Healthy and Nutritious Eggs

In recent years, eggs have gotten a bad rap for increasing your cholesterol and that you should eat egg whites only, or limit the amount of whole eggs you eat. New research now shows that this belief is not necessarily true and eating eggs may actually improve your cholesterol levels.

Although too much of one thing is not necessarily as good for us as having a variety of nutritious and healthy foods, I do believe that eggs pack a nutritious punch that can not be ignored:


- Eggs are a high source of protein (5 - 6 g per egg)
- A good source of vitamins (iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, and selenium)
- Promote healthy hair and nail growth, and beautiful skin
- Boosts brain health
- Can help promote weight loss
- Protects your eyesight
- Strengthens your bones
- Helps prevent blood clots
- Prevents against age-related muscular degeneration
- Can increase your energy.

There are even more benefits to eggs:

- They are easy to prepare in a variety of dishes and meals
- They have a long refrigerator life
- They are very frugal
- They actually fill up hungry teenage boys!


Making perfect boiled eggs:

Making boiled eggs sounds so easy, but believe it or not, there is an art to having your boiled eggs come out perfect every time!

1. Place your eggs single layer in a pot and cover with an inch or so of cold water.

2. Put a lid on the pot and place it on the stove to boil over medium high heat.

3. Once the water in the pot comes to a boil, turn off the burner, if you have an electric stove, move the pot to a cool burner

4. For large soft boiled to medium boiled eggs, let sit in the hot water for 4 – 8 minutes, depending on your personal preference.

5. For large hard boiled eggs, let sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.

6. Once cooking time has been reached, rinse your eggs under cold water for a few minutes.

7. For soft-boiled eggs (or if you want to eat the hard-boiled eggs warm), cool them just long enough to handle them to serve.

8. For hard-boiled eggs cover with cold water and a few ice cubes to completely cooled. Place your eggs in the fridge.

9. To peel your egg, crack all over lightly. Take a teaspoon and run it between the egg, pulling the shell back.


Trouble-shooting:

Grayish tinge around the yoke – Your eggs has been overcooked, decrease the time you let the eggs sit in the hot water.

Eggs shells are cracked – This could happen if the egg has been boiled, but sometimes it happens even if they were not boiled. Remember to bring your eggs up to a boil gradually, over medium-high heat. If you find that this is a consistent problem, put one tablespoon of vinegar in the water to boil, that should help.

Eggs taste rubbery – Boiling eggs will make them taste rubbery, so you should never boil eggs. Make sure you remove the pot from the hot burner as soon as the water comes to a boil, the hot water will cook the egg.

Eggs do not peel nicely – There are two things you can do that will help this. First, don’t use super fresh eggs, the fresher they are the more difficult they are to peel. Second, make your eggs the day before you want to use them. Peeling them the next day will ensure much better results.

Our favorite egg recipes:

Lunch Time Egg Salad Sandwiches

12 Hard boiled eggs
½ cup mayonnaise (or to taste)
2 - 3 green onions, finely diced
¼ tsp ground pepper
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Sandwich toppings: lettuce/spinach, cucumber, pickles, hot pickles, hot sauce
The toppings added depends on the person, I add it all to my husbands and mine. Brandon will want extra lettuce and hot sauce, Jesse lettuce and cucumbers, Justin will want everything but hot pickles or hot sauce and Tia will only want lettuce.


Brandon’s Famous Super Easy Omelette

3 eggs
3 tbsp of water
¼ cup of vegetables (what ever is on hand and whatever your preference is – Brandon uses onions and peppers)
¼ cup of grated cheese

Mix eggs and water well in a medium sized bowl.

We have a microwavable omelette container, so you pour half of the egg mixture on each side. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes and then remove from microwave and stir. Sprinkle over vegetables and put back into the microwave for 2 – 3 minutes, or until eggs are set. Sprinkle over cheese, close the container and slide your omelette onto your plate.

The kids have a healthy and frugal meal, that they made all by themselves and can be cleaned up easily (by them!!).


Egg Strata

1 cup Small croutons
½ cup Onion
½ cup Peppers
½ cup Spinach, chopped
1 cup Cheese, grated
10 Eggs
1 cup Milk or low-fat cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onion and peppers till soft, set aside and let cool.

Whisk together eggs and milk, stir in cheese and cooled vegetables.

Spray a casserole container with vegetable spray. Place croutons over the bottom of the casserole dish and pour egg mixture over top.

Let sit for 15 minutes on the counter.

Bake at 350 for 30 – 45 minutes or until eggs are set.

Note: All vegetables are optional, you can add or leave out whatever you like, you could also add cooked sausage, bacon or ham.

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Enjoy,

Christine