Quick Cheese and Chive Scrambled Eggs on Toast
Free-Range Friday:
Eggcellent Recipe Ideas with Compassion and Love
When I was approached by the British Hen Welfare Trust and asked if I would support Free-Range Friday, I was delighted to accept on many counts. Firstly, I am a “Chicken Mother” to some lovely, feisty, feathered broads known as the Coronation Chickens, you can read all about them here and here; and, I can assure you that once you have kept chickens, and have seen how happy they are scratching around in the earth as well as chasing insects, you will NEVER consider buying non free-range eggs or chicken ever again. That coupled with the grim discovery of just how bad conditions must be when you adopt ex-battery hens – it is a real shock when you see them, no feathers, raw bottoms and scared of light and open spaces – battery farming is an abomination and should never have been allowed to run for as long as it did in the UK, it’s simple, NO excuses at all! Sorry! It is a cruel and unnecessary form of bad animal husbandry…..and it makes my blood boil. But, things are looking up and it’s all down to the efforts of the British Hen Welfare Trust and all the kind and compassionate people who have re-homed ex-battery hens.
Happy hens at Exe Valley Eggs, Devon
It’s seems simple to me, the quality of food you eat is linked to the quality of farming and care; you only have to see the sad pale colour of a battery farmed egg compared to rich golden yolk of a free-range one to see an immediate comparison, apart from the obvious cruelty implications. And, that is why I have always supported free-range egg production, even before I started to keep hens, I would rather buy less or go without eggs than buy battery farmed ones! But, let’s move on to the idea of Free-Range Friday. The aim of Free Range Friday is to raise funds and awareness for the British Hen Welfare Trust by asking individuals, companies and community groups to hold a get together with friends, family or colleagues and cook or bake using free range eggs. Fundraising packs are provided which include all the materials to get you started such as; invitation cards, posters, stickers and a handy guide full of ideas of how to make your event a success. Funds will be raised by guests making a donation towards their Free Range Friday, whether that’s a breakfast, brunch, lunch, picnic in the park, tea time pancakes or 5 course dinner. I think it is a BRILLIANT and FUN way to get involved, and I am happy to promote and support it through Lavender and Lovage.
A re-homed ex-battery hen
And, as it is also British Farmhouse Breakfast Week, what better Friday to promote this great cause than today! I always eat breakfast, whether I am on a diet or not, and eggs always feature regularly on our breakfast menu. I have decided to share some of my breakfast egg recipes today, all made with home-grown free-range eggs, and all EGGcellent of course!
EGGcellent Recipes:
(All the recipes below use free-range eggs)
Baked Full English Breakfast with eggs of your choice
Blueberry & Oat Pancakes with Cinnamon
French Egg & Tomato Breakfast Tartine
LOW CALORIE Breakfast Omelette
Mexican Breakfast Eggs – Two Ways
Scrambled Eggs with Goat’s Cheese, Perfect for Breakfast, Brunch or High Tea
Traditional Easter Marbled Pace Eggs
Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day and a Quire of Paper – a Stack of Pancakes with Lemon & Sugar
Buttermilk Pancakes with Banoffee Bananas & Cream
Eggs Benedict for Brunch…..the Cheats Way
Authentic Scotch Eggs with Sausage and Sage
Quick Cheese and Chive Scrambled Eggs on Toast
That’s all for today, I do hope you have enjoyed my eggs recipes, have a GREAT weekend, see you later, Karen.
BECOME A CARING CONSUMER
There are several ways in which you can help caged hens indirectly:
By becoming a caring consumer
By word of mouth
By the written word
Egg on the free range farmers
Many supermarkets acknowledge the growing trend towards ethical eating and as well as offering free range shell eggs, offer processed food products containing free range eggs or egg derivatives. Please support these hen friendly supermarkets, take the time to tell a member of staff that is why you choose to shop there or fill in a customer comments form so you can be sure that management get to hear your views.
Start crowing about free range farming
Talking about caged hens is one of the best ways to enlist support. Tell your family, friends and work colleagues they too can help take a hen out of her cage simply by selecting products that use eggs from welfare friendly sources.Of course, those of our supporters who offer free range retirement to some ex-bats have the perfect excuse to spread the word about their feathered family members; in fact left to their own devices, the hens will do a pretty good PR job themselves!
Drop a line
There are many ways in which you can help caged hens by writing to:
Your local MP
Your local supermarket
Food manufacturers
Coffee and Crumpets says
I totally agree! They are treated so cruelly, even here, they continue to have battery farms. I wholeheartedly support free range chickens and eggs. Other eggs taste absolutely nasty. One summer my cousin was visiting and I made breakfast, and I noticed he didn’t eat the eggs. He informed me that he had stopped eating eggs because they tasted nasty. I asked him to try the ones I had made and he was was stunned at the difference. Since then, he gets his mum to buy free range, organic and has also taken to raising chickens!
I wish I could become a part of this great movement but alas, being in the US I can’t help the UK. Keep up the great work Karen!
Nazneen
Karen Booth says
Thanks so much Nazneen, I am sure you can source free-range eggs in the States from farm shops maybe? I am so glad you are with me and the British Hen Welfare Trust, in spirit if not in body! Karen
Dominic says
only ever choose free-range and when possible, which is mostly, I actually buy direct from the farmer… one of the many benefits of living rurally… love your scrambled eggs… I adore scrambled eggs x
Karen Booth says
Yes, love farm eggs; when I lived in Thornton le Dale, I used to buy my eggs from the local farm, I used to walk down there with Hannah and pay by an honesty box! Karen
Lancashire Food says
Totally agree Karen, as a “Mum” to 5 girls its always free range for me. Great campaign 🙂
Karen Booth says
Hello to another chicken mum! Great campaign isn’t it Linzi!
