A Couple Months Of Photos From The Red Double Wide – Dec 2015 & Jan 2016

30 January, 2016 ~ Grace ~ 3 Comments

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and are surviving the winter weather. Here are a few pics from the last couple of months.

DSCN7861 (480x640)

Jess turned this oak stump into…..

this bowl and gave it to my mom for Christmas. He claims he broke every tool he has on it. (I think it was worth it) 😉

My ladies did not think much of all the snow and ice.

But……

they finally started earning their keep!! I’m getting 8 or 9 eggs a day now.

We’ve had snow and ice and slush and rain and now mud….more moisture than we know what to do with!

We got to go sledding….

Guess who had the most fun!?

Rebel LOVES the snow and the excitement of sledding turned him into a little terror!!

With all the snow and ice the chickens weren’t able to get out and munch on any greens so I started sprouting wheat for them. They LOVED it and it’s much easier for them to digest than whole wheat kernels.

We also fed them dried sun flower heads that we had saved from the garden.

Just a few random pics from January.

Can’t believe February is already here!! Have a good one everybody!

February 2015 – A Month of Photos From the Red Double Wide

4 March, 20155 March, 2015 ~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

I know the weather was crazy in some places during February but here we mostly enjoyed breezy sunshine and temps in the 50’s during the day. It got me dreaming about gardens and baby animals. Hope you are getting to enjoy some sunshine too wherever you are, even if there is snow on the ground!

Here are some photos of our February.

The ladies started laying a few eggs again.

This is his “I really want to chase that chicken” look.

This is the view I enjoy when I go for a walk.

The dogs obviously found something way more interesting to do than walk with me.

Oh look, the red double wide…..fancy that!

This is my favorite chicken, so sweet!

The official pooper scoopers! As you can see one is scooping poop and the other is pretending that she was not just singing into the end of a long stick. HAHA gottcha!

Jo and Digger repurposed this old cabinet into a “cat house”. Now the dogs can’t eat the cat food. It’s kinda funny to watch them try though!!

In the classroom, we celebrated Valentines Day and studied Polar Bears.

I wish I had his worries!!

Have a wonderful March everyone!!

This post was shared at: The HomeAcre Hop –

Sweet Relish Deviled Eggs

5 March, 201424 September, 2018 ~ Grace ~ 7 Comments

With all the egg recipes I’ve posted you would think I’d have shared a deviled egg recipe a long time ago. The truth is, I never had a recipe before; I just kind of added whatever, and then a little more of whatever until it tasted good. So I decided I needed to take the time and measure everything so I could share the recipe. Little Chef wanted to help as usual, so I let her peel the eggs. While she was doing this I left the kitchen for another chore. When I returned she already had them peeled, washed, cut in half, the yolks were mashed up, and most of the ingredients were in the bowl. When I told her I had wanted to measure the ingredients, she looked at me like I was from Mars. So I explained that I wanted to share the recipe as a blog post. She rolled her eyes…..that happens A LOT since she turned eleven last month. It seems the older she gets, the more ridiculous I get. Anyway, I decided to just look in the bowl and “guess” at how much of what she had put in and go from there. Her eggs turned out VERY yummy, so I was hoping I had “guessed” correctly. The next weekend I made the eggs again using the “new recipe” and took pictures along the way. They tasted just like Little Chefs yummy eggs! Maybe I should have called these “Little Chefs Sweet Relish Deviled Eggs”? Maybe not,… I don’t need the eye roller getting a big head or anything.

Start off by hard boiling a dozen eggs. Here is my tip on how to boil and EASILY peel farm fresh eggs. It’s a life saver if you have very fresh eggs and you don’t want them mutilated when you peel them. After you have peeled the eggs, wash them, cut them in half and place the yolks into a bowl.

Mash the yolks with a fork, add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Then taste it….salt?…pepper?…more relish? It’s all up to you!

This came out a little lumpy, so I used the immersion blender on it for a few seconds. (Love that thing!)

