Cooked Egg Conundrum

Q: I like to have some hard boiled eggs on hand for egg salad sandwiches and even just to slice up on my garden or cobb salads. The problem I found is that when I boil the eggs and put them in the right side of the carton and leave the uncooked ones on the left. My spouse will forget, even if I write on the carton which side is which, and get mad when he tries to make a scrambled egg and cracks a cooked egg. What kinds of tricks might you have for separating cooked from uncooked eggs that won't get confused?

A: The easiest way is to get some ordinary food coloring and add it to the water when you cook the eggs. It will tint the shells and make which are cooked very clear. I, personally, keep a lot of eggs because they are wonderful for breakfast, lunch, dinner, even snacks. So I have two egg cartons, one marked (all over) hard boiled and one unmarked as uncooked. You can also mark the shells with pencil when they are cooked.

If your eggs get mixed up a trick to find out if they are cooked or not is to spin them on the counter. The cooked ones will spin nicely, the uncooked ones will wobble and barely make a full turn.

Want a great mid-day snack that is healthy and filling? Quick and easy egg-salad sandwiches! Try mixing a hard boiled egg with salt, pepper, and mayonnaise or miracle whip to taste. Then spread over buttered toast and serve with carrots, cherry tomatoes or berries. The protein in the egg combined with the carbohydrates in the bread will keep you and your kids satisfied and reduce those cravings for treats from the ice cream truck!