You don’t have to be a professional chef or Julia Child to make yummy eggs—my 7-yr old has mastered the art of the perfect scrambled egg, and you can too!
Why would you want to?
Two reasons: first, eggs are an economical yet high quality protein, loaded with healthy fats. Also, they’re quick and easy to prepare, and when paired with a smoothie, they round out breakfast nicely! (If you missed my round-up of favorite smoothie recipes last week, you can find that here.)
To take it one step further, when eggs come from beyond-organic, pastured hens, the nutrient-density is even greater; hens that are allowed to forage from a wide variety of vegetation and bugs lay eggs richer in omega-3 fats, B vitamins, and key minerals such as selenium and iodine.
Breakfast planning became really easy for me when I realized that we could prepare simple, no-fuss breakfasts by pairing a delicious smoothie with highly nutritious eggs!
So these days a typical breakfast for us includes scrambled chicken eggs and/or boiled duck eggs. (With our autoimmune challenges my oldest daughter and I can’t always tolerate chicken eggs, but we do fine with duck eggs! Hence the two versions...)
Scrambled eggs are super easy to whip up the morning of; boiled eggs are prepped ahead of time, usually on Saturday, so that they're ready to go in the fridge when we need them.
I discovered a couple of years ago that my youngest daughter loves to crack eggs! And since we make eggs on a daily basis, she gets lots of practice! She’s now 7 and has recently mastered the cooking part as well (with a little assistance at the end).
My advice? If you’re a busy mama with kids, let ‘em help! It may take a little more effort and patience on your part in the beginning, but in the end you’ll be rewarded with the gift of being able to delegate a cooking task AND a youngster trained in an important life skill!
Here are my three no-fail, super simple methods for dishing up tasty eggs!
#1: Quick & Easy Scrambled
Ingredients:
4 pastured eggs (about 2 adult servings or 4 kiddie portions)
About 2 tablespoons butter (or about half that amount in bacon grease)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk until beaten.
- Season with salt and pepper. I don’t technically measure this but do about six shakes of salt, two shakes of pepper.
- Heat up omelette pan or small sauté pan, and add butter.
- Once the butter is melted, tilt and rotate your pan until the butter completely covers the pan.
- Add the beaten eggs and reduce heat to medium.
- Cook slowly and stir gently with a spatula until eggs are set. Remove from heat when eggs are cooked through but still slightly moist.
#2: Loaded Omelette Scramble
Every once in a while we like to shake things up and make this “omelette scramble.” For this I love to utilize fresh veggies from the garden, frozen veggies, and/or any leftover cooked veggies still in the fridge. Got crispy bacon or shredded cheese? Add those toppings at the end! I’ve listed a few of our favorite options in the recipe below.
You basically follow the same procedure for this as with the basic scrambled egg recipe above, with just two simple additional steps of sautéing veggies before adding your beaten eggs to the pan, and topping with bacon and cheese at the end.
Ingredients:
1 cup veggies – pick and choose your favorites from below depending on what you have on hand, or use them all!
*Chopped onion, bell peppers, and celery (fresh or frozen)
*Chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)
*Roasted sweet potatoes (in bite-sized pieces)
4 pastured eggs (about 2 adult servings or 4 kiddie portions)
About 2 tablespoons butter (or about half that amount in bacon grease)
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Shredded cheddar or manchego (optional topping)
Crispy bacon (optional topping)
Instructions:
- Assemble your chosen veggies and chop as needed.
- Heat up omelette pan or small sauté pan, and add butter (or bacon grease).
- Once the butter is melted, tilt and rotate your pan until the butter completely covers the pan.
- Add prepared veggies to the pan and sauté until heated through or until veggies are softened. Season with salt and pepper.
- While the veggies are cooking, crack eggs into a bowl and whisk until beaten.
- Season the eggs with salt and pepper. I don’t technically measure this but do about six shakes of salt, two shakes of pepper.
- Add the beaten eggs, stir to incorporate with the veggies, and reduce heat to medium.
- Cook slowly and stir gently with a spatula until eggs are set. Remove from heat when eggs are cooked through but still slightly moist.
- Top with shredded cheese and crispy bacon.
#3: Boiled Eggs + Egg Salad for One
Ingredients:
10 duck (or chicken) eggs, preferably about a week old for easier peeling
Water to fill a large sauce pan
Salt
Ice cubes
Instructions:
- Gently set eggs in sauce-pan.
- Cover with water and season with salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once the water is boiling, turn off heat and cover with a lid.
- Let sit undisturbed for 13 minutes.
- Pour off hot water and rinse eggs immediately with cold water.
- Fill pan to cover eggs with cold water and add about 3 cups of ice cubes.
- When eggs have completely cooled, store in fridge until ready to use or peel to eat right away.
To make your “egg salad for one,” slice or cut up a boiled egg into bite-sized pieces and put into a bowl. Add 1 tsp avocado mayo per egg (Sir Kensington’s or Primal Kitchen are good brands to buy, or you can make your own like this), salt, celery seed, and pepper to taste. Stir well until thoroughly combined.
There ya go--eggs three ways for a simple, no-fuss breakfast that's nutritious and delicious!
Which version of eggs sounds most appealing to you for your family? I’d love to hear what you end up trying and how it turns out for you! Shoot me an email or share in the comments below.