When we started homesteading one of our main goals was to see how much of our own food we could grow and raise. So far we’ve raised hogs, chickens for eggs and meat, goats for milk, two turkeys a year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, grow a large garden and have an apple tree. As time and money allows, we have plans to add grass fed beef, more fruit trees, and a larger variety of vegetables in our garden. Right now every meal we eat has at least one homegrown thing in it, and most meals average at least 50% to 70% homegrown. After all the hard work that goes into growing your own food, it’s very rewarding to sit around the table with the family enjoying it all.

The first summer after we started homesteading, we had chickens for eggs and a garden. You know how the supplies in the pantry sometimes start to run low, yet there are several days until payday? While there are things to fix and you can easily get by, nothing really goes together or you’re lacking at least one ingredient to every idea you come up with. Well, we were going through one of those times. As I searched through the few items in the pantry and tried to come up with something creative, it dawned on me that there was a variety of vegetables in the garden and freshly laid eggs in the coop. At the time, our hens had just started to lay and the garden had been producing for a while, but we just weren’t used to thinking of using those things as a main source for our meals. The kids and I decided to challenge ourselves to come up with some sort of meal from the things we gathered around our little farm.

While it’s nothing fancy, we came up with something that’s plain, simple, basic, quick, easy, and best of all, delicious. It’s so delicious in fact, that it’s become a favorite brunch item that we fix on a regular basis… even when the pantry is stocked full. I made it for lunch today…

First I went out and gathered anything that sounded good from our farm yard. Here’s what I gathered:

The apple tree is full of apples which are starting to ripen. They still have a ways to go but we’ve been trying a few every once in a while and they get better each time. I thought they sounded good with lunch today so I picked a few to go along with this meal.

Next, I sliced up all the vegetables. What’s nice about this is any vegetables you like will work in it. I’ve used different combinations of zucchini and other squash, potatoes, peas, spinach, garlic and okra. All have been very good, and what’s nice is you can vary the ingredients to get a different taste every time. If you use vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes for example, you will need to start cooking those first before adding others that require less cooking time.

 I added several TBS of butter, and once it was melted, I added the green pepper and onions.

 When they started to get soft, but still had a lot of firmness to them, I pushed them off to the side. Next I added a little more butter in the skillet, put in two eggs and salt and peppered to taste. I let the eggs cook a bit before I added the tomatoes because I don’t like the mushy texture of tomatoes if they’re cooked too long.

 Once it was all done, I put in on a plate and added sliced cucumbers and apples to the side.

 It’s a delicious, quick and easy meal that’s very filling. Best of all it’s made with 100% real food ingredients and everything used, except the butter, was grown right here on our little farm. Even if you don’t grow your own garden or have your own chickens, this still would be an easy, low cost meal to make. Most ingredients can be found fairly cheaply at the farmers market or at the grocery store. Whenever I make this through the winter, buy everything except the eggs from the store. I try to choose the freshest looking produce and grab things when they are on sale. Even when I can’t find things on sale, it’s still very economical to make. 

Here is the recipe:

What’s your favorite real food quick and easy go to meal?

This was shared on Homestead Blog Hop, Home and Garden Thursday, Crafty Blog Stalker,  Real Food Fridays, Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Also Shared on From the Archives Friday