Eating Clean - Veggie Egg Bake

Hello Kittens!

This week marks the third week of eating superbly clean.  Aside from Brunch.  Brunch makes the world go round, and if you factor that 20 of 21 meals a week are clean, I think that has to be considered a success.  There is no way to sustain any type of healthy eating if you deprive yourself of Brunch.  It's science.

On Thursday, I made a fantastic egg bake!  I've made this dish a few times since receiving the recipe from a friend of mine.  She makes this on the weekend so that she has breakfast ready to go for the week ahead.  Since I have started having some pretty fancy oatmeal every day for breakfast (people at work have offered to buy it off of me numerous times - seriously), and I adore breakfast for dinner, I love having this with steamed vegetables - and it feels good to have something healthy on hand to pop in the microwave when I get home from work late and I need to make something quickly.  With baking time, this takes about an hour and a half from start to finish, but I'd say it's definitely worth it.

As a disclaimer, I know that eating whole or clean doesn't necessarily mean eating a processed food substitute, but in doing a good amount of research, I'm going to go ahead and make an exception for the occasional use of Egg Beaters since they are composed of 99% egg whites and 1% other stuff - click here for ingredients.  And now onto the Egg (beater) Bake!

INGREDIENTS:
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 large onion, chopped
-1 tablespoon minced garlic
-3 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms
-1 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
-1 cup reduced fat milk
-Large squeeze Dijon mustard
-1/2 cup Bisquick
-2-3 tablespoons butter
-1 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I use reduced fat Mexican blend)
-2 cups chopped tomatoes
-2 cups baby spinach
-Salt and Pepper
-Cooking spray
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Put olive oil, onion, and garlic into a large skillet.  Cook over medium heat until onions soften.

2. While the onions are cooking, whisk together Egg Beaters, 1/2 cup milk, and Dijon mustard in a small bowl.  Set aside.

3. Add mushrooms to softened onions and cook down.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remainder of the milk and the Bisquick.

5. Melt butter and add to the Bisquick mixture.

6. Whisk the egg mixture into the Bisquick mixture.

7. Add cheese.

8. Add sautéed mushrooms.

9. Add tomatoes, spinach, a pinch salt, and pepper.

10. Spray an 8" x 10" dish with cooking spray and pour in mixture.

11.  Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over top and bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean of egg mixture.  Inspect knife well as the melted cheese will stick - you do not want to overbake.

12. Cut into 6 or 8 pieces and enjoy!

NOTE:  To avoid charring the spinach, make sure you've covered the leaves with the egg mixture as best you can.  Also, these are the vegetables I prefer, but you can make any changes to veggies or cheeses based on your preferences, I've heard lean meats are good in this as well.  

Hoping you have a successful week with any eating resolutions you may have made, Kittens!

XOXO