My son Blake, who is eleven, has raised broiler chickens the past several summers for 4-H. This year he decided to add laying hens to his flock. His parents were not convinced! After about 4 months of research, investigation, and begging by Blake, he convinced us this was a good idea. And it was – what a great way for him to learn money management, responsible care of animals, food safety, and much, much more.
We started with an old chicken coop on our farm. But, when the broilers arrived for the summer, there was NO room – and so now we are the proud owners of two chicken coops 🙂 (with the layers getting the new plush, insulated coop – these girls have work to do!). And, his flock has expanded from ten layers to twenty-five – which means we have lots and lots of eggs everyday!! (So, if you live in the Hastings area and would like some farm-fresh eggs, give me a shout-out! We can hook you up!!).
This is just one days worth of eggs – Oh, My
This is one of my absolute favorite recipes, especially when our egg supply starts to get a little ridiculous. There are just so many variations that you can use in it – whatever vegetables you have on hand, if you have leftover meat you can always throw that in. Homemade pie crust or pre-made – whatever is best for you.
Vegetable Quiche
1 pie crust, homemade or pre-made
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T. olive oil or grapeseed oil
Ham, bacon, optional
other potential vegetables: spinach, zucchini, carrots, etc.
7-8 eggs
1/2 cup Sharp shredded cheese
1/3 c. light salad dressing
1/4 c. skim milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
All you do:
1. Place olive oil in a cold pan on medium heat. Add chopped vegetables and saute for 5 minutes until vegetables are just starting to soften.
Uncooked vegetables sauteed in butter flavored grapeseed oil.
Sauteed vegetables
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, light salad dressing, milk and black pepper. Add the cheese.
3. Place crust into a 9″ pie pan. Pour cooked vegetables into the pie crust. Cover with egg mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for ~ 25 minutes (until the crust and top of eggs are golden brown and the center set). Let sit for 5 minutes. Cut and enjoy!
The best part of this recipe is that it is great fresh from the oven, but just as good the next day for breakfast! It is also a great way to use up all those end of summer vegetables (and all the extra eggs!).
Enjoy!