Sunday, March 27, 2011

Organic, organic, organic...

From time to time I am asked if our vegetables, eggs, homestead are "organic." We don't routinely use pesticides on our garden, but have when needed. We do not feed our animals any feed with added hormones or give un-needed shots. BUT...are we "organic?" In a short answer, "No." To be qualified as organic you must meet many requirements that frankly I'm just not really interested in doing. We eat eggs from our chickens, pork & beef, vegetables from our garden, & fruit from our trees. We make most of our own soaps, laundry detergent, & cleaning products. So we're trying our best to do things for ourselves when possible. I think all of this "organic" stuff is great, but I think some people may need to do some research on what exactly "organic" means here in the U.S. Just paying more in the store doesn't mean it's always healthier.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Roast Beef Sandwiches

We've all got good recipes for roast beef but here's another one. I made this tonight for supper. We shredded it up and served it on toasted hogie rolls with a bit of au jou (or broth) for dipping. YUMMO!

Roast Beef for Sandwiches
1 beef roast
1 bunch green onions
2 cups beef stock
1 cup water
1 tsp. browning sauce
1 tsp. onion powder

Saute onions in skillet for just a couple of minutes. Place in crockpot. Then brown roast on all sides in the same skillet. Put this in crockpot. Pour on the water, broth, browning sauce, & onion powder. Put on the lid & cook for about 6 hours on high.
When done, shred a bit with a fork. Put on toasted hogie rolls with a dab of mayo & horseradish (ohh I love horseradish) Serve a little bit of sauce in a dish for dipping.

What's kickin' chicken?


Our chickens sure are. We've gotten back to eggs galore!

So the onions are getting flowers, potatoes are coming up in the garden & the brussel sprouts look good. The tomatoes, peppers, & corn have been planted. Tomorrow I'll get the squash seeds in the ground too.

What else is going on tomorrow??? Pig cookin' time. We got one of our hogs cleaned & split. Half will go on the open fire in the morning to cook all day. The skins will be fried & made into chicharrones (pork rinds) and jars of lard to use for cooking. Makes me think back to one of the Little House on the Prairie books I remember reading with the kids.

We decided with all that's going on around here that it was time to get rid of 2 of the pigs. It was just getting too much to keep feeding them all right now. So we are left with just "Gloria" the big mama sweet hog. We hope to breed her later on in the year & then sell the piglets. She will go to another farm to "visit" a boar so that will give us time to get the pen taken down & rebuilt on a better spot in the back.

So that's the plan for our weekend so far.

Hope ya'll have a great night.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Monday Around the Homestead

So today started off really early around our house. My daughter & her dog climbed into our bed as really loud thunder rumbled in the sky. I mean really loud!
The men went to work & we stayed in bed a little longer. I love to listen to the rain on the metal roof.
Later we had some breakfast of homemade granola cereal, did school work, & laundry.
The storm was gone by lunch and we enjoyed the outdoors for a little.
Hubby was home early & we got the animals all taken care of.
Supper tonight was left-overs from my mother-in-law's birthday party we held here on Saturday. For that we had a mexican fiesta...enchiladas, mexican casserole, spanish rice, pinto beans, salsa verde', red salsa, chips, cupcakes & ice cream...Wow!
I plan on sharing the rice recipe tomorrow.
After being up and busy all day I'm just plain old tired. So it's bath & bed for me.
Hope ya'll have a great night.
p.s. I would love to hear some comments if you have them.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

I Help Everyone - Who Is Going to Help Me?

I've watched several videos from this woman lately & they are very inspirational. This one seems to be relevant at the moment for me!
I hope everyone has a blessed day.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Homemade Granola Cereal

6 c. quick oats
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
1 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. powdered milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. kosher salt

Mix all of this well in a big bowl.

Then in a small pot put:

1/2 c. canola oil
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. molasses
1 T. vanilla

Do not boil. Just heat until it will pour easily.

Pour this over your oat mixture. Mix well with a big spoon until it's all covered & turned light brown.

Then put on 2 sprayed cookie sheets. Place in oven at 300* for about 30 minutes. Stir after about every 10 minutes. Watch it because it will burn if you're not careful.

Allow to cool completely. Then you can add dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, or blueberries. Also some sliced almonds are good to mix in too.

I store it in a tupperware type container or a big bowl with a tight-fitting lid.

Enjoy just as you would other cold cereals in a bowl with some milk!

Monday, March 7, 2011

It's been a long time coming...

We've known for a while that the time was near, but now we have exact confirmation. The company my husband works for is closing & it the building has been sold. So we will join many others in the country right now by being unemployed.
Thankfully we've saved & are debt free so I know we will be ok. I have faith that all things happen for a reason even if we don't really know the reason yet.
My daughter & I are getting ready to expand our sales on our cleaning & body products. I am going to make a website & start to sell online and continue locally. When the site is up I will share on here, facebook, & wherever else possible.
Take care & hope ya'll have a blessed day!

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart & lean not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. -Proverbs 3:56

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Lovin' The Farmgirl

My mom gave me a cute little book called "Lovin' the Farmgirl." At the end there are some quotes/exerpts that I thought were so cute & I thought I'd share a couple of them.

You know you're a farmgirl when as soon as you see a car pulling down the lane to your house, you instantly get up and make a fresh pot of coffee!

You know you're a farmgirl when you get a wheelbarrow for your anniversary or Valentine's day and say, "It's just what I wanted!"

You know you're a farmgirl when the best part of your day is slipping on your mud boots to head outside.

You know you're a farmgirl when an entire conversation with your girlfriends revolves around hay.

You know you're a farmgirl when you're most likely to be found in the barn than in the beauty parlor.

Cute! I'll share some others later.
Hope ya'll have a good day!