Spring Cattle Working

Yesterday was my husband's last day home before heading out of state for work again. We had a long "to-do" list while he was here, and managed to cross off most of the items. Last, but certainly not least, was our spring cattle working.
My husband and I sorted the cows (Angus cows in one pen, calves in another, the new bull in his own pen, and the longhorns in a separate pen).  A few months ago we had an alleyway built with dual swinging gates and this has made ALL the difference in the world when the two of us sort cattle. It's actually easy now!
The college boy who helps us out, part time, came over to help with the actual cattle working.
First, we ran all the calves through the chute and wormed them, branded any that were too small to brand the last time we worked cattle, and gave shots to any babies born after the last cattle working day.

Next, we ran all of the Angus cows through the chute. Each one was wormed and given a shot of Multi-Min.

We wormed all the longhorns by crowding them in a small pen and using the pour-on wormer (their horns won't fit in this working chute). 

Then we worked our new bull. He was so well behaved! It was impressive! We wormed him, branded him, and gave him a brand new ear tag.

It was a successful day on the farm! Next cattle working will be in July.

Crock Pot Mustard Pork Chops & Taters

During my husband's two weeks off, we've been super busy on the farm. Still cleaning up (you may recall my Scrap Iron post). This time, we've been trimming limbs and hauling them to the burn pile. I see a "Bon Fire" blog in my future.....
Yesterday morning, I knew we would have a long day, so I decided to put supper on to cook in the crock pot. The crock pot is probably my best friend. Ever. It's so nice to walk in, from working on the farm all day, and smell your delicious, and fully cooked, meal.
Here's what I did:
First, I heated about 2 Tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Next, I browned the pork chops on both sides.

Then drained them on a paper-towel lined plate.

Then, I combined one can of cream of mushroom soup (which is super cheap at Aldi),

1/4 cup of chicken broth (this is my homemade broth),

1/4 cup Dijon mustard,

2 cloves of garlic, minced,

1/2 tsp dried thyme (which was a little strong, so I might just use a pinch next time),

and 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Next, wash and thinly slice 5 red potatoes and 1 onion.

Combine the sauce mixture with the potatoes and onions and place in your crock pot. I used a crock pot liner. Another one of my best friends. Seriously. It makes clean up a breeze.

Arrange your pork chops on top of the potatoes and onions. 

Then, cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours.

I intended to cook mine on low for 8 hours. However, after walking back in the house about 4 hours later, I noticed that I didn't smell the delicious aroma of my supper cooking. 

So here's a BIG TIP.......actually remember to PLUG THE CROCK POT IN! 

Yep, I did all that......but forgot to plug it in. 

So my pork chops cooked on high for 5 hours. 

They were delicious.

Planting Potatoes in Burlap Bags

If you've been following my blog, you know that, at this time, I have container gardens. Eventually, when we get moved out to our farm, I will have a BIG garden! But, in the meantime, I have to be creative. I've been using repurposed galvanized water troughs, from the farm, for my containers. However, this year, I decided to try something new and plant potatoes. I really didn't have enough room to give up in any of my containers (I also will have onions, tomatoes, okra, and herbs) so I decided to try something new......burlap bags!
All you need are some seed potatoes, burlap bags, garden soil, and a wooden pallet!

I went to our local farm and ranch store, Russell Feeds, to purchase my seed potatoes. http://www.russellfeedandsupply.com/
Next, I did a process called "chiting" my potatoes. To "chit" the potatoes, you simply cut your seed potatoes into pieces, making sure each piece has at least one "eye" (sprout). Then you place the cut pieces in an egg carton and keep them in a warm dry room for 2 to 3 days. This helps them dry out, or cure, and prevents rotting. It can also help them sprout.

When you're ready to plant, you will take your burlap bags and roll them down to about 10 inches tall. Fill them with garden soil, about 6 inches deep. Place 3 or 4 potato pieces in each bag, with the sprouted eye facing up.

Cover with another 2 inches of garden soil and water well. Keep your burlap bags on a wooden pallet to help the air circulate and prevent rotting. 

Right after I planted my potatoes, we had several days of rain here. I was afraid they were getting too much water and would begin to rot, even though I had done the chiting process. What's handy about this method of planting, is that I simply moved everything inside until the downpour stopped!

After the rainy days, I moved my pallet back outside into the sunshine. When I checked yesterday, I have some small potato plants coming up!

