What's for breakfast? Egg bake

20. August 2010 William Davis (42)
Heart Scan Blog reader and dietitian, Lisa Grudzielanek, provided this recipe in response to the post, What's for breakfast?

Lisa, by the way, is one of the rare dietitians who understands that organizations like the American Dietetic Association have made themselves irrelevant. She therefore advocates diet principles that work, not just echoing the idiocy that emanates from such organizations, often driven by economics more than science. Lisa works in the Milwaukee area and has proven a useful resource person for my patients who have required extra coaching in the Track Your Plaque diet principles.

Egg Bake
My favorite breakfast is what I call an "egg bake." Others may refer to it as a "quiche."

Take a variety of fresh vegetables. This time of year is great for farmers' markets.

I typically use fresh chopped organic spinach, bell peppers, red & white onions, scallions, broccoli, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes halved and, if desired, meat (nitrite-free ham or leftover chicken breasts).

1) Chop veggies and place in casserole dish.
2) Add meat and handful of cheese of your choice.
3) Scramble 8 eggs & little bit of milk & pepper.
4) Add to casserole dish and mix/coat veggies with egg mixture.
5) Put in oven at 450 degress for 30 minutes.

Yummy, ready to eat breakfast that is so easy for the work week.
Tags :

Comments (42) -

  • Jonathan

    8/20/2010 3:17:30 PM |

    I took 7 eggs, spinach leaves torn up small, cut up green and blond peppers, and dropped them all in my cast iron pan on the stove top with some bacon grease.  It would have got some sausage, bacon, ham, and/or onion but I didn't have any.  I called it an omelet but I think it would taste a lot like the quiche here.  (ate it all by myself so needless to say, i'm not hungry and wont be eating lunch)

  • Matt B

    8/20/2010 6:02:55 PM |

    I always shy away from this type of thing, thinking of the oxidation that is occurring with the cholesterol in the eggs.   Is this unreasonable to consider, when contemplating eggs that have been in my fridge, scrambled, for days?   Same reason, I don't eat scrambled eggs on hotel buffet lines - also with those there is a higher likelihood that the eggs were made from powdered, also oxidized, fats.

  • n

    8/20/2010 7:07:04 PM |

    I'm with Jonathan. fried eggs > baked eggs. baking eggs makes them spongy.

    Matt B - I'm not sure I follow. Surely sealing the eggs away from the air in a tight container fixes this.

  • DogwoodTree05

    8/20/2010 10:00:00 PM |

    My favorite breakfast: deconstructed omelet

    1-2 eggs
    finely diced veggies
    spices
    butter or lard
    water or broth

    Melt 2T butter or lard in a fry pan on medium heat.
    Add spices and let cook for a couple minutes to bring out the flavor.  If you have minced onion or garlic, add these now.
    Add enough water or broth to cover the bottom of the pan, about 1/8 to 1/4 cup.  
    Add the veggies and cook for 2-5 minutes, until just softened and the color bright.
    Push the veggies to the side of the pan, add a little water, broth, or cooking fat if necessary and drop 1-2 eggs in the middle of the pan.  Cover and the eggs should set in 2-4 minutes.  
    Layer the veggies on the bottom of a plate and top with the eggs or serve them side by side.

    If you don't want to bother with veggies, eggs cooked in chicken broth and/or lard are delicious!  The egg whites soak up the flavor of the cooking liquid.

  • Anonymous

    8/21/2010 2:37:51 PM |

    Eggs got a bad rap in the 80s and 90s for having too much cholesterol. Should we not worry about ingestion of cholesterol as much as creation of cholesterol in the liver? I could eat eggs 4x a day, and lots of them each time if it doesn't spike my numbers.

    -- Boris

  • Matt B

    8/21/2010 6:11:56 PM |

    @n, I believe some oxidation would occur with the exposed yolks.  It's never going to be air tight.  Are my concerns totally unfounded?  

    http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/08/28/what-passes-for-food-in-america/  

    @Boris, I am all for consuming cholesterol, just not oxidized cholesterol.  My breakfast many days is 3 hard boiled eggs with butter Smile

    If I pre-cook eggs, I only do it hard boiled.   fried eggs >>>>> baked eggs, but when I'm trying to get out the door by 5:30, fried don't work so well Smile

  • Tom

    8/21/2010 6:29:02 PM |

    Hi,
    Would someone please explain the "oxidation" your speaking of?
    Thank you.
    Tom

  • Tom

    8/21/2010 6:32:09 PM |

    I just tried the recipe with most of the same ingredients .... delicious!
    I think this will work with most any veggies.  I'm looking forward to experimenting.
    One note: I baked it in an uncovered dish.  It was just a bit watery on the bottom.  I think it would have been more so in a covered dish.

