Low-carb with a nutrient power punch, EggsPlus eggs fit nation's health trend
By HUDSON OLD
Journal Publisher
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PITTSBURG -- With the rise of a low-carb menu on the domestic front, Pilgrim's Pride EggsPlus eggs are the perfect ingredient for my famed Camp Site Low Carb Hot Link and Egg Scramble. Historically, with the better half's implementation of more traditional diet plans, I don't get hot links from spring until the waning of bikini season.
Too late, many husbands learn of that unspoken agreement that goes with wedding vows, the promise to participate by proxy in any undertaking requiring sacrifice.
Like dieting.
On some days, love is measured by moral support, explaining why, from time to time during previous diets, I've come home to arched brow greetings.
"Talked to Joe Bob today," she might say, her tone ruthlessly innocent, accusing. "He said he saw you at the hot link stand during lunch."
Today, as my svelte bride slithers into summer togs, my thoughtful use of EggsPlus in culinary pursuits is only one of the ways I'm able to support the household dieting plan, loading us with protein, minerals and an extra shot of essential nutrients while sustaining my hot link habit.
As with all worthy tales, there is controversy here. Low carb diets are the answer to America's obesity, say supporters. Low carb diets are dangerous, say others.
Perhaps, like me, you prefer avoiding tedious research. I got my information in a more traditional vein, a venue as much a part of East Texas culture as the tale of Pilgrim's Pride's rise from home-town, feed store roots to global poultry powerhouse.
Skipping the book, I asked the smartest guy at the coffee shop about the nutritional arguments scrambling the American psyche on the low carb issue. He's one of those sorts who researches everything, a reader of consumer reports, a man whose family has shed 60 pounds and dropped their collective cholesterol count on the Atkins diet.
I submit his executive summary: "Take vitamins," he said, liberating my use of Pilgrim's Pride's "designer egg," a product putting a high protein, nutrition packed punch into my hot links and eggs. My recipe has yet to become a trend, but it could happen. This is even more significant as the nation moves into National Egg Month.
Falling in May, Egg Month dovetails a national marketing campaign with industry issues of supply and demand following Easter, the blow-out season if you're in the egg business.
It's a great time to put eggs on the menu.
Eggs are a low-cost staple for everything from the traditional breakfast to a base ingredient of the globe's most creative confectionaries. During this celebratory Egg Month season, egg sales people are quick to point out the things you'd expect egg sales people to say. Eggs have good stuff in them -- riboflavin, protein, choline and more -- essential for good health. There's more, but you get the drift.
Eggs are inexpensive, and so full of high-quality protein they're used as a standard against which other foods are measured. The only protein that's better comes in mother's milk.
A study conducted by Tufts University researchers indicates that eggs provide a source of easily digested lutein, something scientists believe helps prevent cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans.
For health-conscious Pilgrim's Pride's EggPlus consumers, eggs have more benefits.
As home-grown as summer tomatoes, EggsPlus eggs are produced by laying hens fed a diet enriched with fish oil, flaxseed and natural antioxidants. The result is an egg with seven times the vitamin E of traditional eggs. Eat two eggs and you get as much Omega-3 as provided by a three-ounce serving of salmon. Studies show significantly reduced risk of heart disease associated with the Omega-3 in high fish diets.
For expectant mothers, the replenishing of stores of Omega 3 is useful for lowering overall risk of postpartum depression. During pregnancy, mothers are the exclusive source of Omega-3 used by the fetus in brain and heart development, eyesight and nerves.
On a more personal note, EggsPlus eggs allow my pro-active participation (and thus, my moral support) in a commitment to good health at home, with hot links.
This is about more than diet. With the inclusion of Pittsburg Hot Links in a low-carb plan, we continue to enjoy the bounty of a business that, like Pilgrim's Pride, is a part of the rich cultural fabric of East Texas.
Pittsburg Hot Links are regional fare, a down-home, low rent stuffing of a small-town butcher's scraps packed in sausage casings, traditionally slow baked in strands hanging in brick ovens, served on butcher paper with a vinegar and red pepper-based hot sauce. Those not participating in the low carb craze enjoy them with crackers.
If my accompanying recipe isn't your cup of tea, relax. At the American Egg Board web site, www.aeb.org, you'll find enough egg recipes to put variety in a healthy diet.
To raise that nutritional bar, look for EggsPlus alongside traditional eggs at a grocery store near you.
Camp-Site Low Carb Pittsburg Hot Link & Egg Scramble.
Ingredients: Eggs, Pittsburg Hot Links, Tabasco Sauce. (Use one hot link for each egg)
Whip eggs for scrambling, adding two drops of tabasco per egg. Set aside. Split sausage casings, brown meat in skillet. Do not overcook. Pour off grease, pour in eggs and scramble. Garnishing options include fresh chopped onions and tomatoes and any kind of green pepper you might like. Serve with choice of whole milk or cold beer.