On Mother’s Day we celebrate mom and/or any other women in your life who have helped to nourish and care for you. Whether it’s the Italian mom who loves Sunday Supper but your red sauce is ordered in or the Jewish woman who spends Sunday in the kitchen all day cooking and no one is allowed in to your sacred space, on Mother’s Day we want her to sit back and put her feet up for a little while. Let the kids into the kitchen with a parent, caretaker, grandparent, babysitter or friend and let them make brunch.

These Frittatas are easy to make with adult supervision (only needed for a few steps), even if it is just the woman of honor and the kids. She can sit with her feet up in the kitchen and let them take care of most of the steps while she relaxes. Try it. She’ll love it.

Mini Brunch Frittatas

Ask a grown up to help you get these ingredients for your recipe. If you have only the first six ingredients you can still make this recipe. The rest is optional.

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper, green pepper, orange pepper OR yellow pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of whole milk, heavy cream or non-dairy milk
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Vegetable oil or vegetable oil spray
• 3 Tbsp. of freshly grated Parmesan
• 3 Tbsp. of grated cheese of your choice: Gruyere, Cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Feta (crumbled instead of grated is OK)
• 1 small bunch of herbs. Let the kids choose what they like the smell of: basil, parsley, thyme, chives, oregano (they can choose more than one type)
• Baby spinach

Watch a video on how to make this recipe!

Directions:

1.  Wash your hands. Ask a grown up to turn the oven on to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Find a big bowl, a cutting board a whisk or a fork, scissors, a 2 cup glass measuring cup with a spout, and a muffin tin.

3. Put the muffin tin into a clean sink and spray each cup with cooking oil or pour a little oil into a cup and brush the inside of each muffin cup with oil on the bottom and up all the sides with a pastry brush.

4.  Tap the egg on the counter near the glass measuring cup. Then over the cup, carefully try to pull the egg apart with your thumbs near the cracked shell. Pull the shell apart and let the egg fall into the measuring cup. If any shell falls in, scoop it out with the egg shell in your hands. Then pour the egg into the big bowl. Do this for all 8 eggs. Pour the 1/2 cup of milk into the big bowl with the eggs. Mix the milk and eggs together with the whisk or fork until the whole mixture is smooth and light yellow.

5.  Grate the Parmesan cheese until you have enough to fill one regular muffin cup. Then grate the same amount of the other cheese. You can measure it right into the muffin tin but then scoop it out and set it aside on a corner of your cutting board.

6.  Add the pepper and salt to the egg mixture and stir it all up. Over the sink, pour the egg mixture into your measuring cup. Carefully pour the egg mixture halfway up each muffin cup.

7.  Wash a handful of each herb and a handful of the spinach under cold running water. Then dry the herbs and spinach on a kitchen towel. Herbs with little leaves can just be picked off the stem and put in a pile on your cutting board. The herbs with big leaves can be cut into little strips with your scissors.You can use your children’s scissors instead of sharp kitchen scissors just make sure they are washed with dish soap and water first. 

8.  Sprinkle the herbs and cheese into the muffin cups on top of the egg mixture. You can leave some plain if you like or make some just with cheese or just with herbs. You make what your family likes. Then, wash the green, yellow, red or orange pepper.

…This is the grown up part.

Grown ups: Put the muffin tin in the oven and to set a timer for 10-12 minutes. Ask your little chef for the pepper. Trim the top and take out the core, then slice the pepper into rings. Take the muffin tin out when the timer goes off. The frittatas will look slightly under-cooked in the middle but are just right. If the frittatas are still wet in the middle after a minute out of the oven, put them back in for two more minutes. Using a rubber spatula remove the frittatas from the muffin tin and place them on a plate.

Kids: You get to finish this off. Put some of the rest of the spinach on a large plate or platter. Place the frittatas on top of the spinach and put a pepper ring around each frittata to make them look like flowers. Then it is time to eat and celebrate!

Tips for nervous adults:

• For the cheese, put a fork into a wedge of cheese and the children can hold the fork to grate the cheese, keeping their fingers away from the sharp grater.
• Put a damp paper towel or kitchen towel under the mixing bowl so it doesn’t slide around while the children are trying to whisk the eggs.
• Use a larger than usual bowl to help kids avoid splashes over the edges as they mix.
• Let there be a little mess and trust the kids. If you let them know how to use kitchen tools carefully they will surprise you with their skills.