Loaded Breakfast Bowls

These loaded breakfast bowls are perfect for a quick, healthy breakfast on a busy morning! Bacon, eggs, cheese, and potatoes but only 278 calories! (5 SP) 

    
Be still my heart. This is everything I love about breakfast dishes all wrapped up into one scrumptious bowl. Eggs, bacon, cheese, and perfectly seasoned potatoes. What more do you need to start your day off on the right foot?

And the best part is that they’re under 300 calories! You can fully indulge in all your breakfast favorites without feeling guilty one bit. That’s my kind of breakfast right there!

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LOADED BREAKFAST BOWLS 

278 calories per bowl

5 SP per bowl

Before we dig into the recipe, let’s answer a few questions you may conjure up before cooking! 

Can I use any type of potato in this dish?

When it comes to choosing and using potatoes, there actually is a difference in how to select the right potato for your intended use. I chose to use a high starch potato, as a russet potato is a great option for roasting, however, as you can see below, the medium starch potatoes could work just as well! Here are the three starch levels of potato and their best uses:

• High starch potatoes are best for dry or oil-based cooking such as baking, roasting and frying. These potatoes will absorb a lot of moisture so they’ll fall apart in soups, stews, or during boiling. However, they’re good for mashing. High starch potatoes are:
  • Idaho, russet, and sweet potatoes
• Medium starch potatoes are considered all-purpose potatoes because they can be used when you’re not really sure what type of potato you need. They hold their shape better than the high starch potatoes but still absorb moisture more than the low starch potatoes. This makes them ideal for boiling, baking, frying, roasting, steaming, and using in stews and soups! When in doubt go medium! Medium starch potatoes are:
  • Red potatoes, purple potatoes, and kennebec
• Low starch potatoes are waxy so they don’t absorb moisture like the high starch potatoes do. This makes them ideal for boiling and steaming for soups, stews, potato salads, and casseroles since they’ll hold their shape. Low starch potatoes are:
  • Yukon gold, fingerling, and carola

Cool….So I’m at the store, how do I select the best potatoes?

• Choose potatoes that are firm, clean, smooth and unblemished. Avoid potatoes with any cuts, cracks, dents or gouges where bacteria can get in or mold can grow.
• Avoid potatoes that are growing sprouts unless you plan to eat them within 1-2 days. (And be sure to dig out those eyes before you cook them! #savage)
• Avoid potatoes that have any dark or green spots, or any other signs of bruising.

I already have my potatoes, but I won’t be cooking them right away. How should I store them?

• Store in an open paper bag or a paper bag with holes in it.
• Do not store in a plastic bag as this will trap moisture and promote rotting.
• Store in a cool dark place such as your pantry, in a closet or in your basement. Do not refrigerate, as the cold will cause the starch to convert to sugar which will change the taste of the potato.
• Potatoes stored at room temperature will last about 1-2 weeks, potatoes stored at 45-50 degrees F will last for 2-3 months.

Tip: You can find more tips on seasonal produce selection and storage, plus tons of recipes from fellow food bloggers in my Monthly Seasonal Produce Guides! 

I don’t care about any of this because I hate potatoes. What else could I use in their place?

Instead of using potatoes for these breakfast bowls, you could substitute butternut squash! When cubed and roasted, they taste very similar to potatoes and would still mesh well with the rest of the breakfast vibe!

Just follow this recipe for how to roast the squash and this guide if you need to know how to cut the squash! This substitution will drop the calories down to 223 per serving (3 SP).

perfect! now how do I make these?

We’re going to start with the seasoned potatoes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil and spraying it generously with cooking spray. Peel and dice 3 russet potatoes into small pieces then add to a large bowl.

Add in 1/2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 tsp fresh, chopped rosemary, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to coat.
Spread the potatoes out on the prepared baking sheet into a thin layer. Cook the potatoes for 40 minutes or until tender, flipping halfway and adding more olive oil if they begin to burn.

Next, turn broiler to low and allow potatoes to broil until crisp, about 3 minutes. (Watch them closely because this goes very fast so you don’t want them to get burned!)
Once done, split the potatoes into 6 separate bowls (or Tupperware containers if you’re meal prepping for the week). Top each bowl with 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of cooked, crumbled bacon, 1 Tbsp of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1/2 Tbsp of ketchup, if desired. If you’re prepping your breakfasts in advance for the week be sure to leave out the ketchup and slightly undercook the eggs. That way when you reheat the bowl they won’t end up overcooked! #egglogicIn order to reheat the bowls, just toss them in the microwave for 1 minute, drizzle with ketchup, and dig in!! You can also top with hollandaise sauce or salsa if you prefer these to the taste of ketchup! 

If you’re short on time or eating at work, microwaving your leftover eggs will work just fine! However, if you have the time, you can always scramble your eggs fresh and only refrigerate/reheat the rest of the ingredients. I prepped my scrambled eggs 2 days in advance. Any longer than that and I get the heebie jeebies! 🙂

Enjoy! 

If you’re looking for more easy and healthy breakfast ideas, check out this Overnight Eggs Benedict Casserole or this Bacon and Gruyére Breakfast Casserole, these super simple Ham Egg and Cheese Roll-Ups, or these Banana Bread Bars!

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**Recipe for potatoes adapted from Changing a Life

What do you think? Did this recipe make the cut for you or did it crumble? What would you do differently? I look forward to reading your opinions! 🙂

 

 

PS: Since I want my blog to be about learning and improving, I wanted to include one of my original images, next to an updated image. Thank you to the Pinch of Yum Food Photography Ebook for these lessons!

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