Do you have chickens?  Yes?  Welcome to the Backyard Chicken Club!  If your chickens are like my chickens, then they most definitely love treats.

Disclaimer:  Treats are not meant to be their total food supply.  Make sure they have enough feed and give the treats in small amounts.

Here’s what we give to our 10 girls:

1) Apples – poke a hole thru the apple (I cut mine in half) and then string them together and hang on a pole.  It gives them something to do (boredom buster) and gives them a sweet treat.

 

2) Cabbage – I do the same thing as the apples.  Cut in half and pull string thru and hang on a pole.  I hang each half separately.  Another boredom buster!  Keep your girls busy and there will be less trouble (pecking each other).

3) Cucumbers – I cut the cucumbers in half long ways and just lay them on the ground.

4) Cantaloupe – I cut up the cantaloupe (I save some of the fruit for me) and throw the rest (seeds and rind) to the girls.

 

5) Corn ice cups – in the summer I make ice cups to help them cool down. I take a can of corn and scoop some into each of the cups in a cupcake pan, add water and freeze it.  I use silicone cups – makes it a lot easier to get the ice cups out.   On a hot summer day, the girls love these!

Also, in the summer, I will make ice cups with pieces of watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupe, etc. Chickens can get over-heated during the hot summer and the ice cups are a nice cooling treat.

6) Pumpkins  - Cut a pumpkin into several pieces – leave the seeds and guts and give it all to the girls.  My hubby just takes an ax and chops it into a few pieces.

7) Watermelon – Another treat for a hot summer day.  Cut up a watermelon – they will eat it all!

8) Sprouts – I make sprouts from lentils – another treat that the girls go crazy for!  It takes 6 days for the sprouts to get to a good size.  Here are the instructions:

Day 1 – add ½ cup of lentils to a quart size mason jar and fill with water.  Put in a dark place over night.

Day 2 – take jar from dark place – drain out the water and then rinse the lentils twice (it is very helpful to have a strainer type lid).  Rinse them twice a day.  I usually rinse in the morning and in the evening.

Day 3 – Rinse the lentils twice again (morning & evening).  You will notice that they are starting to sprout.

Day 4 – Rinse the lentils twice again (morning & evening).  You will notice that they are expanding in the jar.

Day 5 – rinse twice again (morning & evening) – almost ready!

Day 6 – Ready!

9) Tomatoes – chickens are drawn to the color red.  I buy the small tomatoes (cherry tomato size) and just throw them and watch the chickens run for them.

10) Raspberries – the same as tomatoes – they love the color red.  I just throw them and watch then chase each other to get to them first.

11) Banana peels – peel the banana (and eat it yourself) and then give the peels to the girls.  Nothing goes to waste!

12) Corn on the cob – another favorite.  Peel the husk off and give it to them.  They will peck every single piece of corn off the cob.

13) Strawberries – when I buy strawberries for myself, I cut off the tops and give them to the girls.  It’s another favorite!

There are lots of treats that the chickens can have.  I pulled together this list from various websites:

(This list is not all inclusive – check out some chicken websites for more options.)

Enjoy your girls!

Chicken Pot Pie

Who loves chicken pot pie?  Me!  And I think homemade is best.  This is how I make it.

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 small onion – chopped (I used frozen chopped onions)

½ cup flour

14oz chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon powder and made 14 oz.  I ended up                  making another 8 oz as the mixture was too thick)

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ cup frozen corn

½ cup celery  (I had some frozen celery)

2 cups frozen veggies (peas, carrots, green beans, etc)

Parsley  - I just took a few pinches and sprinkled it in

Dill – just took a couple of pinches and sprinkled it in

3 cups cooked chicken  (I cooked up some chicken tenders) or you can use turkey

Piecrust (Pillsbury, etc) – one package was not enough so I ended up making some 

(recipe for pie crust at bottom)

1 egg

1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter over medium heat in pan.  Sauté onions & celery for about 7 minutes. 

Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.  Whisk in the chicken broth

and then add the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.  If the sauce seems to be too thick add more chicken broth.

Remove from heat.  Add in the veggies, parsley, dill and chicken.  Mix well.

 

Pour into unbaked pie shell.   (I had to make some as the Pillsbury box wasn’t enough for the quantity I was making)

Whisk egg and water.  Coat one side the 2^nd pie crust with the egg mixture.  Lay the side that was coated on top of the chicken mixture.  Cut some vents in the top.

Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes (until pastry is golden brown and mixture is bubbling.

Note:  I made one to eat that day and froze the other 2 without baking first.

 

Pie Crust Recipe

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup of vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons cold water

Stir the flour and sale in a medium bowl.  To Mis, cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

Place 1/3 cup of the flour-shortening mixture in a small bowl.  Add all the water to it and mix with a fork.  Then add this to the rest of the flour-shortening mix and mix with a fork.  Then, with your fingers, mix until the pastry holds together so that you can shape into a ball with your hands.

Roll out and fit into a pie pan (makes 2 crusts depending on the size of the pan)

Eggplant Parmigiana 

Eggplant parmigiana is one of my most favorite things to eat!  When I make it, I make a bunch!  Here’s is how I make it (learned it from my mom):

Eggplant  (I typically buy the largest eggplant I see - I used 2 this time)

4 bottles Ragu (24 oz) approximate amount

3 pkg mozzarella (8 oz) approximate amount

5 eggs and some milk  (whip together)

Several cups of flour

Olive oil

12x9 pan – 1

8 x 5.5 pan – 2 

(can also use smaller pans to make more individual servings – this dish freezes and reheats wonderfully)

1)  Peel and slice the eggplant (about ¼” thick).

2)  roll in flour and then dip in the egg mixture (yes, do it in that order).

 

3)  fry the eggplant and drain on paper towels.

4)  Pour some Ragu (or other spaghetti sauce) on the bottom of the pan.

5)  Put a layer of eggplant on top of the sauce.

6)  Pour spaghetti sauce on top of the eggplant and then sprinkle mozzarella on top of that.

 

7)  Repeat layers until pan is full – spaghetti sauce and cheese will be the last layer.

8)  Bake at 350 until sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted and a golden color.

Note:  if you plan on freezing the eggplant, you do not need to bake it first.

ENJOY!!

Food Prep Day 

One of my best money saving tips is food prep day.  Having the food items already prepped for the week makes it highly likely they will be used.  I don’t want to waste food and having ingredients just sitting around until they go bad is not good.  But, I also don’t want to have to cook bacon or a waffle or French toast, etc. every time I want some. 

By cooking a pound of bacon at a time, I can snack on a piece whenever the mood hits.  Same thing goes for fruit smoothies and chilled Frappuccino’s.  I make a mess for one day during the week and then can enjoy the fruits of my labors the rest of the week. There are several things that I only make about once a month as they last longer than a week.  Prep day is a lot of work but then no fuss, no mess to clean up the rest of the week.  Here are some of the things that I make:

Bacon

Chilled Frappuccino

Keto Friendly Fudge 

Pumkin muffins

Fruit smoothies

Belgian waffles

French toast

Let’s get started!

Making the Bacon

There are quite a few ways to make bacon.  Frying pan, oven, air fryer . . . to name a few.  But there is also another way.  Using a deep stock pot – cut the pound of bacon in half – separate the strips and layer it on the bottom of the pot.  Don’t worry about all the bacon being in a pile – it will cook.  Cook on a low flame and flip them over every 2-3 minutes so that they all get cooked.  It took approximately 26 minutes to fry the pound of bacon up in the pot.  Here’s how it looked: 

 

  

If you don’t like your bacon cold, it only takes about 15 seconds (give or take) to heat up in the microwave.

