Breakfast Sandwiches

I have developed a really bad habit of going through the drive thru almost every morning I babysit to get breakfast. It's tasty and easy. I'm not so much concerned about how unhealthy it is (although I probably should be) - my motivation was more about the cost. Hey, whatever works!

I combined several techniques I've seen and couldn't be happier with how this came out! I only made six sandwiches, but you could do 12 in the same amount of time and effort. Since this was my first time making the bacon and eggs like this, I did them separately so I could keep an eye on them. Next time, I'll totally throw them in the oven together to get it done that much faster and just keep an eye on them.

First things first - I had to cook the bacon. I decided to try baking it and it was perfect. I cut my bacon in half (so it was the size I needed when it came out of the oven!) and put it on a foil lined baking sheet. I was able to get about 20 half-pieces on my sheet (about half the package) I set my convection oven to 400 degrees and stuck the bacon in as soon as I turned it on (so before it was heated up). I set my timer for 10 minutes, which is just about as much time as it took my oven to heat up. I just kept an eye on it, and it was probably ready after a total of about 15-17 minutes. If you like it super-crispy, you could probably leave it a few more minutes. After I pulled it out, I just put the bacon on a paper towel to drain a little of the extra grease. Then once it had cooled, I just tossed the foil with the extra grease. So simple!

Next up was the eggs. I used some cooking spray to grease a muffin tin, then cracked an egg into six of the wells (but you could just as easily do 12). I turned the oven down to 350, but stuck the eggs in before it cooled down. I set the timer for 15 minutes, but when I checked them they weren't quite as done as I wanted so I let them cook about 5-7 more minutes. I'm not exactly sure because I was working on other stuff at the same time and forgot about it a little bit! I got them out and let them cool a little bit.

Then, I just had to put my sandwiches together. I used english muffins and put two of the half-pieces of bacon, then the egg, and a slice of cheese. I wrapped them in foil and tossed them in the freezer. This way I can pull one out the night before, then heat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds in the morning!

I got some frozen hashbrown patties and cans of Diet Dr. Pepper, so I have the same meal I get from the drive thru. I crunched the numbers, and 12 of these whole meals would come in at about $1.85 each. That's about 1/3 of what it costs at the drive thru! I'll count that as a win!

*For a slightly healthier version, you can use just the egg whites instead of the whole egg, a whole wheat muffin or bagel, canadian bacon, and low fat cheese.