by Tierney O'Hara

Created on: November 02, 2009   Last Updated: December 22, 2010

Inexpensive, healthy and easy to prepare, eggs are the perfect breakfast food. There are numerous ways eggs can be cooked and enjoyed for breakfast or any other time of the day. Little ovals, packed with protein and vitamins, eggs are often the least costly way to feed a family breakfast. Eggs are also one of the quickest meals you can make and they pair with almost any vegetable, cheese or meat you can buy.

One of the easiest ways to prepare breakfast eggs is to boil up a dozen hard cooked eggs on Sunday and fill a container with the eggs in the refrigerator. All week long, even on the busiest of days, it's so easy to grab an egg, crack and peel the shell, and eat it in your hand as you fly out the door to work or school.

If you want to be fancy, make up a simple white sauce and keep that in the fridge too. Toast an English muffin or a piece of hearty bread and while waiting for your toast, microwave 1/3 cup of the white sauce on medium low for about three minutes. Take the sauce out of the microwave and add in a sliced hard cooked egg and cook for one more minute on medium low.

Butter the toasted English muffin or the toast and place a slice of deli ham on top. Spoon the white sauce with the sliced egg on top of the ham and eat it with a knife and fork - a quick and simple form of Eggs Benedict with a twist.

For those who love a spicy egg dish, make a two egg omelet and in the center put a slice of processed cheese like Velveeta, or the cheese of your choice, and two tablespoons of Mexican salsa. Flip and serve with extra hot sauce and cilantro leaves for Sunday brunches and special occasions.

One of the quickest breakfasts to make is this "make-it-the-night-before" Ham and Broccoli Strata

Ingredients

12 thick slices of bread

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup chopped broccoli, cooked and drained

2 cups diced ham or bacon

6 slightly beaten eggs

3-1/2 cups milk

1 small onion, diced

1/4 tsp dry mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom of a buttered 9 by13 inch pan. Add the broccoli, ham and cheese. Mix together the eggs, milk, onion and dry mustard. Pour over the bread, then cover and refrigerate over night. In the morning, uncover and bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until set. Cool slightly before cutting.

Super simple fried egg sandwiches can be made on toasted or untoasted bread. Most people seem to like butter on toasted bread but use mayonnaise on soft, untoasted bread. You decide what you like best.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat, melt one teaspoon of butter then crack one egg into the pan. In about two minutes, flip the egg with a spatula and cook until the white has set. Right before you remove the egg from the pan, prick the yolk so that the liquid yellow will harden and won't drip out of your sandwich.

This is another quick egg-breakfast recipe than can be wrapped up in aluminum foil and eaten on the bus to school or on the train to work. Fast and easy to cook, low in calories and high in protein and vitamins, eggs are the perfect breakfast food and they won't bust your food budget either.

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