Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Great Way to Use Left-overs - Omelets!


When I was first married, I worked a typical 40-hour per week job, which meant I didn't have much time (or energy) for cooking.  Therefore, breakfast became a typical dinner option for us.  We ate many breakfast burritos, pancakes, and omelets.  Omelets are great for a few reasons - they're easy, they're quick, they're cheap, and they're a great way to use up leftovers that may be lingering in your refrigerator.  It's also a great way to use veggies that need to be used up - onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, zucchini, etc.

Omelets (recipe is per omelet)
2-3 eggs
1-2 Tbsp. milk
Salt
Pepper
Filling of your choice - be creative!

Grease a nonstick skillet and heat over medium heat.

In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture into the heated pan.  With a spatula, carefully lift up the edges of the omelet, allowing the eggs to run under the cooked edges.

Once the omelet is cooked almost all of the way through, carefully flip to cook the other side.  (Depending on how thick your eggs are, you don't have to flip them over.  If they're thin enough, they should cook through without you having to flip it over.)  Put desired toppings over half of the omelet.  For this omelet, I used leftover barbacoa, rice, green onions, and cheese.  I topped it with sour cream, pico de gallo, and more green onions - yum!!!  If I had any guacamole, you can bet I would have put some of that on, too! 


Fold omelet over onto itself.  Serve.


Filling suggestions/ideas (disclaimer: I haven't personally tried all of these; they just sound good to me):
  • Cheddar, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms
  • Bacon, Monterey jack, avocados, green onions, tomatoes
  • Mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes
  • Cheddar and ham
  • Leftovers
  • Whatever else you can find in your refrigerator!  Have fun with these!!!
  • If you're looking for more ideas, you can check out Egg Plantation's menu.  They have 101 kinds of omelets!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Reminds me of, "Eggs, light and fluffy" :) I'm sure you've seen that Veggie Tales...hahaha. :)

StaceyN said...

I call those "clean-out-the-fridge-omelets" LOL! Doesn't sound very appetizing, but they sure taste good. We are always trying to keep up with our laying hens, so egg breakfasts (and dinners, too) are a staple around here.

My big boys and hubby are HUGE eaters, and I found myself using all four burners and four skillets to make enough omelets to fill everyone up. That always started our homeschool day too late and with too big a mess, so I have had to compromise. Now we make open-face omelets. I take about 14 eggs and mix them with milk, seasonings and dried veggies from our garden, pour them into a large, hot, cast-iron skillet, put the skillet into the oven at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, until eggs are completely done. Meanwhile, I quick-fry my toppings. Then I sprinkle cheese, cooked toppings (very thickly) and another layer of cheese on the cooked eggs in the skillet, return to oven for a minute or so until melted, then cut into wedges and serve like pizza. In fact, my 2-yo calls it "pee-fah." I know it's a cheater omelet, but it really is yummy and saves so much time and mess.

My mom has been making up baggies of omelet toppings for my freezer so I can just pop them out, quick fry and be done with no fuss. She is a saint! Thanks for the reminder about using leftovers for omelets. Leftovers usually don’t survive very long in our fridge before someone finds and devours them, but sometimes food is overlooked, and I’ll have to remember to recycle it with eggs and cheese :-).

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