Yesterday two of my barred rock chickens hopped our fence into the neighbors yard. Unfortunately, the divider fences are 4 foot chain link – so quite easy for a chicken to jump up to.

Well the pugs (there are 5 of them) were not too tolerant and I will spare the actual details. One chicken is missing and presumed dead and the other hen’s back end was a mess. My husband Josh and his friend Mark tried cleaning and patching her up last night not certain if she was going to make it.

My thought was she would most likely get an infection and die eventually. I am so upset. I know it isn’t my neighbors fault at all… and as a precaution Josh ended up clipping the rest of the new chickens flight wings to be on the safe side.

We placed her comfortably in a cat carrier and left her in the house last night hoping for a miracle I guess. But my husband came into the bedroom this morning and said, even though she is alert and still alive he didn’t think she could be saved with the extent of her injuries. My concern was if she did heal — which could possibly take months — would she be able to go to the bathroom and even lay an egg. The damage was horrible in the area of her Cloaca. And unfortunately that opening serves as the only opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of chickens. So we decided instead of chancing her to worsen or end up getting an egg impacted down the line — it would be best to put her down. AGH, I feel so horrible.

The kids are upset. We haven’t buried her, yet, because kids want to help with that part. Breaks my heart.

Yesterday my daughter and I attended a birthday party that was serving pizza and cupcakes. So armed with that knowledge before hand, I made gluten free cupcakes and 2 personal size gluten free pizzas to bring to the party.

I made Pepperoni Pizza with the Ener-G Yeast Free Pizza Shells and have to say the pizza came out really tasty and the crust was great. I baked the pizzas before I left for the party and then the hosts reheated the pizzas a couple of hours later in the oven and to my amaze came out great! The crust was chewy in the middle and had a nice crisp on the outer crust.

Definitely will have to make more pizzas with these pizza shells.

I love Shrimp and my husband loves Chinese Walnut Shrimp… and since I am allergic to walnuts well I decided to come up with my own version and I think it is WAY BETTER than what you would get at the Chinese Restaurants any day… and is more affordable and you get more on your platter.

Originally written on July 22, 2014

Honey Pecan Shrimp

Crispy battered shrimp tossed in a creamy, sweet mayonnaise mixture, topped with caramelized pecans!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup pecans
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1-1/2 teaspoons honey
1-1/2 teaspoons condensed milk
1 pound medium to jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 – 3/4 cups cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Heat 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir, constantly, until golden and thickened. Add pecans and gently toss to combine. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined plate.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey and condensed milk; set aside.
Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste.
Working one at a time, dip the shrimp into the egg, then dredge in the cornstarch, pressing to coat.
4. Working in batches, add the shrimp to the skillet, and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy.
5. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
6. In a large bowl, combine shrimp and honey mixture.

Serve immediately, topped with candied pecans.

Adapted from http://damndelicious.net/

My husband is allergic to MSG… and with us being Gluten Intolerant it is recommended to stay away from MSG because if you are Gluten Intolerant than most likely you are MSG intolerant as well. Anyhow, I came across this article about ingredients that have “Hidden MSG” on the labeling and I actually had no clue.

“Toxic hidden MSG ingredients buried in popular items:

Autolyzed Yeast Extract (Hidden MSG)
Textured or Hydrolyzed Proteins (Hidden MSG and GMO)
Hydrolyzed Corn (Hidden MSG and GMO)
Modified Starches (Hidden MSG or Possible GMO)
Natural Flavors (Possible Hidden MSG)
Disodium Inosinate or Disodium Guanylate (MSG enhancers)

The additives Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate are not added to a product that doesn’t contain MSG because they are considered expensive additives that are ineffective without MSG ingredients. The presence of Disodium Guanylate or Disodium Inosinate in a product is a strong indication that a product contains hidden MSG.”

You can read the article for yourself at: http://foodbabe.com/2014/03/23/if-youve-ever-eaten-pizza-before-this-will-blow-your-mind/

We are off to camping one last time before the weather becomes way too cold. We won’t have cell coverage — so I will talk to you on Sunday!

I am excited to be venturing from Facebook over to WordPress. But fear not – I will be updating both pages together, so Facebook will not be neglected nor deleted any time soon!

As always, you can still find all my original stuff on Facebook at: Small Town Living in Nevada with a side of Gluten Intolerance