  • PAl

    8/21/2010 7:20:26 PM |

    hi dr davis.

    you've done amazing coverage for wheat. would you consider exploring the murky world of milk as well?

    it will be great to have some clarification on that too!

  • Anonymous

    8/22/2010 12:55:54 AM |

    For convenience, we bake them in mini-muffin pans and freeze them in single serving bags.

  • Anonymous

    8/22/2010 5:29:31 AM |

    has this turned into a recipies site?

  • Anonymous

    8/22/2010 11:54:26 AM |

    Sally Fallon says scrambling eggs does NOT oxidize the cholesterol:

    http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/05/oxidized-cholesterol-sally-fallon-answers-a-reader-question.html

  • Anonymous

    8/22/2010 3:12:19 PM |

    According to F. Guadiola et el in the book "Cholesterol and Phytoisterol Oxidation Products: Analysis Occurance, and Biological Effects." pg 129, Eggs that are fried and boiled have been reported to have oxidized cholesterol.

    You can preview this in google books.

  • Anonymous

    8/22/2010 7:48:44 PM |

    I guess I'm a little lost.  I just signed up for TYP to read articles and forum posts, with many of the articles alluding that it is best to keep saturated fat low, but these blog posts seem to contradict that?

    Changing or evolution of ideas?

  • Jonathan

    8/22/2010 10:23:27 PM |

    Most health advice says to lower Sat. fat intake.  That was based on some really crappy science and number fudging.  Books such as ones by Uffe Ravnskov and many others tear that science to bits.  The more cholesterol and Sat. fat you eat, the less the body makes.  It's pretty well regulated.  The reason it goes up in the first place is because it is protective.  It's used to repair the body.  It went up because wheat consumption and too many carbs raised the abrasive sugar in you veins and caused inflammation for which the cholesterol has to fix.  Fixing the inflammation lowers the cholesterol.
    Eating sat fat (most of the fats we use as replacements are high in inflammation causing Omega 6) also helps raise you HDL while the LDL will go down or at least change to a fluffy pattern.  Totals shouldn't be 200 or less like they say now.  240 is quite normal and people with 600 live really long normal lives.

    I think baking them doesn't make them spongy as much as the whisking them before you put them in there.  I still prefer them skillet scrambled.

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 12:00:51 AM |

    Thanks for the insight Jonathan.  I'm an ER/ICU nurse of 15 years with a few years of Nutrition studies before I went to nursing school.  Unfortunately, my brain is now just ridding itself of it's current dogma as I research this new 'trend' and approach.  

    I've been spending about 7 hours a day (I'm working in a slow ER;)) reading this site, and others like it.  Great resource and amazing how we got lead down the wrong path for the last 30 some odd years.

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 12:03:43 AM |

    I've been eating low carb for the last months, and I started experiencing realy bad muscle aches teh day after workouts. Like I feel my triceps and chest are burning under the skin.
    So after last workout I added some extra carbs and aches are gone.
    so the question is... how do you deal with muscle aches on a low carb diet?

  • kellgy

    8/23/2010 5:54:54 AM |

    The Egg bake looks like an interesting recipe. I just bought two dozen eggs and am readying the kitchen. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for the post and Lisa for the idea!

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 9:45:19 AM |

    Dear Dr. Davis,

    This blog is full of statements and advice that seem to seek to debunk conventional, established thinking about heart issues. Given that we are talking about extremely serious matters, do you not think that the least you can do is to let us know whether:

    1. You have published research backing the advice you give on your blog,
    2. Your work has been peer reviewed and
    3. Where to find them.

    By not doing so, every reader of your blog will feel entitled to utter totally unsubstantiated statements such  as these two in this post: "That was based on some really crappy science and number fudging" (Jonathan) or "my brain is now just ridding itself of it's current dogma" (Anonymous).

  • Pal

    8/23/2010 10:48:00 AM |

    ^^^^

    we are all the peers of each other here and have reviewd this advise by testing it on ourselves.

    you are welcome to be a 'peer reviewer' yourself and 'report' your 'findings' through a simple comment on this blog.

    lets keep the bureaucracy and red tape out, and figure out for ourselves what works.

    learn to listen to your body, that is the best peer review!

  • Jonathan

    8/23/2010 2:31:33 PM |

    Muscle aches.  Hmm...  I get sore after HIT but always though I was supposed to.  I only lift once a week though so I have plenty of time to replenish stores of glucose.  You my want to add some fruit like a peach or apple post work out (shouldn't need much) along with some post workout protein.