If you want to make the bacon in the oven, see blog post dated December 21, 2020

Chilled Frappuccino

For instructions on making the Chilled Frappuccino, see blog post dated June 2, 2020.  I store the Frappuccino in mason jars in the refrigerator.  One batch will make a quart and a pint of Frappuccino.

Use a smaller cup and you will get a few more servings.  This also will last me for a week (if I use a smaller cup, not the one pictured).

  

Keto-friendly Fudge

If you are on a keto diet, you may have heard of fat bombs.  This fudge recipe is similar to a fat bomb.  They are really rich and just one piece usually satisfies those cravings.

Ingredients list

4 tbsp of creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp cocoa powder (no sugar added)

1 oz cream cheese

1.5 packets of non-sugar sweetened (Truvia)

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove from microwave and stir for 10 seconds.  Put back into microwave for 30 seconds more.

Remove from microwave and stir – until blended all together.  Pour into a greased pan (8” x 8” or smaller)

Put the pan in the freezer.  After 30 minutes, take the fudge out of the freezer and cut into pieces (it is easier to cut at this point).  Store them in a plastic bag and put back in the freezer..  They will keep in the freezer for a long time – if you don’t eat them all . . .  (I don’t make this every week as this lasts me several months - I usually make a double batch)

  (The pan that I used in the below photo, holds a double batch of the fudge)

  

Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is now upon us . . . and there are pumpkins everywhere.  What to do, what to do . . .  Make pumpkin muffins!  If you will be using a fresh pumpkin, it will need to be cooked.  

To cook the pumpkin:  cut the pumpkin into several pieces and scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff. (You can also toast the seeds for an extra treat!).  Put the pumpkin on a cookie sheet (have the outside shell be on the top and cut side face down on the pan).  It will take approximately 45 – 60 minutes in a 400 degree oven to cook (depending on how big your pumpkin is).  Once the pumpkin is done (the insides are soft), allow the pumpkin to cool.  Once it is cool, scoop out all the flesh and puree it in a blender or food processor. 

If you don’t want to mess with cooking a pumpkin, a can of pumpkin puree will do just as nicely.

Recipe

3 eggs

1 cup of oil (I use olive oil but any oil will do)

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of pumpkin (or one can)

3 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

½ cup of nuts (optional - I like to use macadamia nuts but I will use whatever I have on hand)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Stir together eggs, oil, sugar, pumpkin

Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla and nuts

Grease and flour muffin pan – unless you are using the paper cupcake liners

Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Makes 24 muffins

(I don’t make this every week as these last me for 1-2 months)

  

Fruit Smoothies

I use the big bag of frozen fruit from Costco – it has a good variety of fruit.  A couple of handfuls of the frozen fruit along with one banana, water and flavor enhancer is all I use.  I fill the blender with water and add a couple of squirts from a flavor enhancer (the kind you mix with water).    A full blender will make a quart and a pint of the smoothie.  Gives me plenty for the week!

Belgian Waffles

I use Krusteauz Belgian Waffle mix.  Typically, I use the ingredients for the 4-5 waffles but I always get about 8 waffles when all is said and done.  After they are done and cooled down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap and then put them in a Ziploc bag and throw in the freezer.  When I want one for breakfast, I heat it up in the air fryer.  It tastes like I just made it!

(I don’t make this every week as it lasts me longer than a week) 

French Toast

Another breakfast treat that I make is French toast.  I usually cook 8 or 9 slices of bread.  It takes 3-4 eggs and some milk beaten until blended.  I butter the frying pan and then cook them up.  After they are done and cooled down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap (and put in a ziploc bag) and throw in the freezer.  I also reheat these in the air fryer and they taste like they are freshly made.  (I don’t make this every week as it lasts me longer than a week)

That’s it!  I now have either Belgian waffles, French toast, bacon or pumpkin muffins for breakfast along with a fruit smoothie.  I also have chilled Frappuccino for after dinner with a piece of fudge.  And I won’t have to mess up the kitchen to enjoy any of it!  At least not until it is food prep day again . . .

