Congratulations to Christy, who is the winner of the ThinkFood Cookbook! Her comment was chosen using Random.org

Today is a very exciting day for me and The Leftover Queen blog! It is the day that I get to tell you more about my involvement in the ThinkFood Project and Book. Plus, I also get to give away a copy of this fantastic book to one of my loyal readers!

Although I can’t share the recipe with you yet, you’ll have to wait until the winter for that, I can tell you that it is a new and improved, totally revised recipe that I call my “Breakfast of Champions” and the main ingredient is eggs. I have been developing this recipe for about a year now and I am so excited to share it with everyone that picks up a copy of the book.

The inspiration for this recipe is two-fold. First, to find a dish that I would enjoy for breakfast, regularly. Prior to last year, I was never a breakfast person. Second, was to create something that has a balance of nutrients to keep me going through a hard workout (one of my passions and what this recipe was developed for), a day of work on the homestead, or just a busy brain day at work. This is an excellent recipe for anyone who wants a powerful and nutritious start to their day no matter what the day might bring. Some of the components can be made ahead, making it ideal for busy folk as well. Plus it is so delicious and satisfying, that I look forward to eating it about 5 days a week. It is also extremely diverse.

“Eggs are an amazing whole food. They are rich in choline, a key ingredient in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is necessary for the healthy communication between brain cells. Studies have shown that choline intake promotes recovery from learning memory disorders in the aging brain, and may even improve psychic function in those with senile dementia or Alzheimer’s. Egg yolks are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, yielding additional brain benefits”. – ThinkFood, Recipes for Brain Fitness

I want to take this further and say that farm fresh eggs that are gotten local from truly free-ranging, pastured birds are even more nutritious. Nutrients can be lost the longer a fresh egg sits in storage, and mass produced eggs can have unwanted antibiotics in them. Birds that are free-ranging eat their natural diet which includes a variety of greens as well as bugs and worms. They are healthier, and therefore their eggs are better for you.

So how can you tell a good quality egg from a bad? Good quality eggs have a deep yellow, almost orange yolk that retains it’s shape when it is cracked open. Instead of a thin white, good eggs have a more viscous part surrounding the yolk and thinner area just around the perimeter.

If you purchase high quality eggs you shouldn’t have a problem with salmonella and other bacteria and viruses. Over 95 percent of all U.S. eggs currently coming from caged hens. Caged hens live their entire lives crammed together. They have no room to even lift their wings. They are stacked on top of each other in cages. Many never even see the light of day. These are mal-nourished and diseased birds. This kind of environment is a breeding ground for all sorts of nastiness. These eggs are at high risk for salmonella and other bacteria. You can tell them apart because they will have pale yellow yolks, a thin white and a bland taste. I believe that eggs are the perfect food, but only if you get the best quality eggs. They are more expensive, but if you do the math, they are on average about 40-50 cents per egg. Can you afford 40 or 50 cents for breakfast?  You can’t afford not to, if you take a look at this video. Think all eggs are the same? It takes 3-4 grocery store eggs to match the nutrition of one pastured free range egg! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRlYLpz1jw

So support your local farmers, or even neighbors who have a few backyard chickens, with extra eggs. To find a local farmer near you, please check out Localharvest.org. Try several different producers and inspect your eggs for color, viscosity and taste. Or better yet, get a few backyard hens for yourself!

(Our girl, Gimpy)

I really can’t wait to share my recipe with you, and all my tips for making it ever more varied. So be sure to sign up for the free recipe of the week program at any time via this link.  You will get an email each week for 50 weeks highlighting each one of the recipes per week. The recipe of the week pages give each blogger’s tips, info about the blogger, and photos along with all of the recipes. There is really no reason why you shouldn’t sign up this minute!

Well, actually you should wait just a minute, because I want to tell you about how you can get your own free copy of ThinkFood.

How to Enter The ThinkFood Book Giveaway:

Anyone is welcome to enter, provided doing so does not violate any local laws of your place of residency. International participants are welcome, but all participants must be over the age of 18.

Please remember that for your entry to count, you must leave a separate comment for every entry you make.

1) DO THIS FIRST (REQUIRED): Tell me your favorite way to cook with eggs, and if you purchase farm fresh eggs.

Optional ways to get more entries:

2) Blog about this giveaway describing why you want to win the book, and link your post to this giveaway. (1 extra entry)

3) Subscribe to The Leftover Queen RSS  feed. (1 extra entry)

4) Enter your email address to Subscribe to Daily Emails. (1 extra entry)

5) Fan The Leftover Queen on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

6) Follow The Leftover Queen on Twitter and tweet @leftoverqueen with a link to the giveaway. (1 extra entry)

If you are already a fan of The Leftover Queen and have done all or some of the above, and wish to enter the contest just write that you already subscribe to the newsletter, facebook page or RSS feed, by email, etc. Make sure to leave a separate comment for every entry.

