“I’m definitely the more spontaneous of the two of us,” I said to my coworkers about my husband and I. “You literally eat the same egg bites at the same time every single day” was the response. Coworkers: cheaper than therapy… Ha!
And they were right. Every two weeks I make a batch of egg bites to take for my work breakfast that occurs at promptly 09:00… Is that a bad thing? Clearly I have no qualms about it. It’s the perfect breakfast: freezer friendly, prepared in 30 minutes, microwaves in 2 minutes and can be eaten quickly at my desk. No decisions, just grab and go. Sometimes I make baked oatmeal muffins to go with them, but they’re pretty perfect on their own.
So, if you want an easy breakfast idea, here ya go!
I’ve made these in a variety of flavors, but they always include: 12 eggs, 4oz cheese, and 2/3 cup cottage cheese. The easiest kind have half a package of the Jimmy Dean Turkey Crumbles. And voila, my predictable and fail safe Egg Bites.
Egg Bites (6 servings)
4oz Cheese (pre shredded or not)
2/3 cup Cottage Cheese
12 eggs
1-2 tsp Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika
White or Black Pepper
Meat and/or veggies of choice*
If using block cheese, either hand grate or use attachment for food processor. Change blade to regular blade and add to processor the eggs, cottage cheese, and other mix-ins as desired. Mix on low until combined. Pour into 12 muffin pan, bake at 350* for 25 mins. (You may need to bake longer, since my oven bakes hot)
Remove from oven and let cool. Place in freezer bag and freeze if desired. Serving size is 2.
*My favorite combinations so far:
Turkey Crumbles and Butternut Squash with Rosemary
Turkey Crumbles and Broccoli
Canadian Bacon with 1/4ish tsp Mustard Powder
Turkey Crumbles and Simply Potato Hashbrowns
Basically anything you want can be made into egg bites!
If you prefer egg whites, I’ve reduced the eggs to 8 or 10 and added liquid egg whites to the level in my food processor it would usually be. They don’t fluff up quite as well, but they’re still tasty.
It all started with a tuna packet: StarKist’s Tuna Creations Whole Grain Dijon Mustard Tuna Salad. I love those little packets, and one bite into this one, I was hooked. And after a couple of those I started thinking, what about honey mustard tuna salad?
So, I did what one does when faced with a question in the 21st Century: I started to Google. Bam: Ambitious Kitchen’s Honey Mustard Apple Tuna Salad !
Y’all, when I tell you I’ve taken this to work three weeks in a row. I literally can’t wait to make more, and I am giddy when I think about lunch. Now, I did tweak the recipe, so of course I’ll share with you 🙂
1 can SkipJack Tuna
1/4 cup Yogurt (plain or Greek)
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Honey (just make sure it’s equal amount to the mustard)
1/2 Tablespoon Mayo
Splash or two Lemon Juice
Salt, to taste
White Pepper, to taste
Garlic Powder, a couple of shakes
Small apple
Mix the wet ingredients together. Chop the apple into tiny pieces, peel on. Place tuna, dressing and apples in a bowl, mix it up and, voila!
I did omit the cranberries because I’m not a fan of chewy bits and much prefer crunch. I usually double the recipe to take for my two days of work with some Ritz Chips. This is also a pretty wet tuna salad. If you prefer it less “soupy”, reduce the dressing.
Any kind of tuna will do, but I like SkipJack from Trader Joe’s as it has 22g of protein and the least amount of mercury. This particular one was recommended my primary care provider. I did buy a can of the Skipjack Tuna from Kroger today and it has 27 grams of protein per can.
Does it have meat in it? Do you mean “brown gravy”? The two most asked questions when my friends and acquaintances are met with the idea of Chocolate Gravy. I always chuckle lovingly as I explain the treasure that is my very large, very loud family’s favorite breakfast.
