High Protein Egg Bites

INGREDIENTS:

8 Tierra Verde Eggs

1 Cup full-fat cottage cheese

1 1/2 Cups shredded cheese of your choice (swiss, cheddar, monterey jack, combo)

salt/pepper

Raw chopped vegetables of your choice (spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions)

Cooked chopped bacon or sausage (optional, but a great use of leftovers)

Finely chopped herbs of your choice (also optional, but delicious) basil, parsley, chives, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees and put rack in the center position. Bring three cups of water to boil.  Grease 12 cup muffin tray.
2. Place the eggs, cottage cheese, 1 cup of shredded cheese, and salt/pepper in a blender and blend on high for 10 seconds until mixture is light and fluffy.  Be careful not to overblend.
3. Place your muffin pan on a sheet pan and fill each space 3/4 with the egg mixture.  Next add the chopped vegetables or meats.  You may need to gently stir with a chopstick to evenly mix.  Top each with the remaining shredded cheese.  Place sheet pan with muffin tin into your oven, then pour the hot water into the sheet pan. (You can skip this step.  Your egg cups will be firmer and more dense like a frittata.  Still delicious.  The water bath just allows the eggs to cook up lighter like scrambled eggs).
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes to firm up before removing them from the pan.  The egg bites can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 days or freezer for three months.
5. Important to remove the muffin pan from the sheet pan separately so as not to spill the water!  Do not try to remove them from the oven together unless you are way more skilled than I am.