I've tried the whole vegetarian scene and have come up with one conclusion....I LOVE MEAT!!!! I just can't resist the urge to eat a juicy steak or burger! BUT...I have a real problem with the way animals are raised and processed in order for us to consume them. Coming from a family that raised our own livestock for eating, I know that animals have to eventually be butchered in order to eat them (sad, I know, but it's a fact of life). However, they don't have to be raised in unhealthy, disgusting conditions and taken to giant manufacting plants where they are mass-butchered in dirty facilities. At this time, my family doesn't have the means or the land to raise our own meat, so I've found a place that is doing it right, and I wanted to share this rare gem with you! For those of you interested in getting organic meat, raised on a family farm and processed in the best way possible, then this place is for you. Rus-Men Farms...a family stemming from generations of farmers, set out to provide the best quality meats possible. It's a farm located on the outskirts of Galion with a variety of meats available at affordable prices. Here is a link to their website, where you can get insight on the history of their farm, the meats that are available and information on prices and ordering meat.
http://rusmenfarms.com/
I highly recommend them and hope that you check them out! You won't be disappointed!!!!
*Note- you can also find a link to their website listed on my blog under "My Favorite Websites!"
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Our Favorite Valentine's Day Craft!
I try to do a different craft with my son each day, along with a fun lesson to go with the craft. To pay tribute to love on Valentine's Day, we did this fun little craft that is sure to be a hit with any child!! It's a great way to let your child have a hands-on experience with a craft, with the end product being something that you can cherish for years to follow!
Yarn Hearts
Ingredients
Once dried, you can add ribbon to these to make an ornament or simply use them as Valentine's Day decorations as is. They are a cute, inexpensive craft that children have a lot of fun making!!
**On a side note, these aren't limited to just Valentine's Day. You can use cookie cutters of various shapes and yarns of many colors to create lots of different yarn things for many different occasions. We've done pumpkins for Halloween and some things for Christmas too (trees, stars, bells).
Yarn Hearts
Ingredients
- Colored yarn cut into about 1 ft pieces (we used red, pink and white yarn for Valentine's Day)
- Cornstarch
- Water
- parchment paper/wax paper/or baking sheet
- heart shaped cookie cutter
- Make cornstarch glue by combining 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup water into a sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until mixture thickens into a paste.
- Let cornstarch glue cool until it's safe for your child to put their hands into it.
- Place heart shaped cookie cutter onto parchment paper
- Let your child dip pieces of colored yarn into the cornstarch glue until it is fully covered.
- Run fingers over glue covered yarn to remove excess glue, and place into cookie cutter. (placement of the yarn isn't really crucial...I've found that these hearts turn out cute no matter how the yarn is placed into the cutter)
- Continue dipping the yarn into the glue until you have a filled the cookie cutter about half way.
- Press yarn firmly into the cookie cutter and then remove the cutter, leaving a heart of yarn.
- Continue making hearts until you run out of yarn or glue.
- Let hearts stand overnight to dry.
Once dried, you can add ribbon to these to make an ornament or simply use them as Valentine's Day decorations as is. They are a cute, inexpensive craft that children have a lot of fun making!!
**On a side note, these aren't limited to just Valentine's Day. You can use cookie cutters of various shapes and yarns of many colors to create lots of different yarn things for many different occasions. We've done pumpkins for Halloween and some things for Christmas too (trees, stars, bells).
A Healthy, New Twist to an Old Favorite!
Rice crispy treats are always a favorite among children! However, loaded with sugar and fat, they aren't the healthiest snacks to give our little ones. So I've come up with a healthier, less fattening take on the old favorite. And not only is it better for your children, but you can make them out of all organic products as well. Not to mention that the cost of making them at home is much cheaper than buying them in a store! Hope you thrifty, organic mamas love this recipe as much as I do...and hope your children love it more!! :)
Healthy Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
*Note- some fun ways to liven up these treats are to add food coloring to the peanut butter/honey mixture in the pot for a colorful special occasion, substitute different things for the fruit for a different taste, or cut into fun shapes for a more festive look!
Healthy Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 6 cups brown rice cereal
- 2/3 cup of your favorite dried fruit
- cooking spray
- Combine peanut butter and honey in a pot over medium heat. Heat until melted (about 2-3 min)
- Add brown rice and dried fruit and stir until mixture is sticky and rice is fully covered.
- Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
- Fill the pan with rice mixture and press firmly into pan.
- Put into refrigerator and let cool for approximately 30 min.
- Cut into squares when cooled and serve.
*Note- some fun ways to liven up these treats are to add food coloring to the peanut butter/honey mixture in the pot for a colorful special occasion, substitute different things for the fruit for a different taste, or cut into fun shapes for a more festive look!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
After many years of growing up making our own homemade salsa, canning tomatoes and other garden veggies, I decided to take a shot at making my own homemade spaghetti sauce. I will be straight-forward and honest when I say, it isn't easy, it's pretty messy and it's very time consuming!!! However, it is so worth the hard work...it tastes delicious and fresh, it full of flavor and it's better than anything you can get from a jar or can! And I also take satisfaction in knowing that all of the products that I use to make it are homegrown and organic! So not only does it taste good, but it's good for you too! For all of you organic mamas like me who want to give your families the healthiest, safest foods possible, this is for you!
