Tangy Tomato Dressing

One of my all-time favorite salad dressings is one from Outback Steakhouse.  It's the perfect combination of sweet, spice and tang.  I found a recipe online and made a few modifications to suit my tastes. Try it and change it however you'd like!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
2 pinches salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, whisking often, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator.  

In a pinch, I've also made this just by whisking everything together (skip the cooking) and chilling.  It's still good, but has a little different flavor.

Where's the Wheaties?!?

After doing internet research and reading several books, Dan decided to change his diet so he is wheat-free.  He did this of his own accord and actually didn't tell me he was doing it.  And even with all the whole-wheat laden meals I made, which he didn't eat, I didn't notice.  For two months.  I'm observant that way.  What can I say... it's a gift.

He decided to finally share his new-found knowledge with me after learning there is a high probability that Samuel's diabetes was triggered from eating wheat.  After learning how the body reacts to modern-wheat (i.e. how wheat has been grown since the 50's), I felt nauseated for a week knowing I gave our son something that possibly triggered his auto-immune system to shut his insulin-producing panaceas down.  I know, I know... I was simply feeding him the whole grains that the USDA recommend our diet to contain.  What still sickens me though was to learn that the USDA recommends whole-grains be such a large part of our diet, not because our bodies need it.  The USDA food pyramid recommends the number of grains it does because that's how many grains they need people to eat in order to keep American agri-business thriving. 

Excuse me?

Say what?

Yup, you heard me.  There is more and more support from renowned doctors that our diet does not need grains.  And furthermore, the diet we do need is very similar to how our great-grandparents ate.  Meat, fish, veggies and fats with limited amounts of grains, sugars and starches.

I won't go on a tirade about this in order to 'convert' you, but let me tell you this.  Since Dan started this new eating habit, he no longer feels bloated and tired.  Another result that he hadn't even thought about is weight loss - 24 pounds to be exact.  Now, I'm not sure he had 24 pounds to lose, so he's increase his protein and fats to compensate.  I've been follow this new eating style for a month.  I also feel better - I feel much more mentally focused and less bloated, especially towards the end of the day and don't have a craving for carbs each day.  I learned modern-grain triggers the opiate receptors in our brain... the same receptors that respond to opium, heroine, etc.  You know that craving you have for carbs, sugar or big bowl of pasta?  It's because your addicted to it the same way someone is addicted to heroine.  Sucks huh?  I will tell you that if you remove wheat from your diet you will go through a withdrawal period from about day 2-5.  After that it gets much easier.  We've noticed a difference in Samuel too.  He used to have a very round, bloated looking belly.  Now that he's been wheat-free for a month, his belly is much leaner and he seems to have much more energy. (Side thought... maybe I should put him back on wheat to reduce his energy until after the terrible 2's, 3's and 4's are over?)   :)

So, after learning all this, we decided we should go through the kitchen and get rid of all the wheat products.  We've always though we weren't huge carb eaters, but after looking at labels and yanking everything out of the pantry, fridge and freezer... it's obvious we were.

 You have the obvious culprits... cereal, crackers, cookies, etc.

Then you have your breads, tortillas, pasta and snack bars.

Of course, it didn't help to learn that wheat is lurking in all kinds of products we didn't realize... like soup, licorice and hard candy (Worther's originals!).

I estimated there was about $200 worth of wheat foods on the kitchen island.  We were really torn with the thought of throwing food out, but also didn't want to pass on food we find harmful to others.  We compromised by feeding everything that was open to the pigs and everything unopened was donated to a local food pantry.

Again, I'm not going to preach wheat-free to you.  But, I would strongly encourage you to research it and decide for yourself and your family.  Google the following to get more information:

Wheat Belly
Paleo Diet
Primal Diet

There's a funny movie called Fat Head written by a comedian where he interviews quite a few leading doctors and researchers.  This is a great intro to learn more.  I've been told it's available on Netflix, too.

Chameleon

What are little boys made of?

 MUD!