    Conventional thinking has to be right because it is conventional.  So a drug manufacturer sponsors a trial, they work the numbers to match what they thought it should say, hand this screwed up data to a peer panel that never tested this stuff themselves, and now it is accurate "peer reviewed" advice to give to 100% of the people on this planet.
    I'll stick to thought that God knew what he was doing when we were created and that our bodies have cholesterol for a reason.  If saying I believe in God makes me unscientific, I don't care.  I know what works for me (lost 70 lbs and counting, sugar is under control, can do 5+ mile hikes in the mountains even though I'm still 285 lbs, no longer take Prilosec at all, and feel strong as an ox).
    If it was two of us low-carbers finding improvements in health then maybe there would be room for dispute but we are thousands strong.
    Why is it the people how actually find what works have to prove themselves and the people who push ideas that haven't worked in 40 years get to stand and point fingers.  I believe in what I learn myself, not what is forced upon me.

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 3:21:15 PM |

    Really!...Do you subscribe to Pal & Jonathan statements, Dr. Davis?

  • Dr. William Davis

    8/23/2010 3:42:10 PM |

    I find it odd that requests for publications and references comes in a recipe post.

    Point taken. This is also a blog, not an encyclopedia. While I try to point out the science where it exists and is appropriate, much of what I say here is based on personal observations, not always quantified. That's why I call it The Heart Scan Blog, not The Heart Scan Encyclopedia.

  • n

    8/23/2010 4:03:54 PM |

    The Guadiola book from 2002 referred to by anon above is very interesting.

    From the table on p125 of cholesterol oxidation product in egg products:

    pasturized, uncooked egg - 3 ug/g
    fried 1 min - 84
    fried 3 min - 124
    boiled 3 min - 128
    boiled 10 min - 203

    I wonder what effect temp has on these numbers. That is, cooking at a temp lower that boiling or what you'd trypically fry an egg at.

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 5:11:07 PM |

    My point exactly, Dr. Davis. If your blog were about recipes and cookery, I wouldn't have even bothered to raise the issue. As far as I know, cookery has not reached the status of science ...not yet anyway!

    According to your own profile in this blog, you practise cardiology, and so one imagines that both your writings and opinions are informed by scientific methods. And when that is not the case, and when what you are providing is an opinion, even if it is an informed opinion, it is your professional duty to let your readers know that what you are saying is, in your own words, based on personal observations.

    And that is perfectly legitimate, you are of course entitled to your own opinions. But when what you write about and the comments you make might have a impact on the health of those readers who trust your opinions, because you are a practising cardiologist, then your opinions must adhere to scientific principles. And if what you say and write about has not been scientifically demonstrated, then you should expressed it unambiguously.

    I have a serious heart condition, and believe you me, when it comes to life or death matters, I do not consult the cookery pages. Nor do I seek advice from an astrologer either.

  • Pal

    8/23/2010 5:36:36 PM |

    ^^^

    you have a serious heart condition because of your trust in 'scientific principles' which is how it should be.

    but sir what do you mean by that phrase? just complex sounding gibberish stretched and distorted through endless loops of political and monetary  interets called the 'peer review' process?

    you are welcome to unravel the heart mysteries here yourself but do let Dr Davis share his observations without choking this channel for others by your demands for your version of the 'peer review' process!

    i like the simple and effective approach here!

    Thanks!

  • n

    8/23/2010 5:46:11 PM |

    Anon said "I have a serious heart condition, and believe you me, when it comes to life or death matters, I do not consult the cookery pages. Nor do I seek advice from an astrologer either."

    Last time I checked this wasn't the doctor's office.

    Either you're a troll or you haven't grasped the concept of a blog.

  • Tom

    8/23/2010 7:45:56 PM |

    @Anonymous:

    You obviously have a need for "authoritarian" documentation to sooth your inability to think for yourself.  Why do you continue to post here other than to stir up contoversy and post snide Ad Hominums?
    Clearly you are trolling, and that says all that needs be said about your pompous and officious personality.
    I for one will now ignore you and I hope that everyone else will also.
    Take your pathetic and disengenuous comments somewhere with your own kind where you can all feed on each other's tiny egos, and mean and nasy outlooks on everything.
    No one asked you to come here, so leave.  You bring nothing of value to the discussions here.

  • Anonymous

    8/23/2010 9:47:29 PM |

    I have nothing against the blog. You are free to think whatever you want and your beliefs are not my concern. Just do not try to present as a fact what is just an opinion. At least Jonathan, one of your neighbours a couple of comments before yours, is more candid when he says: "I'll stick to thought that God knew what he was doing when we were created and that our bodies have cholesterol for a reason." I rest my case.

