We recently made the switch to all natural peanut butter. My kids didn't even notice. So when I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. I realize that adding sugar to the natural peanut butter in the cookie dough kind of defeats the purpose, but it's still better than using regular peanut butter, right? Plus, the recipe only calls for whole wheat flour, which makes me feel good inside.
We have exciting weekend plans. Mike is almost finished with our chicken coop. Yep, a chicken coop. We'll have 10 of our very own egg laying hens sometime tomorrow! Do you have chickens? Any words of advice you'd like to share?
Happy weekend.
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Those look delicious!!!!
ReplyDeleteReal chickens... I would love real chickens... fresh eggs and meat. Goodluck with it, I will be watching to see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteYou're starting off with TEN chickens?!? Holy moly that's crazy of you guys... but I guess if you could deal with Champ for as long as you did, 10 chickens will be a breeze.
ReplyDeleteyeah.. what where is the champ? we just switched to all natural as well. I had to do some label reading as some of it has sugar and oil added...just more "natural" sources. We are using smuckers...just has peanuts and a smidge of salt. I thought my kids would not like it at all, but they don't seem to mind. I think we will go through a jar in a week and a half though! i really love it. And i'm excited about your recipe. We are trying to do more whole foods. (mostly b/c i'm trying to obtain my optimal racing weight- but it certainly won't hurt the rest of my family)
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous that you're getting chickens!
ReplyDeleteFreckles in April
Handle them a lot when they are small so they get used to being handled. One of ours is kind of aggressive and I will only go in the coop with boots on!
ReplyDeleteGive them lots and lots of veggies scraps or leftovers. Mine especially like cucumbers and anything red (berries, tomatoes, watermelon).
Good luck!
~Chris
When I lived in Northern Phoenix we had chickens. One tip: THEY ARE SMART AND CAN GET OUT! No matter what tricks we tried, they were somehow crafty enough to escape ALL THE TIME!
ReplyDeleteWow, ten is a lot! Did you know their laying tapers off as they get older? My mom's are only a couple of years old and they are already slowing down. So if you haven't bought them yet you might want to think about staggering your purchases. Although I think my mom also mentioned something about them being aggressive towards new ones sometimes... so I don't know! Never mind, don't listen to me! But I am jealous that you will have some. I wish Loi would let me! P.S. I take it this means you don't have your dog anymore?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have chickens but I really would like some after I cracked 3 eggs in a row the other day and each one had 2 yokes inside. Something seemed really off about it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Our family Loves natural peanut butter!
You are going to LOVE all of the fresh eggs. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteMy friend had chickens and loved them. So did her kids.
ReplyDeleteNatural almond butter is yummy too.
Good luck with your chickens tomorrow. :)
Are you sure you shouldn't have another blog strictly for baking?As of right now, I'm making another batch of granola!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, consider the other blog idea~ I would be a faithful follower of that one too!
And we LOVE Adams Peanut Butter. It's the only kind I buy... is that considered natural? LOL!
What I remember about raising chickens...they like to roost. We had poles extending horizontally across the coop about 2 feet off the ground. We had boxes for them to lay their eggs in--the neighborhood kids all thought it was great fun to collect the eggs each day. What else...there is a definite "pecking order"--you will notice it if you are able to observe them for long stretches of time. It will show up at feeding time for sure. Roosters can be VERY aggressive, but hens are just fun. We had Rhode Island Reds, mostly plus another breed that I don't recall (white feathers).
ReplyDeleteOh--I remember that we used to buy ground up oyster shells for them to eat. It strengthened their shells. Don't know if any of that helps :) Good luck!
If you happen to get a rooster by accident - butcher him. You will save yourself much trouble.
ReplyDeleteAlso, be careful of the fence around the coop. Foxes have a way of making their way in and stealing off with some in the night. (spoken from experience!)
i want chickens so bad. unfortunately we live in the middle of a neighborhood and our neighbors pretty much live right on top of us. one day. one day.
ReplyDeletetake lots of pictures so i can live vicariously through you :)
my grandparents had chickens. around 8. dogs and coyotes ate all but 1 hen and 1 rooster. so now they don't have many eggs but when they had all their chickens they had tons of eggs and they were so stinkin good!
