Real Food

Raw Milk from our Goats and Eggs from our Chickens

I can't begin to describe how wonderful it feels to feed my family and not have to worry about it. It is such a FREE feeling.:o)

I love watching my chickens search for food. Hunting up insects and bits. I also like watching them run to me when I hollar "Chick, chick, chick......Here chick, chick, chick." They know that when I'm yelling there will be fresh grain scattered on the ground for them. 

I love watching my children gather the eggs. 

I love watching them wash them and put them away.

I love the care that they are showing for these amazing creatures who feed us.

The goats all come running when I step outside too. The know that there is a hand to scratch behind the ears, even if the hand holds no food.:o) Kiska walks with them all around the pasture as they browse for the next tasty nibble.

I love that my children help me mix their feed.

I love that the children enjoy watching me milk.

I love that my older two can already hand milk our goats just like me....it

makes me feel connected to the generations before me who might send the older child out to collect the milk for the day.

I love that we know EXACTLY where our milk comes from.

Fresh Milled Organic Flour Soaking for Tomorrow's Bread

I've been reading about soaking grains for several months now. I just hadn't managed to incorporate it into our day. I don't know why, because now that I've started I see how simple it is.

I just measure out the flour I need, add the water, add the acid, place a lid on it and let it sit until I'm ready the next day.

I decide what I want to bake the next day......

Grind up the amount of flour I need....

Place the appropriate amounts of flour into each container.....

And then the next day I just crack it open, give it a stir, add my final ingredients and finish out the recipe.

Voila! Bread, muffins, pancakes, and just about anything else I can dream up.

 

This made the whole pancake process a THOUSAND times easier. I don't know why I hate to make pancakes in the morning, but I do. With this process I could see myself serving pancakes often with NO problem.

I just toss a few eggs, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in and we are cookin' pancakes a few moments later.

Maybe it's because we don't have to clean up the inevitable flour mess......?

Oh well, it really doesn't matter.:o)

Everyone but Ronan liked the pancakes. I'm going to try using Lemon juice as my acid instead of vinegar and see how that goes.

I've also made the move to Real Salt, and we're LOVIN' IT! 

It has an almost sweet taste to it. Yum.

Soaking Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a Ronan favorite. I'm hoping that he'll like the soaked oats too. But even if he doesn't like them soaked I'm okay with this meal. It packs a punch.

It contains Organic Whole Oats, Raw Butter, Raw Milk, Real Salt, Organic Maple Syrup, and Fresh Grated Organic Cinnamon.

He's happy, and I'm happy.

This Sweet Little Guy is one of the Reasons that Real Food is so important.

Chickens!

Easter Egg Hunts Everyday!!

Our hens don't use the nesting boxes exclusively.:o) We've found that they like the comfy tall grass. This makes it lots of fun! (Well, until they stink it's lots of fun...lol.)

Adults searching for eggs at the traditional Easter egg hunts are usually frowned upon. Which is sad, because I enjoy it. Now I get to watch the chickens AND I get to hunt eggs!

It's a Win=Win.

Until I miss some.

This is why I'm  picking up some false eggs today to see if I can convince them that the nesting boxes are THE place to lay.

The Chicken Coop

Scott bought me this cute little coop. I love it! Not only is it absolutely adorable, but it's about the size of a dog house. These would work beautifully in a back yard homestead. Right now we have 5 hens and a rooster living in ours and they seem to love it.

I know that there are a lot of folks who are fighting to be able to keep chickens in town. It's one of the things that I've always hated about living inside the city limits. I understand that some people don't like the scratching, I suppose that I can understand if it winds up being stinky, but the thing I can't understand at all is when people complain about the noise. 

Really?! 

But I suppose I don't get a vote since I love the sounds of hens talking and roosters crowing.:o)

The girls early this morning.

I've ordered a batch of chicks that should show up in a couple of weeks. They will be surprise chickens because I chose to go with a rainbow layers variety. I hope a get a few greens and blues.:o) 

But I'll really just be happy to have eggs. 

The color of the outside doesn't affect what's inside.

"Ya know, like with people?" .........Tyler

Tyler pulling up to load branches.

He's a good boy.:o)