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IMG_2682I won’t say that my blog is having an identity crisis, only that perhaps I am, but I think it still kind of wants to be a food blog.

I pin a lot of recipes on Pinterest—because sometimes my tiny eater is picky but I’m not. I like to cook and eat new things. It’s a different interpretation of all the “trying” I document here.

The challenge to get my kid to eat vegetables continues. Right now, he’s really into cheese and fruit with his protein. He won’t completely ignore veggies, but he doesn’t ask for them or go to town on them, either. We do a lot of broccoli mac and cheese, shrimp and shroom alfredo linguini, and veggie pizza.

And when mama needs a break from that stuff, she resorts to sneaking greens and reds and oranges into likable, recognizable staples. Enter the muffin tin quiches.

Jax will eat eggs until he’s about to burst. He gets it honest. I found an Amish farmer willing to part with 18 cage-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free eggs for $2 every week, and sometimes we run out by the weekend. I love Mexican food, but Jax still has a hard time chewing tortilla unless it’s smothered in enchilada sauce, so when I saw a southwest muffin quiche recipe, I had to make them right away.

These quiches could not be easier. There’s no crust to mess with. Thoroughly grease or spray your muffin tins; three tins is 18 quiches, and that’s how many I made. You’ll need about two cups of fillings, not counting cheese. My fillings were mushrooms, black beans, and diced pepper. (There really is no actual recipe. I have plans to do a cheeseburger version of these with meatless protein crumbles, squares of American, and slices of cherry tomato. Oh oh, and tiny shrimp would work. A spinach-kale mix with feta. A sweet pepper blend with garlic and Gouda. Who’s hungry?)

Fill each cup about halfway with fillings, then top with a healthy bit of shredded cheese. I used a sharp white cheddar/Colby jack mix. Beat eight small or six large eggs with up to a cup of milk. This isn’t a science; it’s hard to screw up eggs, in my opinion. More milk makes eggs fluffier, and can stretch the mixture if you’re short on eggs (noooo!). No milk at all and these will still taste good. Anyway. Beat the mixture well, preferably in some kind of spouted container for easy pouring, salt and pepper it, and fill each cup of goodness up slowly. You should still see the filling, but the egg liquid should just reach the top. Thirty minutes at 350, or until you can touch the tops of the quiches and tell that the egg is set up. They might even brown slightly on top. Mmmm.

We all have to eat. Some of us have to feed others. Food matters. I will spend my last $10 on homemade salt and pepper sourdough loaves, hothouse tomatoes, and local scallions at the farmer’s market to make panzanella before I’ll buy just about anything else. And when Jax is being weird about food, I’ll make something I know he loves—cheesy eggs—and sneak the good stuff into it. Even if you don’t have a little one to please, these mini quiches keep for a few days and could be a quick breakfast, or a full supper with good bread and a salad.

And because the struggle to get enough veggies in my boy is real, I welcome your healthy, kid-friendly recipes and links to your Pinterest food boards in the comments, please. Feed us!