Just another Day on the Farm

Bringing in Dec with Bells on!

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

This weekend has been busy, busy, but if you are to busy to ride, you are to busy! You can always tell when the horses want to go out, I went riding yesterday on Sam with friends, and it was a very good but brisk time, most of it was spent in a trot 🙂

Today it was just hubby and me, we took a nice calm, steady two hour or so ride, there was riding and training for both horses in how to be ponied, among other training parts to the ride..

If you look close in the photo of me and sam, you will see that we have bells hanging off the saddle, two per side, and so with each step, the bells would ring out, talk about winter wonderland. Just lovely!

How did you bring in Dec? What did you do for the very first day the last month of the year!?

Lamb Sauerkraut Soup

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

When you wake up to a wall of white all around the farm, you know its a perfect day for a crock pot of hot soup.. This is a leftover soup, but it can be made from start if needed.. its rich and full with a lovely tang.

Take 1 to 2 cups of leftover diced lamb
1 quart of diced tomato’s or 1 of those extra large cans
2 cups of canned corn
3 cups of mixed veggies
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 cups of beef or mushroom broth
2 cups of sauerkraut

In your pot, a tiny bit of oil to simmer your diced garlic and onion till soft, then add your broth, tomato’s, veggies and leftover meat, heat and simmer till veggies are tender, add in two cups of drained sauerkraut and heat though, salt, pepper to taste and serve.

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged lamb soup | 1 Comment

I adore stuffing! Love the stuff.. Barley-Cranberry Stuffing Recipe

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

But, I am not really allowed stuffing on the new food diet but its the holiday’s dang it, and the last time I made stuffing, I eat the leftover stuffing! It was one of my biggest to date opps, and given that I add in lots of onions, garlic, celery and fruit etc, it was not the worlds worst stuffing in any way but it was still a rule breaking and I was not happy about that, but Christmas is coming and I know that I am going to want stuffing and while a little bit of the regular kind is fine in a meal setting.. I normally like a good amount of stuffing and so I dug and found this awesome whole grains, slow carb barley stuffing and if you like barley and I love the stuff, its pretty darn good.. It will never be “true” stuffing but I like it.

2 cups of white bone broth- turkey, chicken or pork will work

1 cup of uncooked pot barley

1 large onion finely diced

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

2 tbsp. of slivered almonds toasted

poultry season, sage, salt, pepper, garlic powder

Add all the above into a small slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, Or

Do all the above in a large slower cooker and put beboned chicken breasts or a single large turkey breast or a med sized pork roast on top, I recommend you brown your meat in a cast iron pan before adding it on top and cook on slow for 4 to 6 hours.

Enjoy a slow carb stuffing!

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged Barley cranberry stuffing, slow carb stuffing, Whole grain stuffing | Leave a comment

Snow day fun!

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Posted in Life moves on daily | Leave a comment

Old Man Winter says hello!

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

This makes for very very happy hounds and not so happy everyone else on the farm LOL

Posted in Life moves on daily | 5 Comments

One month in.. total of 15.9.. not bad at all.

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Start of another week for weigh in, Total loss to date : 15.9 , well look at that, I am back down to my pre-holiday weight, thank you!, thank you!

Oct 27th- 54.6
Nov 2nd 50
Nov 9th- 46.2
Nov 16th – 42
Nov 23rd -38.7

It was a rough week, I had a stuffing day that I was sure to really throw me off, I had two meals where I really over eat, good food yes but still far to big of portions, I didn’t get enough excerise, but none the less, the care given the rest of the time, was reflected in the scale this morning,

I am still being faithful in my daily food and fertility journey blogging but I do find it hard on some days to write it out.

I have never been on so many meds, herbs or had such a restrictive food program, but I am adjusting, my taste buds are getting better, I have figured out that I can do black pepper splits as a slow eating treat, I am allowed the seeds and as long as you do them one at a time, your pre-measured bowl goes along way.

I am still finding giving up coffee, tea and all other forms of caffeine including chocolate to be one of the hardest, much harder then giving up fried foods or sugar.

Month one of the pre-pregnancy cleanse is done! Two more to go and then we are allowed to start trying, If I can keep up the good work, I will for sure meet the goal of 26 pounds off by the end of month three!

Blessings to all!

Posted in Goals | 1 Comment

Dill Potato Sauerkraut Soup recipe

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Hi guys, I have picked up a number of Russian cookbooks and a version of this soup was in it, I changed a few things around on this one, added garlic, added corn, changed cream to sour cream etc

you can easily modify this recipe up or down in size, I made a nice pot for the two of us, that made four bowls of soup. (normal bowls, not the huge massive ones)

A tiny touch of oil, it was duck fat but any kind will do.

One diced onion, two cloves of garlic, cook till clear and softened

Add in six cups worth of a white broth, (I used chicken but pork would work as well)

3 large washed, peel and cubed potato’s, cook till soften, give them a mash, you want at least half of them to become small bits and thicken the soup.

