I am not a morning person. [People who have lived with me, feel free to hashtag that with #understatement…]

I’m not. I like staying up late and do it even when I shouldn’t, even when I have to get up early (or what morning people call “late”). So mornings are not my friend. But I’ve learned that breakfast – that meal that insists on taking place in the hateful morning – makes or breaks my day.

At least when it comes to diet. If I eat a lousy breakfast – or, even worse, skip it altogether – I can guarantee I’m not eating a salad for lunch or a piece of fruit for a snack. I probably won’t even drink any water. And by the evening, I’m bloated and miserable and so frustrated that one more day was wasted with bad health choices.

But if I start the day with a good breakfast – something healthy that will stick with me, keep me full for a few hours – I’m a whole lot more likely to make better choices throughout the rest of the day. And who doesn’t want to make more healthy choices?!

The problem is that, even though I know all this, I still hate mornings. And dragging myself from bed to couch (or bed to nursery to couch) is the best I can do for those first 30 minutes or so of my day. So cooking up a plate full of protein (aka, scrambled eggs and turkey sausage) or whipping up a low-fat fruity smoothie? IS JUST TOO MUCH WORK.

Still, I need to figure this thing out. I can’t keep driving through McDonald’s and wondering why the scale only moves up. Plus, I need to do better for my girls. I need to feed them better (not that they’re complaining about cheerios or chocolatey protein breakfast bars), and I need to set a good example for them. All that said, I’ve been on the hunt for healthy make-ahead breakfast solutions the past few months.

The first make-ahead breakfast recipe I decided to try was for “Omelet and Potato Breakfast Bites.” After researching the definitions of “omelet,” “quiche” and “frittata” (Yep. That’s how dedicated I am to providing you with the best information. Or, I’m a nerd. Whatever.), I decided these lean more toward the quiche end of egg dishes.

So – Make-Ahead Mini Quiches it is! But, really, you can [obviously] call them anything you want. Just don’t call them late to breakfast. Oh, shoot! What a terrible joke! I tried to resist, you guys, I did.

ANYWAY. I tried these this week, and they are super easy and very tasty. Another recipe I read said that, no matter what other ingredients you add, green onions are a must. Since I didn’t have any on hand and found my mini quiches a teensy bit bland, I’m going to make sure I don’t make that mistake again. Or I’ll add bacon. Or BOTH…

Make-Ahead Mini Quiches

24 tater tots
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup meats and veggies, diced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then microwave the [frozen] tater tots. Grease muffin tin with baking spray, then put three tater tots in each cup. Smash them down (with the bottom of a small cup or, if you like, a baby bottle that you just washed because washing bottles never ends) into a potato crust. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, mix together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper if you’d like. Once the potatoes are cooked, sprinkle meat and veggies in each cup. Pour egg mixture over each cup and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until egg is completely cooked.

I put turkey sausage and red pepper in my little quiches, but next time I’m definitely trying bacon and green onion. I’m also considering trying it without the tater tots (to make up for adding the bacon!). I refrigerated mine because I knew we’d eat them the next morning, but you can certainly freeze them and microwave individually for a fast, healthy breakfast.

Make-ahead breakfast foods definitely work for me!

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

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