Filling the Freezer

Since I spared you all from the step-by-step photo journal of the actual butchering process, I figured I could at least show you what the hind & front quarters look like going into the oven.  There are cuts of meat that look “worse” in the grocery store, so if this grosses you out, I’d hate to be with you at the meat counter in the store.

These cuts of meat aged for a day & a half.  Not as long as I’d have liked it to hang, but I had an opportunity for some uninterrupted butchering time (i.e. Grandma was over watching Rhiannon….thanks Grandma!) and took advantage of it.  I seasoned them with a basic seasoning salt, garlic & onion powder and wrapped them up in foil to keep it moist. 

They slow cooked in the oven for about five hours at 300 degrees just until the meat falls off the bone.  I got two pounds of meat and one pound of dog / kitty treat meat.  It doesn’t sound like much, but the 2 pounds for us is just meat – no fat, no bones, nothing but pop-it-in-your-mouth tender goat meat.  I could have been pickier about it and got more meat out of it but it was getting late & I was getting tired. 

Today I’m going to cut out the tenderloins, ribs and neck and wrap them up for the freezer.  As much as I like the tenderloin cuts, I’m really looking forward to a rib dinner.  Visions of a meat goat herd is filling my head again.

I often wonder what my reaction would be if somebody came up to me 15 years ago and told me that I’d be raising, eating and enjoying goat meat.  Although I suppose “exotic” meat wouldn’t have really freaked me out even when I was a kid thanks to my adopted grandpa, Bernie.  I have him to thank for so many things, one of them being how to skin & butcher an animal.  I vividly recall being called into the garage one day after school to find a dead raccoon hanging from the rafters and given a lesson on how to skin an animal.  Same went when deer hunting season came.  And the parties at Wilma & Bernie’s house were awesome; beaver tail, bear, goose, moose, elk……you name it, we ate it and loved it.

Now this may not seem like anything special to most country folk, but at that time I was a pre-teen living in the suburbs and attending a well-to-do Catholic grammar school.  I don’t recall if I had any conversations with my classmates about my “strange” grandpa, but can you imagine how it could have sounded?

Schoolmate: “So, what did you do this weekend Carolyn?  My Dad took us skiing at Villa Oliva.”

Me: “Well, I learned how to gut, skin & butcher a raccoon, although we didn’t actually eat this one because it was too old and it was basically for practice.”

Schoolmate:  Stares at me wide-eyed, jaw agape.

Me:  “Bernie said we could eat the next one as long as it’s fresh.  Maybe I can bring some in my lunch and share it with you.”

I’m not sure if Christine received the same “training” as I did or not.  But given her aversion to most meat products, and her ability to only eat meat that doesn’t look like what it was before being butchered, I suspect not.  But who knows.  Maybe she’ll chime in & let us all know.

My adopted Grandparents, Wilma & Bernie. 

We miss you very much!

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Since it’s been cold outside lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of tea.  But sometimes, ya just need something different.  Like hot, liquid milk chocolate in a cup.  So here’s an easy recipe for a hot cocoa mix using stuff you probably already have in your pantry.  It’s nothing like Kathy’s REAL hot chocolate, but I have to make do with what I have right now.  Although if you’re in the vicinity of Downer’s Grove in the winter & want a treat, go to Louisa & Millie’s Chocolates (http://www.lmchocolates.com/) for a cup of hot cocoa.  To.  Die.  For.

So back to the recipe:

6 cups powdered milk, 1 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup chocolate chips.  Put the sugar in a blender with the chips & whiz away until the chips are chopped up pretty fine.  Dump the sugar & chips into a bowl, add the cocoa & powdered milk & mix thoroughly.  3 – 4 Tablespoons of mix per cup of hot water.  Adjust amount to your taste (and the size of your mug).

....or adjust to Rhiannon's taste

Store in a canning jar or zippy bag & when the chocolate mood strikes you’ll be ready.  If you keep the mix in the fridge it should keep for about six months, longer in the freezer. 