When these plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, I will roll the burlap bags up, fill in more garden soil up to 4 inches, and leave about 2 to 4 inches of plant. I'll continue this process until the plants start to flower. This should be sometime in July. By the end of summer, my potato vines should appear to wither and die. That will signal harvest time!! 

I'll keep you updated on the potato progress!!

Buying the Bull

This is the story of what happened yesterday. No recipe.....I didn't cook a thing. No "how to" make something or plant something. Nothing like that took place yesterday either.
But, what I can share with you is how a very nervous farm wife had the responsibility, for the first time ever, of going to a livestock auction and buying the new herd sire for the farm.
Oh, I've been going to livestock auctions since I was a little girl. And once, shortly after my husband and I were married, I got a little carried away at a longhorn sale and bought a cow (my first time to ever bid on something and my competitive streak kicked in......I just HAD to win). She turned out to be extremely mean and we quickly took her to our local sale barn and took a financial loss.
So, with that as the only bidding / buying experience under my belt, and close to zero confidence, I went to a Charolais bull sale yesterday. My husband really wanted a bull from this sale, and of course, it was when he was working out of state.  I will admit, the confidence and trust that he placed in me was quite impressive.
And, to be perfectly honest, I was not totally alone. We have a young man who helps us out on the farm, part time. He went along too and I greatly value his opinion. I also had the help and guidance of a gentleman who works for the Noble Foundation Integrity Beef Program.  His help was invaluable. He had done a lot of research and background work on each and every bull in the sale (there were 85). He also walked with us through the pens, prior to the sale, and discussed the positives and negatives of the bulls he felt would fit our program.
But, at sale time, the decision was ultimately up to me as to which bulls I would bid on and how much I was willing to spend. That's when my legs started shaking. Seriously. And they shook all the way from lot #1 to lot #17. After lot #17 sold, I was breathing a sigh of relief. Because I was the new proud owner! I also bid on lot #12 but he got out of our price range. (And it took a lot of self control to stop bidding....my competitive streak kicked in again and I really wanted to WIN!)
We will be picking up our new bull this Thursday after my husband gets home. I'm excited to have my husband's final stamp of approval once he sees the bull in person. From the picture in the sale catalog, my husband is very pleased with his farm wife's bull buying skills!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Yesterday morning was another stormy day around here, so I decided to get caught up on some household chores, like making another batch of my homemade laundry detergent.  I started making my own detergent a little over three years ago. I can honestly say, it's super easy, and it will save you money!
The first batch that I ever made, I ended up throwing out. It was a recipe much like what I use now, but it was a recipe that you cook on the stove and it turns into a liquid / gel. It didn't smell wonderfully fresh, like laundry detergent should, and it always left some gunky residue in the detergent drawer of my HE front load washer.
This recipe is for a powder detergent. It smells fresh and clean, lasts forever (well for a little over a year) and works GREAT in my washer!!
Here's what you need to make a batch:

3 pound container of OxiClean

3 pound 7 ounce box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

4 pound box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

4 pound box of 20 Mule Team Borax

2  bottles (13.2 oz) of Downy Unstopables in the scent of your choice

4 bars of Fels-Naptha soap

One 5-gallon bucket with lid

The most difficult part of this whole recipe is grating the Fels-Naptha soap. Don't......I repeat, DO NOT grate the soap by hand. It's just way too much work and too much trouble. It's MUCH easier to use your food processor. Contrary to what you may have read, your soap will not gum up in your food processor. In fact, it makes your food processor very clean once you're finished. I mean, after all, it's soap! A rinse and wipe of your food processor is all that's needed for clean up. 

However, here's my special tip, I process the bars of soap twice, using different blades. That way, you don't have what could only be described as grated cheese looking objects in your laundry detergent. 

First I use the large grater/slicer blade and feed the bars of soap through the top.

Looks like grated cheddar cheese huh?

Next, I switch to my smaller blade, fill my food processor about half full of the grated soap, put the lid on, and pulse it a few times. I do this in batches until all the soap has been grated a second time. 

Now, the hard part's over! Next, you just need to mix everything in your bucket. I pour all of the powdered ingredients in first and stir them with a large whisk. Then I pour in the grated soap and stir with a large spoon.

I store the bucket, with the lid on tight, in a closet. Then I keep a pretty jar on the counter in my laundry room, filled with detergent and a small wooden scoop inside. Each load of laundry just needs about 2 tablespoons of detergent....that's why it lasts so long!