Why Enter?

1) Because it is free

2) There are tons of awesome recipes and photos for each recipe in the book

3) Who couldn’t use a little more brain health?

The winner will be announced on this post next Tuesday, September 7th. The winner will be drawn at random and contacted on September 7th. The winner has until Thursday Sept. 9th by 10 AM, EST to respond before another winner is chosen.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book for yourself, or for someone else (they make great gifts), you can use this link. They will also be available on Amazon very soon.

It has been a few weeks, since I did a homestead update. Mostly because we have been busy with visitors and homestead projects, as well as our real jobs, and work on some other exciting up and coming projects for The Foodie Blogroll! If you would like to see what our visitors think of spending time up here, check out my mom’s blog, Travel Close Up where she has several posts already up about her visit here (and more to come)!

(black bean flower, tomatoes on the vine, lettuces fresh picked, un-ripe raspberries)

Anyway, things have been wonderfully busy. We have been eating greens, lettuces and radishes from our garden with regularity. We have enjoyed cocktails with the few currants our bushes produced this year (there may be a post on that)  and we are excited to see our potatoes, beans and tomatoes thriving – even a few fruits appearing on our raspberry bush.

We cleared two new beds, one for melons and one for winter squashes. We also cleared some more areas in the back of the garden for rutabagas, cabbage, more turnips, carrots, kale and chard.

(our gimp, Non-Pengunio the possible rooster, and the flock enjoying the out of doors)

The peeps, or I should now call them chicks, are all thriving as well. Our runts have gotten their feathers all in, our gimp, is getting along just fine, eating, putting on weight and running around like the rest of them. Our possible rooster, is starting to look more and more possibly like a rooster as the days go by. They have been enjoying time outdoors in their Chicken Tractor and their new favorite treat is daily doses of greens – tops of carrots, radish and turnip greens – that we have an over abundance of. We are looking forward to getting started on their permanent home, the coop, when my dad comes for a visit in a few weeks. We have been really enjoying our Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds, but all of our Barred Rocks, including the two former runts, have terrible personalities. They peck first and ask questions later, which is all well and good now, but when they are full grown may present a painful problem. So we are a bit bummed about that. But we will see how they mature.

Life is good in Northern Vermont – the heat wave seems to have come and gone, and we are enjoying temps in the 80′s, cool breezes and some summer rains. I am beginning to think that Thistlemoon Meadows is a very appropriate name, as we look out the window often and remark that it looks like we could be in Scotland! Which is not such a bad thing in my book.

Happy Summer to everyone on the Northern Hemisphere!

(I really want to thank our very dear friends Amber AKA Valley Writer, and Mr.ValleyWriter of Adventures in the Pioneer Valley for the beautiful Thistlemoon Meadows sign – here is Amber and I standing behind it! You can check out her post about her visit to Vermont, Visit to the Land of the Locavore, here.)

I have really enjoyed doing these weekly homesteading picture updates, so this is going to be a new regular feature of this blog. We had thought about starting a garden blog, but then decided that gardens and farm animals have everything to do with food – so why not just post about it here! It is going to be really helpful next year to look back at the pictures  and posts to see how the gardens are doing in comparison.

(Clockwise: The flock in their new home, Roberto in the beginning stages of the build, Jenn painting the tractor, middle stage of the tractor, you still need to eat when you are building, Jenn with the flock in their new home!)

We celebrated Summer Solstice in two ways. The first was by finishing a project that we worked on for about a week, from design to getting materials, to building – WE BUILT A CHICKEN TRACTOR! Yep. Our first real construction project, on the homestead, which was prompted by the chicks growing so darn fast!!! We will be building them a coop later in the summer – something bigger, with nesting boxes, and insulated for winter, maybe when my dad comes to visit in August (Dad, if you are reading this, get ready!!!). But we decided on a chicken tractor for now, this way, they have a big space to grow into over the next few months, and then once they are full grown, a few at a time can go out to pasture in it. Sadly though, one of the chicks seems to have hurt her leg, the same day. We did a lot of research on what it could be, and how to fix it, and tried a few different splints and braces which just seemed to make her despondent. Unfortunately it seems that she will either continue to adapt to it (she is doing just fine with it right now), or she won’t and it is probably a genetic pre-disposition.