Samuel is becoming more of a country boy each day.  This day, he encountered his first mud puddle...





Then he learned it's fun to jump up and down in the puddle...





Playing in the mud is a lot of work.  If you get tired, just have a seat...



Those socks were bright white when he started.  No amount of bleach would get them white again.  They're now his "play" socks.


And most importantly, make sure you laugh so hard your picture ends up blurry!...

ER = hospital stay

On a day-to-day basis our kids are really healthy.  However, when they get sick, they get sick!  We've been to the ER twice and both times ended in a pretty serious hospital stay.  This was Evie's turn.

Friday afternoon when I changed Evie's diaper she had what appeared to be a good sized pimple on her behind.  I thought it was odd, but both she and Samuel have had 'baby acne' at some point, so I didn't think much of it.  I pushed at it a little bit and it did what you'd expect a pimple to do - pop with yucky stuff coming out.  The next diaper change it was still there, although changed a little.  The area around it was red and was getting hard.  I pushed some more and more yuckiness came out.  By bedtime, she had a slight fever - about 100.5.  We gave her some Tylenol and she woke once during the night, but otherwise slept okay.

By Saturday morning's diaper change it was a deeper red, larger, harder and pus still coming out but mixed with a little blood now.  I called her doctor's exchange and spoke with him.  He agreed it was probably an abscess and that we should come in Monday morning, unless her fever spiked or it physically changed that worried us.  By mid-day you could tell she was becoming uncomfortable and spent most of the afternoon/evening laying on her belly on my chest.  She started to feel hot by evening and when Dan took her temperature at 8pm it was a little over 102.  With this we decided it was time to pack up and head to the ER.  As I was packing her diaper bag, I told Dan that I should go ahead and pack a bag for myself since it seems that every time they go to a hospital they end up staying.  Not wanting to make a mountain out of a mole hill though, I left with only a few essentials for myself.

I took her to the same Regional hospital that she stayed at for her jaundice.  They were packed and we had a 3 hour wait.  When we finally got into the ER room, they squeezed and took a swab of the pus to run cultures.  About 20 minutes later they said they think we're dealing with a Staph infection and that it will need to be cut to be drained.  They however, are not equipped to sedate an infant, so we packed up and drove straight to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.  We arrived around 2:30am.  The Regional hospital had called ahead so Cardinal Glennon was expecting us and walked straight in without a wait.

The first thing they did was check her temperature.  It was now up to 103.8 so they gave her some Tylenol.  All the doctors and nurses left the room for a minute while I was holding Evie.  She immediately threw up the contents of her last bottle all over me and the floor.  Note to self: when taking the kids to the ER, always pack a hospital bag for myself.  Needless to say, when the doctors came back in they wondered what the heck happened. 
The second thing they wanted to do was squeeze her little behind again and do a culture themselves.  Except they squeezed HARD trying to get as much out as possible and open any extra pockets that the infection might be hiding in.  This sent Evie into hysterics and wouldn't settle down.  They ended up giving her a dose of morphine for pain, but also to calm her down.  After that kicked in, they put in an IV for fluids, antibiotics and anti-nausea medicine (a little too late though).  The ER docs decided to wait to cut and drain the abscess to see if the antibiotics could do it alone.

On Sunday morning, around 11am the Assistant Professor of the surgery team came in to examine Evie.  She didn't like the redness or hardness of her behind, which by now was her entire right cheek and going down her thigh.  She immediately decided surgery was in order.  She said she would do an 'add on' surgery (that is sneak it in ASAP) and get it done that same day.   Dan and Samuel arrived around noon to keep me company as well as bearing a stocked bag for me to shower, change clothes, etc.

Around 3:30pm we were told it was time to go in for surgery.  The procedure itself only took about 10 minutes, but then we had an hour wait for her to come out of recovery.  We were told that they ended up draining almost 15ml's (aka 1 tablespoon) of fluid from her poor behind, which is more than they were expecting.  Due to obvious pain, she was given another dose of morphine at 11pm so she (and I) could sleep.

