Traced Elements

Tag: chicken

Appreciating the Neighbourhood Chicken Lady

Hey folks!

Let’s talk about the cost of a dozen eggs. What I see in our area is that most farmers sell a dozen eggs for $5. A few farmers sell for $6 or $7, not many. In the grocery store prices range from $3 to $8.

I have been selling eggs for $6 and most people feel comfortable paying that price. Here’s the thing, I do not make any money off selling eggs. I basically sell eggs for the People. The People love farm, fresh eggs! That’s why I do it. I even try not to use eggs in my home so that I have more to sell. It is not because I’m being greedy and want to make more money but because I need to sell them all to break even. Yes. you heard that right! If I sell the majority of the eggs I collect, I break even but only with the cost of feed.

I have been using an app called “Count My Eggs” for the last 40 days. I can input how many chickens I have, how many eggs I collect each day, my expenses, and my sales. The app tells me that I have collected over 500 eggs (chicken and duck) and sold over 450 eggs. It shows me that I have spent $2 more on feed in last 40 days than I’ve made in sales. I lose money. Having said this, I do have eggs in the incubator and if I had sold them I would have made a tiny bit more on egg sales. Had I sold those 3 dozen eggs I would have made about $0.45/day of income. Yep, raking in the big bucks!!

I have the same feed expenses all year but chickens don’t lay all year. The math is about $6.64/day for about 40 laying hens and a few roosters all year round regardless of how many eggs they lay/day. In the winter they hardly lay and I use a light the coop during the winter to try and encourage laying (so a bit of hydro). The chickens take a lot of laying breaks throughout the year (if it’s too hot, or too cold, if they’re molting, if they’re stressed out, if there isn’t enough daylight, a hundred reasons!). No eggs, no income…but they keep on eating. There will be a bit of a flux in income for the next month or so selling day-old chicks but it won’t even begin to cover what I’ve spent feeding hens that aren’t laying.

Keeping chickens takes a lot of time, every day. I am not compensated for the hours spent feeding and watering, cleaning coops and water jugs, collecting and washing eggs, or building fences. Also anything extra, like sawdust or wood pellets for the floor and nesting boxes, replacment feeders, or the cost of fencing materials when needed is money out of my pocket.

Raising chickens is not a money maker, it is a passion project (like most farming is). I love being able to provide folks with eggs from happy, healthy, free-range chickens but I do so at a great cost to my bank account.

Please remember how hard I work every day, all year to provide people with eggs and please keep this article in mind when you are asked to pay a bit more for a dozen eggs. I do it all for you!

Dare I ask for $7.00/dozen?

Air hugs!

-Meg

Once a farm girl, always a farm girl.

April 2, 2020
Perfect for a cold day – Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken With Biscuits
You know those days.

The ones that are cold, wet and miserable and you walk the dog only to feel chilled to the bones. Or it’s snowing so hard you just want to curl up in front of the fire with a good book and a huge mug of coffee. The ones when all you want to do is eat comfort food, but with the least amount of effort to make it.

Well I found it in this recipe for Creamy Chicken with Biscuits. 🙂 Place all the ingredients (except the biscuits) in the slow cooker and leave it to do it’s thing for 3 to 6 hours, depending on the temperature setting you choose! Isn’t the slow cooker magic?

And what makes this recipe even better are those biscuits. You could go the extra easy [ie lazy] route and buy some store-bought ready-made biscuits OR you could make up the simple recipe that’s included for Easy Drop Biscuits. Just put all the ingredients in a food processor and mix together. I ended up bringing mine together on the counter so I really felt that I had put the effort in, and because all I really have is a hand blender chopper thing so it doesn’t work quite as well! 😉

Anyway, boy were they worth it! They made the dish even better and merited the 10 minutes it took to make them. Flaky, buttery and oh so yummy.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup whole milk
Directions
Heat oven to 400° F.

In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, baking powder, and salt; pulse until pea-size clumps form.

Add the milk and pulse just until moistened.

Drop 6 large mounds of the dough (about ½ cup each) onto a baking sheet.

Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.
Now you know what to throw in the slow cooker on the next cold, wet, miserable day. You’re welcome!
March 1, 2020
“Rally the Troops” Cauliflower-Lentil-Fennel-Coconut Curried Soup

I’ve been making this soup often. I feel like I am rallying the troops as I take all the veggies out of the fridge to start cooking. Napa cabbage is a new addition I have made and turns out this veggie is high in vitamin C – a good winter soup veggie. I can eat this soup most days in winter and make a batch about once a week. It is good for lunch or dinner and I feel good knowing I am getting my veggie requirements.

I am going to make this soup for a friend this weekend. It ticks so many boxes: veggies (including 2 cruciferous veggies), minerals from homemade chicken stock/bone broth, and protein from the lentils. Enjoy the last stage of winter – prime soup-eating season. I am proud to say I created this soup. I am really happy with it and I hope others give it a go. There is no nicer way to eat healthfully in winter than with a delicious veggie-filled soup.

