Eggs
Eggs have a very special place in my heart. They are packed with nutrition, are incredibly easy to cook and very versatile, and are delicious. I always get Omega-3 eggs, but was very excited when a friend of ours gave my mum a gift of fresh eggs from her farm! After baking a fresh loaf of bread the other day, I was really craving a poached egg with it, so I decided to try one of these local farm eggs. What happened next was something like this:
1. Take out the carton of eggs from the fridge.
2. Examine them and choose a nice big oval brown one (because, you know, eggs are just so very different from one another).
3. Crack said egg into my measuring cup for easy pouring access into my saucepan of boiling water.
4. Look into measuring cup again to double check that what I think saw falling from the egg shell is in fact what slipped out.
5. Comment, “oh, look, there’s a fetus in my egg”.
(My deepest apologies for not photographing this highly unusual and unexpected turn of events).
Have you ever discovered a fetus when you went to poach an egg? My initial reaction was puzzlement and uncertainty- can I rescue the fetus and raise it as my own little baby chicken? It then occurred to me that that would not, in fact, be at all possible (my cat would never approve), so out it got tossed, very unceremoniously (sorry, little fetus), and I gathered up a new egg to poach. This one didn’t have a fetus, so I figured it’d be pretty safe to eat.
I couldn’t really tell the difference between my usual store-bought omega-3 eggs and these farm eggs in terms of taste (perhaps my palette isn’t sharp enough?), but it was still very delicious, as eggs generally are. Spread the love and eat an egg today (watch out for any fetuses that may or may not be lurking in there though)!
Or, if you are like me and find that you probably consume too many eggs, try the boxed version of egg whites. Make sure you read the labels, though! There’s a lot of boxed egg substitutes which have a whole bunch of junk crammed in there. However, I’ve recently discovered Simply Egg Whites, which is just that- egg whites! (Imagine, just that one ingredient in the list! Now that wasn’t so difficult, was it?).
Normally I’m not one to suggest not eating the egg yolk. The egg yolk, after all, is what has all of the nutrients. And if you’re buying omega-3 eggs and only eating the whites, forget about it. The omega-3’s are only really prominent in the yolks. Egg whites are really just good for their protein and for use in cooking, and that is specifically what I have bought the Simply Egg Whites for. I like to bake quite a lot, but adding a couple of eggs here and there in addition to having a poached egg every day or every second day adds up to a large amount of eggs in my diet. And as we all know, moderation is key- even too many egg yolks can start to be a problem! So I have started to use Simply Egg Whites in all of my baking and that way I don’t have to worry too much about eating a poached egg every couple days. Besides that, there’s the added benefit that the calories and fat gets cut down considerably in whatever it is I’m baking. Win-win indeed.
Extra tip: if you are fond of making poached eggs but find it irritating when the whites start floating around the saucepan, try pouring just a drop or two of vinegar into the water. For some reason it helps to hold the white together better. At least, I read somewhere that it does that. It seems to work for me (I don’t think I’m just imagining the result:)).
How do you like your eggs? Do you eat them very often? And do you support the health claims for eggs or are you old school and think that they create too many problems with cholesterol levels and the like? (kidding. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the egg debate and if you’re against them- can’t promise I won’t do my best to change your mind by extolling the virtues of eggs though!)
A fetus? YUCK! I thank you very much for not including pictures.
I love eggs. I eat eggs practically every day – hard boiled, and usually just the egg whites. Maybe once or twice a week I’ll eat the yolks.
Youseriously found a fetus? Ugh! I wonder what it looked like.. how sad…
I love my eggs! I’ll do a 1white:1whole ratio for a ncie balance.
I used to have a farm and always eat fresh farm eggs from our chickens.. but we never found a fetus! Eww!
I love eggs. I eat them over medium or poached. Hard boiled eggs make a great snack.
Once I found a fetus in an egg, and more than once I have cracked an egg to find a double yolk!
Often I’ll make a 1 egg 1 egg white omelet. Since I hate to waste anything, so I’ll put the extra yolk in a bag and freeze it. One day I’ll wind up using those 8 yolks for a custard or something.
Eggs get such a bad wrap because of the yolk.
I love me some eggs.
Never found a fetus but i get some with a little bit of blodd in the yolk and i cry and flush it down the toilet.
i dont want it sitting in my trash can, eavesdropping.
No kidding! Instead of being grossed out, I’d actually like to see that! Poor little guy didn’t make it.. but at least he didn’t make it into your pot of water! 😉
I like eggs. I mostly eat them scrambled with finely chopped onions and peppers. I also eat them hard boiled in a salad – yum!
The Bag Lady is fond of eggs.
Her father ate a fried egg on toast for lunch almost every day of his life. His cholesterol was just fine, thankyouverymuch.
Eggs are good for you. The Bag Lady sometimes feels like an opinionated old bag, but she prefers her eggs to be just that; eggs. Why pay more for Omega 3 eggs, which are just eggs from chickens force-fed a diet high in fish oil? Farm-fresh, free-range is best, although you do risk finding the occasional fetus. Or blood spots – both of which cause the Bag Lady to throw the egg away. Free ranging chickens will have eggs with darker yolks, too. There is nothing wrong with them, it just means they have been eating a more varied diet.
Okay, the Bag Lady just deleted most of her comment. It sounded far too cranky. She is glad you are eating your eggs, Sagan!
I love eggs. I probably eat way more than I ought to but they are one of my main sources of protein. I’m jealous you got farm fresh eggs (although i don’t know if I’d be able to tell the diff either – just sounds cooler!) but I’m NOT jealous about the fetus. That might put me off eggs for quite some time…
My fave way to eat them is scrambled with spinach and goat cheese.
Wow – that’s all I have 🙂
Big egg fan here.
(And your first thought about saving the fetus and raising it cracked me up–I’d think the exact same thing and also end up dumping it in the trash).
A fetus? Holy crap. I would freak out and not be able to get that visual out of my head for a long time. (Good thing I don’t live on a farm.)
I ADORE eggs.
99% of the time I hard boil mine and eat the whites only. I will maybe eat half a yolk (I had high cholesterol when I was heavier but not anymore).
I also like to make healthy egg cassaroles with lots of veggies. I bake them in muffin tins so they are ready to serve and easy to pack for work.
Running Knitter- what do you do with the yolks that you don’t eat? Do they get thrown out?
Bag Lady- you can be cranky all you like! And normally I agree with you on the stuff being added to things, but omega-3’s being added to eggs is the one thing that I DO quite like.
P.O.M.- egg casserole in muffin tins? That’s so creative! Will you share the recipe?
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Hummm… I don’t think I’ll be eating eggs for awhile! 🙂
Im boring but eat a LOTLOTLOT of scrambled eggs (mainly whites in a nod to my cholesterol) and hard boiled (same. sad. getting old sucks).
M.
um, seriously? this actually happened to you? I love me some eggs and I pride myself on having a strong stomach but I don’t know if I could’ve just kept on crackin. Maybe we should have some sort of chicken-fetus online ceremony to honor the lost little chick?
MizFit- I used to only ever eat scrambled eggs as they were the only kind I enjoyed. They are so yummy!
Leslie- my egg love can’t be deterred by the discovery of a fetus! (that and growing up in a vet clinic has made me very non-squeamish for the most part). And a ceremony, hm? Damn- knew I should’ve kept the little guy and given him a nice little matchstick box for a coffin.