I decided I wanted to make an omelette this morning and for the first time ever I just used egg whites! I stood there for a second debating how many yolks to use (I've been cutting back) and I decided that when I entered it into DailyPlate I wanted to only have to see the whites.
Still pretty darn good, NO CHOLESTEROL and way fewer calories!
It seemed wasteful throwing the yolks away (I don't like EggBeaters), but
I'm proud of myself.
I get little cartons (same size carton as egg beaters come in and in the same area in the store) of just real egg whites. The ones I get are a Canadian product but I can't believe we'd have something up here that nobody in the US thought of yet. Much better than throwing out yolks.
I bought those....unfortunately had to hurry to use them up before they went bad after opening. Found them at our super Walmart, next to the eggbeaters. Next time I buy them it'll be when I plan on using them to cook with as well.
I'm not convinced that the egg-white only products are less wasteful than just throwing away the yolks, in fact I believe the opposite is more likely true. It is cheaper, fresher (so more nutritious) and I believe actualy ecologically more sound to just throw away the yolks (or find another purpose for them if you can). You are paying for (and supporting) the construction of the processing plant buildings, their utilities and other processing and packaging costs, employee salaries, transportation costs, advertising, product placement and other marketing costs... and who knows whether they use the yolks (or for what purpose they use them) or just flush them down their drains themselves.
So, as wasteful as it sounds, I think it's ecologically more sound to just pitch the yolks (especially if you buy local eggs and/or compost).
I suspect the egg-whites-only packages come from the same packing plants that the packaged dozens of eggs come from. I know eggs that crack during processing are packaged for restaurant use so they can scramble or bake with eggs without cracking dozens of eggs. I would suspect that now that people are interested in egg-whites-only that egg whites are packaged separately and the extra yolks go into the whole eggs packages.
I can't quite bring myself to eat just an egg white omlette. I use one whole egg and two egg whites. It's the right color but cuts waaaay down on the cals and choles. I also throw in some leftover veggies - asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini (frequently several of these) w/the eggs. I throw away the yolks as well but you could always save them to make homemade pudding (oh dear God that is gooood ). 'Course, at the frequency that I eat eggs, we'd be having pudding several times a week.
I love yolks! From my understanding, they are the most nutritious part of the egg. Yes, they have cholesterol, but dietary cholesterol doesn't actually have a huge impact on your blood cholesterol levels. What's included in an egg yolk increases both your HDL and LDL, not just the LDL, so it's really not as horrible for you as people used to think. The yolk also has some super-healthy monounsaturated fats, so it's not just "bad" fat you're getting. For me, eating eggs without the yolk is like having cake without icing--what's the point? Unless I have a serious medical condition that restricts my egg-yolk-eating abilities, I doubt I'll ever go yolk-less!
But, FYI for those who are adamantly against eating yolks for whatever reason, I have heard egg yolks can be used to wash you hair, or can be cooked and tossed outside for birds.
I have to say that the biggest reason I buy regular eggs is that I don't like the taste of egg white only scrambled eggs or omelettes. I can use up to five or even 6 whites per yolk, but just don't care for the taste or texture of whites only.
Even now that I'm focusing more on carbs than calories, I usually do still use at least a few more whites than yolks. I guess it's more habit than philosophy, but I figure that whites are mostly protein, and yolks are mostly fat so upping the protein without adding alot of fat and calories is a good thing.
Congrats, Transformer! I am a fan of egg white omelettes, my favorite is spinach, mushroom and a little feta cheese...yum! I feel the same way about throwing away those egg yolks.
I prefer the whole thing myself, too.
I always have eggs in the fridge, but mostly for cooking. If I have scrambled eggs, it's usually 1x a week or once in 2 weeks.
I am now trying to limit eggs (omelette) and pizza to Saturdays when I shop at the local farmers' market. There is one food stand (the owners actually run a cafe) and I swear they make the best pizza and the best omelette. I never get my omelettes right, I am not the worst cook (if I say so myself) but somehow I should stay away from making omelettes.
my first egg white omelette
Unless I have a serious medical condition that restricts my egg-yolk-eating abilities, I doubt I'll ever go yolk-less!
