Backyard Casserole

 

 I love cooking with the things that we have produced ourselves over the past year. I made this casserole all with food from my back yard, exciting right? I just pulled some garden stuff out of the the freezer and got some eggs out of the coop to make this. You could do this with anything really. It's hardly worth blogging a "recipe" but just in case you need an easy idea- here's what I did:

 

I chose to use sausage, spinach, onions, bacon, green peppers and garlic.

I also put a little cayenne, salt and pepper into the whisked eggs with some milk.

 

Here's the method:

 

-Pre-cook whatever meat you're using and put it in your baking pan.

 

-Then layer whatever veggies you like, one at a time.

 

 

 

-Next, whisk 10 eggs and 2 cups of milk in a large bowl. Add whatever spices you like and some salt and pepper.

 



 

-Pour egg mixture over meat and veggies and sprinkle with any cheese.

 

-Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until eggs look puffy and cooked.

 

 

 

I made this as a supper but then ate the leftovers for breakfast. It was just as good the next day.

 

Here is a picture of it cut. I'm a little addicted to kimchi right now so that's what I ate it with for breakfast when I took this picture. I also melted a little extra cheese over the top..mmm!

 

 

Next time you don't know what to make (for breakfast, lunch OR supper) give this casserole a try and tell me what ingredients you used.



Our Chickens

 

 

So since I'm trying to fill you in on some of the happenings around here over the past year I of course have to tell you a little bit about my darling girls out back.

 

Last year at this time we were eagerly awaiting our order of 10 chicks. I had researched the breeds I was interested in and decided on 2 each of 5 different breeds. (all about the same size, dual purpose birds) We ended up choosing Americanas, Buff Orphingtons, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Reds,  and White Leghorns. They have gotten along flawlessly over the past year and I'm happy that we chose to go with mixing breeds. We picked our order up early spring last year and they spent a few weeks in the house in a storage tote getting to know us all. Oh man did these girls (and as it turned out...1 boy) ever have unique personalities! We had initially planned on raising these birds for eggs and later on in life for their meat but this group of birds will NEVER make it to the table. They are our pets and we love them too much! We will eventually be getting a fair amount of broilers and raising them knowing that they will be for food, until then our birds are for eggs only. Anyway, back to the point. Here is a picture of them when they were one day old and in their tote.... weren't they sweet?

 

 

Here is when they moved to their new coop. They were so happy to be able to run around! See Dandy dipping into her food bowl?

 

 

 

Aww...here is Winnie one of my reds, checking out the new coop. She is my sweet and slightly shy bird.

 

Oh my gosh...And Briquitta...The top of the pecking order around here and my most curious chicken. She is front and center in every picture because she is so intrigued by the shiny camera.

 

Okay sorry for all the pictures but I can't believe how fast they've grown!

Here are some of my ladies now, enjoying some nice hot oatmeal I made them yesterday.....

 

 

 

I could talk about them for hours but I will leave that for another day. I should introduce them to you more formally by telling you their names.

 

Our ladies are:

 

Briquitta

Gertie

Henny (Henrietta)

Dandy

Mama (Mother Clucker)

Winnie

Betty White

Chicken Little

Gypsy

And RIP Nugget, the rooster that we shot because he was a jerk to our kids. But that's a separate post entirely.

 

Thanks for getting to know a little about our birds. You'll be seeing lots of updates about them....And eventually the full story of Nugget the Rooster!