 

The Good Ole Days

Grocery shopping sure has changed over the years.  I have been grocery shopping for over 50 years and one thing has stayed the same - the need to save money on what I am buying.  There may be people in this world that have an unlimited budget when it comes to buying food.  I have never been part of that group!  But we always had enough food to eat with the help of coupons.  My mother used coupons and she taught me how to save at the store.

Back in the "ole days", coupons and refunds were a big part of grocery shopping.  Stores would compete with each other and give out coupons for free items.  

Manufacturers were also in competition and would offer refunds on their products.  You would save the label from a certain item and then mail it with the form and in about 6-8 weeks you would receive a refund of some sort.  Could be a $1.00 or even the full price of the item you bought.  Many times, it would be a gift or a toy.

There were coupon clubs where people would meet and exchange coupons that they didn’t want for those that they could use.  In the 70’s and 80’s newspapers were full of coupons.  Stores would offer to double the face value of a coupon in order to get your business.  Then other stores would offer to triple the value of coupons.  Coupon wars! Sometimes there were limits and sometimes there weren’t.  But usually, any amount less than a dollar was either doubled or tripled.  Many times, it made the item free.

In September of 1979, one of the local newspapers (The Star Ledger) was running stories on how people were fighting inflation.  I contacted them and described how I save money with coupons and refunds.  They did a story on me!  The reporter followed me around the store which created a lot of curiosity among the other shoppers.  When I was done shopping, my grocery bill was over $60.00.  After deducting my coupons, I only paid $8.29.

Then in July of 1980, I was featured in another newspaper (the West Essex Tribune) and a reporter went with me on another shopping trip.  This time the total was $77.89 before coupons.  After the coupons were deducted, I only paid $3.89.  

It did take time to cut out coupons and save labels, etc. I usually spent about 2 hours a week organizing, cutting coupons and saving labels. I considered it my part-time job.  All in all, it was time well spent when you saw how much you saved on the food bill.

Coupons Clubs weren’t the only way to get extra coupons.  There were also conventions!  Some were just one day long and others may last the whole weekend.  Attendees would bring boxes of labels and box tops to trade for items they needed for a particular refund.  Example:  If you have a refund form that states you can get $1.00 back from buying dog food but you don’t have a dog, you would trade for the labels you needed.  

There were also magazines that were dedicated to letting you know what refunds, coupons and conventions were available.  They had a pen pal section so that you could find like-minded people and possibly trade coupons, etc.  One magazine (The National Supermarket Shopper) attended a refund convention that I was at and I even got my photo on the cover of the magazine!  (The little arrow under the sign is pointing to me - in the middle.)

Those were the days.  Things are different now.  The newspapers don’t carry a lot of coupons.  But you can find some online.  Some stores have coupons on their website.  You log in at the register and the coupons come off your bill – no need to cut them out.  Refunds are almost non-existent.  I can’t even remember the last time that I was able to send in a refund form.  And it seems like stores are no longer in competition with each other.

But, we can still save money.  It may take a little more work initially but it could end up saving you some cash.  One Saturday, I look the time to travel around to several different stores and check the prices on things that I buy.  I wrote it all down (no way I would be able to remember it all!).  I created a “price book” and listed 3 stores with the prices of each item.  It helped me to see which store had the best price on various products.  But, not all the items were cheaper at the same store.  For me, all 3 of those stores are located on the same street so I was not wasting gas running around town.  I was able to shop at each store and get the best price for the items I needed to buy.  Each person would need to calculate the cost of gas to see if it is worth it to travel to different stores to get the cheapest price.

