Author: Grace

Spring in January

~ Grace ~ 2 Comments

On New Years Day we managed to slip and slide our way out for a shopping trip.  We had a foot of snow and were trying to stay off the roads, but the necessity for dog, cat and chicken feed forced us to venture out.  We got to the feed store and to my pleasant surprise they were having a sale!  Don’t you just love it when you go to the store for a specific item and it just happens to be on SALE!! (BONUS)  With all those red sale signs I COULDN’T just get what I needed and head for the door, so I started to brows.  😀  I soon spotted one of those lovely signs above several racks of newly stalked garden seeds!  Oh man!  I wanted to start dancing and spinning and giggling and throwing packets of seeds into my cart!!!  Pumpkins and cucumbers and beans OH MY!

I purposefully kept my hands on my cart as I ogled the rows and rows of beautiful seeds.  Constantly repeating to myself “January, winter time, snow, January, winter time, snow……”  That seemed to help, I slowly lost the urge to break into song and dance.  Then I spotted the sprout seeds…YEEHAW!!  It doesn’t mater if there’s snow outside, we can grow sprouts inside. 🙂

Here’s how to grow nutritious, yummy sprouts ANY time of the year!

What you need:

1 quart size mason jar

Cheese cloth and a rubber band or sprouting lids (pictured below)

Sprout seeds and water

My girls had been given these sprout grower lids as a gift from their  Aunt Kate so we used those.DSCN4646 (480x640)Put 2 tablespoons of sprout seeds into a clean quart size jar.  Fill the jar about half way up with water then place the cheese cloth over the top of the jar and secure it with a rubber band or just screw on the sprouting lid with the smallest holes.  I do this in the evening so they can soak over night.  8 hours is about right.

In the morning dump the water out through the cheese cloth or sprouting lid. Then pour some water back into the jar, swirl around and dump water out through the sprouting lid again to rinse the seeds.  Prop the jar up sideways in a bowl with the lid side down.  Like this:DSCN4690 (640x480)-1This is so remaining water can drain yet allowing the air to circulate through the jar.  Keep them on the counter out of direct sunlight.

Rinse seeds 2 to 3 times a day, always propping the jar lid side down in the bowl. It will take 4 to 5 days for them the reach the desired length.  We ate most of ours on day 4 (on sandwiches, wraps, and salads) but if you have any left overs just store them in the fridge.  These sprouts were sooooo yummy!!  We have our next batch started and now I’m looking forward to growing…red clover, broccoli, mung bean, radish…..and so on.  I had no idea there were so many different kinds of sprouts.

Even though we have a while to wait before we see signs of spring outside, it’s wonderful to have a little taste of spring in January!!

Avocado Scramble

~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

This recipe is simple, VERY attractive and tastes every bit as good as it looks!!

Start by whisking together eggs and water.

Pour into a pan drizzled with olive oil on medium-low heat.

                           Stir with spatula until eggs are set up. Add salt and pepper.

Top with salsa, avocado and sour cream!!DSCN4676 (640x385)-1I told you it was attractive!!  Don’t you just love those colors??

Here’s a close up…..DSCN4682 (640x480)Oh yeah!!  That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!! Yummmmmmmmm!

Here’s the printable version of the recipe:

Avocado Scramble
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa or Pico de Gallo would be yummy too
  • ¼ of a large avocado
  • A dollop of sour cream
Instructions
  1. Whisk together the eggs and water
  2. Pour egg mixture into a pan drizzled with olive oil on medium-low heat
  3. Use a spatula to stir eggs until done
  4. Place eggs on a plate and add salt and pepper
  5. Top with salsa, avocado, and sour cream

 

Snowflakes – Winter Art Project, Science, History and Bible Lesson

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Winter has arrived!!  So we decided to start working on our “winter wall”.  To see pictures of our “fall wall” click here.  Of course the first thing to go on a “winter wall” should be snowflakes…right?  We got out the coffee filters and started cutting.

DSCN4577 (1280x761)-1Coffee filters make great snowflakes they are round and easy to cut through, not to mention cheap.  The girls came up with some great designs.  But then we ran into a problem….we had beautiful white snowflakes and a very white wall to hang them on.  Instead of launching a full on, home improvement project of repainting our classroom/playroom we decided to bust out the water colors and  make some colorful snowflakes to hang on our white wall.  I think they turned out beautiful!!

DSCN4581 (957x1280)-1I then decided we should look at some “REAL” snowflakes.  We found several websites that have up close pictures of snowflakes….WOW!  They are absolutely gorgeous, every unique one of them.  I then found this amazing article “Snowflake Bentley: Man of Science, Man of God” by Jerry Bergman Ph.D. on the “Institute for Christian Research” website.  I shared this article with my girls and we attempted to make six sided snowflakes (like the real ones.)  This was harder than it sounds…..eventually we managed to get a few decent looking six sided snowflakes. 🙂

I love that this simple art project turned into a science, history and bible lesson. It taught all three of us new things, and made us even more grateful and aware of another one of God’s magnificent creations.

Here are a few pictures of what we like to do with an over abundance of beautiful ice crystals.

