Getting Up Close and Personal With Our Food

One of my goals this year has been to find a local source for responsibly raised meats. After watching Food Inc. and reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I became aware of the inhumane treatment of factory farmed animals and the consequences to our health, food system, and environment by those factory farms. While at a factory farm, cattle are fed a ration of corn (which their bodies aren't meant to eat), beef tallow (rendered beef fat) and other liquefied fats, antibiotics (due to their living conditions and diet, they need antibiotics constantly to survive), and other roughage. Cattle are meant to eat grass. Not only are they healthier when they eat grass, turns out that we could be healthier too when eating grass fed beef.

Grass fed beef has as much fat as skinless chicken, is much higher in Omega-3s, and 4 times higher in Vitamin A. Here's an article that explains the benefits of grass fed beef further.


In my search for local, pastured beef, I found Upper DC Cattle Company , only 11 miles away. Micheal and Christal Beeson's cattle have 18 acres of pesticide-free pasture to roam. They're never fed antibiotics or growth hormones. They are fed grass/hay and a small amount of grain.

We got the chance to go out to visit the farm yesterday, on a cold, muddy February morning, to see the animals ourselves.

They raise cross-bred cattle that I was told tend to be healthier. This heifer is about 75% Black Angus.

If you look closely, you can see a cream colored calf out there with it's momma.

This year's calves will be named after state capitals since Mr. Beeson's daughter is studying state capitals in school.

There's a donkey in the field with the girls. He/she let out a bray for us while we were there.
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Finding humanely raised pork was also a priority for me. In the movie Food Inc., I learned about Smithfield and how it abuses not only the pigs but also their workers. Workers are paid very little and treated as though they are expendable. This article goes into more detail.

Upper DC Cattle also raise pastured pork. Though pigs will eat just about anything, their hogs grass and grain. They have 4 acres to dig up, root through, and run in. Like the cattle, the hogs are never given antibiotics, growth hormone, and their pasture is pesticide free.

Here is Cookie (the boar on the left), his sow and their babies piled up on top.

Apparently, Cookie is quite the trouble maker and escape artist.

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After talking to Mr. Beeson for a while, I went inside to pick out the meat we'd be taking home.

A bag of beef bones (for beef stock), a bag of pork fat (I'll tell you about what I'm going to do with that another day), and a bag of pork bones (for soups and beans). These aren't on his normal order list and I was thrilled that he had them in the freezer.

Thick sliced, uncured bacon, and mild sausage.

Ground beef and stew beef.

You can see how little fat is in that ground beef. He said it was close to 97% lean.
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Seeing the animals that I may eat one day didn't bother me. I'm happy that those animals get to live a good life while they're alive and I feel better about eating meat from animals that are fed a healthy diet.

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We cooked a package of sausage last night and topped our homemade pizza with it. It was the best pizza I can remember eating. Charlotte even put some on her pizza and she is a cheese-only girl. Jon and I fought over the leftover sausage.

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For those of you who haven't read Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or watched Food, Inc., I highly recommend that you do. There is so much that the food industry doesn't want you to know about what you're eating. It's important that we all get this information so we can help to change the food system. We get to vote for the kind of food we want and how we want that food raised by buying real food that is raised/grown responsibly.

Making Jam In February

Doesn't everyone make strawberry jam in February?

Recently, I noticed that I had a lot of fruit purees in the freezer leftover from last summer. I pureed and froze local strawberries and peaches when they were in season so I could add them to the applesauce I made in the fall. I still had several bags of strawberry, cherry (not local), and peach.



I use Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam pectin. I find it in Walmart near the sugar. Read the instructions in the box if you're making anything but strawberry jam since different fruits require different techniques or recipes.

In a large bowl, I measured out 1 cup of sugar and 1 package of pectin.
(I use 1 1/2 cups of sugar if I'm making plain strawberry jam but with the addition of cherries in this jam, I didn't need as much sugar since the cherries were really sweet)

Have your 2 year old rest his nose on the bowl while he mixes the two ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, I had strawberry and cherry puree (4 cups total). Pour the pectin/sugar mix into the fruit.

