The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg = Perfect Egg Salad!

If you know how to make "The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg" then you can make "Perfect Egg Salad"!  Some of my kids favorite sandwiches are: tuna salad, egg salad, and roasted chicken.  I use Spring Mill Bread Company bread for the perfect sandwich.

Now, about the hard-boiled egg....The thing about cooking eggs is that it is super easy but still, you don't want to overcook them.  Overcooked eggs are tough and rubbery. Yuk!  The key is to boil on a low boil and remove cooked eggs to ice water or at least very cold water ...this prevents the eggs from continuing to cook.  Hence, avoiding the overcooked, tough, rubbery egg.
IMPORTANT NOTE:  Someone noticed that I always use brown eggs and wanted to know why.  They are a dollar (or more) cheaper than white eggs!  Brown eggs taste the same as white but are less popular so they are always cheaper. 

The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg
Place eggs (any amount) in a saucepan or pot and cover with cold water.  Place pot over med-high heat, cover, and bring to a low boil.  The second the boiling starts, turn heat OFF and allow to sit for 12 minutes.  Immediately remove eggs to ice bath (bowl of water with some ice cubes) or rinse eggs under cold water --the purpose is to stop the cooking.  For easy peeling of eggs --crack egg on counter or side of sink several times.  Peel under running water and allow the water to run underneath the shell and aid your shell removal.  Works like a charm every time.

Perfect Egg Salad
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Mayonnaise
freshly ground pepper
kosher salt

Slice eggs in half and put into a bowl. Use a fork to break egg into pieces --press fork into egg halves until you have small and big pieces.  Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste (I use about a teaspoon of mayo per egg). Add any type of seasoning to jazz it up:  fresh herbs (dill and tarragon are great!), paprika, capers, etc. 

Onigiri (Traditional Japanese Rice Balls)

I made these wonderful Japanese treats with the 4th graders at our school today!  So much fun!!!  My kids love these and we all love picking out our favorite fillings at the Japanese Grocery near our house.  I had never made them myself until today.  (Actually I did a test-run with my kids last night.)  It was really easy and just takes a little bit of practice.  I think the kids did extremely well -not one had ever made them before...check out their creations!! 

When our wonderful 4th grade teacher asked me if I would like to do this project with the kids I knew exactly where to do my research - - one of my favorite sites!  Just Bento ---the Just Hungry companion site gives step by step instructions!
Next time I will make these with brown rice.  These may become a staple in our lunch boxes!!

School Lunch Ideas: #1

Friends have been asking, "when are you going to post a new recipe on your blog?"  Yeah, well, I have been a little bit busy.  I am sure many parents out there will agree that the first couple of weeks of school are CRAZY busy! Could they add another parent meeting or PTA meeting to my calendar?   Add a few volunteer planning meetings in for good measure ....help!

At my house, "back to school" means lots of lunches to plan and pack.  Do you remember a time when you were a kid and your friends were in awe of your amazing lunch.  Oh, that only happened a few times or never?  Regardless, when other kids took notice of your lunch I bet it felt pretty darn good.  I can remember being excited about certain "special treats" or other "different" lunch items.  I can also remember looking into someone elses lunch box with envy.  Kids are really curious to see what everyone else has in their lunch box.  In any case, my main concern is that lunches be healthy and easy to make.  This post is the first in a series of ideas and helpful tips to make your brown-bag planning and assembly a "piece of cake"! 

In the above picture I have added a little garnish to my tuna salad --see my Tuna Salad Recipes.  It couldn't be easier to slice up a lemon and store it in a zip-loc baggie or other container.  My kids love tuna salad so it doesn't need to be "dressed-up" but, oh boy, do they love it when it is!!  Their friends are looking and asking, "wow, what is that?"  I love the container on the left because it has the little fork attached.  I tell my kids that when they are finished eating they are to store the fork inside the container --to make sure no food gets smeared all over the inside of the bag/box.  No need to purchase packages of disposable utensils --love that. The container on the right is nice, too.  It has a very tight seal and also has a little cold pack that fits inside the lid --but I need to add untensils when using --don't love that.  I found these and all the others (in the picture below) at The Container Store.

Tuna Salad Two Ways

 

My kids love tuna salad sandwiches for lunch.  I do, too!  Who doesn't?  Here are two of our favorites.  As you may have guessed, the type of  tuna you choose will alter the flavor greatly. For tuna salad I like Tonno -this is solid light tuna from Italy packed in olive oil.  I drain the oil but the tuna is still very moist and retains flavor from the oil.  You only need a little bit of mayonnaise as a binder.  If you are used to making your tuna salad with tuna packed in water you will really see a difference in flavor --I think superior.  Won't you try it and see?

Tuna Salad Two Ways

6 cans of Tonno tuna or combination of Tonno and Albacore

2 to 4 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup of dark raisins

1 lemon, halved and juiced

2 small stalks of celery, slices thin

1 Tablespoon fresh Dill, chopped

2-4 Tablespoons mayonnaise

Drain oil from tuna cans and using two bowls empty three cans into each bowl.  (15 ounces per bowl.)  Add 1 or 2 tablespoons mayonnaise to each bowl and using a fork mix into the tuna.  Add the raisins and cheese to one bowl and mix to combine.  Add the juice from the lemon, celery, and dill to other bowl and mix to combine.  I DO NOT add salt or pepper.

I prefer the Genova brand but Cento was all I could find today and it is a fine 2nd choice.  You can also mix in some albacore.  Again, try to choose albacore packed in oil.

Corn, Black Bean, and Cheese Quesadillas

Good gracious!  I thought I would never get back here to post more recipes!  It is still all about cakes at my house --lots of celebrations going on.  But, you do realize that I am still cooking everyday, don't you?  Just making some of my favs (already posted) -still serving up real food to my family.  This is one of our favorite summer recipes.  Not summer yet but I found some corn from Florida --very sweet.  I prefer white corn for this recipe but yellow was what was available.  My kids still thought these were great.  I already posted my "famous" quesadilla recipe but I thought you should know that this is the combination everyone goes crazy over.  The corn is not cooked but rather raw, fresh, just cut off the cob!  If you haven't tried my quesadillas yet or even if you have --please try this variation, you will love it!

Corn, Black Bean, and Cheese Quesadillas

Kernels from 2 ears of corn, (shucked, rinsed under cold water, dried, kernels cut off cob)
1 15 oz can organic black beans, (drained, rinsed and dried with paper towel)
8 oz. monteray jack cheese, shredded
12 flour quesadillas
about 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Please see my quesadilla post for my favorite flour tortillas and black beans!

Hold corn at tip use sawing motion with your knife to cut kernels off cob.