Monday morning, around 11am, another member of the surgery team came into to examine Evie.  He was happy with the way her cut looked so he took her packing out.  You can imagine my surprise when he pulled about about 2 feet of packing from her behind!  What's interesting about an infection like this is that it needs to remain open so any remaining infection can drain out.  If it was sealed, any remaining pus would form new pockets and we'd have the same issue all over again.  However, having a 6 month old with an open wound on her behind presents it's own problems - mainly poop.  A surgery nurse came in to show me how to care for the wound and how to insert a little section of packing into it to keep it from sealing - this way the wound can heal and close from the inside out, pushing any infection out with it.  After the doctors checked with me to make sure I was comfortable with everything going on, we were released at 4pm.

Now that we're home, Evie takes antibiotics 3 times per day.  At each diaper change, her wound is flushed out with water and a new piece of packing is inserted with the help of a Q-tip to push it in.  She also gets several warm bathes each day to help it heal.  All said, she's doing really well and doesn't even mind being held under her behind anymore.  The only part she still balks at is when we insert the packing, but heck, so would I!

We have a follow up with her Pediatrician tomorrow and will be sure to keep everyone updated!

Posts coming soon!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  All last week I kept meaning to do one and then Evie had a 'medical issue' start last Friday.  She spent two days at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis and we just got home a couple of hours ago.  We're going to catch up on some sleep and then I'll post an update.

Fruit & Cream Pie

Recently I went into the office and we had a 'food day' where everyone brings a dish.  A co-worker brought a pie called Millionaire Pie.  I'm not sure where the name came from, but in essence, it's a pineapple cream pie.  It's wonderfully light and fluffy - great for summer! It's also super easy since it's a no-bake pie (other than baking the pie crust).

The original recipe calls for Cool Whip.  And although I love Cool Whip and could eat an entire container with a spoon in one sitting, I don't eat it.  I made the mistake once of looking at the ingredients and it reads like a science experiment.  I substituted homemade whipped cream in the recipe along with a few other changes.  Interestingly though, I just came across a recipe for homemade Cool Whip and you can bet your sweet bibby I'll be trying it soon!  I'll post sometime about how it turns out.

I've also made a couple of variations of the pie.  For instance, instead of pineapple, I lined the pie crust with banana slices and mixed banana in.  It was de-licious!  Don't be afraid to change up the recipe to try things you like.  Below, I have my version of the recipe which I just call 'Fruit & Cream Pie', along with the original.

Happy pie making!

Fruit & Cream Pie

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked and cooled
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup almonds (or your favorite nut), chopped
• 12 ounces whipped cream (1 ½ cups cream + 2 Tbsp sugar + 2 tsp vanilla extract.  Beat to stiff peaks.)

Directions:

1. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer; let the mixer run on high for 3-4 minutes.
2. Stir pineapple into cream cheese mixture. Stir in nuts (set aside 2 Tbsp to garnish the top of pie). Mix well.
3. Fold in 2/3 of whipped cream.
4. Fill pie crust with mixture. Top with remaining whipped cream and nuts.
5. Chill for several hours.

Variations:

Instead of pineapple use:

• 2 bananas – line bottom of shell with 1, put other in the cream cheese mix. Or just mix them both in.
• 1 ½ cups strawberries (diced)
• Heck, just use any fruit you like and mix it in however you want!

Original recipe (Millionaire Pie):

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup pecan, chopped
• 8 ounces Cool Whip

1. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer; let the mixer run on high for 3-4 minutes.
2. Stir pineapple into cream cheese mixture. Stir in coconut and pecans (hold some out to garnish the top of pie). Mix well.
3. Carefully fold in 3/4 of Cool Whip.
4. Fill pie crust with mixture. Top with remaining Cool Whip, pecans, and coconut
5. Chill for several hours.

A Family Affair

When we had just Samuel, it used to be a little easier timing his nap so I could go outside and help process chickens on processing days.  Since Evie's come along, its become a little more difficult.  So instead of trying to juggle nap time, I just take them both out with us so everyone's involved...