Add in a can of corn, it can be canned, or frozen or creamed if you wanted, I used nibblest, and I included the juice, heat it though, and add salt, pepper and dill to suit your taste buds.

Then add in one to two cups of Sauerkraut, stir it though and heat it up, (careful here, it can stick to the bottom), serve up with a spoon of sour cream on top of the soup..

Very good, thick and tasty, has a nice dill, sour flavour.

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged Dill Potato Sauerkraut Soup recipe | Leave a comment

Castor oil packs? – anyone ever used one?

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Hello Folks,

Have any of you ever used a castor oil pack, and if so, did you like it, what did you use it for? I have started to do so this week and am really wanting to have first hand feedback on it, please an thanks

I am doing the typical castor oil pack, I have pulled it from this site, rather then write it out in my own words but its the same process.

http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/dietarytherapy/a/CastorOilPack.htm

What is a Castor Oil Pack?

A castor oil pack involves the use of cloth soaked in castor oil which is placed on the skin. It’s used by some alternative practitioners to enhance circulation and to promote the healing of the tissues and organs underneath the skin. Alternative practitioners also use it to improve liver function, relieve pain, reduce inflammation and to improve digestion.

How is a Castor Oil Pack Made?

Castor oil packs are made by soaking a piece of flannel in castor oil and placing it on the skin. The flannel is covered with a sheet of plastic, and then a hot water bottle is placed over the plastic to heat the pack.

A castor oil pack can be placed on the following body regions:

The right side of the abdomen. Castor oil packs are sometimes recommended by alternative practitioners as part of a liver detox program.
Inflamed and swollen joints, bursitis, and muscle strains.
The abdomen to relieve constipation and other digestive disorders.
The lower abdomen in cases of menstrual irregularities and uterine and ovarian cysts.

Safety

Castor oil should not be taken internally. It should not be applied to broken skin. It should not be used during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or during menstruation.

Materials

Three layers of undyed wool or cotton flannel large enough to cover the affected area
Castor oil
Plastic wrap cut one to two inches larger than the flannel (can be cut from a plastic bag)
Hot water bottle
Container with lid
Old clothes and sheets. Castor oil will stain clothing and bedding.

Method

1. Place the flannel in the container. Soak it in castor oil so that it is saturated, but not dripping.

2. Place the pack over the affected body part.

3. Cover with plastic.

4. Place the hot water bottle over the pack. Leave it on for 45-60 minutes. Rest while the pack is in place.

5. After removing the pack, cleanse the area with a dilute solution of water and baking soda.

6. Store the pack in the covered container in the refrigerator. Each pack may be reused up to 25-30 times.

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged castor oil packs | 3 Comments

Introducing Puddin and Sweek!

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

The newest members of the farm, they are wee babes, just weaned, I got to meet the parents and they are all set up in their cage, they are cuddlers for sure. Better pictures once they are more settled and comfortable.

They purr..

Puddin

Sweek

Posted in Critters | 5 Comments

Finally! Its all done!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Its finally all done, the farm is still very much the farm but the things that had been getting pushed back and NEEDED to be done, all done now! Awesome.. the grow out rabbits are butchered out, the does to be breed and going to their new homes at Farmer T’s are now, The rabbit hutches are all cleaned out and ready for winter, and we are down to just one grow out pen away from being done, back down to my regular number of does and my buck! no more grow out pens/crates.

the whole one section of fence has been replaced and rebarbwired, Miss Gilt has gone to her new home, the sheep are done, the lambs are tagged and went today to the butcher, and will be in freezer camp and off to their new buyers homes starting after pickup next weekend, the ewe’s have had all their pre-natal care done, and are ready to go on to being fat and sassy momma’s.

The ferrier has come this in this past week and sam got his second foot trimming and is doing well, like I promised, no riding at all till we got the lists done. Garbage bags of things have been taken out, this week a small load of scrap metal will be heading of the farm so that it will be gone before the snow flies.

The house has gotten this and that and all kinds of things done to it, I had a full day off the farm during the week, where I went to a dear friends and taught soap making, in total six different batches were made up and will be come some much adored xmas presents for folks

A dear friend was having a very very rough week and many prayers and time was spent on doing our very best in a number of ways to help as much as we could.. my momma always said, look after yourself, then your family, then your friends, then your community and if we all did that, we would be so much better off for it.

On the diet front, I have done very well this week in terms of keeping to my rules but it was a much slower week on lose, I only went down 2.6 pounds, but a lot of that was because of no riding! for the horses, been taking a bit of extra care in sleeping, trying and getting more solid sleep, a for sure side effect to the changes being made in the food lifestyle. My hormones are all over the place and its having a effect on a number of things, I guess that is because all the herbs and meds I am on!

Picked up Duck the halls, one of the best Xmas cd’s I have heard for a long time. highly recommend it!

Last but not least, I missed you all!!!! and so glad to be back!