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We have two ducks. One is a Pekin male duck we call Peregrin, who at times is a comical and clumsy oaf. He can walk the ramp into the coop or the one to the pool, but often he needs help going in at night. For some reason, he can’t understand going up the ramp at dusk. Our beautiful female duck, Jaymes, a Rouen, is loud and bossy. She herds the chickens into the coop at night, and she triumphantly sounds the alarm to head out into the run in the morning when the coop door opens. Watching the dynamics of these two is better than any evening television program, and provides for much comic relief. I never thought I’d enjoy ducks (or the chickens) quite so much!

Only one or two of our young chickens has started laying eggs, and even with our four adult chickens, we’ve only been getting 1-3 chicken eggs/day. Jaymes has been faithfully laying an egg every morning for 15 days. We have never had duck eggs before, and were intrigued. Honestly, we weren’t sure we’d like them and thought maybe they’d taste weird. We patiently waited for enough duck eggs to make a casserole so our whole family could try them at the same time.

A-Grape and I cracked twelve eggs one by one into a bowl and whisked them. We observed that the consistency of the Rouen duck egg is more gel like than a chicken egg. We had to add milk to the mixture in order for the eggs to stir into the rest of the ingredients in our casserole because they are so thick. The egg shells were harder to crack than store bought chicken eggs. We also have noted that Rouen duck eggs are slightly larger than our Rhode Island Red chicken eggs. They fit in A-Grape’s 9 year old palm.

It was a lot of fun for our family to try something new, and quite honestly, it was fun to eat the eggs of the animals we’ve been caring for as they grew to maturity, and that we’ve been enjoying. The casserole was delicious. Adjectives used by the children to describe the casserole were that the eggs were “meatier”, “thicker”, and that, really, they didn’t taste that much different than a chicken egg. A-Grape looked forward to eating a duck egg “just plain” for breakfast the following morning. She likes it so much, she is reluctant to share them with her other siblings.

Here is our recipe for our Duck Egg Casserole.

Duck Egg Casserole

I’ve been working with a couple of bloggers who have written reviews of Lilla Rose products. You can find them at Needed in the Home and Hair By Mallorie.

Blessings,

Deb

Until 10/31/17 or while supplies last:

What Do You Get When You Combine Sweet Potatoes and Meat Pie?

You get a LoveLeavingLegacy Family Favorite Recipe!

Original Photos courtesy of pixabay.com

Sweet Potatoes + Meat Pie = Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie 

I’ve mentioned this before, but a couple of years ago, I gifted each of our children a recipe book and cards in order for them to write down their favorite family recipes. My oldest son, Equine J, is getting married in a few months. He has been making some requests for his recipe book.

Today he asked me for a recipe I originally found in the Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes 1999 book I own. (this is an aff link, but it can only be purchased used, so I doubt it is an affiliate link.) The original recipe can before found on page 235 of the book. I cannot find the recipe online, or I’d link it here. I’ve modified it to our preferences.

 Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie (Original recipe from BHG Annual Recipes, 1999)

• 1.25 lbs boneless lamb cut into ½ inch cubes, OR turkey burger, OR turkey meatballs, OR beef stew meat
• 1 TBL olive oil
• 1 large onion diced
• Garlic (fresh or bottle, minced) to taste
• 3 cups of water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried crushed savory
• Heaping ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 16 oz bag of baby carrots
• 16 oz bag of frozen green beans or fresh asparagus cut into one inch pieces

• 2 large baked sweet potatoes
• 2 TBLS melted butter
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• Milk for mixing to consistency desired

Brown meat, stir in onion and garlic. Add next 5 ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes until meat is tender. Add vegetables until they are tender.

After sweet potatoes are baked, while warm, slip from skins and put into a mixer. Beat/whip with rest of ingredients. Add milk to make fluffy to desired consistency.

Combine ½ cup water and 4 TBL cornstarch (I’ve also used oat flour) to meat/vegetable mixture. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Pour into a large baking dish or 15×11 roasting pan, top with sweet potato mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and slightly browned on top. Serve over brown rice or egg noodles.

This recipe also freezes well, so you could bake half and freeze half if desired.

Enjoy!

Have a blessed, Monday, readers!

Blessings, 

Deb

Every Sunday after attending Sunday church services, the next question from the children on Sunday’s drive home is “What is for lunch today?” I have been doing a childcare job on Fridays that has left me sapped of energy. Often I have craft/vendor shows on Saturday, and when we get home from those, Lady L and I review our inventory and consider together our restocking order. Sunday lunch and dinner is an after thought more often than not, and I’m dead dog tired.

