I Love Eggs

“You ate HOW MANY boiled eggs last night?”

“Uhhhhh…seven?”

True story. I was quite hungry and wanted a quick and hearty meal. At $1.46 per dozen eggs, that meal cost about 12 cents per egg or about 85 cents total. It also took less than 10 minutes to prepare (around 7 minutes of those were spent waiting for the egg to boil). Sweet!

Let’s say you eat four eggs every day (probably breakfast, but I’m not judging you if that’s a dinner thing for you, too). That’s 48 cents per meal, for a grand total of $3.36 per week to have all your breakfasts (or dinners) covered. Awesome stuff if you’re looking for something healthy. No, cholesterol won’t kill you. Eggs have the kind of cholesterol that’s good for your body anyway.

So, there you have it. They’re very cheap (for the most part), very quick to prepare, and versatile. Eggs are also slow carb, paleo, and keto diet compliant. For the macronutrient junkies out there, here’s the caloric breakdown of eggs:

Calories: 70

Fat: 5g

Protein: 6g

Eggs can, however, be intimidating in the kitchen. So many options! Here’s the good news- if you screw up that badly, you probably lost less than a dollar. No harm done! At this point you can either try again or use Seamless to order takeout from a nearby restaurant.

If you’re courageous enough to try, here are some resources for eggs.

Methods

Fry – Don’t try this one with your pants off if you’re using a lot of oil. Yes, I learned this one the hard way. I personally don’t put them in individual bowls either- too much cleanup.

Scramble – Classic and easy enough to learn! If you’re new to pan-cooking eggs, start here. 

Poach – My favorite, but I’m terrible at poaching. I keep forgetting about the part where you add a touch of vinegar to the water so that the poached egg keeps its shape.

Hard Boil – Also very easy. Stores pretty well this way so you can cook a bunch at once.

Soft Boil – My second favorite next to poached eggs. They’re more difficult to make than hard-boiled eggs because you need to get the timing right, which takes practice.

Frittata – This option stores very well and you can add stuff to it like you would an omelet. You’ll need an oven for this. You can technically put a pan into the oven, but be careful if the pan handle is made out of plastic. If it’s bakelite plastic, it shouldn’t melt if you cook at 350 degrees fahrenheit/180 degrees celcius. Also, use a towel or mitts to grab the handle when you take the pan/skillet out of the oven. Please don’t do anything stupid!

Omelet – Fancy and you can add vegetables or more meat.

Oils/Spices to Add While Cooking Eggs

Oil – When in doubt, go with olive or coconut oil.

Butter – I use a lot of butter, so I prefer the higher quality ones. See if you can get your hands on organic grass-fed butter. Yellow-looking butter is much better than a lighter, pale looking butter.

Whole Milk/Cream – Some say that this is the secret to fluffy eggs. It’s alright, but if it doesn’t fit in your diet, you’ve got other options.

Salt and Pepper – If you made your eggs too bland, this will solve all your problems. Add conservatively while cooking. You can always add more salt and pepper later.

Garlic – Oh yes. I’m too lazy to cut my own so I’ll buy the minced garlic version. Some day I’ll learn. Not today.

Herbs – I’ve seen it happen, but I got nothing for you here. If you have suggestions, let me know so I can enrich my life too.

Additions

Bacon – If you want to save money on oil, cook the bacon first. Once you take out the bacon, cook the eggs in the bacon grease. Delicious.

Tibetan butter tea/Bulletproof coffee – For those of you that don’t know, bulletproof coffee is black coffee with unsalted butter added and nothing else. If you’re going ketogenic diet, this is a good addition. Or, just skip the eggs and go straight to the butter tea. Your call. 

Steak – I personally can’t afford steak with my eggs. Ground beef gets the job done too.

Avocado – Cheaper in some countries. In the US, this will cost you an arm and a leg. In South America, you can buy them by the kilo for cheaper.

Toast – Classic combination, but not slow carb, paleo, or keto compliant. Eating bread doesn’t make you a bad person though.

Beans – A slow carb classic. Beans, salsa, and eggs are delicious together. Alternatively, consider eggs with refried beans.

Hot Sauce – Cholula and/or Sriracha are my personal favorites.