Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Eggs for dinner

I have too many eggs this week.  When I got my first dozen eggs from CSA I still had a whole 18 egg cartoon in the fridge.  Well this fits in well on eating less meat-we will have eggs for dinner.  With that in mind I came up with this recipe. 

Truth about eggs:
Eggs are a good source of protein.

Eggs are good for your eyes.

Eggs are a good source of choline which helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system. aka good for your memory.

Eggs have 5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated (bad fats) each.  To further reduce fat eat the whites only.

Do eggs raise cholesterol? Contraversial. Older studies say yes newer ones say no- maybe even help protect your heart.
American Heart Association says that one egg a day is acceptable.  If cholesterol is a concern (those with heart disease, diabetes, or a high level of LDL 'bad' cholesterol) choose a small or medium egg or eat the egg whites which have no cholesterol.  I find mixing a whole eggs with 1-2 egg whites to be quite good and avoids the artifical food colorings in egg substitutes. If you are limiting cholesterol and eat eggs you should choose foods that are not high in cholesterol the rest of the day to keep overall cholesterol intake down.

Bottom line: Moderate consumption of eggs is fine. Like everything else it is about moderation.  Eating a high protein and healthy food like eggs will like reduce cravings for less healthy simple carbohydrates.  Bottom line: You may actually comsume less bad stuff by eating eggs. 




Eggs with spinach, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

3 slices bacon, diced (can change to 1 tbsp olive oil for vegetarian meal)
1 cup mushrooms coarsely chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil; drained, oil reserved, chopped
8 large eggs , lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup Milk/whipping cream
1 cup  mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tsp kosher salt to taste
1/2 tsp Pepper to taste
1 tsp herbs de providence
4 slices whole wheat bread

1. Brown bacon in sauté pan until crisp.  Remove bacon.  Reserve fat for cooking. 

2. Chop mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and bacon in food processor- course chop- not too fine.  Also chop bread into course crumb.

3. Sauté mushrooms 2 minutes, add spinach 3 minutes, add tomatoes, cook one more minute.

4. Spray 9x13 casserole with cooking spray.  Add bread.  Pour veggies mixture over the top.

5. Add milk and spices to eggs.  Pour over bread mixture.  Stir.  let stand 20 minutes.  Add more milk if dry should be runny when putting it into oven.  While mixture standing preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Add diced bacon and 1 cup of shredded cheese and stir.

7. Place in oven and bake 20 minutes or until top firm and just starting to brown slightly.

Servings: 8

Ratings: (everyone loved it and enjoyed breakfast for dinner) 
Jamie ****
Meredith ****
Clay ****
Colin ****
Lexi ***

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (5.4 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 266.13
Calories From Fat (61%) 163.47
% Daily Value
Total Fat 18.32g 28%
Saturated Fat 7.39g 37%
Cholesterol 239.07mg 80%
Sodium 618.12mg 26%
Potassium 383.69mg 11%
Total Carbohydrates 10.51g 4%
Fiber 1.66g 7%
Sugar 3.35g
Protein 15.39g 31%

Basically this is the days limit of cholesterol for those with heart disease and over 1/3 of the days fat intake for everyone.  If you do not consume a lot of high fat foods throughout the day this is a fine meal for supper.  You can reduce the fat and cholesterol in this recipes to create a more health friendly version by omitting bacon and using olive oil to saute.  Replace 4 of the eggs with 6 egg whites.  Use reduced fat cheese or use 1/2 cup feta which is stronger so you don't need as much.

Tips
Serve with fruit salad

Can use any cheese.  Mozzarella gives a nice mild flavor.  You could use 1/2 cup feta cheese
You can change the flavor with different cheeses.  Can try white cheddar or 1/2 cup feta.
I recommend using 2% milk.  You can use some cream for a a richer dish, you can milk cream and milk, two types of milk- get the ide

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