a day at the farm...

Tweet



I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday morning. What was planned as a 30 minute trip to a friend's farm, became a three hour tour. I was not left stranded on a desert island, but instead, came home with eleven dozen cage free eggs, some grass fed beef and chicken, and cow pies ground into my floor mats to prove it. The husband will kill me; but first, he shall eat well.

Harry and Jennifer Huf run Slow Food Farms, a sustainable farm in Thorndale, Texas. Every measure is taken to ensure the animals live a healthy, happy life. Jennifer has a relationship with her animals, and knows many of them by name. Each critter has a story; and after the short time I was here, I knew their personalities as well.

Join me as I show you around their sustainable farm.... The whole experience was such a whirl-wind; now I know next time I'm taking a three hour tour, I'm bringin' me a notepad!! I had Jennifer help with describing the pictures since I couldn't remember the names and ages of all the critters. Her descriptions are hilarious!

First, the little peeps chicks (I know that was a cruel joke, but Easter just passed. Forgive me.)

1. Like a sauna for chicks, the little peeps hang out under their hover house where they have a heat lamp that keeps them at a toasty 95 degrees when they're first free from their shells and new-to-the-world. These little nuggets are about a week old, so they're getting feathers and required less and less supplemental heat.

   
   

   
   

   

   These chicks are three weeks old. They love the shade of their coop and the fresh green grass on the sustainable farm.

   
   

   

   This group of Rhode Island Reds came to Slow Food Farm because they had ceased laying and we're ready for the stew pot. Spring hit though and the girls got a reprieve when they came back into production.

   
   

   

   This was my favorite curious hen.... See the grey tail feathers sticking out the bottom nesting box? I was informed this was Genie, the "cranky" one of the bunch. She wasn't too hospitable.

   
   

   

   Soooo nosy!! 

   
   

   

   Hawksley (don't you just love it??!) inspects the water trough. Actually, from this view point he can spot all single hens and decide who to try to impress with his shiny tail feathers.

   
   

   

   Simone (on the left) and Patches are begging shamelessly for alfalfa hay and some good ol' scratchin'. Often partners in crime, make no mistake - they are as mischievous as they look.

   
   

   

   Suuuuuure, look how innocent, demure, and shy she looks. Simone is the social butterfly of the pasture. Of course she'll take down anyone who dares to venture into her area with a feed bucket. And, while she is great friends with Patches, she is often the butt of Patches' practical jokes.

   
   

   

   Queen of the Sow Serengeti! This is Pigot (rhymes with bigot; she is pushy and rude to her sister, Lullabelle). She loves hard boiled eggs, fresh chicken, corn, grass, bugs, grubs, roots, and enjoys spending her day nested in a plush hay pile or wallowing in a skin moisturizing, body detoxing mud bath. Maintaining a youthful appearance is very important to to this dashing pig.
   
   Every sustainable farm needs a Sow Serengeti and Slow Foods Farm has it! Pigot and Lullabelle call the Sow Serengeti home.  They share this vast savannah land with a herd of wild African goats, and a flock of feral fowl.  Occasionally a predator trespasses into their territory, so, without hesitation, the girls will attack it fast and hard.  Often a violent tussle ensues and they have to roll the predator with their strong snouts,  pummel it with their hooves and, finally, slay it with their razor sharp tusks.  Then they wallow in it's spilled blood...and snort and oink at me to come re-fill their now empty and upside-down water trough.

   
   

   

   Look, deep, deep into my eyes..... I tell you what I see in yo' futuuuure, oinkk. I loved their personalities!!!! (After I got used to the 300 pounds rubbing against my legs.... bracing myself not to fall over!

   
   

   

   Pigot's sister, Lullabelle, is exploring an oasis on the Serengeti. She is torn between taking a drink and dumping the water trough to make a mud bath. Her and Pigot like to pretend the trough is a predator that has invaded their sanctuary. They attack the trough violently spilling it's content and then pushing, flipping and attacking their "enemy."

   
   

   

   And a fine way to end this lovely evening, a lone Barred Rock, a heritage breed chicken. They're great layers, fantastic foragers, and don't get broody very often (this is when a hen just sits on eggs trying to get them to hatch). This lady here is modeling her classic black and white feather pattern. Black and white is always in style.

