The Incredible Edible Egg - Jul. 2, 2009
Posted in Managing My Home
Have you seen those cage-free eggs that are popping up in grocery stores these days? You know the ones that used to be reserved for heath food nuts and animal activists. Are you wondering who would pay $4.00 for a dozen eggs when the good old factory-farm eggs are only $1.00 a dozen? Well, to tell you truth, you should.
Before you start telling about how tight your budget is, and how awful the economy is, you need to know that I don’t make this recommendation lightly. I know exactly how tight things are. I’ve been providing food, clothing, education, and entertainment for a family of four on about $50-$100 a week for some time now. So, I know about tight budgets. I also know that you will do your family a lot more good if you shop according to nutrition instead of just according to price.
Why should you buy eggs from cage-free or pastured chickens? Nutrition! Compared to the official USDA data for factory-farm eggs, eggs from pastured hens contain:
§ 1/3 less cholesterol
§ ¼ less saturated fat
§ 2/3 more vitamin A
§ Two times more omega-3 fatty acids
§ Three time more vitamin E
§ Seven times more beta carotene
§ Three to six times more vitamin D
In a single serving, you get so much more of the good and so much less of the bad!
Although this great nutritional information justifies the hefty price tag of a dozen cage-free eggs, it still might not help you fit them into your own budget. However, you do have other options besides the grocery stores. Check out your local farmer’s markets and food co-ops, and don’t be afraid to ask questions! Some vendors might not have what you want, but they know who does. And don’t be afraid to ask your friends! You might be surprised at who has a small flock in their backyard…even in the city. When we first got our chickens, I was surprised at how many of my friends had grown up with chickens in their backyards. Which, by the way, is another option for fresh, cage-free eggs: raise a small flock of chickens yourself.
Raising chickens in your backyard is much easier than you think. We’ve had our girls for a little over a year now, and I love them! They’re inexpensive and simple to raise; plus, we enjoy about two dozen eggs a week from our four hens which is plenty even for this hungry household.
If you have any questions about raising chickens in the city, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to post more information next week. In the meantime, enjoy the Backyard Chickens website where you’ll find a lot of great information about raising chickens in your backyard.
Thanks for stopping by! For some reason, I’m hungry for an omelet. Wait, better yet, an egg scrambled with some green peppers, topped with a little cheese, a thin slice of ham, and all rolled up in a tortilla. Want one?
Betty
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Peter1:2b
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Menu Plan Monday 6/29 - Jun. 29, 2009
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
It’s Monday! So, grab those sale flyers, check the refrigerator and freezer, and open the pantry doors. It’s time to plan your menu for the week!
Summer schedule making meal times a challenge? Try cooking large batches of key ingredients and freezing them. Brown up some spicy ground beef and freeze in one pound packages to save time on casseroles and taco night. Simmer those inexpensive chicken quarters, strip the meat off the bones, and freeze in one pound packages for casseroles, soups, and enchiladas. Don’t forget to save that broth, too! If you’re not going to use the broth right away, store it in the freezer for up to a month!
Don’t forget to check out other menu plans at Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan for week of June 29, 2009
Breakfast
Choose from homemade granola, oatmeal, cold cereal (Corn Flakes), or toast and fruit.
Lunch
Hubby gets two sandwiches, a piece of fruit, pickles, and some kind of chips. The rest of us will either have leftovers from dinner the night before or a sandwich and some kind of fruit.
Sandwich-of-the-week: Ham Sandwiches
Fruit-of-the-week: Watermelon and nectarines
Snacks – Fruit, carrot sticks, celery sticks, yogurt
Dinner
Monday – Chicken Fingers, French Fries, salad
Tuesday – Enchiladas, beans and rice, veggies (Colleen is expanding her horizons!)
Wednesday – JT Pizza
Thursday – Texas Ranger Soup
Friday – Sandwiches and Salad (We hope to spend the day at
Saturday – Spaghetti
Sunday – Grilled BBQ Chicken, herbed rice, veggies
Thanks for stopping by!