Samuel loves playing with his dump truck, ball and rocks and having everyone around.  Evie loves watching everything going on around her.  They keep themselves entertained, are seeing where their food comes from at a young age and are outside getting fresh air.

We also have the Gator near by to transport chickens to freezers.  While it's sitting idle, Samuel loves to pretend he's driving...



We've created a monster by letting him "drive" it though.  He wanders around the house saying "dawive" about 100 times a day.  Dan takes him out in the Gator at least once a day and he usually isn't happy when he has to come back inside.  I think he's going to take after Daddy and be an outdoorsman!

Growing garden

The garden is blooming despite the drought.  Although Dan does have to water it regularly.  So far, we've gotten kale from the garden daily, along with peas.  Our patch of kale looks small, but it just keep going and going and going.  The kale is in the middle of the picture below.  Disregard the weeds and grass all around it.  We do.




For the peas, Dan lined up a few cattle panels we had lying around and used them for the peas to climb up...




He also used a cattle panel for the green beans too, but bent it over so the beans can grow up and over from both sides...




We also have lots of tomato plants this year.  Last year we didn't hardly have any tomatoes and what we did have didn't ripen until really late in the year.  This year, 19 plants made it into the ground.  Homemade salsa and pasta sauce... here we come!

How to eat a giraffe

 First, you lick it to see if it's tasty...





Then you open wide and start chowin' down...





When you're done, you give everyone an innocent "What, I didn't do anything!" look...

Water Wagon

This is our fourth year raising Cornish Cross meat chickens.  When we first started, we only raised a few chickens for ourselves.  This year has just begun and we've already raised 250 chickens and have regular shipments coming.  One of the many things involved in raising livestock is finding a good way to provide water to the animals.

Years ago, when our single chicken tractor was near the house, we used to carry a 5-gallon bucket from the house to refill their waterer.  As we got more chicken tractors, we started carrying as many containers as we could on the 4-wheeler.  Then we bought a John Deere Gator and started hauling water with it.  And although it can hold plenty of 5-gallon buckets, we still have to fill them near the house and drive it out to the pasture with water sloshing around.
 

Enter this:



This is a 275-gallon food-grade storage container.  That's equivalent to 55 5-gallon buckets!  Brand new, these containers cost around $600.  However, if you can get your hands on them after food companies are done with them, you can pick them up for around $75! 

Initially, the plan was to build some sort of wagon or trailer to set this on and pull it out to the pasture near the chicken tractors and move it every so often.  It would have to be mighty strong because 275 gallons of water equals 2,200 pounds!  Then Dan got thinking.  We have an old one-ton (hauling capacity) Ford farm truck that we pretty much only use during the winter to collect firewood.  So, it's summertime job is now what we're calling "The Water Wagon"...



We just backed the truck up to the hydrant, filled it up and drove it out to the pasture.  The container sits at the end of the bed and it has a spigot so all we have to do is set a bucket under it, turn the nozzle and fill 'er up...




Here you can see how close the water is in relation to the chicken tractors...



In another few years, we may come up with something even more efficient.  But for now, this is working pretty darn well!

Samuel and Evie

 I have quite a few pictures of Samuel and Evie that don't really have a theme or warrant a post of their own.  But, they're too darn cute not to post, so I'll just lump them all together here and tell you what was going on.

First up, Samuel.  He thinks it's really funny to be carried around in the laundry basket.  Afterwards, Dan set him down, where he just sat for quite a while...




I FINALLY got a good picture of Evie smiling.  She seems to be getting a little more use to the camera, so hopefully I'll be able to get more now.  She's sitting up well in her seat, strengthening her tummy muscles and playing with toys...




I've posted a few times about what a crazy sleeper Samuel is - laying sideways, head smashed in the corner, bedhead, etc.  The same seems to be true for Evie...