   
   

   

   SEE? Do you see it??? THEY'RE SMILING!!!

   
   

   

   Thaaaanks, ya'll come back now, ya' hear? (muncchh, muunch)

   
   

   
   

   

   ahhhhh and MY take home goody bag from Slow Foods Sustainable Farm!!!

   
   

   Well I hope ya'll enjoyed my tour of Slow Foods sustainable farm! If you feel all warm and fuzzy and at peace with the Earth like I do when you look at these pictures, feel free to call them up; they're your One Stop Protein Shop! :) Be sure to stop by..... SlowFoodFarm.com

   ~teeheehee, I kinda like that!
   
   

   
   

   Peace, love, and baking :)

   I'm out!

blondies have more fun.....

Tweet

Or so they think. Don't worry my precious fellow brunettes; I will come up with something for us "brownies." Ohhhhh you just wait all you golden locked ladies! Brunettes will conquer! HA! ;)

Alrighty, now that you're thinking I've definitely lost my mind (as if you didn't think that already), let's get on with the recipe. These blondies are a perfect combination of brownie, and cookie. Ah. The world is at peace. I added chocolate chips, and chopped pecans (pronounced puh-CAHN here in TX) - but I think next time I might also add some coconut. It'd be like a 7 layer bar without all the mess!

To make things even worse better, I top it with a cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmm. I bet you're salivating already. Does that sound gross? Is drooling more appealing?

Ok, you're drooling.

I had this idea, when ya'll make my recipe, post a picture of it, with you and your peeps, and post it on my Facebook so we can see all the stories!

Food, after all, is all about relationships. (at least for me.)

Let's get it on:

• 1/3 cup(s) of butter
• 1 1/2 cup(s) of brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 cup(s) of flour
• 1 tsp. of baking powder
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1 cup(s) of chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup(s) of chocolate chip

"really" addicting frosting:

• 8 ounce(s) of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1/4 tsp. of almond extract
• 1 1/3 cup(s) of powdered sugar
• 1 stick butter (1/2 c)

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch square pan.
2. Chop pecans. Set aside.
3. Melt your butter. Add in brown sugar, eggs, vanilla. Mix well.
4. Add in dry ingredients, mixing well.
5. Add in nuts and chocolate chips. Mix thoroughly.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until edges are browned.
7. Meanwhile, cream together cream cheese, one stick of butter, and almond extract until creamed thoroughly.
8. Add powdered sugar, adding more if necessary to create a spreadable consistency.
9. Spread icing over bars. Slice and serve. With a glass of milk.

homemade laundry soap

Tweet



Frugal times call for frugal measures! Plus, it's Earth Month, my favorite time of the year. Your homework assignment this week, boys and girls, is to make one batch of laundry soap for one of the following reasons:

• the entire batch costs less than $1 to make, making enough for approximately 90 loads - you're washing your clothes for pennies people 
• this formula is almost completely natural, and no phosphates, so it won't kill the little fishies (yup, fishies) down in the creek (or cause a sickening overgrowth of algae thus suffocating the fish living in it, which then in turns throws the entire ecosystem out of balance and... you get it)
• which I might add, if someone paid me to write this blog and not work, I would photograph an entire soap making journey from mixing lard and lye to creating our sudsy creation, but, back to our reasons -
• it's really fun, the kids will love it, it's a Bill Nye kind of moment
• it makes you feel Amish

~I laugh now because growing up my grandma would say "Well, I'm glad I live in these modern times, because I ain't never woulda had my soap made!"

First, I will start off by mentioning a very important disclaimer. This is not a sudsy laundry soap! It is not filled with the strange phosphates and bubbly chemicals found in your grocery store laundry soap. BUT, it's the enzymes in the ingredients that are actually cleaning!

Secondly, if you clothes are particularly, uh, stinky (such as when the husband comes home from the deer lease), add a few tablespoons of vinegar into the mix.

Ready for the fun?