Betty
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Peter1:2b
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Weekly Wrap Up 6/22-6/26 - Jun. 28, 2009
Posted in Weekly Wrap Up
I found this wonderful Weekly Wrap-up on Carol's blog, My Heart's Desire. Be sure to check out her blog and visit other bloggers Weekly Wrap-ups and find out how everyone's summer is going so far.
With the Lord
I finished reading Joshua this week and began Hebrews, and Hebrews 1:7 caught my attention.
“In speaking about angels he says,
‘He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire.’”
What an interesting way to describe angels! Wind and fire? We can see the effects of wind when the leaves of the trees flutter, and we can feel the wind over our skin and through our hair, but we cannot touch it. We can see the flames of fire, and we can feel its warming effects, but we can’t hold the flame in our hands. We benefit from a cool breeze and from a warm fire but only for a moment, and then the moment’s gone. Yet they both can be deadly. Tornados and hurricanes have leveled towns and reorganized the landscape. Fires have destroyed homes, cities, and forests. What does this mean about angels? We can see the effects of their existence, but we cannot hold one? They can be helpful and hurtful depending on the moment? It makes me wonder about the popularity of angels in our society. Why place so much faith and importance on something so fleeting and possibly unpredictable?
I love the contrast the author created in the very next verse:
“But about the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
And righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’”
For ever and ever! Amen! Nothing temporary. Nothing fleeting. Forever and ever!
“But you remain the same,
And your years will never end.” Hebrews 1:12
What a wonderful reminder to place my trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ only!
On the Homefront
Do you have a “drop zone” in your home? You know, that room where everything gets “dropped” while it waits to go where it really belongs. In my house, the “drop zone” is the master bedroom. The door to the attic is in the back of my closet so the room is the staging area for things headed to the attic. The master bedroom is also far away from visitors’ eyes, so living room clutter often gets dropped there in a mad dash before company arrives. And last but not least, the master bedroom is a very large room. You can imagine then just how much stuff gets dropped here that doesn’t belong here. Well, this week, I emptied the room of all its dropped piles of clutter! It took two days to fill four garbage bags with trash, to pack two boxes with yard sale items, and to put everything back in its proper place. Once the clutter was gone, I pulled out each piece of furniture and dusted and mopped every corner of the room! And then I emptied the closet, too! It was a lot of work, but, wow, it felt good when I was done!
In the Schoolroom
We don’t break for the summer; however, Colleen spent the week working at a Girl Scout camp. She spent last week working ahead in her classes. By the way, for the summer, Colleen is working on American Government from A Beka and two classes through
Jared is working on multiple-digit multiplication and division in Math, westward expansion in History, Christian Kids Chemistry, and 39 Clues for
My school? No summer semester for me so my schedule is very light.
At the Workplace
Since I no longer have employment outside my home, I’ve been writing more. The cookbooks are coming along nicely, and the novel’s really starting to take shape. I’ve gotten a few excellent leads for pertinent information for my characters, so I’ll be trying to schedule interviews in the next couple of weeks.
On the Exercise Mat
I’d been doing pretty well getting back on a regular exercise program, but I faltered a bit this week. I only managed a couple of good two-mile walks but no strength training. I will have to address that this next week.
From the Library
I’m just about finished reading Unspoken by Francine Rivers. This Lineage of Grace series has been pretty interesting. In each of the five books in this series, Ms. Rivers tells the story of a different woman in the lineage of Jesus Christ. She takes what we know of these ladies from scripture and adds creative, appropriate details to bring each woman’s story to life. The series include the stories of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary. Unspoken is the story of Bathsheba. So far, my favorite book has been Unshaken, the story of Ruth.
On the Creative Side
I’m still hand-stitching the binding on a baby quilt that I’ve been working on for a while now. The piecing went quickly, but the quilting was time consuming. This has been my most ambitious effort so far!
In the Garden
Not much coming from the garden right now here in
Thank you for stopping by! I love catching up with friends, don’t you? This weekly wrap-up is a nice way of catching up quickly. I think I might indulge in it a little more often.
Betty
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Peter1:2b
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