Ingredients
Wash tomatoes. Boil water in a large pot. Once water is boiling, add whole tomatoes to fill the pot. (they won't all fit, but just add as many as you can) Leave tomatoes in for just a few minutes. Remove tomatoes and place into a large bowl or kitchen sink filled with ice water. This is a step that a lot of people don't do, but it's such a valuable one! By boiling the tomatoes for just a short time and blanching them in ice water, it loosens the skins, making it a breeze to remove the skin, which you don't want to add into the sauce! Once the tomatoes are cooled, you can peel the skin right off. Repeat this for all of your tomatoes. After all of the tomatoes are peeled, slice the tomatoes in half, and remove the seeds and juices inside. Something I like to do is to put the insides of the tomatoes through a strainer into a bowl, so that I have tomato juice that I can put into jars and can separately later on! (it's a good way to get as much as possible out of the tomatoes that you use!) Next, once you have all of your tomatoes seeded, chop them into about 1 inch cubes. Add to the large pot you will use for your spaghetti sauce. Now finely chop and add any herbs you like...I opted for lots of basil, oregano and parsely. Add enough to flavor your sauce as you like it. I love basil, so I use a lot of it and just filled with the oregano and parsely. Next, add tomato paste. This will help thicken your sauce. Now add garlic powder to taste. I don't add fresh garlic because I've been told that it tends to get bitter during storage, so I opt for powder. (but I do add fresh garlic to it when I prepare it for spaghetti) Also add salt and pepper to taste. I put just a bit of garlic powder in it also for some extra flavor, but that's optional. And last, finely chop any vegetables that you would like in your sauce. This is a step that can be skipped, but I've found that it's a good way to get more veggies into our diets by adding them to stuff like this where they blend right in with the sauce! With a persnickity 2 year old, I sneak veggies into almost anything I can when I can!!! :)
Cook your sauce on a low heat until thickened. This normally takes at least 2-3 hours, but I let it go longer than that. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will be. So if you don't mind runny sauce, you don't have to cook it long!
Once the sauce reaches a consistency that you are satisfied with, turn off heat and let it cool. After it cools, simply pour it into freezer bags. (*Note- I always make sure to label the bags with what it is and the date I made it prior to adding the sauce so I know...I make it multiple times throughout the garden season, so I like to know the dates so I can use the older stuff first)
You can always can the sauce if you prefer, but I've found that freezing it works just as well. Not to mention that the bags are easy to stack in a freezer and don't take up much space!
And there you have it....yummy homemade spaghetti sauce that your family is sure to love! Whenever you want to make spaghetti, just pop a bag out of the freezer, remove from the bag and put it into a pot frozen and cook it...or thaw it by putting the bag into a pot of boiling water for just a minute or so and then pour it into a pot for cooking.
Enjoy!!!
Ingredients
- at least 2 bushels of tomatoes
- fresh herbs -I used basil, oregano and parsley
- garlic powder to taste
- tomato paste (enough to thicken the amount of tomatoes you use)
- *optional* veggies of your choice (I used zuchini, green beans, and carrots)
- salt and pepper to taste
Wash tomatoes. Boil water in a large pot. Once water is boiling, add whole tomatoes to fill the pot. (they won't all fit, but just add as many as you can) Leave tomatoes in for just a few minutes. Remove tomatoes and place into a large bowl or kitchen sink filled with ice water. This is a step that a lot of people don't do, but it's such a valuable one! By boiling the tomatoes for just a short time and blanching them in ice water, it loosens the skins, making it a breeze to remove the skin, which you don't want to add into the sauce! Once the tomatoes are cooled, you can peel the skin right off. Repeat this for all of your tomatoes. After all of the tomatoes are peeled, slice the tomatoes in half, and remove the seeds and juices inside. Something I like to do is to put the insides of the tomatoes through a strainer into a bowl, so that I have tomato juice that I can put into jars and can separately later on! (it's a good way to get as much as possible out of the tomatoes that you use!) Next, once you have all of your tomatoes seeded, chop them into about 1 inch cubes. Add to the large pot you will use for your spaghetti sauce. Now finely chop and add any herbs you like...I opted for lots of basil, oregano and parsely. Add enough to flavor your sauce as you like it. I love basil, so I use a lot of it and just filled with the oregano and parsely. Next, add tomato paste. This will help thicken your sauce. Now add garlic powder to taste. I don't add fresh garlic because I've been told that it tends to get bitter during storage, so I opt for powder. (but I do add fresh garlic to it when I prepare it for spaghetti) Also add salt and pepper to taste. I put just a bit of garlic powder in it also for some extra flavor, but that's optional. And last, finely chop any vegetables that you would like in your sauce. This is a step that can be skipped, but I've found that it's a good way to get more veggies into our diets by adding them to stuff like this where they blend right in with the sauce! With a persnickity 2 year old, I sneak veggies into almost anything I can when I can!!! :)
Cook your sauce on a low heat until thickened. This normally takes at least 2-3 hours, but I let it go longer than that. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will be. So if you don't mind runny sauce, you don't have to cook it long!
Once the sauce reaches a consistency that you are satisfied with, turn off heat and let it cool. After it cools, simply pour it into freezer bags. (*Note- I always make sure to label the bags with what it is and the date I made it prior to adding the sauce so I know...I make it multiple times throughout the garden season, so I like to know the dates so I can use the older stuff first)
You can always can the sauce if you prefer, but I've found that freezing it works just as well. Not to mention that the bags are easy to stack in a freezer and don't take up much space!
And there you have it....yummy homemade spaghetti sauce that your family is sure to love! Whenever you want to make spaghetti, just pop a bag out of the freezer, remove from the bag and put it into a pot frozen and cook it...or thaw it by putting the bag into a pot of boiling water for just a minute or so and then pour it into a pot for cooking.
Enjoy!!!
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