Amazing Tea -Thank you SIL C

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

So when we were having our second christmas at Big Brothers, I opened a present and it had this huge wonderful steel loose tea ball and I had never seen one so big or so perfect to be used to make spice balls for larger batches in canning, and I was expessing my joy at this perfect gift when SIL C said, ahh, its kind of goes with the rest of that gift, and I had three lovely tins of flavoured loose leaf tea..

Well to be honest, I was still more excited about the tea ball then the tea but having gotten home and having now tried these teas, I have to say they are excellent, good enough that I checkd the tin for a website to see if a) I could get more b)if there were other types.

Turns out they are from a compnay called Every Day Style, At first, it appeared that I would have to track down someone who is a seller but it looks like I can in fact just ask for their catalog and then do a private sale order, I certianly can’t recommend any other product but let me tell you those as some might amazing tea’s!

 PS, I have no idea on price either until I see a catalog but if anyone else has used this company and its products, let me know, I would be interested in hearing about your favorites etc

PSS, As Deb and a few other privately pointed out, this is one of those company that work hard to sign you up and reward the host of the private in home parties, so just we are Really! clear, I am not recommending them in regards to joining or hosting.. I just like their tea!

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

Lamb/Sqaush Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Green Tomato/Pepper Sauce

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

It does not happen often but yesterday I had a sleep day, this only worked because Dh was working from home, I did get up and make some meals and even had a bit of a visit or two.. but overall it was as lazy of a day as it can get.. DH did morning and evening chores, plus some house chores, and even made lunch for us, he worked and I slept.. I must have needed it, the rules were simple, no reading, no music, while in bed, if I was tired and went to bed, then I would sleep or I would get up and get myself into gear.. turns out my body was not lying, I slept most of the day, but I needed a make it and forget it meal..

I made a odd cabbage roll recipe but it turned out very good indeed so thought I would share it with you..I am assuming that you know how to make cabbage rolls already.. so I cooked up half a pd of lamb burger, with some onion and then added to it a 1/2 cup of green pepper pasta sauce and 1/4 cup of cooked sqaush, then stuffed the leaves to which I poured over a mix of Green Tomato and Green Pepper Pasta Sauces and baked for an hour and half till everything was tender an smelled heavenly.. I poured the sauce over them an then served with a dollop of yogurt, so good!

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Fresh Homemade Sheep Milk Yogurt

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

I got asked a question in my comments from Julie, and decided to make a post out of it..I see that she has in fact done the same..

So in answer to her question of can you do it with raw whole milk, the answer is yes..my sheep milk yogurt does come out very thick, much like greek yogurt that you would buy in the store, where as both goat and cow for me at least comes out a bit thinner, but I noticed a difference in this depending on the breed of goat, which makes sense because the different breeds have a different buttermilk fat content.

Now the reason that I have never done a post on the yogurt making is mainly because I have not done the make it in a thermos, make it in a crock pot, or even make it on a low setting of a heating pad.. I got a old fashioned yogurt maker at a farm sale in a box of goodies for a buck, so I most likely paid 5 cents for it, it has eight cups and you mix the milk, with the starter, fill the cups, set the timer and when it turns off, its done..

Because I have never done any of the other way, I can’t say that I have any cheap tricks or trades, but after Julies comment, I did a huh.. what if I had no power, how would I go about making my yogurt then?

I poured boiling hot water into my shuttle Chef and put it into its outer pot and let it “warm” at the same time, I took out my starter and let it warm up to room temp.

So I took a liter of fresh whole still warmish sheep milk, strained it, warmed it up 110, added the warmed starter, poured out the water, dried the inner steel pot and poured it into the pot and set it for the full eight hours in the shuttle chef.. it made a very good yogurt, not as thick as my normal one, I think if you let it sit longer it would get more tangy and full body flavour.. So this morning, I had a bowl of it with canned strawberry Rhubarb fruit with walnuts.. No quite as good as my normal yogurt but certainly better or equal to store bought..