The ingredients. You'll need a bar of Zote laundry soap. Some people use "Fels Naptha" laundry soap (no idea what it even looks like, I was born in '83 people), but Zote was all I could find. A box of Borax (which also is a lovely roach deterrent). A box of washing soda. This was the hardest for me to find. Walmart didn't have it, but my local grocer did!

Some interesting facts:

• Do not use Oxi-Clean. I tried this with my first batch, and it turned into.... ectoplasm (remember from Ghostbusters?). The whole thing started foaming and.... growing, thank God I made it in the tub. Then it congealed.... still usable, just weird. Some people still use Oxi-clean and instead they make a powdered form, I have yet to do this.  Which is why I'm now on the hunt to find 101 uses for Oxi-Clean.
• Washing soda is made from Sodium Carbonate (I wiki-ed it). The mineral is derived from the ashes of plants, and is commonly used in water softeners. If you can't find it at the store, and your local Amish friend is out, some say you can buy it from your local pool supply store (although this would be industrial grade, so I didn't want chance it on my favorite jeans).
• Others swore they made their own washing soda by spreading large amounts of baking soda out on a pan and baking it. I'm just glad I found some washing soda. EEK!

Ok, the process is very easy, really:

1. Grate one-third of the Zote laundry soap bar into a pan. Some ask, you're using your kitchen grater, and your food pots??? And to them I answer, YES, I'm making SOAP, it will rinse off. Ok, grate your soap, add 6 cups of water, and heat until the soap, uh, melts. 
2. Add 1/2 cup washing soda, and 1/2 cup Borax, and stir until it dissolves.
3. Now get a bucket, a 2 gallon will do. Pour 4 cups warm water, add your soap mixture and stir. It's turning to gel! SO COOL!
4. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups (I measure with my tea pitcher)  of water and stir!

That's it! I let it sit overnight, but I'm sure you could use it right away. I pour the finished product into empty laundry detergent bottles that I saved. Overnight it will gel little more, but it won't be solid, some people describe it as an egg noodle soup look (eww!). Just shake the container a little before you scoop it out.... All you need is one cup (the little laundry cup) per load!

This makes a good size batch of laundry soap. It fills one 150 fl. oz. detergent container, and 2/3 of another large tupperware container I have. I would estimate it's about 90 loads worth. Too cool, right???



...Here's what it looks like. Look, there's my husband's arm! I wonder if we'll ever put his picture on here... tee hee hee.

Hope ya'll give it a shot, do it in honor of Earth Day! It only takes about 30 minutes to make, and if nothing else, you've amused your kids, and only wasted $6 on ingredients...

Peace, love, and baking :)
~lucky girl

buffalo chicken stuffed shells

Tweet



This week for Real Women of Philadelphia, I made Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells. Yup, you heard right, hot sauce, blue cheese, chicken, all stuffed in a shell!
Apparently I'm keeping with some HOT theme, lord knows why; it's not like it ain't hot enough already in Texas. ~ I'm smiling because I secretly love the weather, but it's like some rite of passage that every Texan must complain about the weather, and talk about a drought. "Maaaan this is some drought we're havin' - we sure could use some rain...."
I told my husband, I've never been in Texas a summer where they WEREN'T having a drought! It's a desert area!!
I love, love, love it still.
So, this hot little twist on your regular stuffed shells may have you squintin' a little funny, but give it a shot, we can all cook a little outside the box a little. I think THESE stuffed shells sound like the perfect new twist on football this season....

***Oh, and if you happened to be a roommate of mine between August and December 2005 and living in Flagstaff, AZ or surrounding area, you're mentioned in this video. I also shush my cat. HA.

Ingredients please,

• 1 package jumbo shells
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2/3 cup(s) of hot sauce
• 1/3 cup(s) of blue cheese
• 1 cup(s) of ricotta cheese
• 1 package Philadelphia Cooking Creme
• 1/3 cup(s) of parmesan
• 1/3 cup(s) of mozzarella
• 1 pinch of salt and pepper
• 12 ounce(s) of marinara sauce

Steps

1. Prepare pasta according to package, set aside
2. Season chicken with salt/pepper. Cut chicken breasts into strips, cook on stovetop until juices run clear 8-10 minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix your shredded cheeses, blue cheese, ricotta and Philadelphia Cooking Creme. Mix well, and add chicken.
4. Stuff this mixture into the precious shells. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until thoroughly heated. During the last 10-15 minutes of cooking, pour marinara sauce on top of the shells.
6. Enjoy with your family or friends!

