Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 quart of canned pinto beans
   (can substitute black beans)
  
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 quart of chicken broth
  
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning (or recipe below)
  
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
• sour cream (optional)
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.
2. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Favorite Taco Seasoning Mix

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.  This mixture equals one taco seasoning packet.
   

These are modifications of recipes I use from www.allrecipes.com.  If you haven't seen this resource, it is fantastic with reviews of all the recipes. 

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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We are camping and fishing this week.....Just a few pics of the fun!!  Mr. P

Catching Shad


Catching Bait Perch


Running the lines


Catching Mr. Yellow Cat


Riding Home

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Last week at the library I check out the first in the Mitford series.  This section just made me laugh out loud....waking up dear hubby who did not think it was nearly as funny...maybe you have to read the whole book.
"Well guess what?"
"I give up," said the rector.
"I weigh exactly the same as my age
"No!" exclaimed Emma.
"Yes, indeed.  I went to see Hoppy for a checkup and I tip the scales at exactly eighty-six pounds.  Have you ever?"
"Never!" said Father Tim

The entire book so far has been the ordinary, yet somewhat comical, life in a small town centered around the role of a pastor.  Tomorrow my husband's aunt is having open heart surgery so we will be at the hospital all day.  I'm taking this book for me and school books for the kids.  Say a prayer for Aunt Kay if you think of it.  I'm sure she would appreciate it. 

So what are you all reading? 

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Have I mentioned that the spring is a busy time at the farm?  It seems that no matter how fast I work I always go to bed with a few things that just didn't get done.  We realized at lunch today that last year's kids are all due to kid in the next two weeks.  It seems like it snuck up on us.  So that means that we will spend some time this afternoon cleaning out maternity pens, trimming hooves/hair, giving CD&T vaccines (which really should have been done before now) at the barn.  In addition to that activity, we also need to finish putting the clips onto the new fence.  The guys got it pulled tight and enough clips to hold it in place overnight, but have to finish that now.  The girls and I are headed out to the garden to mulch the tomato plants and of course weed a bit.  I also owe the doodle bug (Miss J) some time to plant her squash.  For some informal preschool math and science she is planting squash.  Yesterday she counted out six seeds and put them in water to soak.  Today she will divide them in half and plant into two hills.  Later I'll let her measure them and count how many sprouted.  I hope that she has a green thumb because she has such a desire to play in the dirt and garden.  It's kind of funny to see a 4 year old that would rather plant vegetables and weed than play.

Yesterday was also busy even though I was accused of sitting on the porch all day by Mr. P.  I made a batch of Farmhouse cheddar cheese.  It just so happens that it takes a long time to make cheese and can I help it if the directions say:  Add culture, wait 45 minutes....add rennett, wait 45 minutes....cut curds and heat slowly for 30 minutes....drain curds in cheesecloth for 1 hour....etc, etc.  So I took advantage of the pretty day and opened the kitchen windows so I could easily see and hear the children playing on the porch during the intervals that I was in the house actively working on the cheese.  When I read the part about "wait 45 minutes, etc"  I read that as "sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine and children for 45 minutes.  It was a very nice afternoon and I even got a little home school planning.  The cheese is still in the press, by the way, and in about 3 more days I'll put it to age in the cheese cave (aka a mini-fridge).  I'll try to take some photos of it when it comes out of the press.   Have a blessed Lord's Day.


Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Skipper (the black nubian goat in my avatar) kidded last week.  She had a buck and a doe (Miguel and Maya).  They are doing well and weighed in at 10 and 11 pounds.  With this kidding I got to have a learning experience.  Skipper's udder was huge, in fact, the teats were the size of small sweet potatoes.  I wasn't sure what to do as they were also full of knots.  I thought at first that she had mastitis, but after examining her realized it wasn't.  She had no fever and the milk wasn't stringy.  I massaged her udder with peppermint extract and milked her out 3 times a day until the knots dissappeared and her teats and udder returned to normal (about 3-4 days).  (I read about milking them 3 times a day from an old Feed book from the 1950's)  Fortunately, this worked and we did not have to use antibiotics or garlic as she never developed an infection. 

Currently, I am letting her raise these babies as I knew that I needed their help in getting all of that milk out so she wouldn't end up with mastitis.  I am still milking out 1 quart of milk from her both evenings and mornings with the kids staying with her all day and night.  Tonight, I will separate the kids and milk her in the mornings only letting the kids out with her during the day.  I had not intended to do once a day milking with her, but due to these circumstances it is what worked out best for her.  I could still put the babies on bottles, but after a week it is much harder to convince the kids to take a bottle and heartbreaking to see Skipper cry for her babies all day.  I'm glad to say she is being a really good mother and it will be nice to only bottle feed Mary and Martha.  Speaking of the girls, they are fat and sassy, drinking an entire gallon of milk a day between the two of them.  I have high hopes that they will be future milkers like their mother.  If all goes well, I will put them up for sale next year after they freshen.  Now that Skipper has kidded I may even have enough extra milk for Mr. C to get a glass of milk with his breakfast.  He will be so happy.

