8 breakfast muffins
-8 slices of cheese (my cheese of choice is not the most nutritious here, but I wanted McDonald's style McMuffin taste)
-Dried herb of choice, to tase (I like oregano/ thyme for this recipe. I don't like store-bought dried herbs, so I buy fresh and leave out to dry)
-Sea salt, to taste
Method
1. Preheat your oven on 180°C, gas mark 6. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cottage cheese with the eggs using a handheld whisk or electric blender.
2. Line a medium-sized baking tray with baking paper and pour the egg mixture onto it. Sprinkle with sea salt (to taste), then spread the diced bell peppers into the eggs. give the tray a little shake to drown the peppers. Top with the dried herbs and place in the oven for 20-30mins or until the eggs are set.
3. To make the sausage patties, you need to remove the casing from each sausage. To do this, simply cut a line down one side of the sausage and peel away the casing. Once all the casings are removed, create 8 similar-sized balls. Place the balls on a large baking tray lined with baking paper and flatten each ball with the bottom of a mug to get patty shape. Place in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes.
4. Slice the muffins in half, spray with oil and bake in the oven for a couple of minutes until slightly golden.
5. Once the egg bake and sausage patties are cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool down. Either cut the eggs into 8 equal pieces using a knife or use a small bowl to carve out the eggs in wound shapes (I carved out 6 and used the in-between leftover to fill the other 2 muffins)
6. To assemble your muffins place the egg bake first, followed by sausage patties, then cheese.
6. Wrap the McMuffins in baking paper and store in the fridge for up to three days or freezer for up to a month. To heat up, place in the microwave (with the wrapping) for 30 seconds from the fridge and 1-2 minutes from the freezer. Feel free to serve as it is or add some extra nourishing goodies, like tomatoes and leafy greens.
Iman Hassan (BSc, ANutr)
Registered Private Nutritionist
Weight management specialist