i was talking with a few people about how to use the round steaks and decided to try a few things for our family so i could share the results. yesterday i put a package of thawed round steaks in the crock-pot in the morning. i added sea salt, coarse ground pepper, a onion cut in wedges (so they coul removed form my darling seamus’ helping and little water. i put it on low and let it go all day. oh, and garlic..i thinly sliced a few good cloves of garlic too. love the garlic!

i decided given my day that soft tacos would be easy to pull together for supper, especially if the meat would be done and ready for me! so, i decided to add my taco seasoning to the crock-pot as well. i have been using this taco seasoning mix. (i don’t use the onion powder or garlic powder…i just add fresh as i cook the meat.) the result was delicious, lean, tender taco flavored meat ready for tacos! i would do it again! 

i am also going to crock-pot some more round steaks and use them instead of stew meat (which i don’t have) for this delicious stroganoff recipe! my “renovation” of the recipe is below. two friends made it before me and told me some things they did different as well. so, take your pick

Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff

2ish pounds of round steak ( whatever is in the package )
28 ounces of beef broth (mine was from soup bones)
1/2 cups water
2-4 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
1 large onion, sliced to your liking)
fresh mushrooms, the more the merrier i say!
light sour cream (i probably used a little over a 1/2 cup)
1/3 less fat cream cheese (i used half but next time i’ll use less)

in the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the cream cheese/sour cream, together. once combined add the meat and mix together.

cook on low for 8 hours. cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. stir the cream cheese and sour cream in until all combined. it took awhile for me it get it all stirred and reach a smooth consistency. you might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes. i thought about thickening up the broth a bit but it was so good we left it alone! you could. if desired, thicken it up like you would gravy. 

Serve over egg noodles. (or someone suggested mashed potatoes? i don’t know about that.)

the base of this recipe is from my mom. growing up on a dairy farm in VT we ate lots of these pancakes with real VT maple syrup!

whole wheat, oat pancakes with flax

1  cup good quality whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 handful old fashioned oatmeal
1/4 – 1/3 cup ground oatmeal (i just put it in my coffee grinder. i don’t give an exact measurement because i haven’t figured out how much it takes to get me the amount of ground i want.)
a small handful of ground flax (probably a scant 1/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
3 teaspoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Mix the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. Once the wet ingredients are combined add to the dry and mix just until combined. Clumps are ok!

NOTE – these are thick…if you’d prefer a thinner pancake then i would add some extra milk.

things are moving along here at a steady pace. thankfully i’m not feeling super stressed about christmas approaching. just the way i wanted it!! (although there is that one etsy seller would could make my life a bit easier if he just replied to me.) i do need to do a little shopping one day after geoffrey gets home from work and we’ll be all set. i am sure another trip the grocery store will be needed…i with they did deliveries.

the kids have been on winter break since friday, which was a half day! (they don’t got back until 1/4. craziness, i know!) our poor seamy got sick and missed thursday and friday from school last week. we battled a fever until sunday midday. his body ached, stomach hurt from coughing…poor guy. he too many naps, which is way out of the norm for him. we went to see the doctor yesterday and he has a pretty bad ear infection. he has never once complained of his ear hurting. he’s doing much better now but definitely not enjoying his amoxicillin! i am pretty sure this is his first time in antibiotics. other than treating asthmatic symptoms and allergies he has been a pretty healthy kid these past 5 years. he is back on the mend and was rather whiny yesterday…hoping for less of that today!

yesterday the kids and i had good day! we colored, in new christmas coloring books, with a NEW box of crayons (my favorite!) for well over an hour! it was great fun. then, we had to run a few errands to gather up a few supplies so we could  make these….

i saw a facebook friend post pictures of her and her girls making cookies and i saw she was using these. i knew right away i needed to go get some.

