Eggs are an incredibly versatile food.  For instance, they are found in so many of the foods we eat, cakes, cookies, sauces, custards, ice creams, and so many others.  You can whisk them, devil them, scramble them, drizzle them, whip them and fold them.  Eggs are part of most people’s everyday diets, especially if you are raising your own chickens in your new Aosom chicken coops. Many people have started raising their own chickens because of the skyrocketing inflationary costs of supermarket chickens and eggs.  For those of you dealing with a surfeit of eggs from your new backyard coops, I have found at least two interesting new ways to prepare large batches of eggs for big gatherings and meal prep.  Also, I have included some tips and uses for those annoying leftover eggshells.

Egg Bites

(Made in a mini-muffin Tin – adapted from an original recipe from blackberrybabe.com)

Egg bites are perfect for on the go meals & snack, whenever someone is looking for a quick, healthy bite.

Preparation time: 30 minutes or less

Serves: 24

Ingredients

8 large eggs beaten

¼ cup milk

Salt & Pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

Chopped peppers

Diced scallions

Chopped broccoli

Diced tomatoes

Shredded cheese (any)

Diced meat (any: ham, sausage, bacon, etc.)

Cooking Instructions

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease muffin tins
2. Next, you break open the eggs in the bowl. After that, add milk, salt and pepper and whisk together till well combined.
3. Add your optional ingredients and mix to combine well
4. Using a small ladle or ¼ measuring cup measure out egg mixture into the muffin tins.  After that, you will fill each well about ¾ of the way full, because the mixture will rise during the baking process
5. Then you will, for the next step, bake for about 10-12 minutes until the eggs are cooked through and no liquid remains.
6. Finally, take out of oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before taking out of the muffin tins for the last step.
7. The egg bites can be kept in the fridge for 5 days or frozen for 6 months.

 Note: You can safely freeze egg bites in a single layer in a Ziplock bag or freezer safe container for later.

Sheet Pan Eggs

(adapted from a FeelGoodFoodie.com recipe)

This recipe is useful when you have a big crowd to feed, or when you want to do some batch cooking for freezing.  Sheet pan eggs can be done as scrambled eggs or as sunny side up.  This is a fun recipe to prepare with kids in the kitchen, as they can use a cookie cutter on the prepared eggs. (Just make sure to keep them away from hot eggs and surfaces!)

Preparation time: 30 minutes or less

Serves: 24

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

Large Rimmed sheet pan

Parchment paper

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

18 eggs

1/3 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients

Mushrooms

Peppers

Shredded cheese (any)

Diced meat (any: ham, sausage, bacon, etc.)

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a rimmed sheet pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper and use cooking spray on parchment paper.
2. Mix eggs and milk in a mixing bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste
3. Carefully pour the egg mixture onto the rimmed baking sheet making sure it spreads evenly.  At this point add your optional toppings.
4. Bake eggs until set about 15-18 minutes
5. allow eggs to cool and then cut them into equal pieces.

Note: If you choose to make these eggs sunny side up

1. No parchment paper
2. The second step is still to prepare the oven at 350 degrees F
3. Crack 12 eggs onto a greased rimmed sheet pan, evenly distributing the yolks.
4. Lastly, bake for 12-15 minutes until the whites do not jiggle.

Tips for using eggs shells after cooking:

1. You can use ground up eggshells in your garden to add calcium carbonate to your soil: smash or grind them up and sprinkle on your soil in the garden.
2. Use eggshells as seed starters.  First, cut the top of the eggshell off and place the shell back in the egg carton, put a seed in the bottom of the half-shell, cover it with potting soil and water the soil lightly until moist. Finally, Once your seedling is tall enough, and the weather is warm enough, you can take the egg shell and transplant it straight into a pot or your garden bed!
3. Use crushed eggshells and hot water to clean your reusable coffee flask or kettle.  Add crushed eggshells and hot water to the flask or kettle, close the lid and shake for a few minutes.  The abrasive mixture will help get rid of any coffee film from the inside of the container(s).
4. Baked eggshells can be used to feed birds as it is a great source of calcium for them.  Bake the eggshells on a tray at 250 degrees Fahrenheit until they are dry.  Crush the eggshells and spread the mixture either in a feeder or on the ground.
5. Eggshells also work as a pest repellent.  Crush the eggshells and spread them around your garden to deter slugs and snails.

To learn more about “awesome” chicken coops from Aosom.com, check out our blog on chicken coops here.