Posted in chickens, etsy on March 5, 2011 | 2 Comments »
…I’m so excited to debut the newest additions to my Etsy shop!
Pressed flower cards and gift tags:
AND
Chicken feather gift tags:
I think these are extra fun. I almost couldn’t bring myself to post them because I wanted to keep them for myself. But there’s more feathers where these came from soooo, I can make more any time I please.
Take a look at the New in my Etsy Shop tab up there at the top of the page if you are interested in seeing more. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Z-
Posted in chickens, frugal me on February 7, 2011 | 18 Comments »
I’m veering away from recipes for today and I’ll give you a lovely tip for feeding your chickens. Seeing as how they feed you, it’s only fair that you feed them.
1. Save your egg shells, placing them in an old cake pan as they accumulate. Each time you bake something, throw the pan in the still-hot, turned-off oven so the shells dry.
2. Mash the dried shells with a potato masher until they are less than 1/2 an inch.
3. Run your fingers through the pieces and enjoy the free calcium your biddies will devour.
4. When you have a few cups of them, march on out to the chicken house and dump them in the feeder. Proceed to watch your chickens go crazy.
I’m curious to know: I have 2 dozen chickens. I use probably half of the eggs they give and I feed them all of those shells. Is that enough calcium for them or should I still be purchasing oyster shells? If not oyster shells, is there any other free/cheap form of calcium I could give them?
Posted in autumn, chickens, meat, soup, veggies, winter on February 1, 2011 | 7 Comments »
We’ve got lots to cover today, folks.
First things first. Here is my updated food measurement chart, if you are interested: food measurement chart. I think the only measurement that I changed from the old one is the cocoa powder. Other than that, I added about 10 more ingredients.
And look what Brad so kindly did for me the other day:
I guess it’s a little hard to tell, but he pushed a lovely path through the snow so it’s easy to walk to my chicken house. Now I don’t have to high-step my way out there to get these:
Aren’t they so purty? It’s like Easter every day! If anyone is local, I’m now getting 12 to 15 eggs a day so please give a holler if you are interested. $1.25/dozen is the asking price.
It’s winter now. I burn a lot of candles. This one is my favorite:
I like the gold scallops. I’m sad it’s soon all burned up.
My kids have a lazy mama. I hate bundling them up in snow clothes so I bring snow inside for them to play in:
They loved it.
And now the best part. I thoroughly enjoyed this soup. I don’t often follow recipes when it comes to soup (you should see how many photos of soup I took and now I can not, for the life of me, remember what went in them!), but I did with this one. Of course I adapted a few of the ingredients but really, I tried to follow it as best I could. Adapting is what soup is all about, right?
Lentil Barley Soup
Adapted from a recipe given to me by a friend
1 T fat (I used beef fat from this stock but anything will do)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup lentils
3 T parsley flaked
2 cups cooked beans (I used navy beans)
2 1/2 cups prepared salsa
2 t salt (less if your stock is salty)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped Swiss chard
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
sour cream, optional garnish
Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onions, garlic, and barley. Toast 5 minutes or until the barley has a little color. Add the remaining ingredients except the chard and chicken. Cook 45 minutes or until the barley and lentils are soft. Add the chard and chicken and heat through.
Yield: 4 quarts?
