I didn't like the feeling of running short on eggs the past couple of weeks. I managed, but didn't like not knowing if and when I'd find more at my price point.
You know that I freeze eggs whenever I have a surplus. I've decided that I'm going to keep a fill-to amount of frozen eggs of about 8-10 dozen. 8 dozen eggs will carry me through 2 months of baking/cooking. So, if I don't find eggs on sale for a period of time, I'll have some back-up eggs in the freezer. As soon as I start to dip into those frozen eggs, I'll watch for a sale again, and buy enough for fresh use as well as keeping that 8 dozen amount in the freezer. 2 to 3 months appears to be the typical cycle for egg sales around here
Did anyone here ever work in a restaurant? In a previous life, I worked as a restaurant manager. When doing inventory and ordering stock, we had a "fill-to" amount. It was a preset amount, thoroughly thought out by the owner, of how much we should always strive to maintain of any given item. That's what I intend to do with buying and storing eggs.
The other thing that occurred to me was this -- in November, when turkeys go on sale for about the lowest price of the year, I always buy my year's supply of whole turkey. Well, the Easter egg sales may very well be the lowest price I'll see on eggs for this year. Other sale prices have been around the $1.25 to $1.29 per dozen point. 99 cents per dozen may be rock-bottom for this year. (A new California law regulating hen house size, is driving egg prices up. This law went into effect on Jan 1 of this year. Although the law is a California one, it's net effect will be a moderate rise in egg prices nationwide.)
I'm not to the point of wanting to buy a year's supply of eggs just yet. It is a lot more work to freeze eggs, than to say, freeze a whole turkey. But I'm willing to go to the work to freeze a 2 to 3 month supply.
So, do you want to know just how many eggs I bought this Easter season? You're going to think I've lost a few marbles on this. But, I'm venturing out there into stock-up territory. I bought 22 dozen eggs. Yep! You read that correctly. This should be enough eggs to last our family through July and maybe into August. My fill-to amount, year round, will be about 8-10 dozen. Out of this bunch of eggs, I'll freeze an even greater amount, just to take advantage of such a low price. About 12-14 dozen are earmarked for the freezer. Some will be frozen individually, to use 1 at a time, while others will be frozen 3-5 in a container for quiches and frittatas, for family meals. (I use these basic guidelines for freezing eggs.)
And now that I'll have dozens of eggs, I'll be using eggs as the animal protein source for 2 meals per week. I typically serve an animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese) with dinner 4 nights per week, and a bean and grain based dinner 3 nights per week. It can vary from one week to the next, but this is how it averages out.
Eggs are not the protein powerhouses that meat is. A 3.5 oz portion of chicken has an average of 24 grams of protein (depending on the part of the chicken). A single large egg has 6 grams of protein. It would take 4 eggs to ingest the same amount of protein in eggs as in chicken. 4 eggs would be way too eggy for me. So, limiting eggs as the animal source of protein to just 2 days per week, for dinners, seems about right for my family.
Some of our favorite egg dishes include souffle, quiche, frittatas and Yorkshire pudding. Do you have a favorite way to prepare eggs as a supper dish?
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