The Cost Of Eggs

 I am in a lot of different Facebook groups. Egg prices are becoming more and more ridiculously expensive. I was being rather boastful in saying that our egg prices, here in southwest Washington state, were still relatively affordable. While they are, especially when compared to other parts of the country, I have noticed a decided jump in prices.

A few weeks ago, I could buy 5-dozen eggs, at Walmart, for a few cents over $9. That was pretty affordable. Today, that same 5-dozen pack of eggs is over $13. That's a $4 jump in just a few weeks time.



This morning, I went through all of our major stores' websites and gathered screen shots of what they are charging for eggs. I did not get Winco's prices because they do not offer curbside pickup and I don't really shop a lot there as I find the store to be very crowded and I'm not really into crowds. Their prices run very close to Walmart's prices, however.

Here is the cost of eggs at Walmart. One peculiar thing I noticed is that an 18-pack is cheaper than a dozen. I'll definitely go for the 18-packs, if that's the case!

Here is the cost of eggs at Safeway. They are running a bit higher than Walmart is. I watch for sales there and I also watch for markdowns.

Fred Meyer, at this particular time, has the cheapest dozen eggs in our area, at $1.99 per dozen.


As far as getting the best deal for your money, Walmart has this in the bag with their 18-packs of eggs. If you buy 2 18-packs, it will run you just over $5. If you buy 3 dozen from Fred Meyer, it will cost you $5.97.

Now, in a few months, we'll be adding chickens to our little homestead up here. I've been cautioned that chicken feed is expensive. I don't doubt that at all, but, as everyone who knows me can attest to, I will find the best deal on chicken food.

We have our chicken coop. We bought this one off of Facebook Marketplace, last spring, before there was ever an egg shortage, for $100. It has 18 nesting boxes in it. We plan on getting 15-18 chickens. We have those 6 chain-length fence panels. They are 10-feet long x 6-feet high. That will be our chicken run. I will sell extra eggs. I will charge $5 per dozen for my farm eggs. I will get it, too. I am also not above bartering. In fact, I love to barter!

I priced chicken feed this morning. I looked at Wilco Farm Store, but they are super expensive, so I didn't even bother taking a screen shot of their prices.

So, I looked at Tractor Supply Company and Walmart.

Here's the cost of 40-50 lb. bags of food from Tractor Supply Company. I'll go through between 2-3 bags per month with as many chickens as I plan on having.

This is the cost of comparable bags of chicken feed from Walmart. It's much more affordable to get it from Walmart than it is to get it from TSC.

Of course, I'll be supplementing my chickens with garden produce. Remember those huge cabbages that I grew last year? Well, the leaves that we tossed out into the yard to compost down can go to the chickens. Our eggshells can go back to the chickens.

So, in a few months, we'll have laying hens and, hopefully, within the next several months, I'll be selling my eggs to make my chicken venture self-supporting.

Spring Frittata

 We decided to have a veggan meal today. Not vegan. It's veggan. Veggans eat eggs. It's spring. I have some fresh veggies in my fridge. I felt like making a quick meal and that would be a Spring Frittata. This is fantastic served with toast or with a green salad. We made a couple of pieces of toast from that loaf of bread I baked off yesterday.

This recipe starts out with a bit of milk and a cast iron skillet. It doesn't matter what type of milk. You can use whole milk (like I did), you can use 2%, you can use skim, you can use half and half...you can even use oat milk, if that's what you like! It doesn't matter. Just use what you have or what you want.

Next, you crack 6 eggs into the milk. I added in some herbs and freshly cracked black pepper before I mixed it all up.

I used a Penzey's Spice blend called Parisien Bonnes Herbes.This blend contains chives, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil and white pepper. It's absolutely delicious and it's right up there in my top 3 favorites from Penzey's.

Next up, I opted for some nice spring type flavored veggies. I used some spring onions, frozen peas and asparagus.

Just measure out your veggies so that they total one cup. 

These get cooked in a tablespoon of olive oil for about 7 or 8 minutes. You don't have to cook them that long. You could just sprinkle them over the eggs, but for Bob, they have to be cooked. I'm okay with that. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add your beaten eggs in. Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup of cheese (again, whatever cheese you like will work). I used pepper jack. This goes in to the oven for 20 minutes and it comes out like...

This was our veggan dinner tonight. 

So, this dinner was completely from scratch and that includes the strawberry jam, as well.


Spring Frittata


6 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup grated cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup total chopped spring onions, asparagus and frozen peas
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Penzey's Parisiene Bonnes Herbes herb mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk eggs with milk, pepper and herb mix.
In cast iron skillet, saute vegetables in olive oil for 5-8 minutes, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add egg mixture, shake to distribute evenly.
Put in preheated oven. Bake 20 minutes. 

Arroz Chaufa (Peruvian Fried Rice)

 I prepared an Asian chicken recipe last night and cooked extra chicken to make dinner tonight. I've created a week's menu and I'm determined to stick to it. I'm trying to cut down on grocery costs and I'm also trying to make less work for myself. I'm getting older. I'm getting lazier. I am not even ashamed to admit it.
Anyhow, I read several recipes for a Peruvian version of fried rice. This is right up my alley. I can make a pretty mean fried rice, if I do say so myself.

This is what I came up with and it also uses up some of the random things rattling around in the produce crisper drawer.