Posted in Food Production and Recipes, Food Storage | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Vanilla Sheep -Need a little help girl? -Sort of Graphic Birthing photos..

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Vanilla sheep was found hanging out in front of a jug this morning with a huge bag,  and the starting show of labour, so into the jug she went as happy as a clam and we checked on her a number of times to see how it was all going, which was mainly resting, eating and a little cud chewing..Hubby saw this and watched quietly and waited..and then counted and waited, and then headed to the house for me..

So I headed to the barn to do my own eval, mom was not to stressed and was in active labour, she was pushing and we had a small amount of movement but by the third good hard steady push, she had laid down and did hard grunts, it was time to step in and give a helping hand, baby was in a very good birthing way, feet front and head correct, just a really big one is all.. Momma was not to happy to have me running a finger up and around to make sure things were set up correctly and to help get that second little foot out an eqaul to the first one..  then it was quiet, steady, and wait for the next push (I never! pull without the girls pushing) and just a little soft steady pull along with a good hard push down by Vanilla and out the big boy came.. I gave him a quick rub or two, made sure he took his first couple breaths and right up to momma’s front..

Come on little one, I don’t want to get in there unless momma is not doing her job and Vanilla is a very good mom, she started cleaning him up, and as she got busy, little guy started twitching, head bobbing and moving around..  Its always so amazing to me at just how fast these little guys are lifting their heads and starting the first stand up try.. I am sure that there is a twin waiting to come out in a little while , but so far things are looking really good, I will take a photo of this little one all dry and up on its feet tomorrow, I lost the light for photos it the barn. Dh just checked on them, baby was up and moved to the other side of the jug, all snug by the hay feeder with momma stuffing her face.. 

So what did you do this afternoon, I got to spend time in the barn, get my share birthing fluids on me and helped bring a little wee one into the world..

 

Posted in Critters | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Gizzards

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

So when I was growing up, my mother was the queen of the gizzard, she loved to bake it besides the bird, along with the heart and neck to help flavour the stock, and it was the cook that got to eat them hot and O so flavourful in the kitchen with them never even making the table.. as a child and teen, I remember sometimes a tiny peice being cut off and being shared as a treat, so it was not until I moved out on my own that I was able to get to eat a gizzard.. Now heart was a different story, as you can buy packages of chicken hearts or livers and make whole meals of them..

In the last year, I have found out the hard way that when I say Gizzard, (and by such, I do mean the gizzard of a fowl, aka the stomach of a bird) that many folks from across N.A. believe that means Gibets, which is the word that means a collective term for poultry’s edible organs, includes heart, liver, kidneys, gizzard, head, neck, feet and wing tips. Today however if you are lucky enough to find a little package in the tummy of your bird, you will most likely get heart, liver, gizzard and neck..

So back to the Gizzard, now when you read stomach, you picture a pouch like our own, but that is not the case, it is in fact a lined hard working muscle for grinding up the birds foods, filled with bits of gravel or grit to help with this grinding process, so if you think of that job, it is the reason that improperly cooked, this is one very tough muscle, but like most many working muscles, its full of flavour.. If you buy them, they will normally be split, with both the sac and the connective tissue removed, if you in fact are butchering, it will be a heavy oval peice of meat with a thick shiny silver skin on it.. take a small very sharp knive and slice into it from the top and work your way down and though, leaving you with a open gizzard, wash well, as I am now saving the linings for cheese making, I now have a tooth brush to get them good and clean, taking your knife, slice off the back meat part, as well as the connective tubing/ tissue and or attached fat. Now this is a little hard to explain but the part that connects the meat to the sack, has a very hard feel to it, cut that part out and give as a treat to your hound or purrpot etc.

