Stuff I Try Out

I finally have my computer situation resolved and am back online.....knock on wood.

Among my many character traits (or flaws) are two that pertain to what I want to write about today.  One is that I'm cheap.  Well, maybe cheap is not the right word...more like cautious with my money.  This stems from a few times in my adult life when I was poor.  I mean really broke, as in literally not having two nickles to rub against each other.  It was valuable experience that I hope to gosh I never have to repeat, but the memories of trying to scratch through each and every day still haunt me.  So I like a bargain.  I tend to go for stuff that costs less but gets the job done as well as more expensive things.

Eggs are a good example.  I know that they have had bad press over the last few years...but really...it's all bull.  Eggs are great.  They are dang near the ideal food item.  Loaded with protein, complete amino acids, and vitamins.  Yes there is fat; but it's a good omega kind.  There is cholesterol but recent studies are showing you can't increase your level by ingesting eggs and besides, there are even studies saying the link of cholesterol to disease is bogus.  The consensus today is that eating a few every week is not going to hurt you and the benefits are quite lengthy.  They are also CHEAP!  About a dime apiece.  I can eat on eggs all month for what a box of sugary crappy dried cereal costs.

Besides all that, I love eggs.  Fried, scrambled, poached, sunny side up, omelet...I don't care how they are made, I love eggs.  I figure I must have eaten thousands of eggs and I'm still not tired of them.  Put a plate of eggs in front of me and I'll consider that a good meal any time of the day.

This brings me to my second character flaw....I'm a lousy cook.  I'm especially lousy in the morning.  After years of practice I'm able to brew a decent pot of coffee but that's about the limit of my abilities or desire first thing early in the morning.  I can use a microwave though and I found something great to help me get that most important meal of the day with my beloved eggs.  The little doo-hicky in the photo is a contraption that will poach eggs in the microwave.  Just break open a couple of eggs (the most tricky part of the procedure for me, by the way), dump one on each side, nuke for one minute, and voila....two perfectly poached eggs made with no oil, butter, or salt.  It doesn't get any easier and I'm not consigned to eat oatmeal every morning.

Now if I could just figure out how to break an egg open while half asleep.