So far, our commitment to cooking at home has been successful! Week #1 was a success! I utilized my crockpot and always had a nice, hot dinner ready when My Farmer got in. I have thousands of recipes, (mainly sweets!) and the family has thoroughly enjoyed all of the yummy desserts that are available! 

My oldest son played 9 basketball games this weekend! He was on the winning team for our county elementary school basketball! They played a great game & are county champs! It was an intense game! Then one travel team lost and the other travel team came in 2nd place for the tournament! So overall, a fun, but exhausting weekend! 

New baby calves have been born on the farm & I LOVE looking out into the fields & seeing the sweet babies romping around! We are trying very hard to increase our herd. The 1st year we purchased the farm, we had over 70 head of cattle. We had to sell over 1/2 of the herd due to a horrible drought. We felt that the quality of our animals should be protected, rather than the quantity. It was a hard year, but we have been slowly building the herd back up since then. In one more year, we should be back up to those numbers! 

Retail meat sales have been tremendous this month as we ran a special on certain cuts. We are clearing our freezer space for pork that we will be offering. 

The weather has been amazing!!! I am NOT a fan of Winter!!! Actually, I hate everything about it! Ha! I enjoy being outside & Winter makes that hard! So this nice, Springlike weather has been greatly appreciated!!! I'm looking forward to clearing a barn out, re-roofing 2 barns & getting some landscaping completed this year on the farm.  We have 3 field trips scheduled for April & have 2 more that are pending. So that is a fun & exciting time!

We received our new heirloom & rare seed catalog in the mail this week & are marking TONS of things that we need!!! Finishing up the greenhouse soon will be necessary to get my seeds planted! 

Enjoy your week everyone!

Trying something new...

After a busy weekend of basketball, we are turning right back around & playing more basketball! My oldest had a tournament all weekend in a nearby town. This mom was sure excited that we didn't have to travel too far! My oldest played 4 games on Saturday & 2 on Sunday, which meant we had to miss church. 😟 This evening, my daughter had a basketball game & the oldest had basketball practice. Do you see a theme here ?!?! We really love basketball! My oldest will be playing for 4 teams, my daughter plays for 2 teams & my youngest plays on 1 team. Yes, I think it's a safe assumption to say, we are obsessed. Haha!

So my goal for this week is to fix supper every single night this week. Now, normally we'll eat out once, sometimes twice. With all of our running for basketball, deliveries, practices, etc., there are times it's easier to just go out, but I HATE eating out, whether it be sitting down or a drive thru. I really don't even like sitting down at a really nice restaurant. I produce healthy, lean beef, so I really don't enjoy the taste of commercial foods now!

With each day of the week having multiple games & or practices for multiple children, it would be easy to go thru a drive thru, but my goal is to have a healthy supper nightly. Now, we all may have to eat in shifts this week, but at least it's home cooked. Tonight we were lucky to all sit down together! I threw ribeye steaks in the crockpot today, added a touch of organic beef broth & had them for supper. I also roasted some organic brocolli & cauliflower, but forgot to set them timer & left them in too long! Yuck! So I also boiled a few potatoes & added a touch of milk, salt & pepper, a sprinkling of shredded cheese & a couple slices of crumbled bacon. Yum!

We have gradually switched to organic foods over the years. We are now mainly organic. My best piece of advice is to start small. Find one food your family loves & start buying an organic option. Don't buy a 'regular/processed' option any longer. My suggestion is to start with a fruit or veggie. Look up the Dirty Dozen fruits/veggies list & find what foods are best to switch. (Strawberries, lettuce, peaches, berries, etc., anything with a soft outer covering.) After you are use to always purchasing that product organic, add another one. This is a great way to not kill your budget! Over time, it just happens.