Stir for 3 minutes. Then pour it into freezer safe containers. Let it sit on the counter for a while until it sets up. You can then put it right into the fridge to use soon or freeze it for up to a year. I froze my jam in larger containers this time around since we love it so much. Charlotte said that Evan makes the best jam. Be warned that when you cook with a toddler, they'll take all the credit.

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My favorite thing about this recipe is that it doesn't have much sugar. It tastes like fruit not like sugar. I make sure to use fully ripe, in season fruit so it's as naturally sweet as possible.

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Since last year's peach freezer jam never fully set up, I'm trying a different pectin/method for a smaller batch of peach/strawberry jam.

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This time around I'm using Ball Natural Gel "No Sugar Needed" pectin. You can use this to make freezer jam. Again, you need to read the instruction sheet inside the pectin for specific instructions but here is what I did.

I put 1 3/4 cups of apple juice and 1 packet of pectin in a sauce pan and boiled it for 2 minutes.

Then I added my fruit (3 cups peach puree and 1 cup strawberry puree) and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. I also added 1/2 cup of sugar (I wish I had added a full cup). I boiled this for a while and then put it into freezer safe containers. I let the containers sit on the counter to cool and set. It set very firmly but still spreadable. The jam is pretty tart so next time I may skip the juice and just add a bit more sugar. I'll definitely use this pectin next time I make peach jam since it set firmer then the regular freezer jam pectin. The reason I used No Sugar Needed pectin is because I wanted the flexibility of using much less sugar then most jam recipes call for.

At the rate that we're eating this jam, I may need to make jam in April too!

My goal for this upcoming fruit season is to make enough jam so that we never buy store-bought. I think I'll need to make about twice as much as I did this past year to make that happen. We eat a lot of PB&J around here.

Don't Throw Out Those Orange Peels

The week before last, we were responsible for bringing a healthy snack to Charlotte's preschool class. I sliced up a whole bag of navel oranges to go with the graham crackers I made. I had a huge pile of discards from the ends of the oranges. I put the ends into a pan of water, added a cinnamon stick, and let it simmer on low most of the morning. It smelled fantastic. I think I may try freezing our orange peels from now on so I can pop some in a pan whenever the house needs some freshening up.

It Sounded Like a Good Idea At The Time

**Warning... the following pictures may lead you to believe that our 38 hours in a hotel room were full of fun and sweet times shared together. Full of yummy mac and cheese...

Eating happily while watching TV...

Drawing on steamy windows....

Coloring with your sister...

Listening while your sister reads to you...

Watching TV.....

Eating breakfast in bed with your Dad while Mom takes a weird picture...

And listening while Mama reads a book....

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What you do not see in these pictures is both kids crying at the same time and me telling them that neither of them are leaving their beds until they stop crying, both kids staying up 2 hours past their bedtimes rendering them both so cranky the next day that getting them to play nicely was torture, and me with a stomach ache of unknown origin.

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In hindsight, I'm glad we went. It certainly got us out of the house but I'm not sure why I thought the cure for cabin fever was a small hotel room with 2 small children. We did have some fun and there were some really sweet moments but come Sunday morning, I was thrilled to be going home.

The mountains in Boone, NC are beautiful! The snow on the mountains made for great views while we drove home. Note to self... next time you travel to the mountains in the winter... remember your coat!

Flaxseed Cookies, Travel Plans, And an Olympic Update

A weekend away! Yippee! I am so excited because my kids have officially hit "that age". The age I've been dreaming of. The age where they're easy to take on trips. The age where they can play together and keep each other entertained. The age where they can both sit to eat at a regular table (though boosters are still helpful).

Jon has a band obligation out of town this weekend and usually the kids and I would stay home. Cabin fever is starting to sink in and I jumped at the chance for us to tag along. Luckily we're only going about 90 miles away so it won't be a long drive.