And don’t forget to leave room for toppings!  As if a hot liquid concoction of sweetened milk & cocoa isn’t enough. 

Of course, there’s the old standby, marshmallows.  But by far my favorite hot cocoa topping would have to be whipped cream.  Would you believe that up until this year, my Sister had never graced her cup o’ cocoa with whipped cream?  What a sad thought.

How about chopping up some of those leftover Christmas candies like Andies mints, peppermint patties and peppermint sticks?  Toss the chopped sweets into a hot cup of cocoa & stir away.  Heaven.  Or if you have company over and want to be really fancy-pants, melt some chocolate chips in a double-boiler (or the microwave) and dip a peppermint stick into the chocolate, let the chocolate harden & then serve it with your hot cocoa to use an edible stirring stick. 

First Snow of the Year

This is the second snow of the winter as it did snow a teeny-tiny bit on Christmas, but technically it’s the first snow of the year – and hopefully the last.  More ice-bucket chipping in the morning and trying to convince the chickens that the snow will NOT kill them.

I don’t know how those of you in snow-prone areas do it.  Or why.  I suppose some of you crazy folks actually like snow, or sub-zero temperatures, or having to walk through foot-high snow drifts to haul hay and chip 2” thick ice out of water buckets.  They say you get used to the cold.  But then again I suppose I’d get used to somebody poking me with a sharp stick, but I generally try to avoid unpleasant things.

It’s not like we’ve never considered living in some of the northern states.  We actually looked at some property in Wisconsin that was right on the Menominee River & you looked across to the UP.  It was beautiful, peaceful…….. and we had to wear snow shoes to walk the acreage.  I’m not the most graceful person in snowshoes and definitely not the most pleasant after falling a dozen or more times.  When Paul gets in one of his “I need more space” kind of moods & asks me why we don’t live in the mountains of Idaho I just say one word, “Snow”.  And he immediately returns to whatever else he was doing before the urge to become a hermit hit him.

Even though we moved south it wasn’t far enough that Krazo Acres doesn’t get hit with nasty winter weather and I have a sudden, but fleeting urge to move even farther south.  Then I recall how very, very hot it is here in the summer.  One of my girlfriends calls August “The Month of Sweaty”.  So even though I should be happy where we are I’m sure we’ll still complain about it.  Maybe complaining will warm me up.  Or maybe I should just get myself a cup of hot chocolate.

Sounds like a good blog post for tomorrow. 

Sad, but necessary task

Today was butchering day.  Don’t worry; I didn’t post any pictures of the actual butchering as my Mom and Sister would probably end up yacking all over their keyboards if they saw the process in photos.  Honestly, I think that more people need to know where their meat comes from and how it got to their dinner plate, but that’s an entire blog post in itself.

Anyways…….

One of Nettie’s kids from this spring was a male so we banded him, let him nurse on Nettie for ten weeks, then put him with Pan.  He was half Saanen & half Nigerian and after eight months he just wasn’t going to be getting any bigger or meatier so it was time to put him in the freezer.  I’m sure there are some people who butcher the male dairy goats earlier and we may do that next year.   

Last year we had two male freezer goats and they had a LOT of fat on them.  Meaning I was feeding them too much grain & not getting any more meat out of it, although in my defense I’ve never done it before. So this year I went lighter on the grain & also supplemented his feed with a lot of acorns. 

This one didn’t have much fat on him at all, so I’m pretty happy.  It’s cold enough in the garage that we’re going to let him hang & age for at least a day.  We’ll quarter him and I’ll wrap up the ribs, tenderloins, backstraps and neck for the freezer.  Instead of taking up freezer space on the front & hind quarters I’m going to slow cook them in the oven, pull off the meat & then freeze that in small zippy-bags for quick meals later on. 