As usual, with any recipe that has an Asian inspiration, make sure to prep all of the ingredients and have them ready to go. I cooked the rice this morning and chilled it down in the fridge. Rice cookers, I now feel, are a necessity. The funny thing is that I refused to use one until we bought this fifth wheel. Now, I can't imagine not having one. I just add everything in, set a timer and forget about it.

When I chopped the green onions, I separated the white parts from the green parts. This recipe starts out frying a bit of bell pepper (color doesn't matter, just use what you have) and onion. 

As long as carrots are not boiled into a mush, I don't mind them. I added in a small grated one so that I could get more veggies into Bob.He did get his new dentures, but, after going through those radiation treatments, he's left with an overactive gag reflex. So, they are making him gag. He's going to make an appointment and go in and have them fixed. 

After everything (yes, this fried rice has hot dogs in it) gets added in, hit it with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce. Don't judge for the hot dogs. Once in a while, I just crave one.

Top with a sunny-side up egg. Make sure it is crispy on the bottom. 

See? Perfectly crispy. Perfectly cooked. Perfectly delicious. The perfect thing after getting stung by a yellow jacket today...hence, the hot dogs comfort food addition. It's fried rice. It is a dish that you can put anything in and it will taste delicious.

Arroz Chaufa

2 tablespoons avocado oil
4 green onions, sliced, separate the white parts from the green tops
1/2 bell pepper, diced (use whatever color you like, it doesn't matter)
2 hot dogs, sliced
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (whatever you like to do)
2 beaten eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 small carrot, peeled and grated
3 cups cold cooked rice
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 sunny-side up fried eggs with crispy edges

Prep all the ingredients and have them ready to go.
In a large wok, or skillet, over high heat, stir fry the white part of the onions with the bell pepper for 2 minutes. Add the carrot. Continue to stir fry for another 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the chicken and hot dogs. Cook for another minute or so. Add the rice. cook until everything has a slight coating of oil and is hot completely through. Add soy sauce. Toss to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with the green part of the green onions. Set aside until you've cooked the sunny-side up eggs. Place a sunny-side up egg on top of each serving. There will be leftovers if you're making this for 2 people. Just reheat the leftovers in the microwave and top with a freshly cooked egg.

Enjoy!

Shakshuka

 If you're ever stuck as to what to fix for dinner and you don't have a lot of time, Shakshuka is right up your alley. This meal comes together in under 30 minutes and you can adapt to use whatever garden vegetables you have on hand. 

I started out by sauteing diced bell peppers (one of our local stores had an amazing deal on bell peppers, so I picked up all colors of them, diced them all up, put a quart up in the freezer and have half a quart to use up in recipes. I also used half of a peeled zucchini and a quarter of a Walla Walla sweet onion. There's also a couple of cloves of minced garlic in there, too. 

Now, why am I mincing everything up so finely and peeling the zucchini? My husband has had all of his teeth removed and will be getting dentures. He's been dealing with the after effects of having radiation treatments for throat cancer over 10 years ago. There's a spot in his throat that the muscle just doesn't work and food hangs up there and it chokes him. Pair that issue with the fact that radiation treatment wiped his teeth out and he didn't have any molars to properly chew food, well...you get the idea. Cooking has been a challenge, to say the least.
I only have a few more months and he'll have dentures and he'll be able to eat proper food again. First on his list, I'm sure, is a steak and a salad.

Here is my spice blend that I used. It contains paprika, chili powder, ground cumin, basil, oregano and some palm sugar (just a pinch). 

I use 2 eggs per person for this recipe. If you only want one per person, that's fine. Eggs are completely subjective in this recipe.

Now, with the tomatoes, you can either use a can of tomatoes or you can use fresh. It's all up to you. I didn't have enough ripe tomatoes, so I opted to use a can of diced. If you used canned tomatoes, you can use pureed, diced, whole, stewed, it doesn't matter. Since I used canned tomatoes, I used a pinch of palm sugar to take the tin taste out of them. This is when all the vegetables get cooked down into a homogeneous pan full of deliciousness.
This is a different type of cooking for me. Usually, I like my vegetables to retain some of their texture. For Bob, they have to be cooked super soft. Last night, I didn't quite achieve that with the bell peppers. Next time, I will.
Let this stew, over low heat, until the vegetables are done to your taste preference.

Once the tomatoes and vegetables have cooked to your liking, make a well with a spatula and crack an egg into. Continue to cook, over low heat, covered, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. 

You can serve this dish over rice or with toasted bread. I actually put it over mashed potatoes so that Bob could get some substance in him.

Shakshuka
2 servings

 

1 tablespoon avocado oil
1/2 small zucchini, diced (you can peel, if desired)
1/4 small Walla Walla sweet onion
1/3 cup finely diced bell pepper (whatever colors you like, or a mix of colors)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon palm sugar
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste

In large skillet, over low heat, cook all vegetables, except for canned tomatoes, and garlic until very soft, about 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix all spices together, with palm sugar, and set aside. Once the veg is cooked, sprinkle the spice mixture over evenly and cook for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Let heat until simmering. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Make a well in the sauce, with a spatula, and crack an egg into it. Repeat for all eggs. Cover, and continue to simmer over very low heat until the egg whites are set but the yolk is still runny. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes or serve with toasted bread.