  • Tommy

    8/24/2010 2:24:04 AM |

    Jonathan said:
    "Eating sat fat (most of the fats we use as replacements are high in inflammation causing Omega 6) also helps raise you HDL while the LDL will go down or at least change to a fluffy pattern. Totals shouldn't be 200 or less like they say now. 240 is quite normal and people with 600 live really long normal lives."

    Dr. Davis said in an older post:

    "If, on the other hand, your small LDL is genetically programmed, then saturated fat will increase small LDL.  In other words, saturated fat tends to increase the dominant or genetically-determined form of LDL. If your dominant genetically-determined form is small, then saturated fat increases small LDL particles."

    Dr Davis also mentioned somewhere (can't find it at the moment) that saturated fat causes inflammation.

    So I'd say that there is still conflicting reports out there and moderation again wins the day.

    Meanwhile in this post we have the suggestion to consume large amounts of eggs which contain saturated fat. Safe for everyone?

  • Kristen B

    8/24/2010 3:02:50 AM |

    I am curious: just what consists of a typical day of  meals for you? And what is causes "oxidized ldl"?

  • Anonymous

    8/24/2010 12:34:28 PM |

    About the muscle aches...

    A little bit of soreness is to be expected, especially after a hard workout, change of routine, or starting a routine after a long break.  That said, if you're not consuming adequate calories, your body will use the protein for fuel instead of for repairing/rebuilding your muscles.  Carbohydrate will spare the protein (again, assuming adequate calories are consumed) as well as replace glycogen stores.  Try just bumping up your calories, but if you want to continue the carbs just make sure you consume a carb/protein snack within an hour of your workout and don't overtrain.

  • Jonathan

    8/24/2010 2:36:03 PM |

    First off, LDL is not the horrible guy everybody thinks of it as.  You have to have it.  It has a job to do.  LDL helps fight infections as well as transport needed fuel through the blood.  You just want the bigger size pattern so it doesn't oxidize as quickly.
    Sat fat consumption doesn't fix the pattern directly.  It allows for less calories from carbs which helps fix the pattern.  It does seem to help raise HDL no matter how the person's genetics create LDL.  Along with the less carbs causing lower Trig, the HDL to Trig ratio is much improved.
    Your body stores excess as a high % of sat fat to burn later.  Which means in order to use those stores, you have to release it into the blood stream.  What's the difference in that and eating it?
    As for inflammatory, I've not seen anything on it.  Doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  It might not be scientific and I'm just a layman, but if you put sugar on your tongue and rub it around it will get real sore.  Put some coconut oil on there and rub it around it will feel better.  So my opinion is that fat/cholesterol didn't cause the inflammation in the arteries, it's responding to it to fix it.

    Dr. Davis is just one man with an opinion too.  He blogs those current thoughts.  They may change.  This site isn't a medical text book (and I still wouldn't 100% trust it if it were).  We can take away from him what we want to learn and believe.  We can read other people's opinions.  We can discuss; don't have to agree.  Knowledge only advances through disagreement.

    If you want to attack my religion, fine by me.  Only tells me you have nothing to dispute my ideas with so you grasp at anything discrediting instead.  Why not call me fatty or dumb?  Bet you would think Albert Einstein as a good scientist but how many discredited him in their minds because he was weird or had strange hair.  Believe what you want to believe but think for yourself.

  • LynneC

    8/24/2010 3:16:01 PM |

    Well, I don't think Dr Davis was recommmending that you eat the entire 8 egg casserole at one sitting! Here's a link to eggs as it relates to heart disease.  You will need to copy and paste the link into your browser.  Full PDF available for free...
    http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/23/suppl_6/596S

  • Jonathan

    8/24/2010 3:24:52 PM |

    Thanks for the link.  I got stuck on this part:
    "However, population-based studies examining the association between egg consumption and serum cholesterol levels show either no association, or, paradoxically, an inverse association"

  • Anonymous

    8/24/2010 6:21:19 PM |

    Jonathan, Jonathan. Your logic beggars belief. Now that you mention Einstein, he once said that there are two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and that he wasn't sure about the universe.

  • Tom

    8/24/2010 6:45:32 PM |

    Is it possible to have this troll who calls himself "anonymous" removed?
    He's here only to stirr up trouble.

  • Tommy

    8/24/2010 7:06:07 PM |

    Jonathan, I'm not being argumentative, This is a serious inquiry. I learn a lot from this blog but I also learn a lot from sites and blogs that are in complete opposition, I take from everything. Personally the more information I get from all sides the more I end up middle of the road on my own path.

    You said:
    Sat fat consumption doesn't fix the pattern directly. It allows for less calories from carbs which helps fix the pattern.

