Eggstatic Entrees

The SSC Library Teen Cooking Club made some Eggstatic Entrees for the month of April. We are lucky to have a wonderful partnership with Wegmans Markets to purchse all of the food needed for this ongoing cooking program. With Spring in the air, the egg symbolizes the promise of life. I wanted to breathe life into recipes we’ve never tried.

Egg Drop Soup

We had several delicious options to test. First on the menu was Egg Drop Soup. I never tried this recipe at home and never eat it in restaurants, so it seemed like a worthwhile adventure. The girls who tested the recipe learned two things. The first attempt was too hot and they stirred in two directions, so the egg wasn’t very pretty. The second attempt was cooked at a much lower heat and stirred in one direction. The appearance was better, but the taste to everyone was “waaaaayyyyy too salty!” With new chefs, learning to use discretion with ingredients like sugar, salt or spice is important to grasp. Not everyone likes the amount of salt one chef suggests over another. I stress to start with less, then add more along the way.

Pizza Nests

Next on the menu was Spaghetti Squash Pizza Nests. There was no room to fit eggs in the nests 😊, but plenty of eggs in the recipe. Squash is not a favorite of these teens, so I wanted to show them a new way to work with this terrific source of fiber. It’s cheap and lasts forever in the pantry. There were a few muffin spaces left in the pans and I wanted to test out a product that seems to be gaining attention in the culinary world–veggie noodles.

Veggie Noodles–YUM!

The Veggetti is a “Seen on TV” product and the test I tried proved it to be valuable. I picked up slender zucchini and had students make veggie noodles with it. Various veggie noodles are popping up in our markets, but the cost is out of this world! I stress to my students to watch the price per pound of prepared foods versus raw foods. A little elbow grease takes your dollar a lot farther than packaged food.

Veggetti-fied Zucchini

Using this new tool was fun and easy to use. We substituted these noodle in place of the spaghetti squash to make more Pizza Nests and fill the pan, but they were not as favored as the original recipe. Baked Spaghetti squash cooked downs faster than the zucchini noodles, which were too long and threw off the texture. I would try veggie noodles in place of pasta in a different recipe next time.

Uncooked Casserole

An overall favorite recipe was Cheesy Egg Casserole. The recipe source, Crazy for Crust, claims to cook this for Christmas morning and now I know why. The ingredients are simple and quick to whip together into a casserole. I thought cottage cheese would be snubbed as a gross concoction, but the young lady in that team came up to me saying “Do you know how much torture it is to cook with cottage cheese? I LOVE IT and can’t resist eating it from the tub!!!” Surprise, surprise!

Beautiful Brown

The recipe browned so beautifully. Everyone wanted a bite once they saw this hue.

Happy Grater

The last recipe made for a very happy grater (: Lemon Thumprint Cookies looked so much like sunny-side up eggs that I couldn’t resist choosing this tarty dessert.

Raw Cookie Dough

The cookie dough was something like a sugar cookie. There were really two recipes to complete this task. Lemon Curd tops the cookies once they are baked and cooled to give that lemony-yellow dollop of goodness. You can purchase lemon curd, but I stand by my statement that processed food costs so much more than homemade. A small 8 ounce jar cost nearly $5, but over 16 ounces were made from scratch in less than 5 minutes (for @ $1) and there was more than enough to top several batches of cookies.

Lemony Goodness

The budding chefs enjoyed these recipes and everyone claimed a different one as their favorite. Egg Drop soup was the loser, because it was too salty. We’ll call that our Flop of the Month.

Spring Break Socializing

Spring Break for the school district kept several students away in fabulous destinations. Those who enjoyed stay-cations benefited from the delicious treats we made. I look forward to celebrating our moms in May.

Mmm-Mm-Mother’s Day

Check back next month to find the amazing recipes we tackle for the Mothers in our lives.

Thanks for visiting!