How I do Huevos Rancheros

Last 6 months -- egg prices peaked in February and have been steadily dropping since, as you may have found at stores in your area. Across the US, retail and restaurant demand is light to moderate, whereas supplies are moderate, presently (USDA Egg Market News Report).

What this means for the consumer is right now, eggs are very affordable for most parts of the US. Kris mentioned buying eggs for 49 cents per dozen at Aldi's last week. I bought a case of 15 dozen at Cash & Carry for 57 cents per dozen. (Cash & Carry's price for 1 dozen extra large eggs, in individual cartons was 99 cents on Friday, which is a great price for eggs, as it is.)

So, as eggs are now the "cheap" animal protein source, I plan on featuring them heavily in dinner menus for the next 2 months. (I still have my frozen supply of eggs to use in the fall and winter months.) We'll be substituting egg dishes for meat-based ones, once or twice per week. (Having eggs for dinner is only a cost savings if we substitute eggs for a more expensive meal, like meat.)

If I use 9 large eggs (that's 18 ounces, or a little over 1 lb. of eggs), bought at 57 cents per dozen, there's enough animal protein for dinner for 5 of us, at a cost of about 43 cents. Compared to making a Mexican dinner with ground beef, at a cost of $2 per pound for the beef, eggs come out the winner for a budget meal.

Over the next couple of weeks, I thought I'd share some of our family's favorite ways to serve eggs for dinner, beginning with my version of Huevos Rancheros.


This is one of those super quick suppers, for busy afternoons and evenings. I can have this ready to bake in the amount of time it takes to preheat the oven.

Technically, this is somewhere between Huevos a la Mexicana and Huevos Rancheros. Real HR uses fried eggs. But I don't care for fried eggs, and my way is less hands-on.

Baked Huevos Rancheros


To serve 4 or 5 adults:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

Generously butter a large quiche dish (a large pie plate will also work).

In a medium bowl, whisk together: 

• 9 eggs
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon water

Pour into prepared dish. Top with: 

• a large handful of shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the edges are very puffy, but center is still indented.

Remove from oven, and spoon over the top:

• 1 cup of salsa, then
• another large handful of shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese or Pepper Jack
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sliced black olives

Return to oven for 5-7 minutes, or until cheese is melted and eggs are set. Be careful not to over-brown the underside.

optional -- sprinkle with chopped cilantro after baked.

Cut into wedges. Use a table knife to go all around the edge. Serve wedges with:

• warm corn tortillas, and 
• cooked black beans or refried beans. 

If you cut the wedges slim, you can fold the eggs up in the corn tortillas, like soft tacos. These eggs also make a great filling for breakfast burritos for a crowd. Use flour tortillas, put a slim wedge and some refritos on each tortilla, and roll up. 

(Olives are not at all authentic, here. We just like them. But if you want to leave them out, your privilege.)

More on house-painting supplies

The other day, in the comments, YHF mentioned a product called Floetrol Latex Paint Conditioner. That jogged my memory to dig ours out. About 18 years ago, I was painting the upstairs bedrooms, and I bought this container of Floetrol for the trim paint.

Floetrol's primary purpose is for paint-sprayers. You add a little bit to the paint going into the paint-sprayer, and it keeps the nozzle from clogging.  It's beneficial in other painting applications, too.

When I bought Floetrol, I did so for the trim work and doors. I was painting with a brush and wanted to minimize brush strokes. This product was recommended for satin and semi-gloss paint. You add a little to the paint and it lengthens the dry-time long enough for the paint to level out and reduce visible brush marks. Many claim that by adding Floetrol to your latex paint, it gives an oil-based paint appearance, but with a water-based paint.

It also provides that extra bit of time to prevent lap marks when overlapping areas with brush or roller. And I've used it when I've been working with an open can for an entire day, just mixing in a couple of tablespoons, after about 3 or 4 hours, to keep the paint at a good consistency.

YHF mentioned another use for Floetrol. She said that the professional painters sometimes use it in a small container for their brushes, while they paint. It keeps the paint from drying or thickening on the brush during a long day of painting, keeping the project flowing smoothly and extending the life of their brushes.

So, I decided to give this a try. I had two brushes I was planning on using, for the trim around the French doors, applying two full coats and one additional partial coat on part of the trim that would need extra paint. One of the brushes was a standard, 2-inch brush, the other a small craft brush, for getting into tight spots.

I poured about 1/4 cup of Floetrol into a small glass cup, and that's where I kept my brushes all day, swapping out larger for smaller, as I needed. Between coats of paint, I just put a plastic bag over the cup and the open can. At the end of the day of painting, I had about 2 tablespoons of Floetrol (very infused with paint) left in the cup which I poured into my paint can, to condition the paint after a day of having the can open. (The maximum Floetrol to paint, shouldn't exceed a 1:4 ratio, no more than 1 quart Floetrol per every gallon of paint.) It worked well in keeping my brushes and paint in good condition all day.

Floetrol is not cheap, at around $20-something per gallon. There's another brand, also used by professionals -- XIM Latex Extender and Leveling Additive that I believe is less expensive. However, it does keep for a long time. This container I've had is about 18 years old and still works as it did when I bought it. Because of its cost, I use it judiciously. But I think it's worth it, especially on interior trim, doors, cabinets and furniture, to get a professionally-finished look, but at a fraction of the cost.

If you're a yard-saler, you might want to keep your eyes open for this product. It's the sort of thing that people cleaning out their garages might put up for sale. If you check the contents and see that it's still liquid, it's very likely that it's still in good condition, even if the container looks old.

The other thing I wanted to share with you is the kind of craft brush that I use when house-painting. I have an assortment of craft brushes, for use with acrylic craft paints. A small flat brush works well when getting into those tight spots or up against another surface that I don't want to, or can't easily, tape off.

On this project, I used the #10 flat brush to paint right up against the deck, the threshold of the door-frame, and the side edge of the trim against the door frame. This flat brush has short, stiff bristles, which help control where the paint is going, like using a felt pen. Indoors, I use it at the top of a room's walls, where walls meet ceiling. In the upstairs bedrooms, we have popcorn ceiling, still. You can't tape that surface. So, I use the craft brush to "draw" my top edge of the wall with paint.

House painting is not my favorite task. But if I use some good tools, it makes the work easier and neater, and I finish up sooner.