It's been a busy couple of weeks at the farm, but I hope to spend some time this weekend getting some photos up of the new kids, garden, trees, etc. 

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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OK...so for my birthday my mom sent me a gift with a note, "I think green is the right color!"  It was a nice chunk of cash.  Yes, it was the right color and the perfect size too.  So I've been walking around for almost a month with it burning a hole in my pocket.  Trying to decide on the PERFECT splurge.  I happened upon the Closetmaid aisle at Lowes this week and let me just tell you that when I see those rows of wire shelves, boxes of parts, and beautiful photos of the most beautiful organized closets ever, my heart skips a beat.  Finally, a gift worthy of my birthday cash.  So I brought home a few shelves, brackets, hanging rods and ALL the fliers and pamplets that I could fit in my purse.   It was such a pleasure to measure and decide what I wanted in my closet and the kid's closets.  I realized quickly that I had not purchased anywhere near enough shelves and brackets, but I did get enough to give me a taste of a beautifully organized closet.  Last night Mr. P hung 3 shelves and instantly all the above mentioned closets are larger...amazingly larger.  I just can't wait to go and spend the rest of my cash on some more closetmaid components. 


Blessings,
Mrs. P

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I spent some time yesterday afternoon planting some things from seed.  I first planted flowers from seed last year after reading a Mary Frances book on gardening to my kids.  I was so pleasantly surprised to find the perennial salvia reemerge this year.  So this year, I added more salvia to that group and some other flowers as well.  For the most part, I planted annuals that will grow this year and then will need to be reseeded next year.  I did this because I'm still trying to decide where to plant the perennial seeds that I purchased.  After all the perennials are a long term commitment.   I planted most things in the flower bed to the west of my house.  I'm calling that section my salad garden.  I put cucumbers along the porch railing with a couple of roma tomato plants, some basil, thyme, lettuces, spinach and swiss chard.  This took up most of the tilled area, but left me a little patch for some flowers.  I planted forget me knots in the back as they are the tallest.  In the next row, I planted mixed color marigolds with a batch of candy tuft in the center.  On the very edge of my flower bed I planted a spot of petite yellow marigolds since they are the shortest.  Marigolds also deter pests as they are the source of perethrin, the insecticide.  I also planted some pansies, moss rose, and zinnias in other areas.  When they start to bloom I'll put up some photos.  Maybe tomorrow I'll post a photo of the salvia that has already bloomed.  It is very tall and the flowers are similar to a lavender flower.   My sage is also in full bloom and I'll share a photo of it as well.  Well that is all for now.  I had better get to watering and barn chores.  Below is a list of the flower seeds I planted and some that I have yet to plant.
forget me knots                                                salvia
pansy                                                              hollyhocks
zinnia                                                             shasta daisy
marigolds, reg & petite                                   rock soapwort
candytuft                                                         lupine                                 sweet pea
moss rose
bachelor's button
morning glory
moon flower
alyssum
mammoth sunflower
                                                                  
Blessings,
Mrs. P

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In the country, there just seems to be more mud, dirt, and grass that gets tracked in.  Maybe it's because in town, I had St. Augustine grass and it literally made a carpet of my lawn.  Mud was never tracked in.  Also, I didn't make daily trips to the barn, since my back yard was the size of a postage stamp and cows and goats weren't allowed. 

So here is a recipe of sorts for a shampoo that works nicely in your carpet steam cleaner.  I like it better than the cleaner you buy specifically for steam cleaners and it leaves the carpet nice and soft. 

1-2 scoops of oxyclean powder (depending on the amount of stains you have)
1/4-1/3 c. of liquid Tide
hot water to fill the cleaner

I go over the carpets twice.  If you take the time and go over the carpets the second time with only hot water you will find that your cleaning lasts longer.  I have heard that the soap residue left after cleaning attracts dust and dirt and that rinsing will prevent that. 

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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You can find the sugar free syrup on the coffee aisle at your grocery store.  You can also use plain yogurt for the starter.  Just make sure that it says it contains live active cultures.  I like to use Dannon or Brown Cow brands.  This yogurt tastes similar to french vanilla ice cream (only tart).  If you don't want a sugar free option then use 1/3 c. of sugar (honey won't work well) and 1 t. of vanilla extract in place of the sugar free syrup.  It is wonderful with Ezekiel cereal or granola on top.

