I'm in the kitchen...

Cage-free eggs were on markdown at the grocers this week, so I picked up two dozen. These are the only eggs, besides farm fresh, that I will use to make roasted eggs. If you've never had them, you don't know what you're missing. To me, they are much better than any hard-boiled egg I've ever tasted.

The recipe for roasted eggs is quite simple. Place the eggs on a cookie sheet with sides and allow to warm to room temperature. Place sheet in oven, and set to 200 degrees. Cook eggs for 90 minutes at 200, then increase temp to 350 degrees. Continue roasting for 30 minutes. When done, the eggs with have brown spots on the outside of the shell from the moisture escaping. Cool and place back in carton. Refrigerate. Then, use them like hard-boiled eggs.

These are a great protein snack, and help cut the budget, too. I only make these at Passover, or when I can find the eggs on sale, because the Egglands brand are so expensive here.

At Food Pyramid, I found Filo dough on clearance for $1 per box, marked down from $4.99, I believe. I had a chicken recipe I wanted to try, so I purchased a few boxes for the freezer.

Last night, I made the Chicken Filo Packets. They were very simple and had a pretty good flavor, but I don't know that I would make them on a regular basis. I'm usually not one to make fussy foods, and this one seemed like it should be saved for a special occasion, so I think that's what I'll do.
When the chicken came out of the oven, I put in a dish of basil leaves I picked from the garden that morning. The oven had been at 350 to cook the dinner, so I decided to just put the basil in and let it dry while the oven was cooling. (Above is the "after" picture")

This morning, I got the basil out, crushed it in my palms, and filled a recycled spice jar I had in the pantry. I'm going to try this "homemade" basil in Chicken Rice Soup before too long. If it tastes right, I'm going to dry more for the pantry before winter sets in.

Here's a handy website all about basil.