Ingredients:

3 tbs pure olive oil

2-3 cups chopped napa cabbage/Chinese cabbage

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cups chopped parsley

½ fennel bulb, fine chop

6 large white mushrooms, chopped

1 medium cauliflower, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

2-4 tsp pepper (2 tsp to start, then adjust to taste)

2-3 tsp salt (start with 2 tsp, then adjust to taste)

2 tbs cumin

1 tbs coriander

1 tsp curry powder

½ can full fat coconut milk

1.5 cups well-rinsed red lentils (lentils can have a chalky flavour if they are not rinsed. Do not skip this step.)

8-10 cups homemade* chicken broth, made with the carcass of a Pemberton-raised roast chicken (use 10 cups for a thinner soup)

Method:

Sauté all veggies including parsley. The process takes a while. You want a nicely caramelised batch of veggies. Do not continue until the veggies are at a point where you would enjoy eating them as a cooked side dish.

Add spices and 2 tsp each of salt and pepper.

Add chicken stock, lentils and coconut milk.

Bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

Taste the soup. Adjust salt and pepper.

When you are satisfied with spicing, blend the soup in batches in a high-powered blender.

Enjoy!

*Homemade stock makes all the difference. See my previous soup posts on tracedelements.com for recipe for homemade chicken stock. I store the stock in clear 3-cup Ziploc twist-lid containers. I like these as you can see what is inside and, unlike most other storage containers for the freezer, the lids on these ones don’t fall off! (this is not a paid endorsement but I would be interested in this kind of thing!!)

Here is a photo of what my pot looks like with soup stock simmering. My chicken carcass is in there along with all my veggie ends and a quarter cup of peppercorns. This is a good one to two week supply of stock. I often use stock to reheat leftovers on the stove. It heats everything more evenly and adds flavour!

February 14, 2020
Soup for (F)all seasons!
I just took the dog for a walk. It was chilly and windy. It was Fall in Pemberton.

There’s only one thing for those kind of days and that’s a delicious, hearty bowl of soup with some fresh crusty bread, still warm if you can find it.

I have two go to recipes. Roasted Butternut Squash, one of my all-time favourites, and Cock-a-Leekie which I love because it harks back to the Scottish side of my family and is quick and simple to make, well my version anyway!

To make my uncomplicated variation all you will need is celery, leeks, carrots, potatoes and chicken breasts cooked together to miraculously become a wonderful warming soup.

The traditional version includes other ingredients including prunes and oatmeal, and I have never made it this way, but the simplified version allows all the vegetables to shine – especially the leeks who are the stars of the bowl!

Whichever version you attempt this will certainly warm you up on a cold Fall, or even Winter’s, day. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 sticks of celery, sliced

2 leeks, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

4 to 5 potatoes, diced

2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 to 1.5 litres chicken stock

Salt and pepper
Directions
In a large stock pot heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and add in the celery and leeks and cook over a medium-high heat to soften.

Add in the carrots and potatoes.

Pour over the stock.

Add in the chicken.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring everything up to boil and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes have softened and the chicken is cooked.

Serve with fresh bread.
October 28, 2019
Dinner made easy – Chicken Divan
So my OH has been away, galavanting off to the UK and Spain, leaving me with the dog, and the chores, for just over a week on my own. (Don’t get me wrong – it’s been great catching up with episodes of Desperate Housewives and enjoying some peace and quiet!)

It has also left me with the chance to take a day off work just so I can go and collect him from the airport. At least it gets me out of the “bubble”, right?

The flight is due to land in the early afternoon so, with the drive and subsequent stops, on the way back, I thought it would be ideal if I could make something in advance for dinner that I can just reheat and serve when we get home. Luckily, Martha came to my rescue when this recipe popped in to my Facebook feed!

Now, I’d never heard of Chicken Divan before but apparently it’s a chicken casserole usually served with broccoli, almonds, and Mornay sauce that was named after the place of its invention, the Divan Parisienne Restaurant in the New York City Chatham Hotel where it was served as the signature dish in the early twentieth century. So there you go!

I have since seen a few recipes on Pinterest that use Cream of Mushroom Soup but there’s nothing more satisfying than making it all from scratch (time permitting). So, hopefully it tastes great and my efforts will be appreciated!

Note this recipe serves 6 to 8 people – I guess we’ll have plenty of leftovers! 😉

Ingredients
- 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 5 cups)
- 680g (1 1/2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick strips
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
- 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 4 tbsps unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons melted
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 tbsps unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk, room temperature
- 255g shredded medium-sharp cheddar (3 cups)
- 2 tsps Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Cooked egg noodles or steamed white rice, for serving (or whatever you prefer)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large straight-sided skillet, simmer 1/2 cup water over medium-high heat, then add broccoli and a pinch of salt. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain well, then transfer to a large bowl; set aside. Wipe out skillet.
2. Pat chicken dry; season with salt and pepper. Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken; set aside.
3. In same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter, then add onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and starting to brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Slowly add milk, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 9 minutes. Add 2 cups cheese, Dijon, Worcestershire, cayenne, and sour cream; stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add cheese sauce to bowl with broccoli, followed by chicken and accumulated juices; toss to combine. Transfer to a 2 1/2-quart baking dish.
4. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons melted butter, panko, and remaining 1 cup cheese. Sprinkle over broccoli-and-chicken mixture. Bake until bubbly and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes, then serve over noodles or rice.
April 28, 2019