Present day, I decided to purchase 6 chicks of various breeds from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio. I brought them home and over the next month, I constructed not only a chicken coop, but rather a chicken MANSION (complete with front porch and porch light)! Every day, I grew more eager to see and play with my new feathered friends. It was amazing to see how fast they grew on a daily basis. I took it upon myself to read a few books and surfed the web for any information I could find on how to raise them in a healthy manner. Each passing day, brought be closer to the inevitable...I could no longer consume my precious backyard friends at the dinner table or for a picnic lunch. I immediately threw away any food that was in the house that had chicken/turkey by products in them. This included a wide variety of soups, bouillon and gravy. I started looking up vegetarian recipes and exploring the many veggie products that were available at the local grocery store. I found that many of these foods tasted great! I am currently down to 200lbs and holding. I just turned 40 and feel great!
You see, by raising chickens, I have learned a deeper respect for all living things and I am (or at least will be) rewarded with healthy "Farm Fresh" eggs (and egg whites).
I intend on creating this blog to express my joy of raising chickens as well as share some tasty vegetarian recipes.
Saturday, August 28th
I wanted to post a few pics of my chickens when they were first born. I purchased them from Mount Healthy Hatchery in Mount Healthy, OH. I think they cost about $5.00 each. They were born on the day I picked them up and had never had any food or water. It was up to me to make sure they started their little lives off right. I rushed them home and placed them into a nice large clothes dryer barrel. I installed a heat lamp and made sure the temp was around 95 degrees, filled the box with wood chips and placed them in. They seemed to be quite comfy. I had to dip their beaks into the watering jar manually to get them to start drinking. We began playing with them after about a week. What fun!
Monday, August 30th
Time for a vegetarian recipe!
BIONIC BREAKFAST SAUSAGES (from http://www.webvalue.net)
Serving Size : 8
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup Raw bulgur wheat* -- cooked
- 1/4 cup Gluten or whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon Nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons Tamari
- 1 teaspoon Dried basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Sage
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Crushed dried red pepper -- flakes
DIRECTIONS:
- To cook bulgur wheat: Put one cup bulgur wheat in a saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water and one teaspoon salt.
Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium-low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes before using. - In a bowl, mix cooked bulgur wheat and gluten or whole wheat flour well.
- Add nutritional yeast to egg; mix into bulgur mixture.
- Add tamari and the rest of the seasonings, mixing well.
- Form into patties and saute in a little vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side. OR bake them on a greased cookie sheet in a 350 degree F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until crispy brown on the outside.