After it’s all mixed up, spoon the filling into a plastic bag, seal the bag, cut a small hole in the bottom corner, and squeeze the yolk filling through the hole into the empty egg whites. For years I would carefully spoon the filling into each egg, the plastic bag method is WAY faster, and much more fun!

Sprinkle a little paprika on top and you’re done!

Here’s Little Chefs recipe for delicious “Sweet Relish Deviled Eggs”:

5.0 from 2 reviews

Sweet Relish Deviled Eggs

Makes 24 deviled eggs.

Author: Queen Of The Red Double Wide / Little Chef

Ingredients

1 dozen hard boiled eggs peeled
½ cup mayo
¼ cup sweet relish
1 tablespoon mustard
2 teaspoons horseradish sauce
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for sprinkling

Instructions

Cut your peeled hard boiled eggs in half length wise.
Place the egg whites on a tray and the yolks in a mixing bowl.
Smash the eggs yolks with a fork.
Add the first 5 ingredients to the yolks and stir.
If it's to lumpy for your liking you can use an immersion blender to make it a little smoother.
Do a taste test and add salt and pepper if needed.
Spoon the filling into the egg whites or use a plastic bag as described above.
Sprinkle each egg with a little paprika.

February 2014 – A Month Of Photos From The Red Double Wide

2 March, 201424 September, 2018 ~ Grace ~ 7 Comments

Goodbye February….Hello March! If you saw January’s photos you know we have had some crazy weather, and February was no exception. It did finally snow, then melted extremely fast. It was nice to have that long awaited white stuff around for a couple days, but now I feel that winter is complete and it can go….away….any minute!

We got about a foot of snow, so school was cancelled that day and it was nice to stay home.

The chickens were not happy about it and only one brave lady ventured out of the coop that day.

The human girls enjoyed the snow much more than the chicken girls. 🙂

Temperatures dipped down into the single digits several times.

Jo came back from the coop and said, “look mom, every chicken laid an egg today!….But, 5 of them froze and cracked”. I was disappointed, the dogs and cats were not. 🙂

I got a shiny new washer and dryer a couple weeks ago.

It was one of those things we have been putting off for a LONG time. Who wants to spend money on a washer and dryer when there are sooo many other “fun” things to spend money on. Like a new, bigger chicken coop. 🙂 It got to the point that we couldn’t ignore the horrible sounds coming from our old washer and dryer. I was really bummed about it at first, then I realized how fortunate we are that God had provided for us financially and we were able to purchase these very necessary items! Now that I have them home and have used them, I have to confess,… I REALLY like them.

Just a couple days ago God provided AGAIN. This time it wasn’t a necessity, but it was something I’ve been wanting and dreaming about for some time now. Please don’t laugh…..

IT’S MY NEW CHICKEN COOP!!!!! Yes, it’s a big empty box off the back of a truck… Digger needed this thing off the truck it came on so he can turn it into a mini log truck. All it needs is a chicken door, a people door, a window, and a paint job! I’m so excited! I’ll keep posting updates on my redneck chicken coop. 😉

Thanks for stopping by the red double wide!

January 2014 – A Month Of Photos From The Red Double Wide

2 February, 201423 September, 2018 ~ Grace ~ 18 Comments

The beginning of 2014 got off to a rough start. The flu made it’s way through our house and my class room, then once we got rid of that, a nasty cold made it’s rounds too. I THINK we are all on the mend now and maybe I can get a little caught up on EVERYTHING.

Along with our health, the weather was a bit off too. We started January with very mild temperatures. Mild enough that we were even able to hire Uncle Tom to come and finish building our fence around the barnyard. Building fence in January is a very rare thing around here. Well, for everyone but Uncle Tom…

The fence is now complete and it looks GREAT!

The weather was so unusually mild I was even finding myself wishing for snow and wondering what happened to winter. (I never wish for snow)

The chickens loved the mild weather; here they are enjoying a nice dust bath.

With the addition of a few hours of artificial light in their coop we are still getting PLENTY of eggs this winter.

