Stockpile Meal: Frittata Muffins

I received a comment last week asking to share what a shopping list looks like when I plan out family meals.  Well, I have a confession, I don’t plan out my meals a week ahead.  I more go with the flow and what’s made that day is based on what’s going on.  In other words, what time limits are there,  are we flexible on what time we eat, what I feel like eating and so forth.  Based on the answer to these questions, I check out my stockpile and freezer and plan the meal.

I like this approach because it doesn’t matter if Giant Eagle is having good sales or not that week.  I know I have something in my stockpile or freezer that I got for a good price on previous Coupon “High” trips.

Some days if time is crunched around dinner time, I will plan a Crockpot meal in the morning.   Other days I will rely on a semi-processed meal like Hamburger Helper or Spaghetti from a Jar, and other days I get to be creative and take a recipe I have found and adapt it to what’s in my stockpile.

That’s what happened last night and how we ended up having Frittata Muffins.  The recipe I found and changed up to fit my stockpile was Mini Frittatas from the August 2011, All You magazine.

With meat cost rising, I have been trying to incorporate breakfast as dinner at least once a week.  You can’t beat the cost of eggs for protein.  I got a dozen large eggs for $1.  This definitely is cheaper than a pound of ground chuck for $3.  So when I saw this recipe I thought it was perfect, but I didn’t have the potato and red bell pepper that the recipe called for. 

So here’s what I used in my version of  Frittata Muffins.

• 12 Slices of Deli Thin Ham
• 1 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1/5 package Ore-Ida Tater Tots (these were leftovers)
• 1/2 Green Pepper diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 8 Large eggs
• 6 Tbsp Milk
• salt to taste

 
When I first saw this recipe and was thinking how I could adapt it to my stockpile, I was planning on using several of the Cascadian Farm French Fries I bought last week for 10 cents, but when I opened my freezer, I found an opened bag of Tater Tots and thought this would be perfect.  It kept me from opening a new bag of product and made it so the Tater Tots didn’t go to waste, plus it was the perfect amount.

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Then I put the Tater Tots in a bowl and put them in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Just enough time to soften them up enough so I could break them apart.

Next,  in a skillet heat the vegetable oil to medium high and place the broken apart tater tots.  Cook until they are hot (about 3 minutes.)  Then add the diced onion and green pepper and cook until softened (another 3 minutes.)

While those are cooking, spray your muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray and place a piece of ham in each tin. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk and salt.

Once your vegetable mix is done spoon equal portions into each muffin tin and on top of that pour equal mixture into the muffin cups.  Mine were each about 3/4 full.  Bake uggs the eggs are cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Let them cool on a rack for 5 minutes and serve.

I served up my Frittata muffins with some banana muffins I made from a Free mix, peach slices that I got for Free here and a tossed salad.

Here’s a breakdown of my cost.  Since I used items from my stockpile and the economical protein source of eggs I was able to feed my family of 6 for only $5.

Eggs – $.75 (used 3/4 of the carton that I got for $1)
Ham – $1.75 (about 1/2 of a carton that cost $3.50 (not cheap, but better than fast food for lunch)
Green Pepper – $.25 for the Frittatas and $.25 for the salad  (they were on sale for 99  cents/lb at my local store.)
Onion – $.10 
Milk – $.25 for
Tater Tots – $.30 (I almost said Free since it was leftovers that could have gone to waste)

Cost of Frittata Muffins – $3.40 for 6 servings of 57 cents per servings.   This is over $1 less than the cost per serving listed in All You

Sides – $1.60 

Peaches & Muffins – Free
Romaine Lettuce – $.75 (I buy 6 heads at Sams for $4 and used one head)
Cucumbers – $.50 (half of an English Cucumber at $1)
Green Pepper – $.25
Tomato – $.10 (used very little because my kids won’t eat raw tomato.)

The whole family said this was a do again meal and the kids really enjoyed it because they got to eat the Frittata Muffins with their hands.