I LOVE eggs. I love them fried, I love them poached, I love them scrambled, I love them dippy, I love them hard boiled, I love omelettes, I love frittatas, I love them chocolate. I’ll say it again, I love eggs.
When I started on my weight loss journey I knew that calorie counting was going to be a big part of my future. I wasn’t interested in any fad diet, I’ve got no interest in confessing my syns, I have no desire to pee on a strip to make sure my body is in the right state, frankly, fads can eff off. Calories in vs Calories out, that’s the key, and as it is difficult at my size to be overly active it means limiting my calories.
When you start taking calorie counting seriously it can be an absolute kick in the gut when you think you’ve been being good before. For me the goal was to quickly find a good core of the diet, some good foods that I can build meals around. With the increase in strength training I knew I would need to keep my protein high, so it goes without saying that eggs would be a key ingredient for me because they are such a great source of protein and they’re so versatile.
Only recently have I had a proper look at the makeup of an egg. Whilst they are a great food, they’re also a lot higher in calories than I would like, and it turns out the majority of those calories come from the yolk. OK, so do I need the yolk? After a bit of experimenting it turns out that I don’t. I’m not yolking, the egg white is amazingly versatile all on its own, it doesn’t need its fatty yellow friend. Sure, I’m not going to be making dippy egg whites any time soon, but there is plenty that I can do with just the white, and by doing that it makes it easier and more rewarding to indulge occasionally with a whole egg, minus the shell of course.
When I started playing around with egg whites I was using normal eggs, cracking them with a knife because even at 38 years old I have been unable to master the art of cracking an egg on the side of a bowl. Don’t judge me, it is a point of great shame for me. Anyway, after a had attacked my egg with a dangerous weapon I used an egg white seperator to split the snot from the yellow pearl. The egg white seperator was basically a plastic spoon with some holes cut in it, and whilst it did the job I did occasionally puncture the yolk which led to tainted whites. Also, it was a pain in the arse to do. If I want to make an omelette I don’t want to spend half of the time splitting eggs.
In comes liquid egg whites. I’ll get this out of the way up front, they work out more expensive than buying eggs, but there is also no waste and the convenience more than makes up for the price increase. The brand that I get come in a nice little carton with an easy pour spout, so far I haven’t made a mess pouring or wasted any so that’s a plus.
To start with I stuck to the basics, egg whites omelettes which are absolutely fine, sure they need a bit of seasoning to avoid an overly egg white taste, especially when you aren’t even using butter to fry in or anything like that. Egg white frittata is the same deal really, it doesn’t raise as much as a normal frittata but that’s not a problem. Breakfast muffins worked well, I added a little milk thinking it would help but they ended up a little too moist so next time I make them I’ll change things up a bit, but regardless, they were lovely. So far everything was great, you wouldn’t confuse them for the yolk-inclusive variety, but for the calorie saving I really can’t complain.
Next up, some mad science to see what else I can do with the egg whites.
Pizza bases. Low calories, high protein, light, tasty, and all in all, excellent. Just whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, mix in some cornflour, add a bit of seasoning, I like a mix off Italian herbs and garlic. Spread the mix onto a tray, maybe half an inch thick, and bake in the oven. Simple. If you’re dieting and have been cutting out pizza then give this base a try, topped with some pizza sauce, grated mozzarella and any other toppings of your choice.
Now this next one, this will get you thinking I’ve lost the plot. Egg whites omelettes which tortilla wraps. Similar process to the pizza bases, except I use my crepe maker hot plate. The crepe maker has a raised lip which is probably half a centimetre and I spread the mix to that thickness, leave it for a minute to set and then flip it. About 15 seconds after flipping I go over it with a spatula, just pressing it down to release some of the air. I now flip it a few more times, just 20-30 seconds on each side. It will be pretty obvious when it is done. These wraps, I promise you, are amazing. They’re more flexible and durable than pretty much any tortilla wrap I’ve ever used. They’re light, and again with the right seasoning they taste great. The first time I made them I just wrapped some bacon and cheese to see how they worked, next time we had them with chicken frankfurters and the whole thing was amazing. Later today I am making shredded chicken and will be serving it up with these wraps that I can’t wait for.
I think next up I’m going to try making some egg white pancakes, basically the wraps but instead of adding seasoning I’ll add a sugar replacement, probably allulose or monk fruit sweetener. I’m hoping that I can get them tasty enough to have as a desert option, maybe some egg crepes suzette, or spread a bit of chocolate protein pudding in them
Anyway, my point is, liquid egg whites are the mutts nuts!