Some EGGcellent Recipes

A pot ready before a Christmas Feast

The main reason for me raising chickens is for the EGGS!!! We love eggs and I love to sell my eggs to people. I really love making store bought person turn into a yard egg person!! There really is nothing like a fresh egg. What we feed them, how they are loved and kept, even the ability to eat grass and bugs makes all the difference in the world.  Let me tell you, the fresher the egg, the harder to peel. Here are a couple ways we love to use our eggs.

Our favorite Seasoning Beazell's

Fowlplayas Deviled Eggs

12 farm fresh eggs (HINT: don't boil, steam)

2 heaping Tbsp mayo

1 tsp mustard

A dash of Himalayan salt (ours is blessed BONUS)

A dash of pepper

Peel and half the eggs. Pop out the yolks in a bowl and put white halves on a plate. Mash the yolks up in bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the yolks. If it isn't the consistency you like, add mayo. At this point you can make it personal. We also like to add things like jalapeno, avocado, sweet pickle, or cracked pepper. Once your mix is done, spoon into the whites. We sprinkle Beazzels on the top of ours. 

Buy Beazells here!

http://www.beazells.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=109

Mamie's Fancy French Toast

1 loaf of French bread

6 farm fresh eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

Wisk eggs, milk, and cinnamon in a bowl. Layer the bottom of a glass pan with thick slices of bread. Pour mixture over bread. Let it soak all the way in for a few minutes. You can also sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Bake in 350˚ oven until golden brown.

Old Pic of my Mamie

When served, you can top with fresh fruit, syrup, or whipped cream.

We haven't had this in a while, I will update with a photo when we do.

Fowlplayas.....growing

Ronda Shwondala

Once people knew I kept chickens, I would get called for loose ones or abandoned ones. I rescued 2 and gave them new homes. One was an Easter egger that had been roaming a neighborhood laying eggs and pooping on cars. They thought her green eggs were bad and were throwing them away. She has the prettiest eggs. The other was a young cockrel we named Orey. He was beautiful. Yes, was. He was killed protecting the girls from a dog attack. I do have some of his children, and one is a pretty roo like him.

A fertile egg

After I got the hang of chicken raising. I wanted more. But, instead of buying them, I wanted to hatch them. Daniel's friend, Sean, loaned me an incubator. I still needed an important member, the rooster. I decided that the rescue Rooster, Orey, would be great. He was a full blood Buff Orpington and the girls loved him, and he loved them, a lot, I mean, alllllll the time he loved them. He was a stud. He knew his job, and performed it often. This gave us fertile eggs!!! YAY! I collected 24 over a couple days. I marked them and put them in the turner in the borrowed incubator. At the 7 day mark, I put a flashlight up to them and saw a few had veins showing. On day 18, I put them on lockdown, this is when you take them out of the turner and put them on the incubator floor. It was 3 days until they hatch. 2 days until hatch. Hatch day. 2 days past hatch day. A week past hatch day. I knew from all my research that this was not good. So the kids and I loaded up the eggs and went out to the garbage. We cracked them to see. Most had lots of development, but dead. All 24 were dead. What did I do wrong!!! UGH! A month wasted.

Another friend, Connie,  offered to take some eggs for her to try in her bator. I figured it could hurt. I gave her 18 eggs that I had in the fridge. This was not recommended. I figured none would hatch. We went along with our lives. I had marked in my calendar when she should be calling me to tell me I was a grandmother. Sure enough, day 20 we got a text of 2 little chicks. I was beyond happy. I figured 2 of 18 isn't bad for refrigerated eggs. This was a Friday. On Monday, she delivered 18 chicks to me. Every last one hatched. WOW! I was more than a little amazed that all of them hatched after spending a week in the fridge.

On Alicia's 11th birthday, she got 6 bantam chicks. She and Caroline are the two that help the most. Caroline is too young for her own chickens, but Alicia is just right. Four of them survived. She got 2 chochin Roos, 1 silver seabright, and another we have yet to identify. A couple months ago, she gave one of her Roos to my friend and bought 3 chochin girls!! All 6 of these little bantam chickens have a special pen. They have laid a few eggs, not very many at all. But they are cute as the dickens! Alicia put 10 eggs in the incubator and she should have lil chicks this weekend!! (9/26/15) We can't wait. She has about 4 or 5 sold already!!!

Some of Alicia's Bantams

Lil Chicken Man Thomas

I gave 15 of the friend hatched chicks to 2 family members. I don't have loads of room here where I live now. I get pics of these and they are turning out to be so beautiful. I have since hatched several times. I found out my hatching issue was the humidity. I have 9 in the yard that are around 15 weeks old and 2 that are a months old. I want to build a brooder type shed in Tennessee. A spot where the babies can be kept warm and safe. For now, they are hatched in my kitchen and brood in my foyer!

