Monthly Archives: April 2013

Baby Chicks!

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We got our baby chicks this past week.  As usual, I’m late…every year I fully intend to order them right after Christmas so we can get all the fun and funky varieties that I want for our kids to show in 4H at the county fair.  And every year I end up ordering them…now.   Saying a little prayer that they are all laying by August for fair… 🙂

My wonderful father in law takes care of the baby chicks for us when we get them, as he has the space and equipment to do it at his farm.  This isn’t as much of a “how to” as it is an “oh how fun!” post…

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The “chicken whisperer”…

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My littlest urban chicken farmer… She named her chick “Minimus”…Sofia the First anyone???

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Excited about his chick (he named it “Big Teensy”)…

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The kids liked this cochin’s fluffy feet…

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We’ve ordered our chickens from Cackle Hatchery every year for the past three years, and we’ve been happy.  They ship well, we get them quickly, and they always send a few extra birds just in case one dies en route (the last couple years we have lost a bird along the way).  I have ordered ducks from them in the past, and this year we intend to get some big old heritage turkeys for the kids to show for 4H…and eventually to put meat on our table.  They have a great variety… my favorites are the rare breeds (my daughter won Overall Poultry Champion at our fair her first year in 4H with a breeding pen of their buff cochins :-)).  This year we did a mix of “practical” birds for egg laying, and rare breeds.

I ordered golden laced cochins and barred rock cochins, which I had not seen before…I’m looking forward to seeing how beautiful they are as they grow!

This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School; The Prairie Homestead’s Homestead Barn Hop; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays;

Grain Free Salmon Patties (GAPS/GF)

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IMG_0922[1]I made these for supper tonight with buttered broccoli…this recipe made 12 patties.  Enough for supper, and enough for lunch tomorrow too.  Being on the GAPS Diet, I like to cook in bulk…it saves me work in the long run.

Grain Free Salmon Patties (GAPS/GF)

You will need:

5 – 7.5 oz cans of salmon (I used Trader Joe’s sockeye salmon – bones and all and I’ll tell you why in a minute…)

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 red onion, quartered

3 celery stalks, cut in half

2-3 T. coconut aminos

5-6 T. coconut flour

coconut oil for frying

**I get my coconut flour and oil here…we use expeller pressed oil, no coconut flavor. 🙂

Blend all ingredients EXCEPT the coconut flour in a food processor until it is a fine paste and you no longer have big chunks of onions, etc.  The salmon that I used had the bones.  I was initially a little horrified upset and had visions of spending an hour picking them out…when I realized how brittle they were.  The bones are a great source of calcium and magnesium, so I decided to run them through the food processor and see what happens.  They were totally ground up – no crunchy bits in the patties – you’d never know they were there. 🙂  It did take a few minutes to get it all to the consistency I wanted, so don’t lose hope if it is taking awhile…I also wanted to be sure the bones were totally ground or I knew no one would eat supper!  At that point, add the coconut flour, and process further until thickened and the flour is mixed in well.

Form into patties and fry on both sides in 1/4″ coconut oil in a large frying pan until well browned.

Enjoy!

This post has been shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School; The Prairie Homestead’s Homestead Barn Hop; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays; The Tasty Alternative’s Allergy Free Wednesdays; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursdays; Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays; Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays;

GAPS Mexi-Chocolate Custard

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I made this a few weeks ago and am finally getting around to putting it on here…  We thought it was really good…although it was not terribly sweet so consider yourself warned and you can feel free to add more honey if you want. 🙂  Anyhow…it is a good, nourishing, GAPS legal snack that you could also have for breakfast…

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GAPS Mexi-Chocolate Custard  (8-9 small ramekins, if memory serves me right…depending on how full you want to fill them)

3 c. full fat coconut milk

12 egg yolks

1/2 c. raw honey

1-2 T. vanilla (click here for a post on how to make your own)

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1-1.5 tsp cinnamon (depending on your own preferences)

I put everything in the blender to mix it together.  I had a hard time getting all the cocoa to mix in without being clumpy, so it took a little while to process smoothly.

I greased the ramekins with coconut oil, and poured in the custard.  Bake for roughly an hour at 350 degrees.  Since we have smaller kids who won’t eat as much, I had some filled less full.  For those smaller ones, I watched the baking time and I think it was closer for 45 minutes.

**Edit:  Oops, I forgot! I baked these in 9×12 Pyrex baking dishes with about 1″ of water in it so they didn’t burn.

Enjoy!

This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School; The Prairie Homestead’s Homestead Barn Hop; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays; The Better Mom’s Mondays Link Up; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; The Tasty Alternative Allergy Free Wednesdays; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursday; Cultured Palate’s Tasty Traditions; Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays;