Pretty Eggs

I really like how pretty brown eggs are and sometimes the girls make them extra special.  Like this one...

Our laying hens like to keep life interesting!

Egg Production is UP!

This is a beautiful sight...

We are getting tons of eggs now!  I think the chicken mower has been really good for the girls. 

Breakfast anyone?

Chicken Mower

We like to be as resourceful as possible and when the grass/weeds/clover started getting tall in the backyard, we started brainstorming ways to use it to our advantage. 

As a result, Mr. Right came up with this...

He used PVC pipe, chicken wire and zip ties to create a chicken mower!  Most afternoons, he loads the girls up in the mower then drags it to a new spot in the yard that needs mowing.  They have done a great job at keeping our yard looking good!

This also means that they eat less chicken feed which makes keeping them even cheaper.  Whoo! 

The mower has a laying box mounted in the corner in case someone forgot to lay their egg that morning.  We also give them shade by clothes pinning a towel on top when they are in the sun.

I don't know if this is a result of the mower and all the grass the girls are eating but we did get 6 eggs today.  That means everyone laid one! 

Life Beyond Canned Soups

Several years ago, I removed all canned soups from our diet.  I'm talking about cream of chicken, celery, mushroom, tomato, etc.  Don't gasp.  You don't have to include a can of soup in EVERYTHING.  There is a whole, big world out there that doesn't involve these pesky, unhealthy cans.  Go explore it!

One thing I started doing is making my own cream of chicken.  Save the broth from the chicken you boiled, thicken it with flour then add some salt and onion powder to taste.

*Boiling a whole chicken is where the broth comes from.  Click here to learn how to de-bone one.*

It's as easy as....well...boiling a chicken!

Breaded Chicken Patties

Growing up, we frequently had breaded chicken patties for supper.  They were so good!  You know what I’m talking about…those round Tyson patties.  Well, seeing as how Mr. Right and I don’t eat those, I was happy when I ran across a homemade alternative.

I found it in a Taste of Home cookbook.  Here’s the Natural Blog version of the recipe:

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped celery

6 tablespoons butter, divided

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1-1/3 cups milk or water, divided

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons Real Salt

2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken (be choosey about the chicken you use)

1 cup dry bread crumbs or whole wheat flour

Homemade whole wheat buns, split

Any toppings you might like

In a large saucepan, sauté onion and celery in 3 tablespoons butter until tender.   

Combine flour and 1 cup milk (or water). I tripled my recipe...

Gradually add to pan.   

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.   Add parsley, seasonings and chicken.  Remove from the heat.  Chill until completely cooled.  ...My chicken was still boiling so I just added the parsley and seasonings then let it cool completely.  I added my chicken later.

Shape chicken mixture into six patties, using about 1/3 cup mixture for each patty.  Place crumbs (or flour) and remaining milk (or water) in separate shallow bowls.  Rolls patties in crumbs, then dip into milk; roll again in crumbs.

In a large skillet, cook patties in remaining butter for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Serve on rolls with desired toppings.

Cooking to perfection

All done!  These are just some of them...

 Uncooked patties may be frozen for up to 3 months.  To prepare frozen patties:  Cook in butter for 5-6 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Yield: 6 servings

These are soooo yummy!  Mr. Right and I could eat them everyday!

*Note:  I tripled my recipe to have plenty to freeze.  This will give us chicken patties to eat when baby gets here.  Also, I used water instead of milk and whole wheat flour instead of bread crumbs.  I've done it both ways and they are equally delicious.

How To De-Bone a Chicken...My Way

I’m sure there are technical ways to do this but I just do it the way I like.  When I de-bone a chicken, my goal is to get all the meat off.  I don’t go for presentation points because I’m just going to chop it up and use it in a recipe anyway.  Now, if you were going to make fried chicken or something where you need whole pieces of uncooked chicken…then that’s a different story.  Check out this link on how to do that.

So here goes…  I start with a whole chicken that I have boiled. (I freeze the broth for later use.)   

I start by removing the breasts.  I usually just cut these off with a knife.  Then I use two forks to remove the rest of the meat from the bones leaving as little as possible behind.  

Breasts and white meat

 I don’t like dark meat so I separate that for Mr. Right (he likes it) and keep the white meat for me.  Be sure to remove all the skin, also.  It will peel off very easily.

Dark meat

It’s a simple process.  Leave nothing behind...

The Truth about Chicken

Did you know that until recently, the chicken we were eating from the supermarket contained traces of arsenic?  The FDA admitted here that small traces of the poison may have made it's way to the chicken we eat.

photo borrowed from mccormick.com

 Here is my favorite quote from the article:

"Pfizer Inc., which makes the feed ingredient, said Wednesday that it will pull it off the market in the United States. Had the company not stopped sales, the FDA could have eventually banned the product since it contains a known carcinogen."

"could have eventually banned"  Sounds like the FDA was reeaallly concerned.  The question is would they have eventually banned it?  If it's a "known carcinogen" then why was it ever given to chickens the public consumes?  I'll tell you why.  Arsenic is given to poultry to "kill parasites and promote growth" (according to the article).  So, at the risk of your health, they will give these birds a known carcinogen as to not risk their pocketbooks.  

Does is make you wonder what else the FDA overlooks?  It does me.

Mass-produced chickens are typically raised under terrible conditions.  Most of them get no sunlight or room to roam.  I have read that they actually only have about 1/2 a square foot of floor space per bird.  These cramped conditions can cause illness in the birds.  It would make sense to me to change their living conditions.  However, it makes more sense to Big Ag farmers to just make the birds survive in those conditions by giving them antibiotics. 

"The stress that poultry endure in crowded hen farms can cause disease, which is why they are given antibiotics. Scientists warn that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture promotes the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can lead to serious consequences to human health."  drmercola.com

 If we don't take action and use our purchases as votes, the FDA will continue to allow chemicals, poisons, practices, etc to advance Big Agriculture.

Ok, some people don't care about the living conditions of their food before it reaches their table but do you think it's quality meat?  Do you want to feed meat to yourself and your family that contains traces of antibiotics, arsenic and who knows what else?  Choose good food.

Check out this brand: Harvest Land