An Incubator full of future chickens

We all love to see the development of the eggs. I use it as a teaching tool. I hope to one day be able to go to local schools and set up an incubator for classrooms. It takes 21 days to hatch a chicken egg. I think this would be great in a school setting. Teaching the kids about where their eggs come from, the right way to hold a chicken, and how an egg becomes a chicken would be a great thing to add to any schools activities.

A little feather "signature" to let me know who is working!

Head on over to the blog hop at "The Chicken Chick"  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/09/clever-chicks-blog-hop-157-featuring.html

Meet the Family

Big Daddy

Daniel Winters,40, was born here is south Louisiana to David and Sheila. They were married young and really showed Daniel what staying together and not giving up was all about. David passed away in December 2013 the day after Christmas. Daniel is a carpenter by trade, but works as a truck driver at the moment. Some of his family is from north Mississippi, which is why we chose to move north. He loves motocross and Elvis. He wants to raise cattle for meat. Daniel's most prized possession is his kids. He spends most of his time trying to keep them happy and healthy. Wide open spaces with as little people interaction as possible is his dream.

ME!

Shane Winters is a forty something mother of 9. She loves her kids and her animals. She's the in house "crazy chicken lady." Shane has always loved animals, but was recently bit by the chicken bug. She wants to grow Fowlplayas Poultry Farm and add many other poultry to it. In Tennessee, her dream is that her chickens, ducks, and other livestock will live happy and produce well. She also wants to garden enough to feed the family. A true homestead is what she hopes to gain. She would live "off grid" if the others would let her.

Braden, 22, loves on her own. She is the dog person of the crew. Even though she won't live on the farm,  she texts and calls often and sends any info she thinks we may find useful. (no photo)

Mamie Lelia

Mamie, 16, is the resident babysitter and singer. She loves babies! She is not a fan of the sun, or sweat. Often she is found in the house watching little ones and cooking. She will be in charge of the herb garden, edible flowers, and roses. She will also make soap and lip balm. Mamie wants to learn how to can and dehydrate.

Isabelle, 16, won't be moving with us. She will stay in Louisiana with her mother. She will hopefully visit often and we will miss her. (No updated photo)

Daniel "Bubba"  Wayne

Daniel (Bubba), 15, is the gamer. He has been the most hesitant about the move. He is very much hooked to the grid. He does like the idea of all the space. He will help with the large animals and keeping pastures cut and hay baled.

Alicia Michelle

Alicia, 11, is probably the most excited other than mom and dad. She will help with the poultry. Alicia wants a horse bad. She has been reading book after book on horses. She is the owner of our flock of bantam chickens. She is an outside girl and a very hard worker. She is also going to be our bee girl.

Elizabeth Annette

Elizabeth, 8, is usually scared of animals at first. Once she gets to know them she seems to handle them well. She has a soft heart and will do great on the homestead. Liz will be Mamie and Alicia's helper until she learns something she can do alone.

Johnathan Joseph

Caroline Marygrace

Johnathan, 6, is the resident daredevil. He isn't scared of much. He loves to run, jump, and dig. If you give him a few army men and some cars he can spend hours digging out roads and pretending. He will be Bubba and Daddy's helper. He will also be mom's garden helper.



Caroline, 4, is a lover of chickens like her mom. She will be at mom's side in the garden and help with the harvesting and other chores in there. Caroline wants a pig.

Thomas, 2, may be young, but he loves his "yenyens" (chickens). He has never been scared of them. He holds them every day and loves gathering eggs.

Thomas David

Fun in Savannah

Even though we were making the trip to Tennessee to check on and do work at the property, we wanted to have fun too. We visited the Tennessee River Museum, Pickwick Lake, Shiloh Battlefield Park, and ate at the Outpost. We tried to learn or see as much of our soon to be new home town as we could.

Savannah, TN

Front steps of Museum

First up on the list of things to do was the Tennessee River Museum. Located in downtown Savannah right on the main road. It was a very nice place. Lots of exhibits and info. There were several "touch" spots and that was good for the little kids. It was clean and inviting. The lady at the front desk was a sweetheart. The kids learned a little about the areas rich history. There were artifacts from Indians and from the civil war. The older kids loved it. The area it is in is very neat. It was a cluster of old buildings. We even found the theater in town right behind the city hall and museum.

A gazebo Mamie liked

Figured I better take a pic before it's removed

On the steps

The Savannah Theater

 I am hoping that the theater family there will take us in with open arms. Having a theater there helped us to make the decision on moving to this town. My children love the stage and I am glad that they will have the opportunity to still do what they love in our new home. I hope they are ready for the Winters!







