Why Oh Mom

Eating local

2011-07-12T22:53:00.012-06:00

Tonight we had a "local" meal. Everything was either grown or made by us or from a local (within 50 miles) grower. So, what did we have? We had pork from a pig that one of the boys raised, barbeque sauce made by me, lettuce, onions and kale from our garden and beets from a local grower. We are growing beets but ours are not ready yet, I guess I need to get them started earlier next year. Then for dessert we had fresh strawberries that we had picked at a local farm.


Beets

Kale

This is some of out first fresh veggies of the year and I just love knowing where the food came from and how it was grown. I like to think it is better for us, but I know it tastes better. I think it is important for everyone to have access to fresh quality food at an affordable price. One way of doing this is to grow some of your food and everyone can do so in some form, even if only in a windowsill planter. A recent new story about a the Bass Family outside Detroit, MI concerns me, the mother faces jail time for growing some vegetables in her front yard! Is growing vegetables in the front yard the biggest crime this area faces? If vegetables can be grown on the White House Lawn, why is it a crime in the suburbs?

If you are interested in learning more about eating local check out The Locavore's Handbook or Eat Where You Live

Do the BiG Blue Test, on World Diabetes Day

2010-11-03T14:40:00.001-06:00

Please take the time to watch "The Big Blue Test". It is less than 2 minutes and for every view by November 14, a donation will be made by Roche Diabetes Care to help children in need obtain insulin. For a child with diabetes, insulin is life support.

Move over soap......

2010-09-14T22:46:00.000-06:00

So I was looking for something else to make and I stumbled upon lotion bars. This is a cool kitchen project because unlike the soap the kids can help! Also unlike the soap there is no curing time so there is an instant reward. For those, like me, that are not familiar with them a lotion bar is essentially a body lotion in a bar form.

We just made our first ones this weekend using beeswax, cocoa butter and sunflower oil. Since it was a first attempt we did not use any scent, but the cocoa butter has a naturally sweet almost chocolate scent. It smells so yummy and it leaves your skin silky. We are already planning to make more to give as gifts for Christmas - which is approaching quickly. I am always thinking ahead for holiday and birthday gifts.

Going once, Going twice, SOLD!

2010-09-09T08:38:00.000-06:00

Ruby and Max, our heifer and steer, went to the auction. The kids were kind of sad to see them go but are excited at the prospect of getting some new animals. We probably will get a couple more calves to raise for the auction again, once the calves are weaned. So that leads us to what shall we get now?

I had been lobbying for a dairy cow, but I am getting no where with that. So I have switched to a goat (or 3) for milking. Since we are mainly interested in the heritage breed animals I am leaning towards the Nigerian Dwarf Goats. Another advantage is their small size. We have had goats before and they were Nubians - a large dairy goat. Of course the husband tells me it is a huge commitment to milking twice a day. I know, I know I have a history of great ideas that sometimes don't turn out the way I think they will. I guess I need to work on that.

Have a great day!

Happy NOT back to school!

2010-09-01T08:57:00.000-06:00

This time of year you hear about back to school everywhere it seems like. Yet a growing number of families across the United States, like our family, are choosing not to go back to school and to homeschool.

Our family is what we like to call accidental homeschoolers - the public school was not meeting the needs of our oldest son. The superintendent of schools even said that they had to focus on the children that were behind and hope that those who where ahead did not get to bored. YIKES! So began our journey as a homeschooling family in 2007. Of course homeschooling has lots of advantages and a few of our top ones are; we can take vacations whenever we want - when places are less crowded! we can study whatever interests us whenever we want. Everyday situations become teaching moments. We can study the Bible as part of our school lessons. Each family that homeschools has different reasons and does so in a different way - there is no one correct reason or way to homeschool.

Of course with McP having diabetes that is even another reason to homeschool. our district has 1 nurse that travels to all the district schools and is only in each school about once per week. They will not allow other staff members to assist children with medical needs like testing blood sugar or giving insulin. I would need to go to the school each time he needed his blood sugar checked or needed insulin and since I am not a licensed medical professional I could not test or give the insulin on the school grounds and would have to actually check him out of school several times a day. CRAZY!

Right now homeschooling works for our family. If it continues to work then we will continue to homeschool. If it stops working for us or we need a change then I have the number to call the yellow bus and send them on their way.

Until then, Happy Back to School or Happy Not Back to School!

Now what do I make in the kitchen?

2010-08-30T00:00:00.001-06:00

I LOVE to bake - cakes, pies, cookies and all kinds of other gooey treats!

