Since Easter is nearly upon us and a big part of the Easter celebration includes dying hard- boiled eggs, I thought it fitting to spotlight the often forgotten about hard- boiled egg. Justin and I eat two boiled eggs nearly every morning of the work week. Each Sunday, while cleaning house and working in the yard, I put about a dozen eggs boiling to supply our breakfast for the whole week.
There are a number of reasons that I do this. One reason is the fact that eggs are really good for you! Two eggs provide the following: 12.6 g of protein which have 18 different amino acids ; 10.6 g of fat (3.3 g of saturated), 56% of the DRI for selenium, 24% of DRI for phosphorus (helps store energy), 14% of the DRI for zinc, 46% of the DRI for riboflavin and viamin B12, 40% of the DRI of choline (boost brain health), 28% of pantothenic acid, 12% of folate, large amounts of Vitamin B, 22% of the DRI for vitamin A, 6% of vitamin E, 352 mcg of lutein (antioxidant that promotes healthy skin and eyes). Many say that the cholesterol found in eggs can be bad for you so they recommend limiting the amount of eggs you eat. New research shows that the type of cholesterol in eggs is actually the "good" kind of cholesterol. While, I am not in any way a health adviser or telling any of my readers what to do, I would prefer to eat eggs with the chance of increased cholesterol (even "bad" cholesterol) than to eat the other types of readily available breakfast foods.
This brings me to my second reason for dining on eggs for breakfast. I don't like to prepare breakfast in the morning. Plan and simple. If I don't have my boiled eggs, I end up not eating breakfast 90% of the time. Unfortunately, most quick prep breakfast items are bad for you. Most cereals are loaded with sugar and rarely contain enough vitamins and minerals to last you to lunch. This is the same for pre-packaged oatmeals. Regular old steel- cut oatmeal is a good alternative for breakfast but is a little more time consuming to prepare. If I had the gumption to make a good breakfast before work I would definitely consider steel- cut oatmeal with fresh fruit, honey and a little brown sugar and cinnamon. Another alternative would be plain yogurt with fresh fruit. (Not the fruit- flavored yogurt you can purchase in stores.)
I love the simplicity and lack of effort it takes to prepare the eggs (I hate doing dishes!). This is how I boil my eggs.
1) In a pot with enough cold water to cover eggs, place the desired number of eggs to be boiled.
2) Turn stove on medium high- you want the water to come to a slow boil and not a roaring boil that will crack all of your eggs before they're boiled!
3) Continue boiling eggs for 5 minutes.
4) Cut the heat off, place pot on another cool burner and cover. Let sit for 15- 20 minutes.
5) Rinse eggs with cold water multiple times. If the eggs continue cooking, the yoke will turn a greenish color which is still delicious but a little dry.
*I don't add any salt to the water for boiling or to the eggs when I eat them. I get more than enough salt in my other meals so I keep it simple and healthy in the morning.
We currently purchase the two and a half dozen trays of eggs a week but will eventually rely on our own chickens once our yard is "chicken ready".
Happy Easter and
Happy Eating!
References for statistics:
LiveStrong.com
whfoods.org
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