Chicken Ramp Success and a Nice Meal

I know this is going to sound corny BUT I am totally thrilled to have over 200 visits to my blog in less than a week.  Even though half of them are probably my husband. (I think he is spying to see what I write about him!!)

On a different note I want to share two things today: The new chicken coop ramp and my dinner...which I whipped together (because my chef hubby was not home) all by myself. It was DELISH!!!

As you all know if you read the How To Train a Chicken post from last week we attempted to add a ramp in the coop for the birds to have easier access to the roost. Our first attempt was cool and functional but not wide enough for the larger hens. Today we broke out all the power tools and got busy. We used extra wood left over from other projects that we had laying around the barn. Which brings me to another point. FREE PALLETS!! Yes, if you just take a little time to look online (Craigslist) or drive around the neighborhood you will be surprised how much wood you can find for free.  My husband and I have built so many things out of free pallets. Herb planters, flower pots, tomato stakes, chicken tractor, coop ramp and even a bench. I am sure there are more projects I can't remember.  And lets not forget....IT WAS FREE!
Now that I am off my PALLET soap box let me continue. Todays chicken coop ramp was built from 3/4in X 7 inch planks connected together for length and 10 inch wide plywood strips. We also used old shoe molding from another project for grips because the ramp is quite steep.

New ramp on Left, Last weeks ramp in back of coop.

Next on the list for the coop is to hang the feeder to get it off the ground and to modify a five gallon bucket for their drinking water.

On to my delicious meal I made this evening. I have an extreme love for perogies. Thanks to my best friend Rhonda and her Canuck/European family for the introduction. The problem is Rhonda gets homemade perogies when Mama comes to town and I DON't!! So I have had to do my research and resort to buying them from the freezer section. I used to get a decent version of them at Trader Joe's until they decided to discontinue them---Bummer. Until now I have been out of luck. Last week in my International Night post I mentioned visiting some unique grocery stores.  During my visit to the Euro Market I discovered these:

Grandma's perogies

Not only did I find this version but about six other kind including Sweet Cherry perogies, Ukrainian perogies, potato and bacon, sauerkraut, and the list goes on. Tonight I finally had the opportunity to cook some up and let me tell you they did not disappoint. I immediately contacted my friend because I was so thrilled. I am sure there are several ways to have them, however Rhonda taught me to saute' them with butter and onions. The package suggested boiling them but that sounded a bit mushy for my taste. Instead I boiled them for 3 1/2 minutes right out of the freezer and then sautéed them in butter and onions in a Wok. I then tossed in some green onion salt and pepper at the end. They were DELISH!! I do not know if you can get these where you live but it is worth looking. It is a very quick and easy meal.

Perogies with sour cream

What is there left to say after that meal, except Good Night and THANKS to the hubby for helping with the ramp today!!