Slow Cooker Asian Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops.
2. Cook on Low setting for 6 hours, until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Slow Cooker Asian Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops.
2. Cook on Low setting for 6 hours, until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Recipes... coming soon!

Yesterday a friend suggested that I start posting recipes on our blog.  I love the idea of sharing recipes and since we cook and bake so much from scratch, I certainly have a lot of recipes to share.  So, I'll begin with the first installment today!

Oh my, what big teeth you have

Samuel would like to show you his two chompers.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the month, right after the second tooth came in.  He's slobbery again, so we think #3 might be coming in.  Or he just likes slobbering, which is entirely possible.

Who you lookin' at?

Samuel's discovered the camera mounted at the end of his crib and is intrigued by it...

Missouri weather

Here is a taste of our late winter and first week of spring weather:

3/14 - last week of winter - unexpected ice storm.  Sigh.
3/23 - first week of spring - sunny and 80 degrees.  Hallelujah!
3/26 - still the first week of spring - 30 degrees, sleet and snow.  Double sigh.

I think I'm going to move to the south now...


way south...



like the Caribbean.

6-month checkup

Samuel had his 6-month checkup yesterday on his half-year birthday.  Here are his current stats:

Weight: 18lb, 7oz - 50th percentile
Height: 26.5in - 50th percentile
Head circumference: 43.6cm - 50th percentile.  This is the biggest change.  Apparently he was born with a small head b/c up until this visit he was in the 10th percentile. Hopefully his head is only bigger in size and not in ego.  :)
Teeth: 2

The doctor was happy with all of his developmental milestones and was super-impressed that he takes 3 two-hour naps AND sleeps from 10pm-7:30am every night.

The office manager came in to have me sign something and the nurse came in to give him his booster shots. Both were commenting on how pretty his eyes were and how handsome he is.  He had to get 4 shots and the nurse was very apologetic before she even began.  On the first shot, he let out only a little whimper.  Nothing on the 2nd.  The 3rd he was actually smiling at the nurse.  On the fourth shot, he let out a single, 2-second cry then stopped when I kissed his cheek.  The nurse then stood there in awe.  She said she had never seen a baby take shots so well.  The office manager came back in to give me some papers - the nurse grabbed her and said, "Look at him... he didn't even cry when I gave him his shots.  I think this might be the best baby ever".

Mommy's ego was a little BIG after our visit.  :(

Spring is springing

We recently had a few signs that spring is really coming. After all of the snow and ice this year, I started to wonder.

First robin we've seen this spring.  Before long, the backyard was full of them!

Canadian geese taking a break in our pond.  They were out there quite a while before I went out to take this pic.

I apparently got too close for comfort, but at least got this really cool picture as they were taking off.

 

Sweet potatoes

Get yourself some sweet 'taters, chop and boil 'em up.

Add a little cinnamon and then mash them up with a stick blender.

Use a disher to make little balls, freeze, and then store in freezer bags. This is one of Samuel's favorite veggies!

Shorts weather

Last week was gorgeous!  Upper 60's to lower 70's and sunny.  I can take this in mid-February.  Some of us even cracked out the shorts...

This week is supposed to be in the 40's and 50's.  It's not the same as 70, but not too shabby!

Red the pig

This past weekend, Dan butchered one of our five pigs. We get a lot of questions about why we raise our own animals and whether or not it bothers us to butcher them. Our answer is always the same. No, it doesn't bother us because we know they had such a good, happy life with us. God put animals on the earth to feed us, and we're okay with that. Pigs are very unique though. Unlike chickens and turkeys, pigs are very social creatures and are on the farm bulking up much longer than any other animal. This allows us to be around them more and learn their personalities. And do they ever have personalities. Red, the pig just processed, was no exception. ***WARNING*** If you just purchased pork from us this week, I'm talking about the meat that is now in your freezer. If this bothers you, I'd stop reading now. Red was a Red Duroc pig; therefore his name. Red was the only male amongst the group and probably the sweetest. He was definitely a gentle giant. Even though he was larger than the girls, he was always kind to them. He was one of the first to let us scratch his head and when he was little he liked being around us in the pen so much, he'd be right on our heels and nearly trip us. It's reasons like this that I like raising and processing our own meat - knowing that he enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed him. Granted he never knew what his fate was, but on the flip side... he never knew what his fate was. We go through life knowing we'll encounter difficulties and ultimately that one day our life will be over. Red, and all of our animals, don't know this. They just have one happy day after another and one day it's peacefully over. If we could only be so lucky! Here are a few pics from processing. Nothing too grotesque, but again, if this sort of thing doesn't settle well with you, I'd stop scrolling now.

Goldilocks

Somebody has been lying in my bed... and here he is!

Winter wonderland

Saturday afternoon I walked the property looking for pretty winter landscape photos. Here are some of my favorites...

Wet face

Samuel was most inquisitive as to why I was so close to him with the camera.  I was trying to get a picture of was his wet face.  I'm not sure it will show up, but his face is wet from his hair to his chin.  Sometimes his fingers don't actually make it into his mouth and as a result, he ends up sucking/licking the palm of his hands.  Then he smears it all over his face.

More around the house

For anyone who has seen our prior houses, this one will look much more subdued.  We generally like very bold and saturated wall colors and this house is very neutral.  When we bought the house I thought I didn't want to paint because I liked the neutrals.  I still do, however, I've recently dug out the color deck and have started perusing. We'll see what comes of it.  As you'll see below, I still need to get a lot of pictures/decor hung on the walls, but his will give you an idea of the house and layout.

Hallway to mudroom and garage

Outside Samuel's room - hall to garage on left and hall on right leads to kitchen / other side of house

Samuel's room

Center hallway looking down toward 2 bedrooms

Front door (can't get a good pic)

Cool vanity in center hall half bath

Kitchen - from breakfast room

Kitchen - from center hallway

Kitchen - from other side of breakfast room

 

Breakfast room & family room

Family room fireplace

Family room

Master

Master bath

Living room from front door. Master bedroom to left.

Dining room on right, living room on left.  Stairs up to 2nd master suite.

43 days til spring!

We're being doused again with another round of snow.  This storm came up much quicker and not nearly as much hype as the one earlier in the week.  Last night the weather forecasters said 2-3 inches for our area.  As of right now I'd say we have a good 4 inches.  After it stops, I'll venture out and  get some pics.

Piggie shelter

When we moved the pigs to the farm last September, we didn't build them a housing structure.  We intended to butcher them in December, so we figured they wouldn't need one.  However, it's been so darn cold and we haven't had the right mix of day/night temps to yet.  We've been really worried about them with the nighttime temperatures getting so low.  So, Dan and Danny built the pigs a windbreak.  This weekend, they'll add on to it, so they have protection from the wind on all sides.  This is their makeshift housing at the moment...

Sausage-to-be

Dan ground up some pork and made breakfast sausage.  Pure, non-chemical laden sausage...

Icy sunrise

We had a gorgeous sunrise shining through the icy trees this morning.  It was a little hard getting pictures from the glare, but think you'll get the idea.

Ice storm

Tuesday morning we started getting hit pretty hard with freezing rain.  It continued most of Tuesday and into Wednesday it turned to snow.  It continued snowing all day Wednesday.  We ended up with about 1/2 - 1 inch of ice and about 2 inches of snow.  Not horrible, but a downside to living very rural is that no one is in a hurry to clear our roads.  The road we live on is a narrow, hilly, gravel road that is privately owned (i.e. the property owners maintain it... not the county), so it doesn't get cleared at all. Ah, the joys of country life!