We also visited the Shiloh Battlefield Park. It is HUGE! It was a 13 mile drive through park. It was so pretty. The drive was slow, but very quiet and educational. Being a home school mom, the educational aspect was great.

Explanation of Signs

Memorial to Confederate Soldiers

Sad statues at Memorial

All the kids loved the different stopping points along the tour. Many had something the kids could touch or take a picture with. We followed the map they gave us. It was marked with each spot and had a great explanation of what we were looking at. 

Johnathan shooting a cannon (sorta)

Alicia and Caroline on a cannon

Shiloh Methodist Church

Shiloh church was here before the Civil War. It is how this battlefield got its name. It was a neat old building and of course daddy examined every piece of it.

Small creek

Right after Bubba fell in

Me and a few of my brood

Alicia trying to act the part

 All in all it was a fun spot. We will be visiting again I am sure.I will add it to the spots for visitors to go see when they come.

Water was cold

After the battlefield, we went to eat out. We had budgeted for one "eat out" while on our trip. We found a cool spot called The Outpost. It was a really neat place. Lots of old relics on the walls. The food was great. We even had a nice view from our table. After we ate, the kids wanted to see the park attached to the restaurant. To our surprise, it had a zipline!!! How fun. Most of my kids had never been on one. It was a really cool way to end dinner.

Thomas enjoying lunch

Yard bird on the menu!!!

Our table view

Liz taking selfies

Outside play area!

Only Alicia

Thomas liked the bear

Daddy and Caroline

The August 2015 Trip (Part 2)

Daniel checking out where the temporary housing will go

Once we arrived and found the house in ruins, we changed housing direction. It took me at least an hour to relax about what had happened. I was very upset, however, my husband pointed me in a new direction. He said not to worry, we had other plans in our mind before, they just get to be priority now. We discussed what we would do with the lumber from the old house for a bit. I'm excited about using it for the barn. I am big on recycling. I really hate to toss anything in the trash.

We have locked down the plan of living in a camper, yes a camper, until house can be built. We want to build the house without loans. This will be hard and take a lot of time, but worth it. To have no note will be awesome!!!! I have picked a plan. A very simple plan based off of a double wide mobile home I saw. Now we are just deciding where to put camper while we build. I am more of the idea of living up by the road. Daniel wants to put the camper up the hill where the house will be built. I am beginning to lean towards his idea.

The house will be built about 700ft from the road. That's about 2 1/2 football fields. I like the idea of the winding road up to the house. You won't always be able to see the house from the road. Very private. Our little gravel road to the new house spot goes up and down and veers right. It was the road the logging trucks used when they logged the property a few years ago. I think it's the perfect spot.

One of my HUGE Pecan Trees

As we began to explore the land more, I found treasures everywhere. There are about 20 full grown pecan trees with pecans already growing. I found about 60 or more in other stages of life from sapling to about 10 feet tall. The thought of all the fresh pecan pies Mamie will be able to bake makes daddy very happy. The kids can't wait to harvest them.

We also have several other trees growing all over. When Daniel makes pastures for the large animals, the trees will give them shade on sunny days. The kids have also asked daddy to put some zip lines across the property. He is thinking about adding that to our existing play house swing set we have. Alicia wants to attach it to a tree and add on to it. She and John have some great playhouse ideas for sure. That is what I wanted when we made the decision to move to land. I want my kids imagination to go beyond minecraft. I want them outside breathing fresh air, exploring, building real things.

A little to excited?

We brought the kids back to the rental cabin and set off into the woods, just the two of us. We found even more surprises. Daniel stumbled onto a patch of blackberry bushes. I love blackberries. I was more that just a little excited about the bamboo we found. It was so tall. I was amazed. It was at the bottom of a small hill. Also at this spot we saw where water pools. We are hoping to place a pump here to fill the pond he will dig. I was hoping to find a spring, but no luck yet. We spent a couple hours just exploring and discussing future plans. It was so quiet. Only the sounds of the woods. I can't wait to see what other things we will stumble on.

Big!!!

Daniel and a couple of the kids went back another day and explored some more. They found deer tracks everywhere. He wants to hunt so bad. We saw turkey along the roads so he is hoping the property will have some too. I just hope I can learn how to skin and prepare these animals. I have never had to do that before.

Grass as tall as Daniel

We took lots of pictures. Many of just the flora and fauna there. I loved how green and thick the vegetation was. It also had rocks and gravel. This is good.  Here are a few of the pics we took.

A fallen tree

Cool grass

A favorite of birds and butterflies

This had pretty white flowers

Up next time: Fun in Savannah, TN