Back to School Mini Frittatas

This small town's only elementary school sits diagonally from our front porch. Since we moved here in May, the parking lots and playgrounds have been empty, soaking up their much deserved summer siesta. I noticed this week, however, that cars are beginning to slowly creep their way into the parking spots...vehicles of teachers, administrators, maintenance workers beginning to prepare for another year. As an educator myself, I couldn't be more excited for the school year to blast off! I love the smell of fresh school supplies, the excitement of a new routine, and especially searching the web for great school lunch ideas. 

I stumbled across a "Back to School" page on www.myrecipes.com. If you're struggling with converting a child's monotonous brown bag lunch, this is definitely the place to go. In the delightful process of browsing this site, I found a recipe for mini frittatas with ham and cheese. I wasted no time in checking my fridge and getting to work on my own protein packed version of this perfect before, during or after-school snack!

Ingredients:

8 eggs

1/3 cup skim milk

1/2 cup (packed) fresh spinach leaves

6 slices deli-style smoked ham

1/4 cup Swiss cheese

3/4 cup mild cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

2 whole artichoke hearts

How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crack the eight eggs into a large bowl. Add milk and whisk until well mixed. 

Add the cheeses and garlic salt and whisk again, just until ingredients are combined. Chop the sliced ham into small 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. cubes and add to the mixture. 

Coarsely chop the spinach leaves, and add them too. 

Finally, finely chop the artichoke hearts and toss them in as well. Whisk again until all ingredients have been thoroughly coated with the egg/milk mixture. 

Grease a large 24-mini muffin cup pan. Fill a large ice cream scooper or melon baller about half-way full with the frittata mixture and pour into one of the mini muffin cups. Repeat process until all cups are filled. 

Bake for twenty minutes exactly. The frittatas should puff up about ten minutes into the baking process and be light, fluffy, and golden on top when finished. Allow at least ten minutes to cool before packing, storing or eating right on the spot! :)

Enjoy with all the life that comes with preparing for the new school year!