(Clockwise: chick with hurt leg, the flock on one of their outdoor adventures, big bird on top of the feeder, the flock on one of their outdoor adventures)

The rest of the flock is doing great, even our litter runts. With the bigger space, they are having a blast running around and trying to fly, including our injured one. She is just as wild as the rest, which bodes well for her spirit. We have been letting the birds out a few hours a day on sunny days to get used to being outdoors. Two of our birds have started to become very friendly, and when we open the door to the tractor, they come running over to say hi. We pet them under their beaks and on their chests, and they love it! The injured one has been very good natured, and even started falling asleep in my hands, as we were working on her legs. So keep good wishes for her to continue to adapt, she seems to be a fighter!

(Clockwise: Tomato/Eggplant/Pepper bed, Cucumber/Turnip/Radish/Lettuce bed, All the beds, Potato and Bean field, Currants)

The second thing we did was make our rounds through the gardens and “orchard”, taking pictures. We have already started harvesting lettuces, and it looks like we are just days away from harvesting radishes and currants (only about 3 berries though…). The potatoes and beans, our main crops are going like gangbusters and so far the neem spray and garlic/rosemary/mint infusion have been keeping the critters at bay. Hopefully this weekend we will install fencing, then we can sleep like babies at night.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I am excited to see growing things popping up everywhere! It is amazing to be seeing the beginnings of the fruits of our labors thus far!

From the top, left to right: apricot tree, chestnut tree, yellow raspberry bush, wild strawberries, currants

Bottom, right to left: elderberry bush, Roberto planting the first potato, (top)potato and bean field (75 feet of each), (bottom)blueberry flowers, lettuces, Jenn playing in the trenches

And the peeps? Growing by leaps and bounds in just their first week of life! We already had to upgrade their living quarters!

Top, from left to right: Peeps new digs, peeps at one week old, (top) peeps, (bottom) Rhode Island Red eating her first mosquito – GOOD GIRL!

Bottom, from left to right: Not our chicks, but our resident birds bundles of fluffy joy, Arwen – the fastest developer, she may be a he, and if so shall be re-named Elrond, (top) a Barred Rock at one week, (bottom)Penguino a Silver Laced Wyandotte at one week, a Rhode Island Red looking pretty!

Hope everyone has a great weekend doing whatever you love to do best!

We have PEEPS! Now it is really starting to feel like a homestead around here!

Not that it hasn’t been homesteady all along. I mean we have been working on our garden for the past several weeks, and that is actually really going well. This past weekend we planted spinach, chard, mache, 2 kinds of carrots, 2 kinds of beets, 3 types of onions, nasturtiums, green peas, lettuces, turnips and radishes. Also sage, rosemary and dill – oh and the ever present marigolds. Garden gems for the organic gardener! Not to mention blueberry, raspberries, elderberry, lingonberry and currant bushes. As well as apricot and chestnut trees. We also have tomatoes, peppers and eggplants growing inside right now. We are doing a companion planting garden, and are really excited to see the tops of beets already emerging, as well as onion starters sprouting and either radishes or turnips starting in less than a week. My stepdaughters were here last weekend and even got in on the action. Thanks Rachel and Gwen!

I joked on facebook earlier that today I connected with my Irish roots earlier, by digging 75 feet worth of potato trenches by hand. Good hard work that will hopefully yield hundreds of heirloom varieties – over 8 different kinds. Those will be going in the ground tomorrow. Then this weekend the hot plants – tomatoes, peppers, cukes and melons. Probably squashes if we can squeeze them in.

It has been non-stop work since we got here 6 weeks ago. But it is so nice to see how much we have accomplished – all for an important end -FOOD.

But today was the day I have really been waiting for!!!  My first livestock! A recent passion that has just been growing since we got out to the country. I placed my order for peeps 4 weeks ago – just weeks after arriving. I was not  messing around. I got 3 different varieties – Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandottes (which I was told not to expect, so I only ordered 2) I ended up getting all, including the Wyandottes, but not the rooster I had ordered. We were expecting them tomorrow, but they arrived a day early. So we spent a rushed hour putting the final touches their brooder, where they will stay for the next 3-4 weeks, until it is consistently warm enough for them to be outside in their coop that we have yet to build. Just another project to do here on the farm!

When you get peeps, you have to show them how to drink water by dipping their beaks into the water. When we got them home, they enjoyed the first water and food of their lives, having been born yesterday morning, immediately packed into boxes and shipped out. So we really are raising them by hand. Such a privilege. I hope they enjoy their life at Thistlemoon Meadows!