Super Easy Hard Boiled Eggs

I have a love-hate relationship with hard boiled eggs.  I love to eat them.  I get a weird sense of satisfaction when one peels just right.  But I HATE to make them.

This hate comes from not being able to make a consistently peelable, creamy egg.  I have tried my grandma's method regarding boiling time vs cooling time.  I've boiled them with salt.  I've boiled them with baking soda.  I've boiled them with sugar.  I've waiting until the eggs are expired before boiling them.  I've boiled the water first and then added the eggs.  I've added the egg to cold water.  You get my drift.  I've tried just about everything and STILL only get really good eggs about a quarter of the time.

Then I found the following pin on Pinterest:  Make Hard Boiled Eggs in the Oven  This idea is GENIUS.  Forget boiling eggs, BAKE THEM!

This is seriously so simple.  I preheated the oven to 325 degrees.  I placed 12 large eggs into the cups of a muffin tin.  I placed the muffin tin in the oven.  And then I forgot about it for 30 minutes.  I did some laundry, I started some chicken noodle soup, and I cleaned up my kitchen.  I did not once look at the eggs in the oven.  When my timer went off, I removed the eggs with a spoon and placed them in ice water in the sink for 10 minutes.  Then I put them in a bowl in the refrigerator.  Done.

Okay, not done.  I HAD to try one.  And.....it was fantastic!  It peeled so easily and the yolk had a nice, creamy texture.  Yum!  I don't think I will ever make them the "old way" again.

One last little tidbit:  a few of my eggs got small brown spots on the shell while baking, and the one I tried had a spot on the egg after I peeled it.  But that had no effect on the flavor.

Edit:  One last, last little tidbit:  The blog I linked to above listed cooking time as 30 minutes in a 325 to 350 degree oven (depending on the oven).  Since this was my first time making them, I set my temperature at 325 and went for 30 minutes.  Then I crossed my fingers :)  The blogger suggested testing just one first, but I decided to just go for it and it worked!

Spaghetti Squash. Did I really just make that?

First off, I have been a bad, bad blogger.  I started this blog back in the middle of a cold, Minnesota winter and then I completely ignored it for months.  I didn't forget about it, I was just preoccupied with sun and summer.  So my apologies.  I promise to do better!

In the last month and a half, the hubby and I have decided to get serious about losing some weight.  We'd been counting calories and exercising more, and I'm happy to say we're making some great progress.  We've both lost a little over 10 pounds!  We've both always been kind of picky eaters, so when I first saw this recipe I thought "no way"!  But, with counting calories has come a willingness to try new foods and new combinations, and I decided to give it a shot.  So, without further ado:  Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

*The serving size for this is one cup of spaghetti squash and a half cup of meat sauce, which comes in at 192 calories.  Recipe makes approximately 5 servings*

 

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash

1/2 pound of extra lean ground beef

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (we use Prego with Meat)

Cooking Spray

2 tsp. Parmesan Cheese

 

Note:  I brown an entire pound of ground beef but only use half of it for this recipe.  I either refrigerate or freeze the rest for later use.

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half and clean out the seeds and "guts"

 

 

 

3.  Spray the "meat" or inside part of the each half with cooking spray and place rind up on a cookie sheet lined with foil.

 

 

4.  Place in oven and bake for 35-45 minutes

5.  While squash is baking, brown hamburger in a skillet and drain.  If you've browned an entire pound, move half to another container and leave half in the skillet.

6.  Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and simmer until heated through

 

7.  Remove squash from oven. Careful, it will be very hot!

8.  Using a pot holder, grab one half of the squash and start running the fork lengthwise to create long strands that look like noodles.  This was a relatively small squash, which gave me about 4 cups of squash (2 per each side).

 

9.  Measure one cup of squash onto a plate and top with a half cup of meat sauce.  Sprinkle two teaspsoons of parmesan cheese over the top, and enjoy!

 

 

Just like spaghetti, only with a lot fewer calories.  I'll admit I was skeptical at first, but there's only a slight texture different and it tastes GOOD.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!