Fiona Harris says
Lovely post! Im a huge lover of eggs so im going to try out some of your tasty recipes 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks Fiona! 🙂 Karen
Fiona Harris says
Only buy free range of course!!
Karen Booth says
That’s brilliant!
Fiona Matters says
Those chickens are so cute! I’d love chickens. However living on the sixth floor sort of makes it difficult.
Karen Booth says
I LOVE my chickens Fiona!
kellie@foodtoglow says
Lovely egg-tastic post, Karen. As you know, I also keep hens, but in my suburban back garden, so I really appreciate how these hard-working gorgeous creatures deserve the highest standards in care. We are lucky that here in the UK we lead the world in animal welfare, but still there is so much more to do. Aside from supporting the British Hen Welfare Trust (where we get signposted about hens that need rehoming), may I add Compassion In World Farming as another great organisation devoted to helping commercially-raised animals and fish have a more humane life and death. http://www.ciwf.org.uk/ I will clamber off my soapbox now!
Karen Booth says
Thanks Kellie! I DO know that you keep hens too, and I have often ooohed and ahhhed over the photos when you post them! I cannot understand how anyone could have even dreamed up the idea of keeping these lovely animals in cages, over-crowded and and with no grass, sunlight or anywhere to run and forage…..it is bewildering, and as I said when I was on my soap box, cruel and unnecessary.
THANKS so much for the link to World Farming, I am not a vegetarian, but I DO care passionately how animals are treated before they end up on my plate. I am a VERY strong advocate of traditional animal husbandry, with natural gestation periods and a high quality of life…..it’s all about respect and compassion, as well as a higher quality of food.
Karen (also putting soap box away!)
Patricia Shea says
Free range all the way for me too – luckily I am a friend to my farmers and get the freshest most delicious eggs from chickens who wander freely and live full and happy lives – and their eggs taste FANTASTIC!!! I too support the British Hen Trust and have a link to them on my blog – thanks for this important post – Patricia 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks Patricia, and I am so pleased to see that there are lots of others out there who agree with my sentiments! I will pop over to see your blog later….. Karen
Patricia Shea says
Thanks Karen – I have pinned this post too 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks! Hopefully we can change people’s habits!
Jen @ BlueKitchenBakes says
Absolutely agree with you Karen. I have only ever bought free range eggs even when I first left home to go to uni it would be free range or go without. I tried to educate my housemates but sadly this sometimes fell on deaf ears. My parents have been keeping chickens for a few years now and they are the most free range hens you could imagine and the eggs they produce are gorgeous. I would love to have my own chickens one day as they are so fun to watch! Thanks for sharing your egg recipes and highlighting the importance of free range 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks Jen! I think if all the doubters went to a battery farm and saw first hand the conditions, they would NEVER buy battery eggs again! My daughter was the same at uni’ and she also tried to educate her flat mates, but, without much success……oh well, I think we are now winning on this campaign, thankfully! Karen
Galina V says
Great post and lots of delish photos! I don’t buy battery eggs, as I think miserable chickens will produce miserable eggs.
Choclette says
Excellent post Karen, I can’t bear intensive animal farming of any description and I have never knowingly bought an egg that wasn’t free range. One day, I hope to have chickens of my own, but until that day comes I will try to buy from local producers who really do have hens running around outside and able to eat insects, worms, grass and most importantly slugs!
Maya Russell says
I only buy free range eggs and try to get them from a local place where I know the eggs are fresh. Less likely to get the yucky, runny egg whites.
Eleanor Wigmore says
I only buy free range eggs but even better are the organic ones I bought recently from a farmer’s market. Lovely dark yolks!
Lynne OConnor says
Totally agree. Even if you aren’t concerned about the conditions chickens live in, the taste of free range eggs has no comparison
SARAH LOUGHRIDGE says
My friend has her own hens which run free – my kids love the blue eggs from one of the little hens! Free range eggs are so nice – and the hens are happy too!
Jayne Sullivan says
I always buy free range eggs. I wish there was some guarantee though, no way to actually check !
Isobelle says
Luckily a lot of shops sell free range eggs quite reasonably priced where I live, and I love them. I have previously eaten eggs from caged hens because sometimes like all of us money has been super tight and my family get through them at an alarming rate but it’s definitely worth spending those extra pence for happy chickens and the lovely flavour of the eggs with their health benefits.
Lisa Williams says
Fantastic ideas I am going to have to work my way through these now 🙂
Lisa Williams says
I am getting through these and there is not a bad or so so recipe among them 🙂
sophie buckle says
Really enjoyed this post thanks!!!
Victoria Androsova says
Will need to try one of your recepes
Arabella Bazley says
I think other people have mentioned that local farms/hen fanciers with honesty boxes are increasingly popular and you can recycle your own egg boxes too that way.
shelley jessup says
That chesese & chieve scrambled egg looks so tasty. Due to crohns diease Im unable to eat egg but I will be showing my mother this as both my parents really enjoy scrambled eggs.
Maya Russell says
I love to see free range chickens scratching around and clucking away happily. You know their eggs are so much better.