I keep tossing out hints to Paul that I’d like to start a small meat goat herd.  Of course, that means more fencing, more feed….more work.  But when I see a meat goat & then look at the scrawny carcass of the goat we just butchered, I wonder why we don’t butcher them right after they’re weaned so we don’t have to spend any more time and money on hay & grain for them.  Just one more thing to ponder I suppose.

Tomorrow’s post will be “nicer”, I promise!

Cloth vs. Paper

Was just folding some laundry which included about a dozen of our napkins and a heap of ragged towels.

We started using cloth napkins several years ago.  We were over at a friend’s house one day and I noticed that they used them & the itty-bitty-light bulb in my head went off.  Why weren’t we using cloth napkins?  I was constantly complaining about the paper napkins disintegrating, so I don’t know why it never really occurred to me to use cloth instead of paper.  Well, it could be because no one else uses them, or because growing up we didn’t use them, or because there aren’t commercials advertising cloth napkins.  Probably all of the above.

It’s cheaper in the long run to use cloth, and definitely more earth-happy.  Not to mention it makes the dinner table look fancier.  The ones I have are either from a thrift store (i.e. cheap) or hand-me-downs.  You can also easily make them from fabric scraps, although I haven’t done that yet since my napkin stash is pretty big.   I find that the cotton ones are more absorbent, although I do have two sets made of some sort of synthetic fiber.  We use them, but they are definitely not my first choice, especially if we’re having a “sloppy” meal.

I keep one stash of napkins right by the dinner table.

I do have a small package of paper napkins that were left over from our Wedding BBQ five year ago.  I’m not absolutely against paper products; paper towels, napkins & plates do have a purpose.  I’m not going to wash thirty cloth napkins, dinner plates & glasses if we’re having a party at the house.  They also come in very handy during power outages.  Ask me how I know this. 

We do, however, go through paper towels.  I use them to wash & dry the goats’ udders every milking.  I was thinking about using cloth towels but figured it was more sanitary to use a good paper towel instead.  Milk sanitation trumps reducing my paper usage in this case.  But for general household cleaning & wiping up spills I use a cloth towel or rag. Old t-shirts, stained or old bath towels, even socks get cut up for use as rags and get put into one of the rag bags.  One bag for good rags (to be used in the house) and one bag for icky rags (to be used in the garage or outside, and usually only used once).

So, is there a reason that you are still using paper napkins & towels?  Start looking for them at thrift stores, garage sales, on clearance at the dollar stores or make them yourself.  I promise you that once you use cloth, you’ll be wondering why you used paper for so long.

Oh, and by the way, if you decide to cut up your husband’s old softball t-shirt (that he wore in a championship game like seven million years ago and had holes in it the size of golf balls) don’t put it in his pile of rags.

Fresh Greens

No, I didn’t cheat and run into town for lettuce.  And no, we don’t have a heated greenhouse (oh how I wish we did).  We have sprouts! 

Paul started Mung bean and alfalfa sprouts several days ago.  I’d like to look into getting some other type of seeds for sprouting, but now that I think about it, wheat can be sprouted & we’ve got plenty of that.  Guess I’ll do that today.

I wish I could remember to make sprouts more often; I really need to just keep a running note on my calendar saying “Make Sprouts”.  Not only are they a good source of fresh greens, they are easy!  Just stick ‘em in a jar, cover them with water for a day.  The second day you drain the water, rinse & drain & put them on the countertop.  Keep rinsing / draining at least once a day until they look yummy, usually about 5 – 6 days.  Nice & technical, hugh? 

Sprouted Mung Beans

Here’s a list of some of the seeds / beans you can sprout:

Alfalfa, Amaranth, Barley, Broccoli, Caulifower, Celery, Corn, Dill, Fenugreek, Lentils, Lettuce, Millet, Mung beans, Oats, Onion, Parsley, Peanut, Pumpkin, Radish, Rice, Rye, Sesame, Squash, Wheat.

You won’t be able to sprout your typical white rice from the store as it’s been processed & really isn’t a “seed” anymore.  Same thing goes for peas & lentils that are usually split.  Other seeds made for planting may also have pesticides or herbicides sprayed on them.  You’re better off buying seeds specifically grown for sprouting and eating.