I wanted to share some of the food that I'm taking along. I've kept my resolutions in mind while packing for this trip. Instead of packing an armload of boxes of processed snacks, I tried to bring as many homemade snacks as I had time to make.

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First, a new recipe. These cookies are so delicious. I have a hard time stopping at 2... or 3.... or 4... They remind me of an oatmeal cookie but with a wonderful nutty, flax seed flavor.

Flax Seed Cookies

3/4 C. Butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
3/4 C brown sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Ground Flax seed (I find it in a box next to the flour in the baking aisle)
1 3/4 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Tbsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 C. Oatmeal (grind it up in the food processor a bit but not so fine that it's powder)

Preheat oven to 350*

1. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients well.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined.
5. Drop dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet leaving a bit of space between cookies.
6. Bake for about 10-13 minutes or until the edges just barely become golden brown. The center will still look under-cooked. Don't over bake or they will be dry!! Let them cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them onto a cooling rack.




The last time I made Apple Butter Muffins, I made a double batch and froze half of them. I'm taking these muffins with us on our trip.

I also baked some graham crackers this week so they're going as well.

We'll be going out to eat tomorrow night but luckily the hotel room has a mini fridge and a microwave so for tonight's dinner I packed mac&cheese leftovers from last night and the small hot pockets from 2 night's ago.

I'm also bringing some cereal, applesauce, and bananas.

Enough about packing... moving on to knitting Olympic update...

Here is my sock so far. I've knit the heel flap but don't have time to learn to turn the heel before we go.

Does anyone know why my 1x1 ribbing looks like it's wrong side out? One side of the stitch is sticking out further then the other.

See you in a couple of days!

What To Do With Leftover Pizza Dough - Homemade Breadsticks and Hot Pockets

I usually make pizza for us about once a week but this week I wanted to do something different with the dough.

First I started with the dough. I use King Arthur's Flour pizza dough recipe. I use half White Whole Wheat flour for added fiber/nutrition and it makes a great crust!

I made a double batch of dough since I wanted to have enough for dinner the next night. I let it rise and double in size. Then I punched it down. I put half of the dough (1 recipe's worth) in a bowl covered with plastic wrap then put it in the fridge until the following night.



Bread Sticks


I divided the dough in half and rolled it out into 2 thin rectangles that I laid onto well olive oiled cookie sheets. You want to use plenty of oil under the dough since that will help crisp the bottoms.

Then I used a pizza cutter to slice the dough into strips. I left the ends attached for no other reason but that my pizza cutter wouldn't reach into the corners.



Leave the pans in a warm place to let the dough rise a bit (~30 mins). See how the dough is a bit puffy?

Put the breadsticks in a 400* oven for 6 minutes. Take the pan out, brush the breadsticks with butter and top them however you like.

I topped some of these breadsticks with garlic salt and some with shredded cheese.

Return the pan to the oven for another 6-8 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned.

Yum!

These breadsticks beat the pants off of any I've had before.

Homemade Hot Pockets


I wasn't really sure what to call these but Hot Pockets sounded about right. If there's a real name for them, please let me know.

The next night I grabbed the remaining dough from the fridge and also made a filling of ground beef and sauteed carrots, parsnips, and onions. I seasoned it with Worchestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. I added a bit of red wine to moisten it but you could use chicken broth. You want it moist but not soupy.

I divided the dough into 4 pieces and rolled each into a large oval. I rolled the dough pretty thin.

Pile the filling on one half of the dough leaving a border around it.

Fold the dough over and fold up the sides pressing down to fully seal in the filling.

Put the pockets into a 400* oven for 20-25 minutes or until they're golden brown.

You can see that I made half sized pockets for the kids by taking one of the dough balls and dividing it in half again. They actually didn't get to eat them because we had to go get their H1N1 boosters after work and dinner was pretty late. They had to settle for yogurt, toast, and applesauce. Not that they minded, it's one of their favorite meals.

This was so delicious. The bread was crispy on the top and bottom but the puffy seams were perfectly chewy. The filling was nice and hot. Jon kept eyeing my plate to see if I was going to leave him any of mine. He was thrilled to take leftovers to work today.