Winter did finally come, but not in the way we were hoping for. Instead of some nice fluffy snow, we got a layer of ice in the form of freezing rain then the freezing fog settled in and stayed awhile. Freezing fog is not a stranger around here, but this stuff was NASTY and it seemed it would never go away.

Here is a couple of willow trees laying on our brand new fence. Sure glad Tom finished clipping the wire before all this showed up!

After a few days the trees started snapping, and our drive way turned into an ice skating rink.

After about 2 weeks of this frozen wonderland the fog lifted a bit and we thought the sun was coming……but, not before it dumped another 1/2 inch of freezing rain on us over night. This caused near by power poles to snap and of course many more trees. We lost power and all the local schools were cancelled for the day. I was still recovering from a cold so I took the opportunity to grab a book and curl up under a blanket. After 12 hours of no power, I was reminded of how thankful I am for the little things in life…..like flushing toilets and warm water. The sun did FINALLY come out, and the frost disappeared VERY quickly.

Our poor trees…. 🙁 The image below is of one of the seven tops from our big white fir tree that broke out. Seven tops gives a clue that such heavy hoar frosts have happened before, but we’ve seen nothing like this in the near fifteen years living here. This top drove itself into the somewhat frozen ground well over a foot, and sticks nearly ten feet in the air.

I see a huge bonfire in our near future…..hotdogs anyone?

On a happier note, Digger did some bartering with a good friend of ours and we ended up with a freezer full of grass fed beef! Oh, how we have been enjoying beef, lots of beef! We ended the month by celebrating Little Chefs 11th birthday. What a blessing she is. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by the Red Double Wide!

My Contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner and a Couple Confessions

18 November, 20134 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 13 Comments

I have a confession to make……I don’t like turkey. There,… I said it. Let me be clear though, I don’t HATE turkey, I just don’t favor it. I can eat it, especially in a casserole or on a sandwich. But when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I want a big fat plate full of stuffing, a couple servings of salad, and then some more stuffing. Of course this is all after I have grazed on the veggie trays, fruit trays, deviled eggs, olives, and array of other “appetizers” that will be laying out on the counter before the turkey gets done. Needless to say by the time dinner is over I will be miserable and useless…..but I don’t think I’m alone here.

So, here are my non turkey contributions to Thanksgiving dinner this year. 🙂

Last week I shared a recipe for homemade thousand island dressing and promised to share my grandma’s special green salad to serve with it.

Just add some baby shrimp, a little crab meat, and some sliced olives to your greens.

Serve it with the homemade thousand island and…who needs turkey!?

At most family functions I bring the deviled eggs. Not because mine are exceptional or better than others, it’s simply because I HAVE TOO MANY EGGS! (Well,… and mine are fresh!) So that’s my second addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Note: If you also have nice fresh eggs and have a difficult time peeling them, click here to read my little “trick” on how to cook and easily peel farm fresh eggs. 🙂

My next contribution is an easy appetizer…maybe my favorite appetizer. I call them asparagus wraps.

They are simply softened cream cheese spread on a thin slice of ham wrapped around pickled asparagus….and they are DELICIOUS!

Last Thanksgiving I ran out of time and instead of making these ahead of time I took the supplies and made them after I got to my parents. They disappeared just as fast as I could make them.

Now for my next confession…..I’ve never made pumpkin pie. Actually I’ve only ever made one pie in my entire life and that was an apple pie. It was about ten years ago and it turned out kinda weird?? So this Thanksgiving I have decided to try my first ever pumpkin pie! I’ll be sure to take pictures and let you know how it turns out.

I am sooooo thankful that my parents now have a large, conveniently located house that is perfect for large family gatherings. This has not always been the case, and Thanksgiving dinners took place at our house. I think squished and crazy would be the best words to describe those gatherings. As I shared, turkey is not my favorite meal and therefore cooking one is not my idea of fun. The last Thanksgiving we hosted, I spent my morning rushing around cleaning, opening doors and windows to fan the smoke out from the ran over turkey drippings. Oh, and meanwhile Digger was in the bathroom with a small blow torch trying to melt the spilled wax out of the sink (but that’s a story for another post). I am much happier to make my additions to dinner at home, pack them in a cooler, and leave my messy house. Then I can enjoy a wonderful meal with our awesome (and large) family at my parents house….and I’m sure my moms home grown turkey will be wonderful…under tons of stuffing and gravy!

