Why did the chicken cross the road? Don’t know, don’t care, just give me your eggs!

One of my memories of childhood was my mom cooking. She was a pretty good cook, nothing fancy. Just  good soul food, which to me is the best anyway. She would fry leg quarters with the perfect crispy layers. However, there were some things that I refused to eat, which is normal for most kids. I don’t know if my reasons were justified. I guess my palette had to mature. I do remember my dad had been given some farm eggs and there was NO WAY I was eating those! They came from a chicken! And they weren't white and from the grocery store! How disgusting is that?!! My dad was expecting us to eat those? Forget it. No way!

Well let's forward it to 20 plus years later. My new hubby decides we need to get some chickens. I’m facing the dilemma that I escaped all those years ago again. But I was more open-minded this time because he’s so cute and smart and I like being able to impress him. I was all for it on the outside, but I had my doubts. Could I really do this? Could I eat those non-white shelled eggs that were coming from our backyard instead of the pretty grocery store? Not to mention on top of that, Gregg wanted us to kill some for meat! Oh Lord! There are only so very few meats I will eat. I do not like water critters, deer, rabbit, most things that are hunted.(I know, I know). I have always loved chicken though. It’s my favorite! But the thought of us killing them and throwing them in the pan after my daughter has named them kind of left me uneasy. But once again, I was going to give it a try.

Finally the day came when we got our first egg. Gregg was so excited! It was little and to be honest I think I probably used it for battering something…I honestly don’t remember. I do remember feeling kind of proud about it though. So after a week or two we started getting three eggs a day from our pretty girls. I loved it! They tasted awesome, we were saving a little bit of money by not having to buy them at the grocery store, and I knew where they were coming from so that made me feel better about what we were eating. I found myself never wanting to eat another grocery store egg again. I truly began to realize that it was better for you. According to www.motherearthnews.com. , farm fresh eggs have four times more omega fatty acids in them than store bought eggs, and half the cholesterol. They are also six times higher in beta carotene. Whoo hoo! Feeling healthy!

Now the meat part was still not my favorite .Perhaps that is because it was an older chicken and I know that those are best in stews and such, which is what we did. I watched as Gregg skinned the birds and cleaned them.(This part does not bother me. I am in healthcare and so it actually is fascinating to me.)The thing is it was not a broiler chicken so there wasn't as much meat. I was a not a fan. The meat was stringy and bland. I’m hoping in the future to get some broilers. Meanwhile our chickens came up missing. I was devastated. We never could figure out what happened. We have had to start over. We have more hens this time and  we have moved the chickens closer to the house. I am looking forward to collecting eggs again, but I miss those others. They were my first experience and they were sweet chickens. These are for some reason more timid. I spent time with them like I did the others, but they still are shy. Hoping they will get more comfortable with me, and anticipating the days of collecting eggs again.

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Other Posts by Nicole: The Un-Country Country Wife, God Gave Me a Carter