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Where I live there are not that many people milking goats so when I asked for a dairy goat ration at the feed store, they were stumped.  First they sold me something called "The Intimidator."  It is a show goat ration for meat goats.  It is also medicated so it would not work.  After all, I don't think I need medication for coccidiosis prevention.  At least I hope not.  So I ended up with Purina Goat Chow.  Did you know Purina makes a chow for every animal imaginable?  How about Deer Chow, Wild Game Bird Chow?  You get the idea.  The goat chow has worked very well for my milk goats.  I also add a few supplements and have noticed improved milk flavor as well as quanitity of milk.  So here is what my milk goat gets in her bowl at milking time.

2 scoops of goat chow
1/2 cup of calf manna
1/4 scoop black oil sunflower seeds
1/2 scoop beet pulp shreds (to make sweeter milk)
a little alfalfa hay or pellets

Currently, Zoe is giving me a little over a gallon of milk a day.


Blessings,
Mrs. P

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This is a fast way to enjoy granola.  It is sweeter than regular granola so probably not as healthy as other recipes I use.  My kids love this for a snack.  I love it on top of vanilla or plain yogurt.

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Suppose you decide you want to start milking a goat or cow.  Here are a few of the "must have" items for daily milking chores.

• Head Stanchion for cow, milk stand for goat
• Stool
• stainless steel milk bucket
• lid for the milk bucket (use a half moon lid on a goat milk bucket)
• Stainless steel milk strainer with filters
• Fight Bac (a spray to prevent mastitis)
• Diluted Iodine for washing udders or this recipe (1 t. bleach, 1 t. dawn dish liquid, 3 c. warm water)
  
• High quality Paper towels or 2-3 dozen white washcloths and dish towels
• A brush to remove loose hair from the animal
• shaving the udder area will also be helpful in reducing chances of contaminants in milk
• Plenty of glass milk jars for storing milk

Here are a few others that you might want to have on hand in case of udder problems

• strip cup (to aid in preventing mastitis)
  
• California Mastitis Kit (to aid in diagnosing mastitis)
• Head of garlic and molasses (for natural treatment of mastitis)
• Antibiotics (Today is one brand) (for treatment of mastitis)
• Udder Balm (for cracked teats)
  
• Blue Kote Spray (for udder edema)
• pure vitamin E oil (for tears or cuts in the udder)

Did I leave anything off?  What do you consider must haves for milking a goat or cow?

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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I saw a book at Christmas time called Deceptively Delicious.  The idea was to incorporate good veggies (spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc) into foods that kids like to eat (muffins, brownies, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, etc.)  I didn't think about it again until I was reading that some moms tried the recipes and LOVED them.  So today I am sharing the recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins.  I have adapted it to include honey instead of sugar and I used alternative flours, but other than that it is the recipe from www.thesneakychef.com (which is another book similar to Deceptively Delicious).  This said it would make 8 muffins, but I ended up with a full dozen.  I used buckwheat groats and oats that I ground into flour in my blender.  This made a grainier texture than if I had used actual buckwheat flour and oat flour, but it was faster to do it this way.  Only 1 kiddo complained about the texture so it wasn't too grainy.  Perhaps that kid will learn to adapt her palate to new textures.  Overall, I would say that this is a slightly sweet, moist muffin with a hint of peanut butter and NOT EVEN a hint of carrots or sweet potatoes.  It would be a nice snack that has lots of good stuff in it.  If you want everyone to love it, however, I would double the sugar and maybe the peanut butter.  For a complete nutrition analysis click here.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
1 c. flour blend (1/3 c. oat flour or whole wheat flour, 1/3 c. buckwheat flour or wheat germ, 1/3 c. white flour)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey or brown sugar
1/4 c. oil (I used olive)
3/4 c. orange puree (steam 1 md. sweet potato and 3 large carrots until tender and then puree with a few tablespoons of water or cheat and use equal parts of baby food carrots and sweet potatoes)
3/4 c. smooth peanut butter ( I used JIF)
12 t. of favorite jam, not jelly ( I used Polaner's All Fruit no sugar added seedless strawberry)

Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  In a small bowl mix remaining ingredients until well blended.  Add to the dry ingredients until all is moist and mixed.  Put a large spoonful of the mix in each muffin tin, top with a teaspoon of jam and then cover that with another spoonful of muffin batter.  Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.

Family Reviews:
Mr. C (liked the jam part best)
Miss J (liked the jam best)
Miss A (didn't like flavor or texture)
Mrs. P (I would have liked it to taste more peanut buttery.)
Mr. P   (It's ok, not my favorite)

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Elsie says, "It is just wrong to take a cow for a road trip.  Please tell Mrs. P that I don't care for trailer rides, traffic, or squeeze chutes."