What are your contributions to Thanksgiving dinner? Do you have the privilege of hosting and cooking the turkey? If so, my prayers are with you. 😉

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalms 107:1

September 2013 – A Month Of Photos From The Red Double Wide

30 September, 20133 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 2 Comments

Happy Fall Everyone!

The last days of summer went out with unusually hot temperatures, and the first days of fall came in very wet (for around here anyway). September brought lots of changes with me going back to teaching at our local Christian School, and the girls going back to school there. My poor garden has been severely neglected, (it’s more like a jungle than a garden) but as you can see we are still harvesting the benefits of our early summer work.

Bread — Whole wheat bread and hamburger buns.

Saturday has become my, baking/laundry/blogging/gardening/chicken coop cleaning day! I am trying to learn how to plan meals ahead of time and get as much done on the weekends as i can. I want to keep cooking real food from scratch as much as possible with this new schedule. This is a big challenge for me, as my organization skills are MINIMAL! (just ask my husband) Good thing my girls are big enough to help and the men in the house are patient. 😀

I have learned that gardening is all about NEXT year. So many things I want to change and do better next spring. I guess that’s part of the excitement of a garden. 🙂

This past month I posted about butchering our Cornish Cross chickens and then I wrote a story about Stinky going to the fair. After that post I had several people express concern about Stinky someday ending up in the cook pot. I want to assure everyone that Stinky will live out her free range life here at the Red Double Wide with no fear of ending up in the cook pot! 😀

Thanks for visiting and have a good week!

Chicken Troubles

16 May, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 15 Comments

We get 12 to 16 eggs from our 16 chickens every day. They have been very good and consistent egg layers, so I was very suspicious when we collected only 9 eggs the last 2 days.

A good friend of ours brought us a HUGE pile of straw bales (for free!!!) which Digger shoved off the trailer with his excavator. The result of this expedited removal left quite a mess…

I suspected that the chickens found some great hiding places in the straw to deposit their eggs instead of using the nesting boxes. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to go egg hunting. This is a down fall of letting the chickens free range; sometimes they decide not to go back to the coop, and around here there are PLENTY of hiding places. I figured a quick search through the pile would produce several missing eggs, on my way to search in the straw I heard a weird chicken disturbance in the barn. I took a little detour to check it out and this is what I found:

How she ended up upside down in the wall of the barn I will never know!

I pried her out of her ridiculous predicament and realized it was Ginger (of course).

Here she is looking dazed but not hurt. Ginger is by far the most curious, and I always thought the smartest (but maybe not) of all my chickens. When I set her down, she ruffled her feathers, glared at me like it was my fault (or maybe she was just mad cause I stopped to take a picture before rescuing her), then went about her business. I was so glad I went in the barn….I don’t know how long she would have survived squished in there upside down…

I then proceeded to the straw pile to start my egg hunt.

Soon I had help…..lots of help!

As you can see we performed a thorough search, but came up with nothing. There were several holes we couldn’t see into though, and I wasn’t terribly anxious to move the whole dang pile for some missing eggs!

It was time to head back to the house and start school, but I decided to stop by the chicken coop to collect any recent eggs. When I opened the door our dog “Oddie” was in the coop! I yelled and she quickly dove for the chicken door. I had no idea that darn mutt could fit through the chicken door. I now know where all those eggs went!

Here’s the little egg sucker, still licking her chops and looking shameful.

The only way to solve the problem was to make the door smaller so she couldn’t fit through. We have called her “Houdini Dog” since she was a pup, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that she found her way into the coop. She has been known to climb 8′ no climb fence to get out of a pen, and she has managed to get out of every collar we’ve ever put on her (that’s what happens when your neck is bigger than your head).

So the lessons for the day are: Never underestimate the clumsiness of a curious chicken, and always measure your dog before you build a chicken door!