Sledding!!Sledding!!

DSCN4474-1Making Snow Angels!!

IMGP4342-1My personal favorite, building a snow fort!!

Happy Winter Everyone

“Chicken People”

~ Grace ~ 3 Comments

I have a confession to make, I used to think “chicken people” were weird.  What’s all the fuss about?  Aren’t chickens dirty, stinky, noisy and dumb?  Who has the time or money to mess with chickens when you can easily buy all the chicken and poop free eggs in a quick trip to the store?  And all chicken people seem to do is talk and brag about their chickens…

Oooooops!!

I now find myself driving my husband nuts running in and out of his shop showing him eggs and telling him stories about my wonderful, funny hens.  Then I text my family and friends pictures and brag about all the nice big brown eggs they are laying.  Oh, and by the way,  MY hens aren’t dirty, stinky, noisy or dumb; and there is no comparing a farm fresh egg (even with a little poop) to a store bought egg!!

So maybe “chicken people” ARE weird, but what’s wrong with being a little weird if you are having a good time and supplying your family with good wholesome food….Right?

As long as I’m admitting that I’m a “weird chicken person” and my family is sick of hearing about my hens, I guess I have to do all my bragging on my blog.  So here are a few pictures of my girls…and my other girls (wow, I have a lot of girls).  I guess weird chicken people also take TONS of pictures of their chickens (and their kids). 😉

 

9 day old Golden Buff chick.

Look how fast their feathers grow!

 

 

 

 

1 month old chick

 

 

 

 

 

15 weeks old

 

 

 

 

Here they are being very cautious on their first trip into the harvested garden.

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DSCN4499-1 (960x1280)

Thanks for letting me share.

 

Chickens in the Snow

~ Grace ~ 2 Comments

When I go out to the chicken coop first thing in the morning I open up their little door and they all rush out.  Usually walking and jumping on each other, trying to cram through the door two or three at a time.

IMGP4301 (1132x1280)-1But the other day when it snowed a couple inches, it took them a few hours to wander out and most of them headed strait for the barn so they could take dust baths, dig around in the fire wood for bugs and harass the barn cats.  That night we had to carry a few back to the coop, they didn’t want to walk back through the snow!

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On Christmas day we received a foot of snow (we blame this on our 9 year old, she was praying for a white Christmas 😉 ) and it’s not melting off very fast.  The chickens now refuse to come out of the coop.  They will step out, look around, fluff up their feathers and jump right back in the door.  You can’t blame them, that white stuff is cold and deep.

With no free ranging going on they have been going through a LOT of feed and water!!  I highly recommend  that if there is any possibility that your chickens can be let out to forage around….let them!!  I’m guessing it cuts the feed costs by half, if not more. (I am keeping track and will let you know exact numbers later). Not to mention it makes for very healthy, happy chickens and more nutritious eggs.   Anyway, I got worried about the hungry little buggers getting bored all cooped up.  Bored chickens are not a good thing, they will start pecking at each other and if it gets to bad the results could be deadly. 🙁  So I cut open an acorn squash and gave that to them, and they spent hours picking at it; the only part left is a thin layer of peel.  The next day we hung up half of a large cabbage in the coop.  They seemed disinterested at first, but when I went out that night to shut the door most of the cabbage was gone.  We hung up the second half of the cabbage the next day.  This one didn’t last long!!  Hanging them up is purely for the entertainment value, (for the chickens, not us….well maybe for us too).  Watching chickens chase a spinning, bouncing cabbage around the coop WAS very entertaining.

IMGP4316-1These little treats seem to be keeping them happy and occupied during these snow bound days.  To my surprise, being stuck indoors has not affected their egg production at all.

This spring I intend to plant tons of cabbage, pumpkins, and squash just for the chickens to have next winter (and maybe enough for us to have some too).

Egg Laying Machines

~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

I was going to title this post “Waiting for Eggs” but in all honesty, we didn’t have to wait!  Everything I’ve read says most chickens will start laying between 5 and 6 months old.  So I was hoping to have some eggs by Christmas, that would be right at 5 months old (and what a great Christmas present).  It was November, cold out and day light hours were getting shorter and shorter.  Hens need 14 to 16 hours of light a day to lay eggs.  So after Thanksgiving I bought a timer so we could plug in a light to increase their hours of light.  I also bought layer feed for them.  Before I could get the light plugged in or change their feed, they started laying!!

Our first 2 eggs!!  A little splotchy, but we were so proud 😉

We quickly got the light put up in the coop and set it to come on at 3am.  I mixed the layer in with the remaining grower feed and HOLEY COW!!  They turned into egg laying machines.  It is now 5 days before Christmas and we are getting 15 or 16 eggs a day from our 17 hens!!  They don’t seem to mind the freezing weather at all.  They have been laying all these eggs by 7:30am and then they get turned out to free range for the rest of the day.