(pardon the position of the picture but, wordpress wouldn’t let me change it.)

they are some nifty squeeze bottles, made by wilton for candy making/melting but they worked great for sugar cookie icing! i filled them with my own colored icing. our usual routine in making sugar cookies is i frost most of them and the kids decorate with candies and sprinkles. well, i knew if i got these we would all create some very cool cookies! i still eneded up frosting some of the bigger cookies with a knife but these bottle are worth the investment! (they were $4 at walmart. i couldn’t find them at my local hobby lobby and micheals was just took far for us to go yesterday.) we made 60ish cookies and layla stayed with me almost to the end!

this christmas we decided to make christmas presents for the kids and shop on etsy as much as possible. here are a few things i made for them and i’m so proud of myself that they are done! last night i sewed the eyes onto these cute little guys. i saw them on pinterest and decided they would be something cute and homemade for the kids stocking!

sockoctopus!

i also wanted to make their christmas ornaments this year. so i came up with the idea to make these…

they are very fitting seeing we started the barry farm this past year! i love them.

i’ve been baking too…too much! sweet rolls, pecan tassies, a bunch of cookies, mini cheesecakes…needless to say, my family has been very happy about all this! my shirts and jeans? not so much.

today the kids and i will be rather busy. we’ve got egg deliveries to make, farming to do, cookies to eat , and we are going to friends tonight for supper! i have some baking i need to get done and in the freezer before the weekend, make a final grocery list and make a batch of homemade bread. what i need is a nice little to-do-list.

i hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! the kids are getting very excited about christmas and we are so very, very happy that geoffrey is NOT working this christmas! we are looking forward to a great christmas day that starts whenever these two smith kids decide its time to get up!

goodness i love them!!

]]> http://smithfamilyliving.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/lets-get-caught-up/feed/ 2 smithfamilyliving photo-34 photo-32 photo-35 photo-38 photo-36 photo-33 http://smithfamilyliving.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/a-blog-about-meat-that-turned-into-a-walk-down-memory-lane/ http://smithfamilyliving.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/a-blog-about-meat-that-turned-into-a-walk-down-memory-lane/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:11:35 +0000 smithfamilyliving http://smithfamilyliving.wordpress.com/?p=844 ]]> we have a ton of meat in this house! ok, not a ton but over 500 pounds…

i’m starting to get excited about it! you see…we don’t eat much meat around here. if we don’t know where the meat came from (and ‘from the grocery store’ doesn’t count!)…or as geoffrey describes it…if i can’t drive to the farm and see how and where the animal raised and talk to the farmer, then we don’t buy it! we have bought small amounts of local grass fed beef over the past year and i mean a small amounts! it’s expensive and you can’t just pick it up at the grocery store when you are there. so, we’ve been flexitarians the past few years…only eating meat on occasion.

now, i have over 100 pounds of beef in the freezer, like 400-500 pounds of rose veal, and 120ish pounds of heritage breed gourment pork! oh, and a turkey and one last lonely whole chicken! i have shepherd’s pie in the works right now for supper…its been years since i made it and i’m looking forward to it. i had pulled out two package of the ground rose veal and that’s what i am using. rose veal is from a calf who was still nursing on it mother but also ate from grass/hay. not your traditional milk veal from a little baby calf who didn’t see the light of day and was kept in a little pen. this rose veal is from bigger calves, months old who still were spoiled by having access to their momma’s milk while enjoying grass/hay in the pasture they roamed! now, that’s the life.

we, the barry farm, purchased two cow/calf pairs from a friend who just couldn’t afford to raise them anymore. we sent them off to the butcher and the beef went to 8 different families and the veal is sitting in our freezer waiting to be bought. if you are local and you want some contact me!

our four red wattle pigs we raised since the spring, went to the butcher shortly after the beef. they were split up between 10 families! geoffrey and i are so honored to raise animals that can feed so many. All the meat was ready for pick up at the same time too! Yikes! But, after delivering ALL the meat on monday we are happy to know that we can coordinate delivering about 2,000 lbs of meat across the greater houston area and have it all arrive still frozen! What a day it was… Still tired.

this is how it was growing up….the freezer was always full of meat! when it got low we had a family meeting about which cow looked the best and should be sent to the butcher! ultimately, my dad had the say. it had to be a cow that wasn’t producing to her full potential. we had a dairy farm so, she had to be plump and beefy but not cranking out the milk like she used to selling the milk is what paid the bills!

