What is affordability; less inflation?

I do little shopping these days because we live in a retirement community, so I'm not up on inflation and "affordability." I noticed the eggs in my refrigerator had a November "do not sell by" stamp, so I bought a dozen and threw out 7. At Aldi's a dozen eggs were $1.25 Sunday. I remember when Democrats were blaming President Trump for egg prices still being $5/doz when he'd only been in office 3 weeks! Gasoline in Columbus is about $2.70 a gallon today--about the same as last year.

Egg-citing breakfast

I know eggs are expensive, but the dozen I have in the frig were about $3. So, I made a fried egg sandwich for breakfast rather than have them go bad. I'm not making desserts (sort of a sugar fast) right now which was about the only dish I used them for. A salute to my Dad--he wasn't much of a cook, but he could make a fried egg sandwich, and after Mom died, I think he ate a lot of them.

It's been a busy week and it's about to end. I have whip lash trying to keep track of what President Trump is doing. Yesterday I watched the bitcoin meeting. Clueless. Dinner out last night with friends, Joyce and Bill and Joan and Jerry. Our Friday night dates which had been a staple for us for 60 years ended with Covid, and now it's about once a month, if that. I've looked at the menu (Houlihan's) before we left and picked out a petite top sirloin 5 oz, with 2 sides, green beans and fresh fruit. And since I don't drink wine anymore because I take too many medications, I treated the table to appetizers, stuff mushrooms. 

Breakfast today, the protein in two eggs

 Today I had a delicious breakfast:  2 fried eggs, sprinkled with some ham crumbles, 3 small slices of sharp cheddar cheese melted on top, and a handful of fresh spinach steamed on top.  I decided to check the grams of protein because older people need more protein and I really don't know how much protein I consume.  I asked Brave, my search engine, "eggs protein" and got this "summary."

"Eggs are a complete source of high-quality protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.2 On average, a medium-sized egg contains around 6.4 grams of protein, which makes up around 12.6% of the overall edible portion.4 Egg protein is highly digestible and an excellent source of essential amino acids, with the highest attainable protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score.0 Eggs are a versatile and affordable way to get protein in the average American diet.1 They are also a complete source of important nutrients like choline and eye-protecting antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin.3"

This is an AI generated response, a summary.  I didn't even get to do my own research--browsing the selection of articles already shown because of an algorithm. If you rely on the "summary" you see only what Big Tech's librarian wants you to see. It's phone SIRI with footnotes. The sources for this summary didn't show, but appeared as "tags." You have to click on the tag to see who/what wrote this. Virtually every search I've done recently has been AI generated. Most people will not look further than the "summary."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9316657/ "The health benefits of egg protein"  I use NCBI for every medical, nutritional, physiology, exercise, health search I do--it's what I begin with. AI did it for me. It's a quick and dirty search, but has rarely failed me. A big advantage is you can often get a full print, and many references to other sources.

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/291485/10-foods-with-more-protein-than-an-egg/   Eatingwell.com is owned by a digital media company with many brands, called Dotdash Meredith, the business division of IAC.  Eating Well the magazine was created in 1990 in Vermont and was purchased from the original publisher, folded and was restarted as a quarterly and acquired by Meridith Corporation in 2011. Bingo.  I know Meredith because it published Better Homes and Gardens (founded as Successful Farming in 1902). When you click on eatingwell.com you see its last print issue was April 2022, and Meredith was acquired by Dotdash. If magazines were families, Eating Well would be related to and distant cousin of Daily Beast through Barry Diller who founded Fox Broadcasting Network. The staff bios are worth reading and most of the hard blood and guts of journalism are from or live in Vermont where the magazine began almost 35 years ago.

There were some other tags that AI used, but 2 I trust if good enough for two eggs, which I estimate at about 20 grams for my complete breakfast dish.  All I needed was a label.

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

About 2 decades ago, before I started saving everything at my blog, I was searching for the perfect bread pudding recipe—like my mom made from leftover bread. I missed her and wanted that special taste for a memory.   And I wrote about it.  I found some good ones, but never the exact match because she probably didn’t use a recipe.

This recipe was posted by a guy friend, Brian Good, on Facebook.  But the website had a gazillion ads, and I couldn’t read the directions.  So I looked it up by name on a different site.  It says it is great for brunch or dessert. This one has slightly fewer eggs and cream cheese than the one I saw posted on FB. By soaking the bread overnight, it becomes more of a souffle or a bread pudding. The cream cheese gets creamy and the blueberries add a bit of sweetness and tartness at the same time. Hope you enjoy it! Blueberry French Toast Casserole | Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf Texas Toast Or Thick Cut Bread, Cubed (French Toast Style Also Works)
• 12 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Cubed (Any Kind Other Than Fat Free)
• 1 cup Blueberries, Fresh
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Milk
• ½ cups Maple Syrup
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• Nutmeg, To Taste
• ½ cups Pecans, Chopped (optional)

Preparation

Place the bread cubes in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish; add blueberries and cream cheese evenly throughout the bread cubes.

Beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and syrup with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the ingredients in the baking dish; cover. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Add the pecans if desired, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the center is set. Serve with additional syrup, if desired.

If you are making this recipe for dessert, forego the maple syrup and serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Eggs, meat and dementia

Will researchers ever make up their minds about meat and eggs? This study says it protects us from dementia.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190806101530.htm

“The new study now shows that the risk of dementia was 28% lower in men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine, when compared to men with the lowest intake. Men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine also excelled in tests measuring their memory and linguistic abilities. These findings are significant, considering that more than 50 million people worldwide are suffering from a memory disorder that has led to dementia, and the number is expected to grow as the population ages. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, for which no cure currently exists. The new findings may, therefore, play a vital role in the prevention of dementia. Successful dementia prevention is a sum of many things and in this equation, even small individual factors can have a positive effect on the overall risk, possibly by preventing or delaying the disease onset.”

Needs more study . . .

Chocolate deviled eggs

At first I thought, "How ridiculous!" but then lots of chocolate desserts contain eggs. Chocolate just follows me around. When I got home from Meijer's on Tuesday, I found in my grocery bags Devil's Food donuts, chocolate peanut butter Cheerios, and chocolate peanut butter flapjack single serving cups. Watch out for other shoppers throwing things in the cart when you're not looking.

Ingredients

6 hard boiled eggs

3 Tablespoons cream cheese

3 teaspoons unsweetened, dark cocoa powder

1 ½ Tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1 ½ Tablespoons heavy cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Directions

Peel and halve eggs. Remove yolks and mash in a bowl.

Add the cream cheese, cream and vanilla to the yolks and thoroughly mix. Add the cocoa, sugar and salt and continue to mix until well incorporated and smooth. A food processor will simplify this process.

Fill the whites with the mixture.

Garnish with shaved chocolate and a bit of sea salt.

Cocoa and sugar amounts may need to be adjusted slightly depending on personal taste and the percentage cocoa used. Accordingly, the amount of heavy cream may also need to be adjusted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEy8cDtrQyM&feature=youtu.be

Back to veggies for lunch

 

Wednesday is volunteer day at PDHC, so I pack a lunch. Lately I’ve been eating too many sandwiches and cookies because it is easy and quick. Sometimes I take a Hormel dinner which can be warmed up. I gained weight while I was sick in January and February.

So it’s back to veggies for lunch. I like to steam vegetables and then use the broth as a nice hot drink to replace coffee or tea. It’s also very fast—about 5-7 minutes. I prefer something warm for lunch on these cold days, so I steamed a cut up potato with a little onion. I put it in a container and added a hard cooked egg with a few olives. Then steamed some cabbage and corn together and put in another small container, all of which I can warm up in the staff room at PDHC.

• There are 164 calories in 1 medium potato (flesh and skin). Calorie breakdown: 1% fat, 91% carbs, 8% protein.
• One large hard-boiled egg has 78 calories and 6 grams of protein with all of the essential amino acids. An egg is a good source of vitamins B12 and E, folic acid, iron and zinc. The egg yolk also provides vitamin D.
• A 1/2 cup of steamed cabbage has about 20 calories, and probably 20% of vitamin C for the day. I mixed in about 2 tablespoons of frozen corn.
• At about 20 calories for a very small amount corn, it is rich in vitamin C, magnesium, B vitamins and carotenoids, such as leutin and zeaxanthin. Corn contains very little fat, less than 1 gram per serving (without toppings), and in a full serving is a good source of fiber, clocking in around 3 grams per half cup.

So that’s 282 calories, plus all that other good stuff like protein and fiber and vitamin C and B. A Hormel ready to eat dinner has about 300-400 calories and is high in fat (contains meat) and salt. USDA clocks a ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat with a little mayo and mustard at 461 calories. A single slice of ham has 4.7 grams of protein and 2.4 grams of fat, while a single slice of cheese has 5.2 grams of protein and 1.5 grams of fat. And of course, I’m not taking a couple of cookies or carton of yogurt with me.

Explosion at the Bruce cottage

I decided to fix the last two eggs for breakfast this morning.  So I took out a heavy, deep, ceramic cereal bowl, sprayed it with non-stick spray, and cracked and dropped in the two eggs.  I covered it with a damp paper towel so I wouldn't have egg to clean up inside the microwave.  Zap for 1 minute.  Took a peek, then zapped for another minute.  I carefully removed the bowl (very hot).  Hmm. A slice of cheese would taste good on that, so I took the package out of the frig and removed a slice and placed it on the eggs, hoping it would melt.  It just sat there.  So I walked to the opposite side and took out a fork and knife. When I poked my wonderful egg/cheese meal with the fork it exploded.  And I mean, everywhere, including my nice light teal shirt that matches my teal and yellow summer slacks and all around the coffee pot and microwave.  Plus the steam scalded my right forearm. So, it wasn't cooling while I did those other tasks, it was building up steam.  There's a message here, and I'll figure it out.