    Is this because the more fat/sat fat you consume the more satiated you become and it's just less room for carbs due to lack of hunger? If so then that doesn't work for everyone. I am at a good weight....maybe even thin...but I have a huge appetite. A person like me would could eat loads of sat fat and still consume a lot of carbs. What about a huge plate of pasta smothered in high fat meat sauce? Finish that meal with Italian pastries (nice cannolis) and fruit and I'd say that's a high fat and high carb disaster. The fat in that meal doesn't squeeze out the carbs then....does it?

    I don't buy into the whole saturated fat nonsense and personally don't run and hide from saturated fat. I drink whole fat milk, I have Olive oil, I don't buy non fat products etc but at the same time I don't go crazy eating too much either. What is too much? I don't know but I just try not to get too crazy. But I also don't consume any processed refined carbs. No bread, wheat or sugar, no flour. Actually it would be hard for me to think of a food I eat that even has an ingredient label!! But I do eat brown rice and quinoa. Not huge amounts, but I eat them.

    Thanks

  • Jonathan

    8/24/2010 8:47:41 PM |

    Awesome.  Anonymous called me stupid.  

    Tommy, I'm not meaning to attack you either.  I think you a prime example of why the government has no business giving dietary guidelines.  No one diet plan can fit 100% of the people.  You have to do what works for you.
    What I meant is that if you drop calories in carbs you'll replace them in protein and fat.  I simply choose to eat more sat and the rest in mono and not increase protein.  The first time I tried Atkins I just focused on lowering carbs and I didn't make it too long.  This time around, I focused on low to now carb and increasing natural sat fat and trying to keep protein moderate.  I feel great now and have for the last 8 months.
    Your high metabolism is interesting.  It's like you are very active athlete who may need some extra carbs to keep going.  Not saying grains are a good place to get them.  I would be curious how active you really are and I would be curious what a 70-80% fat content over a few weeks would do for your hunger (say your body releases insulin faster than others to protein or something).  Have you tried checking your blood sugar on an interval for a day?  Once my sugar stabilized (too me a couple of months to get real stable) my hunger when way down.  I guess I'm just mentally stuck on insulin being the normal culprit for messing with fat and sugar storage/usage and ultimately hunger causing.  I guess I should add my idea of high fat would be a day like: 4 eggs and bacon for breakfast and a cup of coffee with heavy cream, a salad with olive oil or left over pork chops or 4 hotdogs or fasting for lunch, and an untrimmed 7-9oz steak with butter on top and broccoli or asparagus sauteed in butter/coconut oil for supper.  I feel extra hungry sometimes and will have some cheese or more steak or something at supper.  I also try to vary the amount I eat like fasting some days and gorging others.  Eating carbs makes me more and more hungry (sometime delayed an hour); fat at the least doesn't make me more hungry.
    Just my observations of what is working for me.

  • Tommy

    8/24/2010 9:22:40 PM |

    Here's the funny thing. If not for reading things on the internet I'd probably keep going thinking I was doing fine. I mean, basically I am. My weight is excellent. My bodyfat is good. I feel good, I'm in shape. My bloodwork is good and all is well. I could just leave it at that and keep going but the internet leaves me with questions all the time.  You know, I can get someone looking to lose weight and probably ask them "how they would like to do it." "Do you like carbs? There is a site that is very successful in their members losing weight consuming high carbs (Matt Stone). Do you like meat? There is a site that has huge numbers of followers losing weight eating lots of meat and animal fat (Mark Sisson). Do you like low fat? there are low fat diets that some swear by also.  How about high protein? (Michael Eades), What about traditional and middle road? (Sally Fallon)."
    Then you have Atkins and like minded and McDougal and like minded. Everyone has followers who claim all the same beifits as the next guy on the opposite end. Weight loss, better numbers in bloodwork, more energy, less cavities, no joint aches and on and on.

    There really are a lot of choices out there and a lot of conflicting information. I think my worst move was to gain a little knowledge...lol.

    Thanks...interesting info.

  • Vicki Huckabee Dixon

    8/25/2010 4:34:09 PM |

    I for one eat LOTS of saturated fat and my labs are all the proof I need to know they don't cause inflammation.  In fat, they definitely seem to lower it.  I don't follow anything on blind faith. "The proof is in the pudding".  And I dear friends, have never been healthier in my life.  Nor has my cholesterol and inflammation been lower.  Nay say all you want, but try it out and have a good hard look at your labs for the proof you need.

  • Laura

    8/30/2010 7:25:35 PM |

    Thank you, Dr. Davis for reposting this so we can all view it more easily.

Add comment

Loading