I keep seeing recipes that only use egg whites and not the yolks. I am guessing that the idea is to avoid cholesterol and fat. Is this right? Egg separating seems like a pain, and a bit wasteful to me, so if I count all the calories in the egg and don't eat too many of them, I will be OK - right or not right?

Well, all things are relative. There are 17 calories in an egg white, and about 70 calories in a whole egg. One egg yolk has about one day's worth of cholesterol! But it also does have lots of nutrients. I use a mix of the two. I very rarely have more than one yolk, but I eat a TON of eggs for my breakfasts. I'll make an omelet with one whole yolk and then 2 or 3 whites. I don't like the waste of tossing the yolks either, so I buy the 100% egg whites sold in cartons and also organic, free range, blah blah farm eggs, so that I when I eat a yolk, I really enjoy it.

I have concluded that separating eggs is cheaper than buying the egg substitutes that are basically just egg whites....I give the yolks to my dogs; they are great for making their coats shiny. Also, I have a South Beach recipe for Sweet Potatoes that uses an egg yolk or two.......it is to die for.....anyway, most diets now say that one whole egg per day is just fine for most people...there are some nutrients specific to the yolk. a protein, perhaps.....ladies, it is lutein?? I KNOW there is something!!! :-)

I use Land O Lakes Egg Lovers - a mix of egg whites and whole eggs YUM

This is true! The trouble, for me, is that I want to make giant omelets and fritattas for breakfast that can keep me full for hours. The extra whites add protein, and also a vehicle for my piles of veggies. I just try to limit it to one per day, for the taste, texture and nutrients.

I keep both egg whites in a carton and whole eggs on hand. I use the egg whites in a carton for protein pancakes. If I'm doing an omelet or scrambled eggs, I use one whole egg and more egg whites to "volumize" my breakfast without increasing calories much.

Egg yolks contains more good colesterol than bad, so the only real reason to avoid them is they are higher in calories, so if your factoring them into your daily callorie intake you'll be fine. I personaly only eat whole eggs. The yolk is full of nutrients and is good for you. I would'nt spend the extra cash to get egg beaters as I like my food as close as possible to the way nature intended it, but thats just me.

Bingo, Puncezilla. I was about to write the exact same thing about eggs containing more good than bad cholesterol I actually use both eggs and eggbeaters. I use whole eggs for things like omelets, scrambled eggs or if I just want a fried egg over or something for breakfast. I use the eggbeaters for things like protein pancakes, and spinach "bread"--larger recipes.

Thanks for all the replies! We have chickens, so we have plenty of eggs, and dogs who would love to eat the egg yolks , but I certainly don't eat more than one a day. Way less, in fact. I have been making a one egg omlette which works pretty well if I fill up the plate with fruit, garnishes and a veggie sausage pattie. Turns out that oatmeal seems to stick with me better than eggs, so I mostly have that for breakfast.

I think I may try the two whites one yolk thing for an omlette. All whites just doesn't appeal to me.

I wish I had chickens! Fresh eggs are the absolute best!

I didn't know that about the cholesterol. I can afford some of the yolk calories now that I'm maintaining, but I have a long and consistent family history of high cholesterol, heart disease and early heart attacks (all this without a single overweight person in the bunch, myself excluded). I've been afraid that more than 5 or so yolks per week will activate the bad genes and do me in. No doubt I'll still add whites to my whole eggs, but that is good to know.

(I've just gotten health insurance for the first time in a couple of years and I want to have my cholesterol done as part of my physical--I've been worried that eating more than 1 yolk per day will result in sky-high cholesterol, warnings of imminent death from the doc and etc. I already have one very serious vice--smoking--and I don't necessarily need another )

Yes, fresh eggs are very good! Our chickens lay a variety of colors from almost white to dark brown. One of them is a different variety of chickenl, and lays light green eggs. Now when I see a white egg, it looks "wrong" to me.

Baffled, maybe after you maintain for while, you can think about quitting smoking. I gained quite a bit when I quit in 1994, but I didn't even think about trying not to. I wish I had.

Or you can give your egg yolks to the birds. just put them out in your yard.

Do you cook them first or just give it to them raw?

Hmm... i never really know what to do with the yolks.. i just throw them out..