So our main goal or focus this year is to no longer buy snack cakes or cookies. We switched to organic potato chips & limit the total number of bags to 4 for a month. So, next on the list was the snack cakes & cookies that are too easy to grab & full of junk. So, expect lots of recipes to come! I have made peanut butter cookies, (recipe shared on my Food page), chocolate chip cookies twice, a chocolate cake, and tonight Glazed Peanut Butter Bars. (Recipe to follow.) I figure it must be healthier to make our own treats than to purchase premade items. Ours is at least fresh, plus, I can use local pastured eggs, organic or homemade butter, organic flour & wheat & even organic chocolate. Now, if I can just discipline myself to not eat this stuff during the day! 😉

Glazed Peanut Butter Bars
3/4 c. Butter, softened
3/4 c. Creamy peanut butter
3/4 c. Sugar
3/4 c. Packed brown sugar
2 tsp. water

2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 c. Flour
1-1/2 c. Quick cooking oats
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

GLAZE:
1-1/4 c. Milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. Butterscotch chips
1/2 c. Creamy peanut butter

In a large mixing bowl, cream the first 5 ingredients. Next, beat in the eggs & vanilla. Combine the last 4 (dry) ingredients. Gradually add to the creamed mixture.

Spread into a greased 15" x 10" x 1" pan. (I used a 13" x 9", so we'll see how these turn out!) Bake @ 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes, (or longer if you use a different pan) or until lightly browned.

For glaze, melt chips & peanut butter. Pour over warm bars & spread evenly.mcool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Enjoy!

**I have absolutely no idea where some of my recipes come from. I have thousands in my collection that I have copied from magazines & changed over the years.**

Brrr.....

Brrrr...it's sure cold here! The wind is bitter & blowing, the temps are hovering near 0. I was made for warmer weather! I can look forward to Spring days, windows open, laundry flapping on the clothesline, all while wearing flip-flops! Yes, farmers wear flip-flops! Ha! Shoes of choice (at least for this farm girl) are flip flops or boots! There's really not much else! I'm counting down the days until March 1st, which is MY 1st day of Spring! Once Marxh hits, I feel a big sigh of relief that Spring is on the way!

Even though it's bitterly cold, we are having calves born! We lost one before the real cold snap. The momma was a 1st year heifer & even though My Farmer & his dad had to help the momma, they still weren't able to save the baby calf. Momma is doing better now, which is a relief! The others that have been born & are staying warm with their mommas in a barn. They all still go out & enjoy grass everyday.

Now that the new year has arrived, seed catalogs are starting to arrive! I can just sit & dream & plan about our upcoming gardens! We saved many of our seeds from last year, but always enjoy adding new things to our gardens each year.

Installation of the greenhouse is at a stand still. We ran out of decent weather before we could get it finished. We have some great & exciting plans for some new ideas for the farm! We are so excited!

Well, this weekend will be fun! We have basketball tournaments for our oldest! We love getting to spend time together as a family & with lots of our friends!

Stay warm & look forward to Spring!

The lessons we learn...

Well, I learned a valuable lesson today.

Yesterday, I put a Prime Rib Roast into my crockpot, making my home smell heavenly, all day long. It looked great, smelled amazing, (a taste test revealed that the taste was phenomenal) 😉 I was pretty happy! So I pulled out a quart size Mason jar of Roma green beans, that I'd canned this last Summer, a pint of red potatoes, that I'd canned and some organic pasta to make some Mac & cheese. Yum! I was pretty thrilled with the prep work & this delicious dinner for last night! But, after 2 basketball practices, we got home so late, that I just tossed the crockpot I to my fridge. My Farmer told me that he & my oldest sampled it & it was great! Yay! So tonight's supper was pretty well ready, just warm up & enjoy! Then came the lesson.

