Breaking the routine

"'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last, 'what's the first thing you say to yourself?' 'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?' 'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing,' he said." -A. A. Milne, 'The House at Pooh Corner'

There are two reasons I rarely make a morning meal, besides toast and cereal.  One of those reasons is I have a morning routine.  It is really the only time of day that I follow any kind of pattern.  I wake, feed and take the dogs outside, wash up, get dressed, put on my face and tease my hair, then head into the kitchen for my Kashi Heart to Heart cereal and toast with Nutella before leaving for work.  The second reason is that my hubby is not a morning riser.  He has probably been up the same time as me only about a handful of times in our 6 year marriage.  So really there is no point in fixing an elaborate breakfast. 

This morning, I decided to be a rebel and changed up my routine a bit. I took one of my dogs, Levi, on a long walk where we both returned panting and I had worked up a good sized appitite.  My cereal and toast just didn't sound as fulfilling as it usually does. 

Once again I opened my kitchen binder (no mishaps today!) and dived in to find something easy, as well as, something I had all the ingredients for.

Crustless Broccoli-Cheddar Quiches adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
4 Ramekins

Butter

Coarse salt

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli florets

6 large eggs

1/2 cup half-and-half

Ground Pepper                                                                           
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (3 ounces)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Butter the four ramekins.
3.  Add broccoli to a pot of boiling water; cook 1 minute. Drain and put broccoli onto a clean kitchen towel and dry well. 
4.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg. 5.  Mix in broccoli and cheese.
6.  Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and spoon in the broccoli mixture evenly into each ramekin. 7.  Bake until a puffy golden brown, about 35-40 minutes.

These were the prettiest things I think I have ever taken out of my oven.  The quiche had risen up and over the ramekin like a little golden muffin after immediately taking it out of the oven. Take a quick picture of your creation because after cooling a bit it deflates back down, which was a bummer, but one can forget all that for the first bite was amazing!!!  This is now one of my favorite dishes.  I think I will really have fun changing up the veggies and cheese I use in it, too.  Spinach with artichoke and feta would be absolutely divine!




Oh, I also found a way to get my hubby out of bed early....cook!  It seems one cannot resist good smells coming from the kitchen, lol!!!