The Perfect Eggs for Breakfast Sandwiches

6 May, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 18 Comments

I know, I know, you’ve all seen this trick of cooking eggs in muffins tins. It’s a great idea, don’t you think? Our family has been enjoying these allot! The only thing I do differently is cook them in a JUMBO muffin tin. They are bigger around and fit PERFECTLY on English muffins and biscuits.

Crack eggs into jumbo muffin cups (grease them first) add salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes and you have the perfect eggs for those yummy breakfast sandwiches.

Here are some that we’ve been enjoying….the possibilities are endless!!

This is a toasted, sour dough English muffin with cheddar cheese, bacon and a perfect egg!

Click here for an easy, mess free way to cook bacon!

This is a toasted, whole wheat English muffin with egg and cheese. I had to make my 8 year old stop eating so I could get this picture. She wasn’t very patient for some reason??

This is a homemade whole wheat biscuit with a sausage patty made with my homemade breakfast sausage seasoning and a perfect egg!

Egg Salad – 3 Ways

2 April, 20131 January, 2017 ~ Grace ~ 9 Comments

If you’re like us, you have a bunch of these in your fridge right now. 😀

They are absolutely beautiful, but they can’t stay in the fridge forever! Here are three delicious ways to use up those Easter eggs that are taking up space in your fridge.

If you don’t already have hard boiled eggs check out this post “How to Cook and EASILY Peel Farm Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs”. Even if you don’t have farm fresh eggs this is a great method for perfect hard boiled eggs.

#1 – “Creamy Egg Salad”

Start with 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and rinsed. Chop the eggs into little pieces. I use an egg slicer and slice the egg one way and then turn the egg and slice it the other way.

After you have all your eggs chopped up in a bowl add: mayo, mustard, horseradish, and sweet relish. Mix all together real good and give it a taste. Now you will know how much seasoning salt and pepper you want to add. Don’t over do the salt….you can always add more but you can’t take it out!

This is Creamy Egg Salad on Sour Dough Bread…..Yummm!

#2 – “Dill Egg Salad”

This one is my favorite! If you don’t like pickles then skip down to the last recipe ‘cuz this is happy pregnant lady with a pickle craving good!!

Chop your 12 hard boiled, peeled, and rinsed eggs into a bowl. Add: mayo, dijon mustard, dill, pickle juice, and chopped dill pickles (our favorite dill pickle is – Nalley’s Elites Garlic, Dill & Onion Petites – they are little, crunchy, and absolutely DELICIOUS!).

My mouth is watering just thinking about those pickles….anyway, mix everything up thoroughly and then take a bite….add salt and pepper if or as needed.

#3 – “Bacon and Egg Salad”

Begin by slicing your 12 hard boiled, peeled, and rinsed eggs into small pieces. Add mayo, sour cream, green onions, bacon bits, (here is how I easily cook bacon in the oven) salt, and onion powder to the egg pieces. Stir together well and give it a taste. Add more salt if needed and pepper to taste.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Egg Salad - 3 Ways

These recipes can easily be cut in half if you don't want this much.

Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide

Ingredients

# 1 - Creamy Egg Salad:
12 hard boiled eggs - peeled and rinsed
½ cup mayo
1 tbls mustard
1 tbls horseradish
2 tbls Sweet Relish
Seasoning Salt and Pepper to taste
_________________________________________________________
#2 - Dill Egg Salad:
12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and rinsed
½ cup Mayo
1 heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard
1 tsp dill
1 tbls pickle juice
½ cup chopped dill pickles (your favorite brand)
salt and pepper to taste
_________________________________________________________
#3 - Bacon and Egg Salad:
12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and rinsed
¼ cup mayo
½ cup sour cream
2 tbls chopped green onions
8 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
More salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Instructions

These instructions work for all 3 recipes.
Take your peeled and rinsed hard boiled eggs and chop them into small pieces.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the salt and pepper to your chopped eggs and mix thoroughly.
Taste it, then add salt and pepper to taste.