i remember raising pork and chickens at times but we always had beef in the cellar freezer! it feels like home…freezers full of good quality meat ready to make into delicious meals for my family. our kids are going to wonder what is up! like geoffrey and i, they haven’t eat much meat in the past few years. we all eat the same. we do go out for burgers occasionally but its at burger guys, a place that gets their beef from farm in west texas i believe. and not just any beef…gourmet beef! its delicious!

as i was preparing the shepherd’s pie today my mind was flooded with memories of growing up. when i was telling geoffrey last night i was going to make shepherd’s pie with the ground rose veal i pulled from the freezer he started describing how he remembered shepherd’s pie. but, he doesn’t remember my mom’s way. i made it just like my mom today! doesn’t it feel good to say that? pretty sure my grandmother (mama) made it the same way. how often do we say things like that? probably not as often as we should. i want to teach layla how to make shepherd’s pie like my grandmother and mom and also tell her how grammy (geoffrey’s mom) makes it. it may be different and i might prefer one way over another and have my own opinions about the healthiest way to prepare it but i don’t want to forget how mom, mama and grammy each made it!

so, today meat has gotten me feeling rather nostalgic! (listen to me…) i lead such a crazy life these days but an amazing one. a life changing one. i would have never thought in a million years that this is what my life would have looked like! my days are full of suburban living, urban farming, stay-at-home-momming… i knew i wanted to be stay-at-home-mom and i am very grateful to be able to living that dream and to be married to amazing man who helps make that possible. i did not know, however, that i would want to “farm” again…(my mom is laughing…)

when my crazy husband kept talking about wanting to farm…in houston…i mostly listened. He kept asking me all kind of questions seeing i was the one who actually had farming experience. There is one thing i’ve learned being with geoffrey for 8 years… He won’t give up on a dream. He’ll find a way. He’ll take risks. Learn from whatever mistakes might happen. He’s not afraid of failing so, this farming thing i knew was going to happen and there was no stopping him!

Now, that we have been on this farming journey for a year its amazing to look back and take account of all we have done! All the real food we provided. We are doing it folks! We are providing real, good, healthy food for our family and many others. This is what my parents, grandparents & great grandparents and great great grandparents did. Life has taken me (and my family) on its own journey but today i feel like i’m back to the way life was growing up! Back to my roots but with our own little twist. I thought i wanted to break away from that…i thought finding geoffrey & moving here to houston 5 years ago would be the break away that i wanted but…boy was i wrong. that break is so over.

Today tell your family, your kids or a good friend about something you remember about your ancestors. The gramma that crocheted you a blanket…the loved ones that moved their family to america for a better life…the grandfather who worked fields with horses or mules…the garden you remember your mother growing as a kid…your family that all lived within 15 minutes of each other…sunday dinners around the table…sleepovers with grandparents, or cousins or favorite aunts…the 14th generation dairy farmer your dad was (speaking of my father). Thats what i’m going to tell my kids as we eat the shepherd’s pie that is now out of the oven!

UPDATE – kids LOVED the shepherd’s pie although they wonder why its not shaped like a pie but called one. seamus made the comment that shepherd’s probably ate it! (luv him!!)

so, i was explaining what 14 generations means…i explained to the kids like this – papa was a dairy farmer, and my grandfather (papa’s dad) was a diary farmer and 12 more grandpas were dairy farmers before that! layla says to me…”so that makes us 15th generation farmers, right?” luv.her.

so, the recipe…i don’t ever make it the same way twice. i use whatever meat/seafood i have around. today i don’t have celery or peppers but it’ll be fine. i always put a orange or yellow pepper in. i forget if the recipe says to bake covered i always do. halfway through i stir it up to mix the settle rice in. i do this a few more times while it’s baking then i can also see how its baking…hows the rice cooking? does it need a splash of water? its so delicious and worth the wait! you can find the recipe HERE. i usually recalculate the recipe to 12 or more servings so i have plenty of leftovers. (they usually don’t make it to the freezer!)

