Scrambled Eggs with Diced Ham

Ingredients that work, and their cost if purchased from Costco

1. Eggs : to serve 2 people, add in seven. The more you need to feed, add more. It’s better to add extra and have something for leftover than to not have it when you’re hungry

1. Eggs: A pack of 72 eggs goes for $11

2. Ham: dice up as much as you’d like. Again, I always think more is better so that you have it ready. 3. Fat or oil. You can use any kind of oil you like. When I make meat I keep the fat after it cools down so that I can use it on its own or with oil to use less oil. Optional add-ons 4. Pepper 5. Spice of your choice: cayenne pepper powder, red chili flakes, anything to your spice level that you’d like. 6. Ketchup: to add at the end 7. Sour cream: to add at the end. 8. 1 Onion: dice and add at the beginning if you like. You can also add at the end if you like a sprinkle of raw onion. 9. Rice: If you’d like to balance out the meal, it can be pretty good to have some rice on the side. I would recommend having a rice cooker and having rice always ready to help fill up.

2. Ham: a whole smoked ham is $30. Once you’d like to use it, slice it and keep in the fridge for what you’ll use in the next few days. Freeze the rest of later in slices. *Our smoked ham lasts the two of us through at least 5 days of meals when added with other ingredients, like eggs. 3. Oil: A 2 L olive oil is $17. You can also use fat from meat you’ve cooked for no extra cost. 4. Pepper: Whole black peppercorns are $5 for 14 oz 5. Spice: there is a whole variety of spice you can buy, from hot sauce to dried pepper and more. A 10 oz of red chili flakes are $4 6. Ketchup: A 3 pack of 44 oz ketchup bottles is $12 7. Sour cream: A 3 lb tub of sour cream is just under $6 8. Onion: a 10 lb bag of onions is $8 9. Rice: a 25 lb of jasmine rice varies in cost, usually between $14-$19

Easy way to make:

1. Add your oil or fat to the pan. We have an oven that has a scale of 1-9, the 1 represented by “low” and the 9 represented by “high”. When I’m scrambling eggs, I keep it at about the 5 mark, and will heat up higher if needed. But if you heat it too high your eggs will easily stick to the bottom of your pan, rendering too much of it inedible. So lower is always better to start, and you can turn it up if you’d like. If you’re adding just fat, keep in mind it will burn faster.
2. If you’d like to add some onions to the mix, put them in once your fat/oil is warm. If you add it in when it’s not heated yet, your eggs will taste overwhelming like the oil you use and it will not go the way you’d had planned.
3. Add in your ham. It’s nice to add it in before the eggs because it can add some texture like it’s been grilled while cooking on the heat and oil. Keep your eye on them and move them around. Let them have a little bit of time just cooking on their own or else you won’t get that grill kind of texture. This is a nice step so that you don’t feel like you’re just eating some deli meat.
4. Add in your eggs. I like this recipe with scrambled eggs. I think the best way to make scrambled eggs is to scramble them in a bowl first, but if you’d like to save time and a dish to clean, then add you’re eggs right into the pan — just make sure to scramble them with a utensil asap or they will turn out to be normal eggs just crumbled.
5. Move everything together with your utensil (you can use whatever you like – a spoon, spatula, really anything that works. If you are using a non stick pan different rules apply, and use something that’s wooden and won’t take off the nonstick seal).
6. Add in your pepper and spices. The more spicy you like it just keep adding in those peppers. For black pepper (and most spices), invest in a mortar and pestle and grind your pepper right before each use. It is easy and will be the best tasting pepper you could have.
7. Once the eggs are cooked (it’ll be fast, we’re talking a matter of just a couple of minutes if that) move your ham and eggs onto your plates.
8. Once on a plate, you can add whichever topping you have and you like — this could be ketchup, sour cream, or even a few pieces of raw onion.
9. Pour hot water into your pan so that it’s easier to clean after you eat. Eggs really stick and this’ll make things easier.
10. Any leftovers put them into a container with the lid not fully on, so that the food can cool down and is already ready to be put away when you’re finished. Here’s how our ham and egg leftovers look, ready to be eaten when hungry again:

***Keep in mind that if you do not want to or are not able to buy your items in bulk, you can still make this for not so much by purchasing a ham and eggs at Walmart. The benefit to bulk buying is that the materials will go very far and you won’t use everything in one, two or even three meals, this is why, for many items, I will always suggest the bulk option if possible.