The only problem we had was when they first started laying.  Some of them would peck their egg, (one little hole or even just a crack)….kind of like they were curious.  Then one hen started eating an egg every day.  I would go out to the coop at about 8:30am and find wet straw and little pieces of shell in a nesting box.  I had NO idea which hen was doing it!  This went on for several days and the only thing I could think to do was just get out to the coop earlier before she had a chance to snatch that egg.  So when it was just barely light enough to see I headed out to the coop.  It worked!  No more broken eggs,…not even any cracks!  On most days we even get a double yolker or two.  Now my only problem is what to do with all these eggs!….I love problems like this. 😀

                          Meet Ginger one of our super egg laying machines!

Beware of Barn Cats

~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

I love barn cats!!  We have an old barn that is home to several skittish, fat barn cats.  We feed them some dry cat food everyday but that’s not why they are fat.  They are SUPER mousers!!  I hate mice….I mean really, really, really hate mice.  I would rather be stuck in a hole with a snake than a mouse…I don’t know why?  They just send me into a cold sweat.  So having barn cats is a necessity (as far as I’m concerned).  That being said, little peeps and barn cats are not a good mix.  We knew this could be a problem so we made every precaution (we thought) to make sure the cats couldn’t get to the peeps.

This is not a barn cat, this is “Pumpkin Pie” one of Jo’s pets.  But you get the picture. If this tame, well fed kitten is this interested in little peeps you can imagine the temptation for a large hungry barn cat.

I know; faces that only a mother could love!!  Well, a mother and a barn cat! 🙁  These awkward, month old peeps have little heads that can fit through chicken wire, and they are very curious critters.  So when someone comes up to the screen door made of chicken wire they run over and stick there heads through the wire to check things out.  I thought it was so cute that they would run to greet me when I walked up to the door.  I had no idea they would do the same when a barn cat walked up!!  I went out one night to put them to bed and found a headless peep! 😮 I could only see three others in the coop and I totally freaked!!  Went running to the house and told Digger about the horror show in the chicken coop. He came out and  found the rest of the frightened  peeps  hiding behind the nesting boxes.  The next morning Digger put extra small wire on the bottom of the screen door.  This solved our problem, no more peeking peeps.  A couple months later (after the peeps had done some serious growing!) I decided it was time to let them free range. I was nervous not only about the barn cats but the dogs as well.   I opened the gate and kept my eyes peeled.  To my surprise and delight the cats and the dogs ignored them.  In fact, the only chasing  going on in our barn yard is an occasional chicken chasing a cat or kid!!  The moral of this story is…barn cats + peeps = deadly results.  Barn cats + grown chickens = frightened barn cats.  So keep those peeps in a well protected coop until they can fend for themselves.

Dipped Pretzels

~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

Dipped pretzels are a holiday FAVORITE at our house.  They are not only yummy but extremely fun to make.  There are no limits on the varieties you can make, and they also make easy, inexpensive gifts!!  Here are some examples of what we have made so far this Christmas.

Jo’s Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
Little Chef’s vanilla pretzel rods

Dipped pretzels are a great idea for Christmas parties, kids can make them all by themselves and as you can see each pretzel is a masterpiece. 🙂

All you need to make these sweet, salty, crunchy goodies is:

Pretzels – Any shape or size and Almond Bark – Chocolate, Vanilla or both.

Melt the Almond bark in a microwave safe bowl following the directions on the package.  Don’t over heat it!!  You will end up with a HARD, over cooked mess and there will be no dipping and very sad faces (yes, I’m speaking from experience).  When you reach a nice, silky, smooth consistency start dipping, dunking and sprinkling!!  They will cool quickly, so sprinkle fast.  For easy clean up, place them on waxed paper to cool.

I hope your family enjoys these as much as ours does.  Be creative and have fun. 😛

Golden Buff Chicks

~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

When we ordered the chicks we chose Golden Buffs, also known as Golden Comet, Golden Sex Link, Cinnamon Queen, and Red Star.  They lay 5 plus big, brown, eggs a week and are small (around 4 lbs.) and docile hens.  The other great thing about Golden Buffs is  the hatchery is able to tell the sex of the chicks when they hatch by their color.  I don’t want a rooster “YET” so this breed seemed to be the best choice for us.  On July 18th, 18 peeping, puff balls arrived!! The play pen with a heat lamp worked great for keeping them nice and warm.

My girls and I were instantly in love!!  We had a hard time leaving the chicken coop, they were just to much fun to sit and watch.  To my pleasant surprise they were very hardy little buggers.  I thought we might lose a few in the mail or shortly after they arrived but they were all healthy, active and surprisingly loud!

In conclusion we were VERY happy with our little peeps!!  The only bad thing was they all looked identical and trying to name 18 chicks that you can’t tell apart was an impossible task. 😉

 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

~ Grace ~ 2 Comments

I got this recipe from my mom many years ago, it’s the recipe I grew up on.  So anytime I try to make a different chocolate chip cookie it just doesn’t taste right.  In my opinion THIS is what a chocolate chip cookie should look and taste like!!  I think they’re the best when under cooked just a little….soft and SUPER yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups oatmeal
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda then add to sugar mixture and blend well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips mix well.
  2. Drop spoon fulls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
  3. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 

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