In regards to cooking, its much like heart in that it can be cooked fast or slow, both will give you delightful results, anything inbetween will be as tough as old shoe leather..I personally only rarely grill them, about 99% of the time, I slow cook them to a tender stage.. this is honestly the way I would recommend them.. Think of working with them like working with a tough older critters stew meat and you have a good base to start with your typical recipes.

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged | 4 Comments

Food Storage Friday

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Well its been a interesting two weeks since I arrived back home from my trip, I have only added in 5 things from the store to date, everything else is coming from the farm, the pantry or the freezer, I took a good hard look at what I have this week available to me fresh still and think I can make the week without needing to add a trip to the store at all, however Dh has informed me that we are going to be heading to town as he needs a few things from the hardware store for his latest project and wants to hit the feed store for a few things, so while I don’t NEED anything, I will double up and most likely pick up my up to five fresh things limit, I have already gone though the flyers, and if you want a amazing deal on new bedding, towels now would be a good time to buy, but unless its instore, there was nothing much that meant my requirements for the pantry when it came to sales. Lots of crap on sale, nothing much in regards to real food available and even less! on what is winter storage foods from Ontario.

I have noticed something this week that was interesting for every one small meat package taken from the freezer, I am using two to four pint jars of things to create the meal, this means that my home grown and processed stores are going down much faster then my freezers are being emptied, I will have to make more of a effort to include at least one more frozen veggie, greens in per day, to try and level this use out, I am also finding myself reaching for the frozen greens, onions, leeks and garlic much more then I do for the dried, habit to a point but also because the frozen has a much shorter life span then the dried does.

Its lovely to have fresh milk available again and as I had a loss in the barns with a ewe having lost her twins, I now have a full time milker on my hands, as well as up to two half time milkers available to me, on the other hand, my layers are being quite lazy this year, good thing I have a new group up and coming and due to start by March, I am able to have fresh meat by means of the smaller critters on the farm and its being put to good use, you certianly do get tired of only having frozen or canned or preserved meat or at least I do.

I have had a peek in my cold house at my twice covered over winter crops, and I am looking forward to feb when they will start growing again and to having lots of fresh greens for in March this year, while its only Jan, I have to admit that this is the first year that I have really felt that we were good on the homegrown pantry in regards to carrying us though very successfully though to the summer main cropping time.

The highlight of the week was fresh yogurt with strawberry/rhubarb fruit on top.. What was yours? Did you open a new jar of maple syrup? Did you use some of your elderberries for a cold? Did you thrill at the ability to have a homemade “fast food” meal of throw a jar of this meat with that sauce and Voili 15 min later dinner is done? Did you find that you love a new pickle or relish recipe or that you in fact dont! and its going on the never make again list, and you are plotting how to give it away to friends or wondering if just how guilty you will feel about composting it?

Posted in Food Storage | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Dark Day’s -Mini Challange-One pot meals

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

The Dark Day Girls have decided to offer a few new litle mini challanges, the first one is one pot meals, now this is alot of my meals already. I wanted clean and simple but was craving greens..

Dark Day One Pot Lamb Soup in Broth

1 tsp duck fat (can use whatever oil or fat you want to start your dish)
One Large Onion
6 Large Mushrooms-Diced
2 cups of chopped greens (a mix of spinach, kale, horseradish and Beet Greens, frozen for winter use)
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tbsp of green onions and leeks (white and green parts), I used a cube of each frozen in water
2 Large Carrots-Peeled and sliced
3 Med Potato’s -Peeled and diced
1 pds of small diced lamb stew meat*
Salt, pepper, Keens Mustard, Turmic, Basil and Ginger to taste
1 quart lamb bone stock, with 1 quart water (this was a very light broth, if you want darker/heavier use a second quart of lamb stock or veggie stock to go with)

I cooked the onions, mushrooms and lamb till onion clear, and meat browned, then I added in the rest and simmered for around 40 to 50 min at a low-med heat, till the veggies were tender and done. Simple, easy and all done in one pot, a good hearty but very healthy winter soup.. * This was young tender spring grass-fed lamb, Its worth noting that this meat was from when I butchered out lamb legs, and that I had made sure to remove all silver skin from the peices(which can make them tough, and is often left on by butchers) as well as cutting off all extra fat bits, which I used to render into tallow, and I cut the peices into about 1/3 of the size typically seen in a store if you are buying beef stew meat.. this means that the meat peices were right around equal to the size of the carrot and potato peices. If you are using older mutton or yearly lamb, or from the butcher lamb stew meat, I would recommend simmering for about another hour or so, till the meat is tender.

Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

Weigh in 1/19/2012

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Well I typically journel and track my food but this week I was even more careful then ever and while I certianly didn’t feel deprived in any way, I eat three meals a day and most often two snacks, I did try and up my fruits, veggies and whole grains, while reducing my carbs to a point, I did get a number of Wii workouts along with farm chores, I also got strength training done with Jason which was alot more fun then I thought it would be, its nice to not always be alone while working out.

I stepped on the scale this morning with no real idea of what it would show, it showed that I had a good week.. down 6.2 pds this week compared to last week for a total of 15.5 out of my 50 pd goal for the year. This week has all been about winter foods from the pantry, rich flavoured soups and stews, I need to remember to keep my portions in control. So if you are working towards trying to lose, how was your week? This coming week is all about eating out of the pantry, freezers and using up what we have that is fresh before bringing anything else into the house.

** 10.2 pds down on the Family Spring Weight Loss Challange

Goals for this week are a repeat from the goals of last week, the only extra I am going to add is if the weather stays so bad, that I consider adding in one more weight training session.

Goals for this past week.
Journey food, and Water intake-At least 8 cups of water a day!- 6 out of 7, one day, only 7 cups
Redo my eating plans based on the new resting calorie numbers-Done
Workouts at least 3 to 4 times per week, my choice on what kind, but expect most of them to be wii ones, but mix it up on the type, plus at least two strength workouts with DH this week.-Done
Do at least one craft project for time to settle and reach that Zen moment-Zen yes, craft no, more quiet time
Spend a little extra time out in the woods with the hounds, they do so love winter time on the trails.-Only once, the storms kepts us on the farm.

Posted in Goals | 3 Comments

How do you tell that the barn is warm compared to the outside?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

Interesting read-Just as we track the store sales, the stores track us!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1&fid=1&sid=8&tid=16&cid=2269

Blogger after Blogger talk about how to save money on your food bill, how to reduce, how to build a pantry, how to use flyers and coupons, how to write a list or plan your meals, all good solid ways to help you reduce your food bill, of course farmgal highly recommends trying to grow some of your food if possable, or creating a good relationship with local farmers.

The link above shows the flip side of all that advice, it shows the trends and tracking that is being done by the stores and how they are trying hard to figure out how to take the advice being given and just “tweek” it to get you to open your wallet just a little wider..

They said that the most impluse unplanned buying instore is promotions, and as soon as I read it, I realized that is ME.. I write my lists and can go in, and come out with everything on my list to the letter, unless I see an amazing sale on something we use, then I have been known to fill carts (like last years when I bought every pinnaple they had on sale) I consider finding those sales a good thing, I watch the flyers for them, and I often will send DH on his way home from work(reducing gas used and a extra off farm trip) to pick up a a case or two of certain things..

How often do I go shopping with a set budget only to find a good sale makes me go over, now to be fair this does work well for creating a long term pantry, and allows you to buy things on sale and not have to buy anything on full price..

Still I am going to need to start watching this even more closely, I had already noticed that the end of row sales were getting to be less and less good sales, that often a better buy can be had going down the row, and looking for sales on the top or bottom rows.

So how about you? Do you find yourself going off-list when amazing sales hit the stores? Any after buying regrets when this happens? or are you more like me.. perhaps being unplanned, but 99.9 percent of the time, a good thing overall on savings.

Posted in Food Storage | 10 Comments