Before McP was diagnosed with diabetes I made homemade (no boxes) desserts 3-4 times a week. Since we count carbs and dose his insulin based on carbs, he can still have the desserts I make, but I have been trying to limit them a bit more than I did before. I have also tried substituting splenda for some of the sugar - sometimes that works and other times.......

So since I am not in the kitchen baking I need something else to do in there to make a big ole mess. So I have been making soap. So far I have made a lemon soap and a mocha soap. Wonder if there is a pattern to the scents? It is fun and I am sure I will give some as gifts, maybe even a give away here, but I need something else to do as soap is starting to take over the guest room while they are curing and they need to cure for about 6 weeks. So what should my next project or craft be? Do you have a favorite hobby that you think I should try?

Asking "Why?"

2010-08-25T16:44:00.001-06:00

I know it has been a while since I posted and I am sure you are wondering why. In short I have been trying to inspiration to adjust to life's changes get going again.

As a family we have also been asking why. On March 8 my day started with McP, our 4 year old, saying he was having trouble breathing. A quick call to the local family doctor got us right in and in no time we were on the road to the closest hospital with an ICU. McP was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and we were in SHOCK - no one in our family had ever had diabetes. We later learned that 90% of those diagnosed with type 1 have no relatives with the disease. He was in the ICU for 2 days and then we went to Denver to meet with pediatric endocrinologists and learn all about type 1 diabetes.

I will be honest before Phillip was diagnosed I was only vaguely aware that there were 2 different types of diabetes and they are really very different diseases. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease and in short it means that McP's pancreas has stopped working and he will need insulin (unless a cure is found) for the rest of his life. So the past several months have been a period of adjustment for the whole family. While we are adjusting, it does often leave us asking ....Why did diabetes effect our family?

McP, feeling better now,with his new friend Thumper

From 2010-08-11

Get out the road map......

2010-02-02T17:41:00.001-07:00

I guess it is about time to get out my road map and plan dinner for tonight. Well actually the road map I am referring to is not an atlas but a cook book. I have taken to calling recipes maps, you start at the same place but a few side trips (additions, deletions or cooking style changes) take you on a different route to your intended destination. Since running to the grocery store in not always convenient - just part of rural living really -I think it is rare that I make a recipe EXACTLY following the directions.

This is how me cooking a typical meal goes- I was reading my Simple & Delicious magazine and a recipe sounded good to me. The only problem is that I somehow missed the "cook for 4-5 hours" part. I also missed the other clue, the title of the article "Slow Cooked Comfort". Of course none of this would have been a problem if I was starting dinner earlier in the day instead of at 4:30 in the afternoon. Of course by the time I realized this I had many of the ingredients assembled and ready, so I just flew by the seat of my pants. So Chipotle-Marmalade Chicken in the crock pot was given a fast forward on the stove top and a few changes to the ingredients (no chili powder, but extra chipotle) to suit the taste of my family. Now I may never know what it was originally supposed to taste like, but I can tell you that the recipe I made was delicious.

Have you looked at your road map lately? There is almost always more than one way to get to your destination when cooking, traveling or just with life in general . Maybe it is time to take a break, get off the interstate, follow the back roads, take in the sites and meet some interesting people along the way. Try taking the road less traveled, enjoy the ride and see what happens. You may end up enjoying the trip even more.

If you eat, then you should see this movie!

2010-01-31T22:41:00.003-07:00

This weekend my husband and I watched a fabulous movie. It was so good that we even had the 11 year old watch it Sunday afternoon with us (our second time watching it!).

Before I tell more about the movie though I wanted to talk about our animals and how we raise them. (really this does tie in with the movie) We only raise a few animals, right now we have 26 chickens, 1 heifer and 1 steer. In a few weeks we will be bringing home some new piglets - last year we raised 4 hogs. This year we will raise at least that many and we are also planning to add a few turkeys. There are a few differences in the animals we raise and what is raised on many "farms". We do not use antibiotics for our animals. I recall several years ago I had an egg customer tell me that she could eat the eggs from our chickens, but anytime she ate eggs from the supermarket she had an allergic reaction. Once I found out that she was also allergic to antibiotics I was convinced that the reason she could eat my eggs was because I did not use antibiotics. Most producers today give daily antibiotics to their animals. All our animals also have pasture access on a daily basis, so they can root, chase bugs, graze or do what they SHOULD be doing. Unfortunately most of the meat that end up on your table does not live a normal or even a clean healthy life.

Some of our chickens being chickens!

And some of our pigs doing pig things!

