As kids start heading back to school, make sure they're getting the nutritious breakfast they need for the intense days ahead. Something as simple as feeding your kids an affordable, high-quality protein breakfast like eggs can help them stay more focused in class. In fact, according to a recent survey by the American Egg Board, 52 percent of moms serve hard-cooked eggs for breakfast because of their ease and ability to provide the mind and body energy kids need to tackle the toughest days. However, the same survey quizzed moms and also found more than seven out of 10 don't know how to properly prepare hard-cooked eggs (1).
Luckily Howard Helmer, eggspert and Guinness World Record holder for omelet-making, is bringing moms back-to-school for a lesson on hard-cooking to help guarantee kids have the high-quality protein breakfast they need to get through long school days.
"If Home Economics was the last time you learned how to hard-cook an egg, it's time for a refresher course," says Helmer. "The secret to hard-cooked eggs is to COOK them, not BOIL them. Once you've mastered this, you'll be surprised at how incredibly easy hard-cooked eggs are to make!"
Helmer suggests following these three simple steps for hard-cooking eggs:
-- Place eggs in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer.
Add cold water to cover eggs by one inch. Heat over high heat just to
boiling.
-- Remove from burner. Cover pan. Let eggs stand in hot water about 15
minutes for Large eggs (12 minutes for Medium eggs; 18 for Extra Large).
-- Cool completely under cold running water or in a bowl of ice water. Peel
and eat, or store them unpeeled in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Egg-Ceptional Kid-Friendly Breakfasts
Breakfast should be an essential part of a child's school routine, since several studies have shown that eating breakfast has cognitive benefits, such as improved memory recall time, improved grades and higher test scores (2,3).
"The advantage of having hard-cooked eggs for breakfast is that eggs contain high-quality protein, which gives your kids the mind and body energy they need to succeed," says Helmer.
Helmer encourages moms to dodge the madness of school mornings by preparing a batch of hard-cooked eggs in the beginning of the week. And because eggs are affordable - just 13 cents apiece (4) - and incredibly versatile, Helmer also suggests making enough hard-cooked eggs to have on-hand for kid-friendly afternoon snacks like:
-- Deviled Eggs - Follow this classic Deviled Eggs recipe or let your kids
experiment by adding their own herbs and spices to the filling.
-- Eggs on a Stick - Recruit your kids to put hard-cooked eggs on popsicle
sticks. Set up a table with a variety of toppings like salsa, salt and
pepper and watch the fun begin.
Join the kids and head back to the American Egg Board's Cooking School for a full course on hard-cooking. Get back to basics and learn valuable tips and techniques, including how to peel hard-cooked eggs. While you're there, whether you're hard-cooking or scrambling, you can find more kid-friendly egg recipes like Mini Breakfast Pizzas, Coffee Cup Scramble and Egg & Cheese Waffle Sandwiches in the online recipe section.
About the American Egg Board (AEB)
AEB is the U.S. egg producer's link to the consumer in communicating the value of The incredible edible egg(TM) and is funded from a national legislative checkoff on all egg production from companies with greater than 75,000 layers, in the continental United States. The board consists of 18 members and 18 alternates from all regions of the country who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The AEB staff carries out the programs under the board direction. AEB is located in Park Ridge, Ill. Visit www.incredibleegg.org for more information.
