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Home › Articles › Nutrition and Your Health › Organic Chicks and Eggs

Organic Chicks and Eggs

Heralding the Arrival of Spring Organically

By Jacqueline M. Duda

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"The advantage to buying organic livestock and meat products is knowing what went into raising the animal," Kuykendall says. In terms of poultry and livestock, it's what the farmers feed the animal that counts, and how they've been raised. "Even before regulations were developed and enforced, this has always been Applegate's priority. Our tagline is taste, truth and trust," she says. Their organic poultry comes from livestock raised exclusively on certified-organic, 100-percent vegetarian feed grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers or other harmful chemicals.

Clucking up the Right Tree

Not only do organic eggs and poultry come to your kitchen pesticide, antibiotic and hormone free, they taste great and are assured safe. "The products have to taste good," Kuykendall says. "There's no compromise." Organic food products come from environments that have been treated as well as the animals.

And with all the recent livestock illnesses and disease scares, buying organic removes the fear and uncertainly of purchasing possibly tainted meat. Organic farmers follow the natural cycle, going as far as to use eggs shells in their composting materials. What comes from the earth ultimately goes back to the earth. "They [organic farmers] preserve the soil and protect the environment from degradation," Bratnober says. "This, along with the strict rules as to how the chickens are treated, helps create healthy chickens and premium quality eggs."

And what better time than spring to enjoy a food philosophy paying tribute to Mother Nature's natural life cycle of rebirth and renewal?

Natural Egg Dyes

Kuykendall recommends natural food products and even spices to color the annual Easter eggs. Her family makes their own dyes from coffee grounds, beets, blueberries and red onions. "My kids experiment with a variety to achieve different colors," she says. The process takes longer. It's not instantaneous like store-bought methods, but what better way to spend some quality holiday time with your family?

Boiling eggs in large amounts of red onion skins produces a wonderful red; use smaller amounts of skins for a lovely lavender shade. Soaking eggs in pickled beets brings out a nice pink hue. Rub cranberries and blueberries directly on the shells to produce a soft blue or pink. Adding turmeric to vinegar and a cup of hot water makes a terrific yellow. Grape juice and violet blossoms bring forth a lustrous purple.

Organic Deviled Eggs

Courtesy of Egg Innovations, LLC

8 organic eggs
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon creamy salad dressing
1 pinch paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place eggs in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water and cool. Peel and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and combine with mustard, salad dressing and salt and pepper. Mix together until smooth. Refill each egg half with the yolk mixture and sprinkle with paprika. Makes eight to 10 servings.

Organic Holiday Egg Delight

Courtesy of Egg Innovations, LLC

8 organic eggs, lightly beaten
10 slices white bread
3/4 pound shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 pound shredded Monterey jack cheese
3/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Butter all the slices of bread on one side and cut them into 1-inch squares. Butter a large shallow baking dish. Evenly distribute half the bread cubes in the dish. Sprinkle the cubes with half of the cheeses. Repeat layers.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the bread and cheese mixture (bread will soak up the liquid). Refrigerate eight to 24 hours before baking. Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour and 15 minutes or until brown, checking often. Makes eight to 10 servings.


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