Elsie is in the trailer right now waiting on round two of the AI procedure.  The vet suggested doing it again this morning to ensure success.  So off we go for another road trip.  I'm not sure who's most unhappy at the farm, Elsie, her calf, or our horse, Lacy.   Lacy is running in circles mad as can be that we've taken her cow from her.  She is much more upset than the cow's own calf.  We just have to laugh at that horse.  She is quite a character.  OK, off to get my shoes on for the road trip...lol.

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Here is a nice recipe to use when you have extra apples on hand.
Warm Cinnamon Apples
From Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes
4 McIntosh Apples, peeled and sliced (about 2 lbs.)
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 T. water
1 T. butter

Toss first 4 ingredients in a large ziplock bag, tossing to coat the apples.  Cook apple mixture with the water and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender.
Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Content per (1/2 c.) serving
Calories: 128; Fat 2g; Protein .3g; Carb 29.2g; fiber 1.3 g; Chol 5 mg; Iron .6mg; Sodium 21mg; Calc 25 mg

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Today, Elsie the milk cow is headed for a road trip to the vet's office.  She is going to be AI'd since she shows all signs of standing heat.  We selected a bull that will make her baby an even nicer cow than she already is.  So now we hope that it takes and that she will give us a lovely heifer calf in about 9 months. 

Pros of AI:

• You don't have to keep and feed a grumpy and/or mean bull
• It is inexpensive (like less than $50)
• You can improve your herd significantly with great bulls that you wouldn't have access to, otherwise
• You select the bull that matches your cow
• It is easy for a trained AI tech to breed the cow this way
• You can choose to have a heifer calf (yes, you really can!)
  

Cons of AI:

• It may be hard to detect standing heat if you have no other cows
• Takes time on your part: you have to either take the cow to the vet or have him come out and you have to watch the cow to see when she is ready for the procedure.  Still, this is less time than caring for a bull.
  

Detecting Heat in cows link
AI supplier link

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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This evening when we got home from the barn, we had no room for any more milk.  Currently, a Jersey cow and one Nubian dairy goat are being milked.  Almost every drop of goat milk is being bottle fed to Mary and Martha, but it still requires that I store the gallon plus of milk she gives me each day.  The cow shares her milk with us and her calf, but I still end up with about 2 gallons of milk a day from her.  So all that means that my fridge gets filled with milk rather quickly.  Tonight, Mr. P and I spent a couple of hours skimming milk and preparing it into other dairy products.  Here's the list of what is culturing while we sleep.

• 1 quart cow milk kefir

• 1 quart goat milk kefir

• 1 quart cow buttermilk (for cheesemaking this weekend)

• 1 quart sour cream

• 2 quarts of cream churned into butter and whey

• 1 gallon of cow milk being cultured into chevre (ready to drain tomorrow)

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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While I should be practicing my new skill of inserting photos, I am instead going to blog about my tile floors.  I do have all the goat photos of Mary and Martha getting disbudded, but I just don't want to have to think that hard right now...lol.  My hubby is laughing at me having such difficulty over this, of course he works on computers for a living so it's all easy to him.

Ahem...I digress...Back to floors.  I am considering renting a big floor buffer thing for my house.  We live out in the country and have 1900 square feet of ceramic tile that LOVES mud and dirt.  At first it was so easy to sweep and clean.  I think it had a little bit of a finish from the factory that made it sweep so nicely.  However, 4 years later that bit of finish is gone and the tile seems to be more porous and it seems to attract dirt.  So I was thinking I might just rent the big buffer thing and wax the floors.  I think they will once again be easy to sweep and mop, but this would be a huge job.  (Bonus:  I can air out the sofas and chairs on the front porch and do and honest to goodness spring cleaning like in the Little House books and make some ginger tea to quench our thirsts.)  In addition, I would then have to strip the floors and redo it on a regular basis (I'm afraid I'm not sure I'd be so pleasant about the second spring cleaning, if say, I had to do it quarterly).  I'm just not sure I'm into that kind of commitment.  Has anyone waxed their floors? How daunting is this task?  How bad is it to strip the floors?  It sounds terrible.  How often do you have to strip and reapply the wax?  Would I have to stop the children from riding their bikes in the house???  Na, just kidding...I tell them daily to take those bikes back outside on the porch!  Is there any chance I'm up to the challenge of this task?  I don't know...but maybe Martha Stewart has something on her website about waxing floors...it seems like just the kind of thing she'd enjoy! 

Blessings,
Mrs. P

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Yippee!  I finished the dresses today and was pleasantly surprised to find that they work as a jumper over a top.  Both girls are very happy with their dresses.  And I'm so happy that it is Wednesday and not Saturday night!


Blessings,
Mrs. P

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