My dad is one of six siblings who are all very close. I grew up spending every summer at Ouachita Lake, Arkansas where my family, including 15 first cousins, gathered at the Highway 27 Fishing Village. So famous were we that they welcomed us on their sign out front. Truly, we are a humble crowd…
During our summer gatherings, Family Christmases and weekends together in between, one memory remains the same: my Aunt Jeannie standing at the stovetop stirring Chocolate Gravy.
I have tried a few blogs before (remember Xanga?), but never published because it felt so daunting. What to do with a blank page? So many thoughts, but where to start? Beginnings and endings are rough, right? The good stuff always seems to happen in the middle. So, as I thought of what I wanted this space to be, I decided to start at the beginning. Those early summer mornings filled with the people I love and that glorious saucepan full of Chocolate Gravy.
Now, before we go further, I must confess that I found out I memorized a different version of Aunt Jeannie’s recipe when she made a family cook book last year. Where this recipe in my head came from, I have no idea. I had often thought it was the extra love and the fact that I didn’t have to wash the pan that made hers taste better than mine. But I am here to report that it’s the extra butter. And so I will give you both recipes, both of which carry their own cult followings.
A few tips:
Serve with hot, buttered biscuits. As I said earlier, more butter simply makes it better.
If it runs over onto your eggs, bacon, sausage or other items, don’t be alarmed! It tastes good on everything. Trust me.
Patience is key. In my college days, I tried to speed the thickening process by adding more flour while heating the gravy. Don’t do this unless you want still runny gravy with chunks of flour in it. Your friends won’t eat it.
Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days, but if you’re making for more than 2 people that likely will not be an issue.
Can this be made gluten and dairy free? I’m sure gluten-free will be no issue. I can give no guarantees about dairy-free butter. I have made sausage gravy with soy milk and gluten free flour and it worked well, but I did not use butter or a substitute. Let me know how it goes!
Amanda’s Version
2 cups Milk
1 cup Sugar
2 heaping Tbs Flour
2 level Tbs Cocoa Powder
2 Tbs Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
Warm milk in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat
Combine dry ingredients into a bowl
When milk is warm, pour enough of the warm milk into the dry ingredients to make a syrup. Mix until the dry ingredients are dissolved.
Pour the syrup back into the pan with the milk.
Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly until gravy is thick. Be patient 🙂
When gravy is thick, remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla and continue stirring until butter is melted.
Serve warm, preferably over warm, buttered biscuits.
**12/09/25 EDIT: I realized I transposed the milk and sugar quantities. The recipe has been updated to reflect the correct amounts. My apologies if you had very thick, very sweet gravy!**
Aunt Jeannie’s Version
2 cups Sugar
2 Tbs Cocoa
1/3 cup All Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 stick Butter
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat just till warm.
Pour a small amount of warm milk into dry ingredients to make a syrupy mix. Pour this back into the sauce pan, with a whisk stir till thickens.
Remove from burner, add butter and vanilla, stir till butter is completely melted.
Serve over hot buttered biscuits.
Leftovers can be stored in refrigerator, and reheated.
For those who don’t know me, I’m a Type A. Blood Type A, that is! Have you heard of the blood type diet? I first heard of it through my cousin, who used it to lose several pounds and inches. Now listen, I’m not a Nutritionist, health blogger, or fad dieter. While I have a few pounds I wish would kick rocks, I am really interested in whole health, starting with addressing unnecessary inflammation. The only other diet I’ve done consistently was Weight Watchers. I did have success with this approach, but, to be honest, struggle to even consider doing again. The app is expensive (but very easy to use!), and I don’t think I can eat another spoonful of yogurt. So. Much. Yogurt. Nope, can’t do it.
Well, there might be a good reason to why the thought of yogurt makes my stomach turn! Blood Type As are not friends with dairy anything. Utilizing this pdf, I did a two week run of sticking to this list of beneficial/neutral foods and it was eye opening! I was already avoiding dairy milks, but taking it further by eliminating things like potatoes and bananas that I was eating almost daily, I noticed a marked difference in how I felt. The best word to describe it is lighter. I didn’t feel like I had a brick sitting in my stomach after every meal.