Fast forward to 2021 when we were all dealing with covid.  Store shelves were empty, and prices were rising almost every week.  Here’s an example of the price of a 4 lb. package of bacon at Costco:

2/4/21 – 12.99

4/1/21 – 14.99

4/22/21 – 16.99

8/19/21 – 18.99

9/9/21 – 19.99

10/14/21 – 21.99

4/1/22 – 14.99

Thankfully, the price has come down.  The bacon is just one example as all the stores were raising prices, not just Costco.  I think the most frustrating thing was finding empty shelves.  It certainly changed the way that I did the grocery shopping.  Now, if I need an item, I will typically buy 2 so that I also have one in reserve. I try to make sure that the pantry and freezer are well-stocked, just in case we go thru another pandemic or a hurricane or some other event that would prevent me from going to the store.

So, coupons are few and far between and refunds are pretty much non-existent, but we still have opportunities to save.  Some stores do the BOGO (buy one, get one free) sales and many stores will allow you to use coupons on those items.  Also, look out for clearance sales.  Every little bit helps!

For many years I have been using a “shopping notebook” – it helps me to stay on track.  Details about that are part of another blog that I wrote June 7th – November 6th, 2020 (6 part series).

Times may/will change but don’t give up!  You can still save money on groceries!

 Topless Greenhouse Final Update

This will be the last update on the Topless Greenhouse.  All in all, I am quite pleased with how this experiment played out.  I have learned a few things – mostly what “not to do” in the future.  I am already planning another garden which I will start in August.  My area of the country gives us enough summer weather to have 2 plantings.  We have put in more cinder blocks around the inside of the fence.  I will be planting a variety of herbs and flowers (the kind that deter insects) in those holes.  Soon I will be starting seeds for bell peppers (yes, I will try them again), pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes, beans and beets (and I am going to try them again also).  In the fall, I am hoping to plant more lettuce, romaine and cabbages.   There is just something so satisfying about eating veggies that you grew yourself!

Here's how it finished up:

June 26 – Hubby finished the fence and took down some of the walls (on the fence side) of the greenhouse.  The garden is much easier to water now with the walls down.  The fence is connected to the front and back end of the greenhouse - makes it one big area.  The walls on the other side of the greenhouse act as a "fence" on that side.

June 30 – The corn is done – got 4 ears but they were all deformed.  The chickens loved them anyway!  Hubby pulled out the cucumber plants – they fizzled out - and he leveled out the dirt and compost.  I moved 2 of the marigold plants to the fenced area and planted them in the holes in a cinder block.

July 3 – I put up 3 pinwheels on the fence – hopefully it will discourage any critter that may want to try and get into that area.  I took a video of all 3 of them spinning at the same time.

July 4 – Picked a big tomato today – 4” across!  We have a yellow garden spider living in the greenhouse.  I will leave him be for the time being – maybe he will eat some bugs.

July 6 – It's time to pull up the green bean, eggplant, pepper and sunflower plants – they are done for now.  The tomato plants still have tomatoes on them, so I will leave them for a while longer.  I moved the onions to the other side of the greenhouse.  I am not sure they will make it – I don’t think they like being moved.  Plus, it is not the right time of year for them to be planted.  They may go dormant – I will just have to wait and see.

New spot for the onions   

 

As of today, July 10, I have harvested the following:

Green beans – 38  (cooked them up and had them with a pork roast for dinner)

Cucumbers – 4 (gave one to the chickens – full of bugs)  Ended up giving 2 more to the chickens as we weren’t eating them (I really wanted to grow a bunch to make pickles).

Tomatoes – 33 (plus several more that got thrown onto the compost pile – bugs)  I think we have at least 10 more still growing on the plants.

Corn – 4 (gave to chickens)

Romaine – 4 cuttings

Red Leaf Lettuce – 7 cuttings

Bell Pepper – 1

Radish – 1

I had fun doing this experiment. It was exciting to watch my idea come to life.   I know some people thought it was crazy, but it isn’t crazy if it works . . . right?  I hope this encourages others to think outside the box – take a chance and do something different.  It just might work!

PS (July 15):  Picked 16 more tomatoes before pulling up the plants. We also took out the raised beds and made it all even.  Here’s the beginning and ending of the garden (March 11^th to July 15^th.)