Here are a few favorite breakfasts our family likes.
I like fast fixed things. Though eggs are NOT happy cooked fast or on high heat. And I am gluten free in our family, so lots of things they eat I do not, or eat a gluten free version. Or course there are lots of gluten free things I make that are also enjoyed by the rest of the family.
I also like doing prep work ahead of time to speed up where I can. So I may hard boil 2 dozen eggs and keep them in the refrigerator. Since my ‘family’ is on the smaller size of the scale, these will last us a little longer than a family with a larger number of children. I also purchase farm fresh eggs. You know, the kind right out of the chicken. And these chickens really do have space to roam (sort of like a buffalo… roaming… sort of), eat bugs and grass and just generally run about like, well chickens. One of the very first things we noticed about these farm fresh eggs was the vibrant lemon/gold yellow yolks. A VAST difference from the pale, sickly yellow yolks of store bought eggs. The other is how the white stays together in a clump (not a pretty word for a food but my brain is stuck), and the yolk stays raised up. Then there is the taste! Since I can not see the vitamin and mineral content I will leave those comments for Dr. Mercola.
A few tips on hard boiling fresh-out-of-the-chicken eggs. Wait until they are at least a week old. Trust me on this. Then, I like the cold water method. Place all week old or older eggs into proper sized pot and cover with cold water. Set on burner and turn on medium heat. When water comes to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. You can take out one egg and check it by cutting it open to check for done-ness. Add more time by 1 – 2 minute increments. Also, while the water is heating up, I GENTLY stir the eggs so the ones right above the burner get rotated. Otherwise I end up with those eggs being over cooked and they will have the dark green yolk border and the nasty sulfur smell. I stir them at least three times, maybe four.
Oh, and these lovely eggs have only been rinsed NOT washed, leaving the protective coating the chicken put on that egg. I was experimenting with storage. I got to thinking what in the world did the pioneers do about egg storage? They had no refrigerators. You can’t leave these things just laying about helter skelter. And wouldn’t they NEED an egg or two in the winter? Not being a chicken farmer myself I did ask about yield in the winter months. Hmmm, they lay less in the winter. Oh wait a minute! Didn’t I see metal egg baskets at the museums? Then there was something I had read about eggs keeping just fine on a counter for 2 years. Wow. That is a long time! I didn’t want to go for that kind of lengthy trial, but I did keep them on the counter for 2 – 3 months and all the eggs were still very good. Not a bad one in the lot. Yes, I did rotate them so I kept the oldest ones on the top and the fresh ones on the bottom.
* So… with hard boiled eggs we like to chop them up, put on a little butter (in in my case Earth Balance which is dairy, soy and hydrogenated free), salt and pepper and heat them up – GENTLY! Yum. Arrow and The Patriarch like hot sauce on their eggs. Arrow likes the green Tabasco and The Patriarch likes the standard red stuff. We go through one of those large bottles in about 5 – 6 months.
* I also make a creamed eggs on toast, and I use the So Delicious brand of coconut milk beverage (no it does not taste like coconuts!) and either my fluffy gluten free biscuits (I use the recipe from Gluten Free Girl & the Chef), or GF bread for me and regular toast for the guys. Having the hard boiled eggs already on hand makes this very quick.
* I love, love, love make ahead meals! This one I found on a bead & breakfast site (www.bbonline.com) that is chock full of recipes!! I will note my changes in the recipe.
Autumn Eggs with Potatoes (& it’s gluten free too!!)
These taste just like chili rellenos! YUM.
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 TBSP butter or Earth Balance dairy free spread
3 cups cold cooked potatoes, cut into small cubes
[I make lots of extra baked potatoes just for this recipe!]
4 oz can diced green chilies [I use the larger can, we love chilies]
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 – 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
[I have not tried the dairy free cheeses in this yet]
10 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt [we use sea salt]
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch nutmeg [I use fresh ground & buy the nuts in bulk]
Brown the onion in butter. Mix all ingredients together and place in greased 9×13 pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. I actually put the cubed potatoes in the bottom, mix everything else together and spread that over the potatoes in the pan.
In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until set. Serve with salsa on the side. We all hate cilantro, so we don’t’ use that, but if you like that stuff by all means, eat my share too! Please!
Serves 8 – 10. For my tiny family I half the recipe with great results.
* We also like fried eggs, toast or gluten free biscuits, sausage or bacon.
* smoothies and muffins or scones (gluten free of course!)
