Thrifty Thursdays - Egglicious!

Two weeks ago I was thrilled to find that large eggs at Aldi's were on sale for 79 cents a dozen! This is a great thrifty find for me!


Since I've been cooking and baking more from scratch, I go through a lot of eggs. I bought 4 dozen that day but I now I wish that I'd bought twice that many.

Did you know that raw eggs that are stored continuously in the refrigerator will last 4-5 weeks beyond the expiration date on the carton?

Are you storing your eggs the right way? Eggs should be stored in the carton on a middle or lower shelf inside the refrigerator - not in the door.

Beyond using the eggs in recipes, here are a few of our favorites ways to prepare eggs:

Hard Boiled Eggs
(Pictured above)

With lots of practice, I've finally found a way to cook beautiful hard boiled eggs.

Add one layer of raw eggs to the bottom of a pot. Do not overcrowd the eggs. Cover with cold water. Over high heat, bring water to a rolling boil. Cook for eggs for 7 minutes.

Remove pot from burner and cover tightly with a lid, leaving the eggs and water in the pot to sit for another 7-10 minutes.

Rinse eggs in very cold water. The shells should come off very easily. Enjoy!

Refrigerate any leftovers for up to one week.


Poached Eggs on Toast

An easy way to poach eggs without an egg poacher is to make them in a big frying pan. Add 6 inches of water to the pan, along with a splash of white vinegar. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. If you are cooking several eggs, you will probably need to add more water to the pan in order to maintain enough water to poach the eggs.

Break the eggs, one at a time, into a small dish to make sure they are ok. Gently drop each egg into the water.

Cook for 3-4 minutes until the whites of the eggs are solid and not slimy, but the yolks are still soft.

Using a slotted spoon, gently scoop up an egg and place on top of a piece of warm (buttered if you prefer) toast.


Deviled Eggs

6 eggs sliced in half. Remove yellows and place in a small bowl. Stir in 1-2 TBSP of mayo and 1-2 TBSP spicy brown mustard. Stir until the mixture is really creamy.

Add mixture to a small plastic baggie. Snip of one corner of the baggie and pipe the egg filling into the egg white cups.

Sprinkle with spicy creole seasoning (optional).


**tip** An easy way to pack deviled eggs for a picnic is to add the yellows, mayo and mustard directly into a Ziploc baggie. Mix all of the ingredients together right in the bag. Store in a cooler along with the egg white cups. When its time to eat, simply snip an end off one side of the baggie and pipe the filling into the eggs. Throw the baggie away when you are finished. Minimal cleanup!

and last but not least...

Egg Salad

My recipe for egg salad is very simple and basically the same as a recipe posted at Annie's Recipes with a couple of exceptions highlighted below:

6 hard boiled eggs, grated fine - I rough chop mine with a knife
2 tablespoons minced parsley - I didn't have it so I left it out
1/3 cup minced pimiento-stuffed olives - left it out
1 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced scallions
Lettuce leaves- I used bread

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix thoroughly.

Refrigerate, covered, at least 30 minutes.

Serve atop lettuce leaves or spread it in a sandwich.

Leftovers can be kept a couple of days.

Makes about 2 cups.


**notes** We happen to like the extra zing that mustard gives to egg salad. If you don't like it, just leave it out of the recipe and replace it with mayo.

I don't usually add onion to my egg salad but this time I decided to give it a try. It was a nice change - even though you can barely see it because I had to chop it up so that my kids didn't notice it!

I am submitting this egg salad recipe to the Cooking with Alicia & Annie Blog Event going on this month.

This month's prize is really cool! Stop by and check it out.


I hope that you've found a thrifty way to celebrate Thursdays. Click here to see what others have come up with.