Crustless Quiche Bake -- The Week the Conversation Was the Point

I batch-prepped on Sunday afternoon and finished early because Brandon now operates the vacuum sealer, which is a development I am still adjusting to. The week was a fall week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The children are doing what they do, which is the central report of every week of my adult life. Ethan is 21, in Manila on his mission, and his last email mentioned a chicken adobo so good he is going to make me make it when he comes home. Olivia is 19, at BYU studying elementary education — the path she chose at age seven and has not deviated from once. Mason, 16, is in Brazil on his mission. His weekly emails are short and full of jokes. He does not write much about the work. He writes about the food. Lily is 15, in high school, asking the kind of questions in Sunday School that make the teachers uncomfortable, which I find difficult and also, secretly, admirable. Noah is 12, the comedian, the performer — the kid who does an impression of my disappointed face in front of company, and gets away with it. That is the family report. I do not have a system for these reports. I just listen and remember and call back when I said I would call back, which is most of the time and not all of the time, and the difference between most and all is the territory of motherhood.

The recipe of the week was tater tot casserole, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. The freezer in the garage is the freezer of record. The freezer in the pantry is the freezer of convenience. The distinction matters. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

I prayed on Thursday morning for the first time in two weeks, which the therapist would call worth noting. I noted it. I am still a Latter-day Saint. I am also a woman who has sat in front of a casket the size of a bread box. I do not see those two things as contradictions, but I do not pretend they sit easily together either. The bench in the chapel where I sit on Sunday is the same bench. The woman is not. The faith makes room for the woman. That is what I have learned to ask of it.

Dinner is in the freezer. Tomorrow is coming. I am ready.

The tater tot casserole is already logged, bagged, and in the garage freezer where it belongs — but the other staple that went in this week was this crustless quiche bake, because there are mornings coming that I cannot predict and I would rather have something waiting for them. It requires no crust, no ceremony, and no explanation, which felt right for a week that asked more of me than I advertised in the prep notebook. Brandon chopped. I poured. The freezer received it without complaint, which is the best thing I can say about any of us this week.

Crustless Quiche Bake

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup diced cooked ham (or cooked crumbled sausage)
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sauté vegetables. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms with a pinch of salt for 4–5 minutes until softened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. Whisk the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and heavy cream until smooth. Stir in garlic powder, salt, pepper, and thyme.
4. Assemble the bake. Scatter the sautéed vegetables and diced ham evenly across the prepared baking dish. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Sprinkle the cheddar and mozzarella evenly over the surface.
5. Bake. Place in the preheated oven and bake uncovered for 35–40 minutes, until the center is set and the top is lightly golden. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
6. Rest and slice. Allow the quiche bake to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 portions.
7. Freezer instructions. Cool completely. Slice into individual portions, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and place in a labeled freezer bag. Freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, microwave from frozen for 2–3 minutes or warm in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 5g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 480mg