Cage free eggs won't be cheap

Right now, the US market has about 300 million laying hens, and only about eight percent of them are cage-free, according to this story in Wired.

 
In 2014, the US as a whole produced nearly 100 billion eggs, totaling $10.2 billion in revenue. This kind of mass production depends on cages. With those tiny wire boxes, farmers can micromanage everything about a bird’s life. They can even help automate egg collection by forcing the bird to lay its eggs directly into a funnel that drops down into a collection area.

Today, eggs are widely available and cheap mostly because of caging systems.

Poached Eggs over Spinach & Mushrooms

       

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 large free-range chicken eggs
• 1 tsp light vinegar, (rice, white wine, or apple cider)
• 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1 medium tomato, seeds and excess pulp removed, chopped
• 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and excess water removed [I think I would use fresh]
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop onions and garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to enhance their health-promoting properties.
2. Add 1 tsp vinegar to water in a 10-inch skillet.
3. While water is coming to a high simmer, in a separate skillet heat 1 TBS broth. Healthy Sauté onion and mushrooms in broth for 3 minutes over medium heat stirring frequently.
4. Add tomato, garlic, spinach, salt and pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
5. When water comes to a high simmer poach eggs for about 5 minutes, or until whites are firm. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and place over spinach mixture.

Serves 4

Breakfast casserole in a crock pot

I’m not sure why this would be any easier than baking it in the oven, but maybe some people want to sleep in.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag 26 oz. frozen hash browns
• 12 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 16 oz. roll sausage maple, sage or regular sausage.
• Salt and pepper
• 16 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• 1. Spray crock pot and evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
• 2. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl.
• 3. Mix well (and slowly) using a whisk.
• 4. Add the milk.
• 5. Go ahead and sprinkle in the ground mustard.
• 6. Add salt and lots of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.
• 7. Cook the sausage on high heat, drain and set aside.
• 8. Add sausage on top of hash browns.
• 9. Add cheese.
• 10. Mix it up well.
• 11. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the crock pot. Using a wood spoon, even everything out so it's spread evenly.
• 12. Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Some fun variations of this recipe. Before cooking (during prep) you can add: chunks of sourdough bread, diced chiles, salsa, diced green onions

Having a crowd for Breakfast? Lazy eggs might work.

1) Spray each muffin well with nonstick spray.
2) Place a slice of ham in the bottom of each muffin well.
3) Place about a teaspoon or so of diced tomatoes on top of the ham.
4) Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese over the tomatoes.
5) Break one egg into each spot.
6) Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on each.
7) Bake at 180/350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the yolks are as firm as you desire and the whites are cooked through.

Unintended consequences--livestock production

Or was it? New laws in Europe regarding the caging of chickens might destroy the industry and remove a valuable food source from the table.

How to destroy an industry

"Are EU consumers to be deprived of eggs based on the misplaced perceptions of flock wellbeing by extremists intent on destroying established intensive livestock production? Will EU consumers be supplied with eggs from countries with a lower cost of production from cages or cage free systems or even eggs labeled as "cage free or free range" but derived from conventional cages? Either way consumers will be deprived of the nutritional value of eggs or will be required to pay more for their purchases.

We should carefully monitor events in the "old world" and be careful not to emulate the folly of the EU in our industry."

Remembering the taste of an egg

It goes way back. We had chickens when we lived on Hannah Ave. in Mt. Morris. Mom use to say, without a smile, the eggs cost about $1 a piece, which in the early 50s was a chunk of change. She bought special feed, and shell hardener, and equipment to keep them safe from predators. They would drop their feathers, look peaked with half closed eyes, and fall over and die. It never paid off the way the garden did. Nor do I remember what a fresh egg tastes like. Until today. I learned.


I stopped at the Farmers Market today and picked from a basket a dozen eggs retrieved from the nest yesterday. The lady sitting next to me in the Greek Civilization class said she had lived in the Dominican Republic for 22 months, and there fresh eggs would last about 30 days, longer than refrigerated eggs.

I fixed my husband and me fried egg sandwiches for lunch (his had ham salad too, which affected the taste) and then took my treasure to the basement just in case they need to be cool. However, these will never last 30 days, because this was just about the most heavenly sandwich I'd ever tasted. No wonder Mom was willing to put up with that mess in the back yard and why my Dad kept fixing himself a fried egg sandwich the last years of his life. Looking for the good old days, I think.