The Reason Your Kids Should Be Eating Hard-Boiled Eggs

If you're hard-pressed to find the time to put together an elaborate breakfast for your family every morning, we feel your pain! Mornings can be such a flurry of activity it's hard to fit in brushing your teeth, let alone baking croissants! When it comes to breakfast, though, we'll let you in on a little life hack: making hard-boiled eggs ahead of time not only saves you time during the most hectic part of the day but can also be a healthy move for your kids.

According to dietitian Serena Ball, M.S., R.D., eggs have a lot of nutrients that children might have a hard time acquiring enough of elsewhere, like choline – which helps metabolize fats and produce fats that make up cellular membranes (via Medical News Today) – vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Eggs also contain antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin "that help reduce the risk of eye problems" (via Food Network). Ball suggests steaming eggs or making them in a pressure cooker for a kid-friendly, easy-peel effect. According to the FDA, you should eat hard-boiled eggs within a week of cooking them, so, go ahead and make those eggs the night before, guilt-free!

As tradition would have it, hard-boiled eggs have an exciting moment every year around Easter. For the rest of the year, they might not be the most thrilling meal, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring, either. Luckily, there are some really creative ideas out there to mix a little whimsy into your hard-boiled eggs, including turning them into delightful shapes.

Super Healthy Kids has a recipe for hard-boiled eggs that look like adorable mice with radish slice ears and mustard-dot eyes. Or, if you're going for a fairy tale vibe, check out Taste of Home's recipe for hard-boiled eggs transformed into toadstool mushrooms complete with mayonnaise dotted plum tomato caps. To make things even easier, and if you're willing to shell out a little money, there are even molds available for hard-boiled eggs, like this set on Amazon, that can turn your kid's snack into anything from a fish to a car. A quick and easy meal, that's delicious, nutritious, and fun to eat — now, that's hard to beat!