1. 
   

killer jalapeno cheese grits

Wellll.... this little bitty ol' recipe just happens to be my entry for week two of the Real Women Of Philadelphia cooking contest!

I think I've come to a conclusion. It's so H-O-T-T here in Texas, we have to keep eating HOT foods to feel cool outside! HAAAA!! How's THAT?

Oh, my brain hurts after so much philosophical thinking. So, any Southerner likes their grits. And if they don't like their grits ~ they ain't never had my cheese grits! People that hate grits, love my grits. People that don't know grits from a rubber tire love my grits! You might be a grit if.... ok, ok. Go ahead and give 'em a whirl. They cook up pretty fast; quick grits cook in 7 minutes. We're trying to be all about whole foods here at the Lucky Girl house, but my little ol' store doesn't feel the same. If you're lucky enough to find stone ground grits, they'll cook up in twenty. It's a fast side dish, and feeds an army.

Last little tip. These are great for leftovers too. The next day or two, I like to form mine into little patties, and pan fry them up! I might just bring these for Easter! Thanks for the idea everybody!! ~smiles.

Be sure to check out the video for instructions on how to pan fry a jalapeno! Poppin'!

Here we go:

• 2 cup(s) of stone ground white corn grits
• 1 whole jalapeno pepper, I prefer 2
• 8 cup(s) of water
• 3 ounce(s) of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1/2 cup(s) of sharp cheddar, grated, or cheese of your choice

Steps

1. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Slowly pour in your grits while whisking constantly. Then, reduce your heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 20 minutes.
2. While the grits are cooking, roast your jalapeno in a pan, turning it on all sides until the sides are blistered and brown. This mellows the flavor.
3. Cut your hot pepper lengthwise, and take out the seeds and white pith. Or, leave the seeds in for real heat! Dice your pepper, and add to the pot of grits.
4. After 20 minutes, mixture should be thick. Remove your pot from the heat, and fold in Philadelphia cream cheese, shredded cheese, and a little salt. Enjoy!
5. My favorite way to make these grits are to serve them with sauteed kale or spinach, and grilled chicken. 

Peace, love, and baking

~ Lucky Girl

rosemary potato tart

Tweet

Sooooooooooo, ya'll will be excited to know this recipe is my official entry for this week on Ms. Paula Deen's REAL WOMEN OF PHILADELPHIA cooking contest! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!! (yes all capitals is the equivalent of screaming, or squealing here). There's no voting necessary, but I can feel ya'll hugging me and wishing me good luck riiiiiight now :)

Try not to laugh too much, I now realize how truly, truly corny I am. All the time. Oh my. God bless my husband. Thank gosh I was home alone during this video. HA.

And now the recipe! In case you're confused, I guess the video will clear up any confusion, or, totally distract you. Your choice. To watch, or not to watch. ~hehee.

Ok, ok:

1 whole pie crust
1 whole head garlic, minced (if you have time, roast it in the oven!)
5-6 small new potatoes, or Fingerling potatoes, boiled
3 T chopped green onion
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
4 oz blue cheese crumbles
salt and pepper to taste

The rest is very simple.

1. Prepare and bake pie crust. Set aside.
2. Boil potatoes, 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, microwave cream cheese until it reaches room temperature.
4. Mince your green onions, rosemary, and garlic. Set aside.
5. Add your minced onions, rosemary, and garlic to your cream cheese and stir thoroughly.
6. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over your pie crust.
7. Sprinkle half the blue cheese crumbles over the cream cheese.
8. Thinly slice your potatoes, and layer them artistically, or just neatly, around your pie crust, covering the cream cheese completely.
9. Sprinkle the remaining blue cheese, and top with a little more rosemary, if you wish.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. This recipe would be great if you added ham or prosciutto also - making it a main dish!