My oldest son is 10 years old and a bottomless pit! He eats all the time! He is tall & thin, like his Daddy. He is also quite athletic, so everything he eats, he burns off. His favorite place in our house is standing at our fridge deciding on his next snack! Haha! He smelled the roast & told me it smelled awesome & asked if he could try some. Of course!!! I'm pretty proud of it, so I'm willing to dole out a sample or two! So, I carry on, starting laundry, cleaning the house a bit, hooking up portable heaters at the kitchen & bathroom sink. I've discovered that the cold water lines to those 2 sinks are now frozen. Oops! And My Farmer is out fixing the heat on my car in the frigid temperatures! Now,I've noticed my son is eating out of a bowl at this point, but didn't really question it. He's a big boy, he can make his own snacks. (You know where this is going, don't you?) as I check out the roast, I notice quite a bit is missing! Ok, there is the strip of fat, the 2 bones & 1 piece of meat left! Hahaha!

So, I tossed some frozen Tilapia in the oven & used the rest to round out our dinner. I love to cook & bake and I'm so glad that my family enjoys my food! So, next time, I'll be putting at least 2 Prime Rib Roasts in my crockpot!

I had a meeting tonight. I met a wonderful lady who was so full of knowledge! After speaking with her in this meeting tonight, I realized...I'm too hard on someone. 

I question this persons decisions...every...single...time. 
I get sidetracked easily & don't give this person my full attention...ever. 
I put this person last...always.
I put the weight of the world on this persons shoulders.
This person is me! As a mom, wife, etc., I place too much stress on me. It's not my husbands fault, my kids fault, but mine! I am OCD, Type A, whatever you want to call it and I will admit I struggle with letting go...(Ok, how many of you are singing, 'Let It Go' from Frozen now?!?! Sorry!) why do we put so much stress in ourselves? I have always wanted perfection, in everything! The perfect house, the perfect children, the perfect house, the perfect supper, etc...You get the idea. 

So, it's time to step back and breath. It's time to make changes, make discoveries, have more fun and learn to let go of the stress and the goal of perfection! 

Back to Normal...

Today, our children had to go back to school after a 2 week holiday break. It was bittersweet. I love having our kids home all the time! Now, with that being said, I got a ton of errands & farm work done today! The 2015 price list needed updated-check, bank accounts needed set up for the business account-check, bills paid-check, invoices were sent out to CSA members-check, homework for the kiddos-check, 2 new hogs were delivered-check, our trailer that we loaned out was brought back-check, 1 child had basketball pictures & a game-check, and the carpool schedule is set up for tomorrow-check! I will pack CSA boxes tomorrow & get them ready for delivery or on farm pick up.

Now that the kids are back in school, it's time to start another project! I think painting the family room & the boys bedroom is first on the list! I started the boys bedroom, but need to finish it! My boys are huge Purdue University fans, so it's a Purdue basketball themed room! I'll post pics when it's finished!

A New Year, A New Adventure...

As the new year starts, I have finally decided that I need to start my blog. I will be quite honest, I have put it off for a year now! It seemed overwhelming! A friend of mine started hers, so I figure I might as well! A bit about me....I love farming! We raise our animals as beyond organic. We sell at Farmers Markets & as a mobile vendor. Our main focus is beef cattle. We are working with another local farm to provide our customers with chicken & eggs. We recently started a Winter meat CSA. I love that our community is starting to question where their food comes from & are demanding locally grown, organically raised, fresh food!

This blog will cover all the stuff that I love! I love cooking & baking, so there will be recipes! I love organizing, cleaning & changing things around the house & farm. There's always multiple projects going on. So, I'll post pics, details, and info on how to do these projects! I am intrigued with the notion of homesteading, so as I learn more and make more, you'll learn with me! I also love primitives! I see these amazing places online & imagine what my old farm house use to look like!I can't  stand idle time, so I'm always keeping quite busy.

In addition to all of this fun stuff, I help at our church with the youth program and I'm back in college, full time. I went to college once, majored in Business, started my own business, now, I'm going to further my education.

But my most favorite thing about this farm and my life, is the great family I have to share it all with! My parents and my in laws live within a few miles of the farm, so frequent family visits take place. My Farmer & I have 3 great kids who are active in sports, so that is a fun thing that will take time to do, together!

Thanks for reading & learning along with me!