24 Weeks & Counting: Nesting & Baby Prep (Recipe: Freezer Egg FeauxMuffins

So we're in Month 5 at the FeauxHousehold.  I've been blessed with a pretty easy pregnancy so far, but I also know I'm only going to get bigger, more tired, and as the summer creeps closer, less wanton to do absolutely anything.  So I've been trying to kick the whole "nesting" thing into overdrive while the weather is still reasonable and I don't have a B.O.B. (big ol' belly) in the way.

Last weekend, we rearranged rooms in our house--previously, we had an office, and a guest room, in addition to our master bedroom.  Now, the office & guest room are combined into the larger of the two rooms and the baby stuff has been somewhat unceremoniously tossed into the now-nursery.

Guest room before, with too big king size bed, and guest room/office after, with air mattress to be blown up for guests as needed--we also have a queen airbed for multiple guests/grandparents.

Former Office before, and Now-Nursery catchall, to be organized soon (hopefully).

More on the nursery later, as it starts to come together.

I also was feeling a little crafty, so I busted out the sewing machine and made these little cuties from some patterns I found on Pinterest (links below):

Seahorse Pattern

Starfish Pattern

Dino Pattern

There's also a whale coming soon, as soon as I can figure out how to piece him together.

And then, to round things out, I spent some time putting together some more freezer meals to fill our chest freezer.  This time, I made a shepherd's pie casserole, a Crockpot "throw & go" beef stroganoff (FYI, the recipe seemed like it might be a little bland, so I added about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a couple cloves of garlic)...and some homemade Egg "FeauxMuffins" (lest I get sued by McD's).

INGREDIENTS: (makes 6)

6 (1 package) whole wheat English muffins (purchased at our local Sara Lee Discount Outlet store for $1)

6 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

3 pieces bacon, cooked & chopped

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 Tbsp dried or fresh chives

6 thick slices of lean ham (or 1 large ham steak)

6 slices 2% American cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Have your husband start toasting the English muffins & cook the bacon slices (if he feels so inclined).

Spray a 7"x11" baking dish with olive oil, and then crack 6 eggs into the dish.  Add the milk, seasoning, chives, and chopped bacon, and then whisk with a fork until well combined.  Place the baking dish in the oven and let cook until eggs are firm (it was about 15 minutes for us).

While that's baking, finish toasting your muffins and start cutting out your ham.  We had round ham slices, but they were a bit too big for the muffin, so I found a cup that was about the size of the muffin & used that to trim the ham down.  (Save extra ham bits for a nice egg scramble later in the week.)  When your eggs are fully cooked, remove, let cool, and then cut into 6 relatively equal pieces.

To assemble, place ham down first, then egg, then cheese, then top with the other half of the muffin.  Wrap each individually with plastic wrap, and then re-use the bag the muffins came in for storage.

When it's time to eat, zap in the microwave (or toaster oven if you prefer) until warmed through.  I find doing about 1 minute to help thaw, and then going in 30 second intervals until fully done seems to work well.

Cost per breakfast sandwich: About 85 cents

Nutritionally, this sandwich has about 25 more calories than the *cough* other ham & egg breakfast sandwich, but it also has 7 grams more protein, slightly fewer carbs and less cholesterol, and a LOT more flavor.

NUTRIFACTS:

Calories		326.0
Total Fat		13.0 g
	Saturated Fat	5.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.5 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	3.0 g
Cholesterol		217.9 mg
Sodium		1,342.2 mg
Potassium		348.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		28.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.4 g
	Sugars	6.3 g
Protein		24.1 g