Beer Bread

This morning it was very stormy around here. So, since I couldn't get out and check cows (thunder, lightening, hail, etc....) I decided to make good use of my time and bake some bread. This was my first attempt at Beer Bread, and it was quite successful!
Here's the recipe: 3 cups all purpose flour 3 T sugar 1 T baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 cup shredded cheese 12 oz of beer 4 T butter, softened Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan (I used cast iron) with half of the softened butter. Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Add cheese and stir with a spoon. Make a well in the center, then pour in the beer. Mix with a spoon until just combined. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Immediately rub the top with the remaining butter. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Here's a link to my YouTube video for making this bread and some pictures of the finished loaf!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81oXO0BYSqs

Fried Chicken and Cornmeal Pancakes

I have to say, that I had a wonderful weekend! Our oldest daughter came home and it was the first time we've had a weekend alone together in a very long time. A family fried was getting married and my husband was out of town for work, so our daughter came home to attend the wedding with me. Her husband had to work so she came alone. We stayed up way too late talking and laughing and catching up!! Sunday, I cooked brunch for her before she headed back home. She sat at the kitchen table while I cooked and we chatted, nonstop. So there's no step-by-step pictures this time. But this is a GREAT and EASY recipe and there is a picture of the finished product!

I made the fried chicken tenders first, because you can easily keep them warm in the oven. I mixed the dry ingredients for the pancakes while the chicken was frying. It's very easy to have everything warm and ready at the same time if you do it this way. 

Here's the recipe:

Crispy Breakfast Chicken Fingers

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

a pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, substitute 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of whole milk)

2 large eggs

1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins

canola oil for frying

Whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and the eggs. 

Toss chicken, one piece at a time, in flour mixture. Dip in buttermilk mixture, then toss again in flour mixture. Let coated chicken stand in flour mixture for 10 minutes. 

Prepare to keep the chicken warm by preheating your oven to 175 degrees. Set a wire rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet. Heat your canola oil in a deep skillet (I used a cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat. When a little flour sprinkled in the oil begins to sizzle, your oil is hot enough. Fry chicken in batches (don't overcrowd your skillet) turning occasionally, until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and keep warm in the oven. The wire rack allows air to circulate and prevents the chicken from becoming soggy. 

Cornmeal Pancakes

1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 large eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (plus more for the griddle)

Whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture just until blended and smooth. 

Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Butter the surface. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake onto the griddle. Cook until the top bubbles and edges look dry, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. If needed, you can place pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet and keep warm in the 175 degree oven up to 30 minutes. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Today I made a batch of these delicious muffins! It sounds like a strange combination, but boy are they good! You can check out the YouTube video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6-OJR1VlU
And here's the recipe and the finished product:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
1 1/2 cups canola oil
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet  chocolate chips

Preheat over to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
Add flour mixture slowly to pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Honey Mustard Crock Pot Ribs

When days get really busy on the farm, I like to use my crock pot so that supper is ready when we finally get to the house. There's nothing like walking into your kitchen and smelling a delicious main course that's all ready to eat!
This is my recipe for Honey Mustard Ribs:
I used country style pork ribs this time, because they were on sale at our local grocery store. I've also used beef short ribs in this recipe. Basically, whatever you prefer......or whatever is on sale.
I spread the ribs out on a baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Next, I combined 1 cup of Mildly Wild barbecue sauce (you can use your favorite bbq sauce), 3 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and 3 cloves of garlic, minced.

Place the ribs in your crock pot. I always use a liner. It makes clean up much easier....which just makes life easier. Pour the sauce mixture over the ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours. And you'll come home to this delicious meal!

The Cutest Piggie Ever!

If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know the story of the surprise baby pigs that came along back in September. And you know, from a blog in November, that we kept one of the babies.
Sweet little Bumpy isn't quite so little anymore.
He was neutered in December and did fine. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck.....I read a lot of horror stories about complications from neutering mini pot belly pigs.
He has developed quite a personality, which includes squealing that sounds as if he is surely being attacked by wild animals, anytime he hears you outside and you aren't visiting him at his pen.
He loves his mini pot belly pig feed, and canned pumpkin, and applesauce, and Cheerios, and yogurt, and marshmallows.....he has quite a diverse palette.
And, most of all, he loves a belly rub. He flops over on his side and will stay there as long as someone will rub his fat little tummy.
So you see, he's not spoiled at all. Well not much. Well, quite a bit.