Egg McMuffins

Since most of my children are sensitive to milk and need to limit their intake, we have never been big cold cereal eaters; but, I feel the need to provide breakfast. Although I am a morning person, a person can only get up so early, especially with a hectic morning ahead, so I have seriously streamlined the process.

One of the challenges in my family is being sure everyone starts their day with enough protein because I have several children, one in particular, who is very grouchy and lethargic until he eats. Add in a hectic morning and/or a tired, slow-moving mom and we need an easy breakfast to get everyone going.

Years ago I began experimenting with the Egg McMuffin idea. I have tried different kinds of eggs, meat, and bread. I have even tried them with Swiss and Jack cheeses, separately, of course; and this is the one that my family likes the best. We use the registered trademark name, even though we have changed it a little. My creativity never extended to original meal names.

Egg McMuffins®

English Muffins, enough for 1-2 per person
1 egg per muffin
½ -1 slice of the ham lunchmeat that comes in the rectangles shape
1 largish slice cheddar cheese per muffin

Start cooking the English Muffins right away if you are cooking many in the toaster because they take longer than other breads to toast. (When all the kids were at home, I would just lie them out on a cookie sheet and broil them, but I prefer them in the toaster.)

Spray your skillet with non-stick cooking spray, even if it is a non-stick skillet. Turn the heat on medium-low (don’t cook your eggs on too high of heat or they will burn or at least get that stiff edge on them). Add ½ Tablespoon of butter or margarine. Crack the eggs and place them separately in the skillet. You can cook 4 comfortably, 5 if you are fairly coordinated (which I am not) at a time. When the whites begin to get solid, break the yolk and turn the eggs. If you have an electric stove and you don’t need to cook any more eggs, you can turn off the burner at this point.

Meanwhile, slice your cheese, 1-2 slices per muffin and cut the ham in half. I am not a big carnivore, as I have said before, so I usually just use ½ slice of ham per person. However, when my son was working a very physically labor intensive job, I did use more ham on his muffin.

I take the muffins from the toaster, put the ham on the bottom, the hot egg next, then the cheese, top with the warm top of the English muffin and, better than McDonald’s and just as fast, you have breakfast. Serve with orange juice and it’s a fast and easy breakfast.

What I Do: I have found that the store brand English Muffins or the English Muffin bread (which I love) work fine with this meal. Usually 1-2 per person is more than enough; they are surprisingly filling. Occasionally one of my very large eaters will eat 3, but not very often. If you have a child who won’t eat eggs, omit the eggs. I usually use the store brand lunchmeat ham that is rectangular shaped; Kirkland brand at the club stores is especially good.