Teach Your Child to Make Poached Eggs

It’s time for dinner, err wait, I guess you could say it’s time for breakfast. That’s right, we are having breakfast for dinner. The two youngest and I were inspired after watching this clip on Michelle Smith’s The Tamara Davis Cooking Show post. Immediately my 5-year-old was asking me what a poe egg was. This brought a ton of things to mind.

IMG: sxc.hu

I had to explain it is a poached egg and not a Poe egg. She did argue it with me but finally I was able to get her to believe me. Isn’t it funny how kids can hear something and there is no way to convince them otherwise?

Anyone that knows me, knows that I will take this little piece of wisdom and make it into a learning experience for all the children. How does one teach their child about poached eggs at dinner? Simple and you might even want to try it out yourself.

Making a Poached Egg

-one egg
-one pot
-spatula or spoon
-one plate
-one fork

This is pretty easy for kids and parents to do together. Boil the water and have your child hand you one egg. Crack the egg, very carefully (the parent should do this not the child) into the pot/pan of boiling water, turn down the water to a simmer.  Put the lid on the pot/pan and walk away for 3 minutes.

Pop your bread in the toaster (a child’s favorite part) and slap on a piece of cheese just before your three minutes is up. This way everything is done just in time for you to lift the lid and very carefully take the egg out of the boiling water with the spoon/spatula. I do mean carefully because these little guys are slippery.

Now place it in front of your child, hand them a fork and let them cut into it and watch the yolk slide down the bread. If you have children like me, you may want to cook your egg a minute longer due to the yolk being too runny.

Here’s a recipe in case you want an easy to follow recipe with pictures.

We topped our meal off with bacon and biscuits and they were asking for more of everything. I found a meal that all of my children like, even the picky eaters.

Fun Facts:

Did you know that poached eggs were considered better than boiled eggs? Yep, back in the 16th Century the medical men praised poached eggs and boiled eggs, they believed the roasted eggs was less digestible than the others.

The practice of hard boiling eggs was popular in Tudor England: “By the later sixteenth century the boiling of eggs in their shells in water had become a common practice. Prepared thus they were more digestible that roasted eggs; but less so than poached eggs, which always earned the highest praise form the medical men.”

Activity
Course the young ones were red Dr.Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and a few other eggy books. This was followed up (actually during) with the kids drawing/coloring pictures of eggs and meals on plates. We’ll probably use the drawings for our breakfast placemats. How involved do you get in your meals? Do your children help you cook your meals? Breakfast for dinner? If you decide to make this please comment below telling me how it turned out and what your kids thought.