* homemade granola and yoghurt and fruit
* Baked Oatmeal (adapted from a Marmee Dear recipe)
this is my half recipe adaptation…
1/4 cup butter or Earth Balance spread
1/4 – 1/3 cup evaporated cane juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cups GF oats
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 – 2 cups coconut beverage, gently warmed.
Take pie pan and place butter & sugar into it & place in oven while it heats up.
Once the butter is melted or just very soft take from oven. I then place all the dry ingredients in the pie plate and mix it all up. Then stir in the warmed milk of choice, then the eggs. Sometimes I add cinnamon. Stir again to everything is well mixed. Pop in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes. Serve with cut up fruit and more milk of choice!
These are just a few of our favorite breakfasts. What do you like for breakfast?
Blessings,
~Mrs. R
top photo from Shorpy, see full sized image there, amazing detail
bucket of eggs photo from StockPhotos
graphics from GraphicsFairy
This post linked here: Life in a Shoe,
.gif)
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Mrs.R, Thanks for the ‘egg-ucation’! I did wonder myself how the pioneers did it!
For breakfast we like something different everyday! Pancakes, farina, egg burritos or good old fashioned cold cereal! Though I must say I am going to give your recipes to my dd whose job it is to make breakfast every morning! They look great! Thank you!
Dana,
One thing I noticed is that we are probably eating far too many carbs for breakfast. OK, so maybe that is a problem for me. So I am attempting to change our breakfasts to include more protein. I was given a ‘recipe’ today for eggs and beans. Hey, don’t knock it until you try it… though I have not tried it… yet. I’ll let you know once I do!
One thing I remembered today though… I completely forgot to mention the most important tip for hard-boiling farm-fresh right-out-of-the-chicken eggs. Once you have removed them from the heat, poured off the hot water and stop the cooking by filling the pot with cold water, you need to take a spoon and tap each egg, cracking the shell. This makes those little lovelies SO much easier to peel!
Oh and one more tip and I promise I’ll stop. I add a splash of vinegar to my water. If I have an egg with a cracked shell, or one that gets cracked in cooking or my gently stirring, the vinegar will keep the egg from oozing all out into the water and keep it in the shell.
Happy Egg Eating!! Eggs have gotten a really bad nutritional reputation and that is simply not true!
Blessings,
~Mrs. R
2-3 months???? WOW!! You are so brave to try it that long! How do you know if they’re still good? Do you figure they would look yucky or smell bad? Wowie. I am so impressed!
Jill J
Hello Jill,
Well, first I figured that if the pioneer women were able to keep eggs fresh during the winter I should be able to do the same thing using their methods.
Then, I made sure the were still ‘good’ by cracking each egg into a separate bowl from my ‘recipe’s ingredients’. That way if there were bad, I would be able to tell by smell. They all looked just like they did when I had gotten them. Upon cracking them open (in a separate bowl) I gave them the old sniff test. They smelled good! Exactly like a fresh egg would smell. I always use my husband’s wise adage to go by ‘if in doubt, throw it out’. He was the most skeptical at the outset of this experiment, and is now the most enthusiastic endorser!
This will NOT work with store bought eggs unless you coat them with something to replace the natural coating the chicken gives her eggs.
Blessings,
~Mrs. R
That is so neat, Mrs. R. I guess I never really thought about keeping them so long. I knew they did not refrigerate them, but assumed it was just a couple of days. I am learning all kinds of stuff through you! Thanks so much!
God bless,
Jill J
Love you breakfast ideas, baked oatmeal is one of my favs!!!
Thank you very much for your gracious comments Marie!
It is SO important to start off the day with a good breakfast. And a nice variety of meals to rotate through sure helps keep the family happy!
Blessings,
~Mrs. R
I was taught in home ec a long time ago to start eggs in cold water like you do. Bring the water to a boil and once it starts boil, boil them (still on high) 10 minutes. I have never had the dark rings doing it that way (unless I forgot to set the timer and boiled them too long).
Thank you for stopping by my blog! Your comment reminded me of a funny story…
About 30-some years ago when I was pregnant with Peter Rabbit I had a hankering for some hard boiled eggs. I put the eggs into a pan of water, started the stove and set the timer. I then went into the living room to wait for them to cook. Being pregnant I promptly fell asleep and woke up… when I smelled the eggs burning. No one and nothing was hurt, discounting the now inedible eggs. But that smell was horrific!
Blessings, ~Aunt Mae
{ 1 trackback }