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The great thing about these hot pockets is that you could fill them with just about anything. You could make one with chicken, ham and cheese, veggies and cheese, etc. The options are only limited by your culinary imaginations. I plan to try a dessert version by sweetening the dough slightly and putting fruit inside as if to make a pie.
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We'll see what I can cook up with next week's dough.

Olympic Dreams

I planned on joining in on the Knitting Olympics from Yarn Harlot's blog. You're supposed to choose a challenging project, cast on during the opening ceremonies, and finish before the closing of the Olympics. I decided to knit my first pair of socks. I had the best of intentions. Then I forgot to watch the opening ceremonies. Then I didn't have the right sized needles. Then I couldn't find my knitting DVD with the sock knit-a-long. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a real Olympic athlete, right?
So, a day late, I gathered up my supplies. I bought a new pair of needles and luckily Jon was able to find my DVD.

I cast on 18 hours late and started knitting the cuff on my future sock.

After an hour of knitting, I had gotten this far. Umm.... I have 17 days to knit a pair of socks and in an hour I knit an inch? This could be a problem. I see my Olympic dreams fading away. Again, it's a good thing I'm not a real Olympic athlete.

Gracie is not impressed. All she cares about is me putting the camera down so I can scratch her head.

A yawn from a bored cat or a jungle roar from a tiger in Gracie clothing? I'd sure miss my knitting companion if she found a warmer place to spend her afternoons.

We'll see how this sock progresses. I've knit about 4 inches since Saturday and luckily my speed has increased a bit. Though I may not win a medal for this sock, I'm grateful for this knitting Olympics because it pushed me to start a project that I've been wanting to start but too afraid to for over a year now.

Uh Oh, Ho-Ho Tree Fall Down!

That is what we heard Evan say one day between Christmas and New Year's a couple months ago. We had been using an older, cheap artificial tree for the past few years and the stand finally gave out.
Luckily the tree didn't fall on Evan.... just next to him where he was playing with his cars.
Many of the plain glass balls broke but there was only one special ornament that was damaged.


This is a goose egg that I painted in 1994 when I was 16. I'm no artist as you can see. This egg came from geese we had at the time. The shell is so thick and it had survived many moves. I can remember sitting at my parents table and painting the shell.

I took a picture of the pieces this past weekend before I finally made myself throw it away.

Maybe one day when we have space to have geese again, I'll paint a new egg shell to adorn our much sturdier tree.

Happy Valentine's Day

Better late then never, right?


Jon and the kids brought home this lovely arrangement for me. It smells as beautiful as it looks. I love getting flowers.

I had fun putting together these little Valentine buckets for the kids. A little candy... a few toys...

I got a puzzle made for Jon from a picture of our family. I ordered it from Shutterfly.com. He loves puzzles so this was an extra special one for him.

For breakfast I made strawberry smoothies and heart shaped pancakes. The pancakes were supposed to be pink also but I didn't use enough food coloring.

Mister Valentine with a mouth full of M&M's.

Too cool for school....

For lunch I used heart shaped cookie cutters to make their PB&J's heart shaped. I'm starting to get out of control with this theme.

I made a heart shaped cake from a 8x8" cake pan and one round cake pan. Just cut the circle in half.

Add icing and M&M's.... Yum!



As if a big heartshaped cake wasn't enough....

I also made cupcakes. I need help. I need to back away from the butter and the oven. I blame hormones.

Charlotte made the Valentine's Day paperchain and then we decorated for Nana to come over for dinner. Feel better, Grandpa!

Staying with family tradition, I made a heart shaped meatloaf. Sorry, not as appetizing as the picture of cake but believe me, it was very tasty.

I feel very lucky. I am married my best friend. No one makes me laugh like he does. I chose him to be my husband many years ago and I choose him again everyday. He's my soft place to land. He gave me two amazing children who continue to amaze me. To say that I'm happy just doesn't cut it.

I wish everyone a wonderful Valentine's Day.