What are you talking about with chickens?! I dont even know you anymore! :)
ReplyDeleteWill you please adopt me so I can play in your backyard, eat your food, read your books, learn to sew, and bake in your kitchen? Thank you kindly.
Hi! You don't know me, but I actually went to elementary thru high school with Mike. Tell him Kathy Anderson (Nuttall now) says hello!
ReplyDeleteWe had chickens for a while... I don't have lots of advice, but one thing we learned is not to let them have apple seeds. They are toxic for chickens and will kill them. Also certain kinds of bug sprays, so if you have an exterminator that comes, let them know you have chickens and make sure they use a product that won't harm them. Just a couple of things we learned from experience. Good luck with the chickens... they are fun!
-Kathy
Yay for chickens! That one you say is your favorite looks like a Buff Orpington - they're very sweet and good broodies (if you want babies), but not the best layers. We started out with three chickens a few years ago, and learned to rotate buying them, so we always have a few at their peak egg laying age. We buy 5 or 7 each Spring now, and donate the older ones to a farmer who likes them for pest control and won't eat them (most egg layers don't have much meat, anyway).
ReplyDeleteBe careful of predators - there are more out there than you'd think, even in an urban/suburban environment. Be especially careful about securing your coop at night.
Are you going to allow them to free range in your backyard (I love watching chickens grazing around our back yard)? If so, be sure you have secure gates on your fenced area - or dogs will find a way in and kill them. If you have a garden, be sure you have a secure fence between it and the chickens - they live to scratch and eat, and will strip your garden of anything edible in minutes flat. We have only a 4 foot chain link fence around our garden space, but they don't fly over it. They will also scratch through any flower beds you might have - in search of bugs, and deep holes for dust bathing. I fence mine off every Spring with some cheap goat wire fence, just until the plants are big enough that they won't get torn to shreds.
We keep a scraps bucket under our kitchen sink for peelings, most table scraps, stale bread, watermelon rinds, cantelope, etc., - the chickens love it and come running as soon as they see anyone coming out with 'the chicken bucket.' Hold them a lot, securely under your arm - it gets them used to you, and reinforces that you are the top of the pecking order. Be careful of little ones around chickens - the chickens will peck anything that looks like food, including fingernails and toenails (especially painted ones, we learned).
Chickens actually do better in cold climates than hot - all that fluff - and you'll need to find ways to keep them cool in the summer. I live in Highland, UT, and we put a shallow wading pool in their run area in the summer, and have lots of water dishes available throughout the yard - as they migrate with the shade throughout the day, there's always water nearby.
Check out www.backyardchickens.com - for ideas on how to keep them cool. It's got all the information you could ever want about raising chickens, and lots of friendly folks who'll answer any question you might have.
Enjoy your chickens! They are so much fun, and the eggs are out of this world. They are the best pet we've ever had.
Sorry for the length of this! You can email me if you have any questions - kimbobim@gmail.com - and I'll try to answer them.
i made those cookies yesterday. They turned out kinda flat- it seemed like the 1/2 cups of flower was not enough. However they were GREAT. I mad half a batch and got just a little over 18 cookies. I put the recipe into my calorie counter and they total about 265 calories..and worth every one! I am going to try to modify them with agave next time. I don't count them as all "bad" calories as they had no white flour. The only thing bad about them is that I ate 6! Thanks for all of your recipe ideas.
ReplyDeleteI hear chickens are great at keeping the scorpions at bay. Too bad you are not closer to my parents (they are across the street from the church). But then again, if your chicken at all of the scorpions he would not have anything to look for at night with his black light.
I'm missing our baby sitting co op days. Remember you can come visit us in the summer when you are melting down there.... or if you guys need some snow this time of year. It is crazy to see pictures of your kids in short sleeves. I think Jake is out in the yard with out a coat. It is about 52 and sunny and he has been needing to go outside after being stuck inside last week when it did not get higher than about 35 for a few days. poor kid!
We need to have our carpets cleaned when we move out of our rental and Nate mentioned that we could just have Mike come do it. I told him it was not likely that he would want to drive all the way to Lakeside with his stuff for a carpet job! ha ha ha.
We have chickens! love them. love the eggs. love showing them at the county fair!
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