The movie we saw this weekend affirmed to us that we have been doing things the right way all along even though some in our agriculture community don't understand why we do things the way we do. The movie was called Food, Inc. and it is documentary. It covers how the food industry has changed in the last 50 years and how it has effected the nutrition and health of our entire nation.

In all honesty I had not seen this previously, because I thought it was a Michael Moore type film. However it was far from that. I knew that fewer and fewer companies were providing more and more of the food. For instance there may be bacon by 8 different "companies" on the supermarket shelves but there are really only 3 or 4 large corporate producers. The types of animals have also changed over the years and the animals grown for food today are not the same type of animal grown in your grandmother's day.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to spoil it for you. I do hope it is a movie you will consider watching if you have not already. If you have seen it, or when you do, I would love to hear your reactions and thoughts.

Until next time......

For those of you that say grace before a meal ask for food that will keep you, and the planet, healthy.
-----Food, Inc

Maybe we need to raise more hogs this year.....

2010-01-29T11:34:00.001-07:00

We raise a few hogs each year on our small acreage. At least one goes in our freezer, one gets sold on the hoof at the 4-H youth sale since our oldest is in 4-H, the others we sell whole and then some are sold as cut and wrapped pieces. We raise all our animals without the use of antibiotics and following organic practices, but that is really another post. What I am wondering is do you eat pork and if this piece of news will alter the amount that you do eat?

Have you seen this news? Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez, has said that pork is a better alternative to...........

(are you ready for this?)

Viagra. Seriously!

"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's president thinks eating pig meat is really sexy. Many people in this beef-loving nation reacted with surprise Thursday after Cristina Fernandez promoted pork in a speech during which she not only said pork is better than Viagra, but suggested she's personally proven it.
"I didn't know that eating pork improved sexual activity," Fernandez said in a meeting with representatives of the swine industry late Wednesday. "It is much more gratifying to eat some grilled pork than to take Viagra."
She even joked that "it was all good" after she enjoyed some pork with her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner.
"I think they might be right," Fernandez said to a laughing audience."

"Argentines are among the world's biggest consumers of red meat, and most people here stubbornly reject the idea of replacing beef with chicken, pork or other meats. Despite Argentina lying along rich South Atlantic fisheries, seafood is rarely seen on dinner tables."
........."In Osaka, Japan, there is a village in which the people who reached 105 years old and ate a lot of pork had a lot of sexual activity," he told radio Mitre."
Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_pork_and_sex

Well I will let you ponder that for a bit. I think I will go out to the freezer and get out a pork roast to thaw. Below are a couple of our hogs enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. We do not keep our hogs in pens and they have daily access to pasture.

Twilight, isn't that the time between day and night?

2010-01-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Okay I will admit that I have never been one to keep up with the latest and greatest.

So my sister was making fun of the other day - my much older sister. You see I have never been one to follow celebrities, the latest movies or most popular books. I posted on Facebook that it was VERY foggy that morning. A teen friend of mine posted that she was in Forks, WA. This kind of confused me as it was a school day, but I assumed it must be some school trip. Then my sister asked if I saw sparkly people. HUH? Well it went on from there and I was the only one who did not have a clue. My sister did finally clue me in to what they were talking about - the Twilight books.

My sister mentioned that popular culture has never been my interest and she is right, but maybe that needs to change. Maybe I need to catch up a bit - after all if my sister can text then maybe I can figure it out too. So I have made a pledge to investigate and catch up a bit.

First I sent a text to my occasional baby sitter and one to my sister too - they were both shocked. I do love reading even if time is limited, so I put the Twilight book on reserve at the library. I have a Kindle, but it is still in the box it came in at Christmas. As for movies, I have no idea where to start. We have a Netflix account, do you have any suggestions on what we should rent? The theater is not a good option for me since "in town" we only have 2 screens. I am also, as I am sure you guessed, working on blogging too. I hope to be able to ad pictures to my next post.

I would love to hear from you on what you think I should check out or try. What am I missing? Any ideas or thoughts?

Welcome!

2010-01-28T23:40:00.002-07:00

Welcome to my blog! Since this is my first post I want to introduce myself. I am Carol, the mom in "Why Oh Mom". I chose the name because, as a mom of 3 boys, about every other second I am asked a question that starts with 'Mom, why....' - if you are a mom I am sure you have been there and understand. I also liked it due to a kind of play on words since I live in Wyoming and I am a mom.

Between home schooling, 4-H, taking care of animals and more we have a busy life, but it is a life we are making and we enjoy it. I hope to share not only what is going on with us, thoughts on parenting, some of our favorite recipes and lots more.

Until next time.....