Samuel is on a hat kick again.  He's been wearing it around the house, taking naps in it and of course wearing it outside.  Here, he's wearing it while reading his favorite book, 'Everyone Poops'...




Evie has finally graduated to a big-girl tub.  She probably doesn't care about this very much, but since this is the same tub that Samuel uses, it means I don't have to mess with two tubs anymore, which makes me very happy!...




I'm admittedly one of those Mom's that likes pictures to be staged, but look unstaged.  In other words, I want hair combed, makeup on, clothes neat, etc, but to have the pictures look as if they just happened to be snapped.  I know, I know, it's pretty vain.  I'm working on it.

Fortunately, I have Dan around who doesn't give a jack-diddley-who-ha about how people look.  In fact, it seems as though the only time he grabs the camera is when we're at our worst.  So, below you'll see me with not a stitch of makeup on, Samuel with crazy bedhead after his afternoon nap, and Evie with a bib on to catch her copious amounts of drool...

Pizza dough

For about a year I have been trying one pizza dough recipe after another.  I simply couldn't find one that I really liked and was also simple.  My search may be over.  I've combined two recipes that I liked 'okay' and came up with this one that I love!  This recipe is as simple as stirring everything together and letting it do a single rise.

The recipe below will make 2 large pizza crusts or 8 calzones.  I usually double the recipe, roll out the extra crusts and par-bake them for about 8 minutes.  Then you can wrap in aluminum foil, throw in the freezer and yank one out when you need to make a quick lunch.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 ½ tsp active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons basil
• ¼ cup olive oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine bread flour, salt, sugar, garlic powder, and basil; stir to combine.  Add olive oil and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30- 60 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface (it's very sticky!). Form dough into a round, and flour the top liberally.  Roll out into a pizza crust shape. Cover with homemade pizza sauce and your favorite toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes (slightly less if you're using a par-baked crust).

Lambikins

This spring has been busy for our sheep!  We have 8 ewes that were impregnated last fall by our ram, Rambo.  Unfortunately, Rambo was attacked by our donkey (who was released from her duties due to several attacks), but fortunately not before Rambo did his job.  All of our ewes have given birth and we now have have 12 healthy lambs running around the pastures.

Seeing a tiny lamb, just a few minutes old, up on it's wobbly legs is one of the most precious things to behold.  This year we got a surprise with a black lamb.  Here she is with her Mama watching Dan put a clamp on her sisters umbilical cord...




This little lamb is already playing by climbing up on a pile of stumps...



We'll be sure to keep you posted as the lambikins grow up this summer!

Obvious disagreement

I honestly can't tell you what was going on when Dan snapped this picture.  But it's pretty obvious by my and Samuel's scowling that we were having some sort of disagreement.  Definitely not the first, and surely not the last!



I love how Evie is lying between us.  If she weren't fast asleep, you might think she was acting as a referee.

Big brother kisses

Samuel's a kisser now.  He give us kisses freely.  I've even caught him giving our cat, Buddy, a kiss.  But most of all, he loves to kiss Evie!  If she's laying on the floor chances are he's down there giving her kisses.  He'll even stop her swing so he can give kisses.  It may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

He spotted Evie laying on the floor and is contemplating his next move...




He decided it was best to come up from behind and plant a kiss on the top of her head...

Of course, he wouldn't be a big brother if he didn't terrorize her a little too.  He thought it'd be fun to yank on her ear...

Baby goat

Most of our female goats are pregnant and are starting to have their kids.  Here's the first baby goat that was born on our farm and is just minutes old in this picture...




The orange and yellow goop you see on the kid is the amniotic sac.  Mama goat is licking the baby clean and trying to get the sac off.  We watched for a while, but Mama was having a hard time, so Dan had to step in to help...




Mama kept on cleaning the baby and after about 10 minutes the kid was already up on it's feet...




After Mama and baby spent a little more time together, we had one last task before we could leave them alone to bond.  Dan put a little plastic clip over the umbilical cord to help it to dry up and heal quickly to avoid infection...