Goodbye McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffins...

...hello saving $4 a day and inevitably saving my arteries in the long run as well.

Let me explain. I have a slight problem. It comes in the form of always being hungry, and needing a substantial breakfast to be able to make it until lunch without whining. Cereal doesn't cut it, unless I eat half the box, I have tried oatmeal and yogurt but can't seem to force myself to like either, and while I like fruit - that again is just not enough. The other part of the problem is that when I get off the train every morning I walk past Jamba Juice, Dunkin Donuts, and McDonalds in a matter of seconds. Sigh. I've gotten into the GREAT habit of bringing my lunch every day - but breakfast is another story. What good is saving money on lunch if I just spend it a few hours earlier on breakfast instead??

SO, this year for Lent, I have decided to give up the one TRUE problem in all of this - McDonald's breakfast. I know, I know, I might die from the deprivation I am sure to suffer just days into the 40-day stretch... but I am determined to make it. So determined, in fact, that I have decided to start NOW and am only having mcd's one more time, which I think I will make the very day before Lent, before the long haul really begins.

In order to prepare myself for the lack of calorie-packed fatty goodness (um, gross), I decided to make a breakfast quiche last night, so I could still get in a flavor-packed morning meal that's easy to bring to work and will last all week. The total cost of all the ingredients was probably about $5, so my new budget will thank me. I know better than to think this is anywhere near healthy, but I am confident that a slice of this quiche is definitely a huge step down in fat and calories from the daily mcd's.

Breakfast Quiche
1 ready-made pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 bag shredded cheese
couple pinches of salt
meat fill-ins (cooked) of your choice (I have made this with crumbled bacon before, and last night used a chunk of jimmy dean sausage)

Preheat oven to 425.
Spread the crust into a 9" pie pan (I used an 8") and spread a little butter on it.
Dump the meat and cheese in and spread it out so it covers the whole bottom of the pie crust.
Beat eggs together with heavy whipping cream and a little salt and pour into pie crust.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 325 and bake for another 40 minutes.

A few thoughts/things I've learned:
1. Putting the flimsy pie pan on a cookie sheet before going in the oven saves spills.
2. I'm going to try and make this a little more healthy next time by using low-fat cheese, a bit of cooking spray instead of a slab of butter, and turkey sausage. Also, I'm curious if using just egg-whites would work, and also if substituting the 2% milk I already have in my fridge for the heavy whipping cream would work... I think it's worth a shot!
3. Ready-made pie crusts are a pain and always break/rip when unrolling them. Luckily, this does not matter at all for the end result of this dish.
4. The amount of eggs and heavy cream can vary depending on what you have on hand - The original recipe I used for this (with bacon) called for 2 cups of cream and 5 eggs, which nowhere near fit, and didn't set well. Last night's 4 eggs and 1 cup of cream made a HUGE difference in the final product.

So there you have it, my first successful step in my mission to not buy breakfast every day. And speaking of successes, Dan and I also made a whole roasted chicken Friday night (yum) and I used the leftover chicken pieces for some homemade chicken noodle soup in my mini crock pot (even more yum). Maybe I will post the soup recipe later, but as good as it was it was nowhere near as comforting and wonderful as my mom's soup... so maybe instead I will just beg her to post her recipe.

Since a post without a picture is no fun (and I was too tired this morning to take a picture of my quiche before cutting into it), I will post this fun apron set, which I have decided I absolutely need for my future kitchen endeavors.