But, after bulk food shopping, walking the Amish community, canoeing a few miles down the St. Joseph River, making a decision that brings peace, and getting true days of rest, when they asked what was for lunch, I had answers. I had a plan and a menu ready to be prepared.

Bulk cooking and freezer meals are often my solution for busy weeks of homeschooling, networking, craft/vendor events, and for dealing with a husband and two sons whose work schedules are inconsistent and often inconvenient. We still manage to eat dinner mostly together almost every night, even if dinner is at 8 pm. Meal planning allows us maximum flexibility with our schedule, we can cook together, and doesn’t leave us stressed and scrambling for meals.

Because we had purchased our favorite Amish cheddar cheese, everyone was excited for homemade macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli on Sunday afternoon.  While it was baking, I whipped up Monday and Wednesday’s nights dinners in a 16 quart pot with the following family favorite soup recipe.  There was even some left over for lunches or the freezer for a night when there are fewer of us home for dinner.

Sausage, Bean, Sweet Potato, Kale Soup

10 cups homemade chicken broth

1 large diced onion

 Fresh minced garlic to taste

2 lbs of Amish sweet Italian sausage diced

3 large peeled, diced sweet potatoes

2 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. chopped, dried rosemary

1 tsp. sage

1 tsp. thyme leaves

2 cups dried cannellini beans, cooked

32 oz fresh or frozen chopped kale (I prefer frozen)

Place all in a 16 qt pot, add water to about an inch from the top of the pot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until all vegetables are soft.  Add white wine to taste–I used 2 cups. Cook for about 20 minutes more. Serve with homemade whole grain bread.

On Monday afternoon, I baked fresh ground whole wheat bread, which we ate fresh from the oven with our soup and with Amish butter. Delicious!

Ten loaves of fresh ground whole wheat bread fresh out of the oven…well…nine of loaves of bread because one is almost all eaten.

I prepared two meals worth of the topping for Stuffed Sweet Potatoes using a recipe from Against All Grain. This is another family favorite. (I baked the sweet potatoes on the nights we ate those, and just reheated the topping mixture.)

And, I prepared two meals of Spaghetti Squash lasagna, inspired during a Mattawan Business Association and community farmer’s market end of season dinner. The squash was from a local farmer.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

3 large spaghetti squash halved, seeded, and baked til soft. Scrape the meat of the squash into spaghetti strings and add to a large bowl. Add 15 oz skim ricotta cheese, 12 oz small curd low fat cottage cheese, two eggs, and parsley. Stir til well mixed. Divide into two 15×12 pans. Spoon homemade spaghetti sauce with turkey burger over squash and cheese mixture. Top with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. Bake at 350° for about an hour or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Each pan serves 6-8.

While all that was simmering, baking, or we were eating, I had 4 cups of black beans simmering in the crock pot for another family favorite of Black Beans and Lime Cilantro Rice. This reheats and freezes well. It’s also a great leftover for the nights hubby or sons are working late and need to take a meal with them.

Crock Pot Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice

My own adaptations from recipe found on Our Everyday Dinners.

32 oz dry black beans

8 cups homemade/concentrated chicken broth

8 cups water

1 whole large onion diced

1 large scoop of jarred garlic (we use a serving spoon heaping)

Salt and pepper—large pinch of each

Put all in 7 qt crockpot on high for 4-6 hours or low 8+ hours. Stir often and add water as needed til tender. Then add

1 7 oz can green chilies

1 28-32 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons white vinegar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

Stir and heat til hot and bubbly. Serve over cilantro lime brown rice, and top as desired with avocado, sour cream (we actually used Greek yogurt), or salsa.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Prepare 6 cups of brown rice in a rice cooker according to rice cooker instructions. Mix with dried cilantro to taste (I used about 2-3 palm fulls) and ~8 TBL lime juice. YUM!

This week, having not prepared as well on Sunday, I’ve found myself scrambling just a little bit. I do have a meal plan, but it’s not all prepared in advance. This has caused just a wee bit of stress or later night eating. I plan to remedy this as part of my weekly goal setting routine, as I prefer last week’s meal planning plan far better!

Tonight, though, having made some more homemade chicken broth on Monday night, we get to eat leftover homemade potato chowder topped with some of that amazing Amish cheddar cheese, and whatever bread is left!

Blessings, 

Deb

The Lilla Rose October customer special ends in just 11 days!

Just 10 days until 2016 MACC begins, and we try to raise $1000 by December 31, 2016 for Hannahlee!