There are some seeds that you should not sprout as they can be poisonous or just downright bad for your inner workings.  Anything from the Nightshade family is a no-no.  This includes tomatoes, potatoes and peppers.  Slips, sprouts, leaves & vines are toxic. Please do some research of your own as I’m definitely not a horticulturist or culinary wizard.

Once my sprouts are ready, I rinse them to get some of the seed/bean hulls off, drain them & store them in the fridge.  They will keep anywhere from a few days to up to a week.  I use the sprouts in my scrambled eggs, breads, salads, stir-fry, and on sandwiches in lieu of lettuce leaves.  Or Rhainnon just eats them "as is".

Mmmmm.....Crunchy!

BOB's - Vehicle

Well, it’s the new year and that means it’s time to go through the bug-out-bags.  Ideally I try to go through them twice a year, once in the winter & once in summer so there are weather-appropriate items in there, but I never got around to switching to the summer stuff so my winter clothes were still in there. 

Not only had it been over a year since I went through it, but the pack that I normally keep in my vehicle had been in the garage.  A lot of good it was doing in there.  It probably got tossed out of the trunk before picking up a load of goat food or something like that.  So took everything out to see what I needed.  It was lacking several items; some which I never got around to putting in there and some that I’ve pilfered throughout the years but neglected to replace. 

Here is what I have in my backpack now:

Hiking shoes & 2 pair socks
Sweater, Cuddle Duds (long johns), Undies, T-Shirt
Hat & gloves
Leather work gloves
Fixed blade knife, box cutter w/extra blades, multi-purpose tool, small sharpening stone
Emergency “space” blanket
Rain Poncho x 2
Roll of TP, Wet wipes
Small flashlight & batteries
Compass
Small camp cooking kit (two pots, cup, utencils, can of sterno)
Candy bars (definately need replaced!)
Fire making kit (Jute, fire-starter logs, waterproof matches, lighter, magnesium fire starter)
Dozen tea lights (which melted, so I’ll replace them)
Duct tape
Small 1^st Aid Kit (band aids, alcohol prep pads, iodine, moleskin, tweezers, gauze, tape)
Hygiene (feminine pads, shampoo, toothbrush/paste, floss, deodorant, hair ties, comb)
Misc. Hygiene (hand sanitizer, insect repellent, sunblock, q-tips, disposable razor)
Water purification tablets
Diapers & Wipes

And what items I still need to put in there:

Water pouches, soap, washcloth, small tea candles (or other type of container candle),
deck of cards, garbage bags, hard candy or some other non-melting goodie, new hi-calorie food bars, instant soup packets, whistle, small mirror, local maps, personal phone / address book, some paper & coin money.

Now this list may seem somewhat long & daunting when written down, but it actually all fits nicely in a medium sized backpack.  This pack stays in your vehicle and you should have one for each vehicle you use.  For those of you who think I’m nuts for having one of these, let me tell you that I’ve used several items out of it through the years during road trips: twine, duct tape, water bottles, bandages, aspirin, flashlight, extra batteries, rain poncho, knife, work gloves, wet wipes & TP (when you gott’a go, you gott’a go!), coins, garbage bags. 

More than likely you’re not going to have to heft this thing on your back & really use it to “Bug Out” in the sense that a nuclear warhead just went off & your car went dead but I feel a lot better knowing that I could sling it over my shoulder & have some emergency items should a need arise. 

If you have children, they should have packs of their own (or keep items for small children in your pack).  Kid packs should have some snacks, water and/or juice boxes a change of clothes and some fun things like a few pocket games, crayons & paper.  These kid packs can be used during normal outings, like at the park or on a picnic.  This way the items in their backpacks will be rotated / updated; snacks won’t go bad, water will be replaced and clothes will be weather appropriate.

And remember to put your pack back in the vehicle after getting goat chow.