Ready-to-go Egg Muffins

While many of my non-nursing peers are either studying for exams or done with their theses, I have only just begun my clinical practicum at a hospital.  My post-thesis ecstasy has since ebbed away, and in place of which is clinical depression (pun intended).  Even the word 'depression' fails to capture the myriad of negative emotions afflicting me whenever I am doing my practicum.       

Some patients with depression suffer from sleep deprivation due to insomnia, but sleep deprivation due to shift work is one major cause of depression in my case. 

Morning shifts are 0700 to 1500, afternoons are 1300 to 2100, and nights are 2100 to 0800.  Here is the catch, afternoon shifts usually end one hour later because you need to wait for your turn to hand over your cases to the night-shift nurse.  For my hospital, the ratio of night-shift nurses to patients in a Class-C ward is 2:32.  Worse thing is that the management doesn't seem to recognize the detrimental health effects of rostering nurses on afternoon-morning shift sequence.  And I live 75 minutes away from the hospital. 

I should be thankful that I wasn't scheduled for night shifts though.  Due to manpower crunch, the management has (insensitively) increased the number of consecutive night shifts from three to four.  Having done night shifts before, I tell you it is no joke to even do three night shifts in a row.  If you are lucky enough to be not fighting to save lives (when your patients decide to collapse on you), you are fighting against your own body to stay awake - and alert.  

So anyway, now that I am facing the perennial issue of sleep deprivation, making my own lunch to bring to work has become an enormous challenge.  When on morning shift, I wake up at 0430 and leave house at 0540 to catch the train that takes me to my workplace by 0645.  Why make your own lunch despite time constraint?  Well, simply because outside food no longer appeal to my palate (and fit my food beliefs) anymore.  One solution then is to prepare food beforehand and store it in the refrigerator.  These egg muffins are a perfect example.

Ready-to-go Egg Muffins

(Adapted from the Primal Palate)

Ingredients (makes 14-16)

• Cooking fat (I used ghee)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 red onions (diced)
• 1 broccoli (cut into small florets)
• 1 yellow zucchini (grated)
• Minced pork (according to carnivorous desire)
• 14 eggs (beaten)

Directions

1. Heat oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
2. Heat cooking fat in the wok, and then add garlic and onions to stir-fry until they begin to brown.
3. Add and stir-fry broccoli and minced pork for 2 minutes to half-cook them.
4. Lastly add grated zucchini and continue to stir-fry vegetable and meat mixture for another 2 minutes.  The whole stir-frying process isn't long because you don't want to overcook them in the oven later.
5. Fill the muffin tray with the stir-fried vegetable and meat mixture (as shown in the picture above).
6. Pour in the eggs until they fill almost to the brim.
7. Place the muffin tray in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.
8. Cool the muffins for 5-10 minutes before taking them out of tray.

Verdict
I tried one...Great-tasting!  What else can I say?  I am planning to store them in the refrigerator and then pack them into a container before I go to work.  Of course, when it is time for meal break, I will then microwave the muffins before wolfing them down.  The muffins are very nutrient-dense, and also low in carbs which won't give me the insulin crash after eating a high-carbohydrate meal.  Moreover, the high protein level should keep me satiated until my shift ends. 

Additional notes
Feel free to explore and replace the vegetables and meat with other kinds of ingredients.  The only constant here is the eggs.