Baby Kittys

Yet another sign that spring is upon us. Yesterday one of our farm cats had her kittens. Not that we were in need of more kittens but it is also something that we have little control over.
They are so incredibly cute and mama is doing so wonderful. We did try to move her and her kittens to a "safer" location because otherwise one of our dogs likes to go find kittys, but she was having no part in that and as soon as we left the barn, promptly moved them back to where she deemed a nice location. SO we have added another fence panel to stop the dogs, and young children from entering the barn uninvited.
So our patch had 5 beautiful babys, first was an adorable yellow/orange, then came a all black baby, we then added one that was black and white, followed by another all black and finished up with the most beautiful calico just like mommy.
They will be a wonderful addition to our mousers on the farm and the kids will enjoy playing with them through the summer.
Here is mommy with her babies (doesn't she look annoyed with the camera!)

Next is a couple shots with mama out of the picture.

TULIPS

T terrific
U Unique
L Luminating
I Intriguing
P Perfect
S Stunning

That is what I think of when I see these beautiful flowers at the start of each spring!

Cheese Making and more

So this milkmaid is not sure if cheese making is a science, an art of just a pain in my behind, but it is certainly one of the 3. I have made cottage cheese 3 times now and none of them have turned out. The first 2 the flavor was just not what we were wanting and this last time, the flavor was great but it was totally over cooked. Very chewy and not at all yummy.
Plus I have made a batch of mozzerella and while that didn't taste bad, it wasn't what I was hoping for either. It was possibly overcooked as well and was more of a stringy cheese than what I was wanting.
Now the good of this was that I figured out how to make sour cream that has wonderful flavor and will save us when we are needing sour cream for meals. It also let me get 2 gallons of milk out of my fridge and make room for something more.
The sad thing is that in the time it took me to make these two batches of cheese I could have gotten my entire house cleaned rather than making an even bigger mess for myself. Plus it is really discouraging to invest 4 to 6 hours of your day into something just to throw it away and start over.
But I am determined to at very least perfect the cottage cheese so that we can have that for the family. We all like to eat it and the large container from the store is not enough for the entire family to have what they want with a meal. So this is something that I really have to figure out!
And on a side note, another sign of spring....kittens are being born! More on that probably tomorrow!

Things I love

After a very long, very cold winter, the signs of spring come with wide open welcome arms. Every day it seems that we walk around the yard only to discover that something else is emerging from the ground, a new tree is getting leaves or a new flower is starting to bloom.
Two things really caught my eye and made me smile. The first was the dandelions. While I know that they are technically a weed they are still very pretty. Bright yellow flowers that emerge so early in the year. There is something about that cheery yellow that you can't help but smile the first time you see it each year.


The next is the strawberries starting to bloom. I found the first blooms of the year while walking around. This is something that made me especially excited being it means that soon there will be fruit on the plants that are so wonderful to eat in so many ways, from fresh off the vine to jam to pies. There is nothing better than a freshly picked strawberry!

So what are your favorite things about spring?

Whats for dinner

As a mom to 3 kiddos it is very important to me to not only feed my kids in a healthy manner but also in a way that is rather frugal. So I am always looking for things that can stretch. And if it can be a fix it and forget it type recipe that is even better!
Today I am talking about chicken and it fits into all of the above catagories.

Crockpot Salsa Sour Cream Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

Place chicken in crockpot
sprinkle taco seasoning over top
Add salsa
Cook 4-6 hours til done

Remove chicken, add sour cream and heat up.

I then shred the chicken and add it back in.

My favorite way to serve this is in tortillas with cheese served with spanish rice and refried beans. However it is very good to have it as a meat served with rice or potatoes as well.

Enjoys

How do you use it up?

For Easter we served a turkey for lunch. It was very good but as I am sure you know there is always lots of leftovers when you have a turkey. A goal of mine is to use as much as possible and waste as little as possible. So with the turkey so far we have boiled the carcus and made broth that is going to be made into noodles. We had turkey sandwiches and left over sides and I made Chicken Salad with some of the meat.
Now have you ever tried to find a recipe for Chicken Salad? I have been searching for one that we like the way it tastes for nearly 10 years and have yet to find one, so I just started putting things together and figured it out on my own. So I thought I would share that with you in hopes that it saves someone 10 years of their life.

Chicken Salad:
3-4 cups chicken or turkey chopped or cubbed
1.5 cups Mayo
1 cup Miracle whip
2 to 3 T mustard
2-4 T ranch dressing
1/8 cup chopped onion
1/8 cup chopped celery
1/4 t celery seed
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder

Mix well, chill and serve on your favorite bread.

This was very easy to make and tastes just wonderful!!!

So how do you use up your leftovers??

So they asked me why

So I was recently asked why we choose to live the life that we live and the answer I gave was so simple. Because we want the very best for our children. However the full answer is so much more and much deeper as well. It isn't a question that is simple if you think about it.
So lets discuss this.
Why do we choose to own a cow that is then milked twice a day? Well we want to be able to provide fresh, raw milk for our family. Because is having the cow that we then milk we are able to save a substantial amount each month on what we spend in milk and butter and hopefully more as we become more accustom to making things. On top of that the experience that it teaches out children is that tho it is not always easy and we don't always want to get up and go out to the barn to milk the cow, it is something that needs to be done and so we do it.
Why do we raise our own meat and eggs on our farm? Again we want to be able to know where our food is coming from and what its been fed and how its been treated. And again the responsibility that it will teach the children is very important to us as is the cost savings.
Why do we choose to use cloth products rather than disposable? Well for starters they are much softer for use. They also don't create the trash for the landfill which is a huge eco benefit for me as well. Plus it again has teaching value for the kids. While it is not always the easiest way out it is the most responsible way.
So many of our choices are done for many reasons but in the end they come back to wanting the very best for our kids and to teach them responsibility with their choices.