Now, as stated earlier, I did it for two weeks. This list can feel almost impossible to sustain, especially if you eat out many times a week. In my small town, healthy options are not plentiful. Much planning has to go into this, which is why I have started to slowly eliminate harmful foods. Luckily, my husband is on board to eat anything I cook, and has been very supportive in this endeavor. Mostly due to this recipe!
We love pasta! But a quick look at the harmful foods list will tell you that NOTHING involved in the pasta dishes we love is beneficial, or even neutral! My lifesavers have been lentil pastas, favorites being these penne noodles, and these lasagna noodles. Throw these noodles together with this marinara sauce and some ricotta (a neutral!), and you’re in business! *chef’s kiss*
Thanks to Nicole at Heal Me Delicious, I had a great jumping point for this sauce. Hers is perfect if you can handle vinegars, and a little tweaking will make yours Type A compliant. See her Nomato Sauce recipe here. I also add pumpkin (a beneficial food), which is a staple in a lot of my cooking (pumpkin chili, anyone?).
Let’s get started!
First, feel free to use fresh ingredients. I am the worst at using fresh produce before it goes bad. I work second shift, and our personal lives are so busy that I’ve learned to lean on canned and frozen produce when I can. I keep all these items on hand, and always pick up a few cans when I grocery shop.
Next, I use the Instant Pot Gem Multicooker (I have now learned it’s been recalled, which is a shame because I love this little appliance!). Using a multicooker has saved me time and dishes by allowing me to sauté the onions, garlic and celery before changing over to the slow cooker mode. Then just add your other ingredients and slow cook on high for 4-6 hours. I love the flavor that happens when you cook this sauce for longer periods of time, and a slow cooker prevents me from burning or splattering my white kitchen with beet juice. If you trust yourself more than I do, feel free to do this traditionally with a stock pan or dutch oven over low heat. I have made this sauce in a shorter amount of time, but the texture is not as smooth.
An immersion blender is my other best friend. It allows me to blend right in the pot and doesn’t require the sauce to be cooled before placing in a blender or food processor. I have used both a Blendtec blender and a food processor, and prefer the immersion blender. Just be careful not to splash! Remember, beet juice…
Voila! A beautiful, Type A compliant sauce that is sure to be a hit!
This recipe makes several batches in one sitting. I was able to get four 24oz servings out of it. I then freeze it in a quart bag, leftover jar, or these containers and use within 3 months. You could probably store it longer, but I am not a freezer or canning expert. Three months seemed to be the sweet spot from articles I read. I also love to prep freezer pastas for quick dinners!
Worried about cost? When I did the math, barring spices and oils, the total came to be about $3.15/jar! More than Ragu, but less than Rao’s. Feels doable, right? We can do this!
Nightshade & Vinegar-Free Marinara Sauce
Makes (4) 24oz Servings
2 10oz bags Butternut Squash, frozen
2 150z cans Beets (sliced or whole)
2 15oz cans Carrots
1 29oz can Pumpkin Puree (or 2 15oz cans)
1 Onion (fresh or frozen, yellow or white), chopped
1 cup Celery, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, pressed
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Water
1.5 tsp Basil, dried
1 tsp Fennel Seed, dried
1.5 tsp Oregano, dried
1.5 tsp Italian Seasoning, dried
1.5 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar (not essential, but adds pizazz)
In your multicooker on “saute” or in a skillet over medium heat, warm some olive oil. Add diced onions and celery and cook until transluscent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients to pot and mix together.
Simmer (stovetop) or cook on high (slow cooker) until vegetables are soft. Preferably 1hr or more on stovetop, stirring occasionally. 4-6hrs on high in a slow cooker.
When veggies are softened, turn off heat. Season to taste. Carefully blend with an immersion blender. If using a regular blender or food processor, let sauce cool completely before blending. The heat can cause your machine to explode.
Place 3 cups of sauce in each container, leaving space for sauce to expand in freezer. Use within 3 months.
Let me know how it goes! Next up, I’ll share my favorite Type A smoothie recipe to take to work.
The House on Ladd 