I was waiting for geoffrey to come home one night & i really wanted something sweet and quick. No bakes. I decided to whip up some no bakes. I started melting the butter, added the sugar & went to get the cocoa and THERE WAS NONE! Ahhhh… Man! What was i going to do. I decided to just keep making them and figured even with out the cocoa they had to be good. I boiled them for 2 minutes this time. They were so delicious!! I think i’m calling them blonde no bakes.

It was a flub up that proved to delicious and worth repeating thank goodness for mistakes that work out great.

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our more about THE BARRY FARM

thanks to MY MOM for this is idea! you’re the best mom  

i did two things different. i needed more than a 9×13…i wanted a layer cake. i baked two cakes and each fit well in a 10 inch square pan. it could have stood a little more batter but i wasn’t going to fool with the recipe and it turned out great.

the second thing i did different was with the frosting. this carmel frosting is to-die-for! i knew i wouldn’t be able to frost the whole cake with it seeing i wanted layers so i made up one batch. i used most of between the layers but saving a little. maybe 1/2 cup or so. i took the 1/2 cup and make a butter cream frosting but added that in. it gave me a very delicious frosting that covered the whole cake! it was quick and easy.

i have made this cake as the directions call for time and time and again and i am NEVER dissatisfied with the results.

apple cake

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teas cinnamon
1 teas baking soda
1 teas vanilla
1/2 teas salt
1/4 teas nutmeg
3 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped nuts (optional) – nut allergies in the family so i’ve never added the nuts

heat oven to 350 degrees. grease and flour a 9×13 pan.

mix sugar, oil and eggs until blended – 1 min. stir in remaining ingredients except for apples and nuts. beat 2 mins or so. stir in apples/nuts. pour in pan and bake 35-40 minutes. note- the batter is very thick. frosted the cooled cake with carmel frosting (below). for carrot cake substitute 3 cups shredded carrots.

carmel frosting

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups 10x sugar

heat butter in 2 qt saucepan until melted. stir in brown sugar (low heat). heat to boiling, stirring constantly. stir over low heat for 2 mins. stir in milk. heat to boiling- remove from heat. cool to lukewarm. then, gradually stir in 10x. place pan of frosting in bowl/sink of cold water, beat until smooth. if frosting becomes too stiff add a little milk. frost apple cake!

you see geoffrey’s dad was the pastor of the church my parents and i attended. i saw him on sundays as he helped with the technology end of our worship services while i was part of the worship team. we had some small talk. one sunday he asked me if i wanted to sit with him in the sound booth at an upcoming event the church was facilitating. i told him yes, but i would be right back. (for those of you who have heard this story many times….listen again ) you see i had just told a sweet couple i would attend this same event and sit with them! i went back to the wife and told her i changed my mind and told her why….she completely understood and was very happy for me!

i went back to geoffrey and told him i had to tell the gallipo’s i changed my mind and was going to go with him instead of them! we went to said event….and geoffrey held my hand. i was surprised he held my hand being a first date and all….but it was during a prayer so…. i wasn’t scared or put off by it one bit!

a week or so later he asked me if i wanted to go to boston with him for the day! for the day? with him? i mean i knew him kinda and liked his parents but to boston for a whole day? we weren’t even officially dating! i confirmed like we weren’t needing to spend the night or anything. come to find out he had a job interview at MIT and wanted to know if i wanted to tag along. we would go to the aquarium too. i had a full time job and it was our busy season…wasn’t sure how i was going to get the day off. my father was all for it! (he knew how our relationship would turn out) normally my father would have probably not approved of the situation but i guess when your dad is friends with a guy first, then he asked you out, it’s all good! gotta teach layla that one.

so, i kind of timidly asked my boss if it was ok i take the day off on short notice seeing it was a busy time. she was ok with it. yay! i’d never been to boston before so i was kinda excited and sure hoped we liked each other seeing how we would spend over 3 hours one way getting there! we left before sunrise and were home way after sunset. we were a tad early for his interview so we stopped for starbucks and chatted some more. while he interviewed at MIT i wandered around a bit and sat in a waiting room. it was a rather confusing time. i was liking him but he was interviewing for a job in boston…what in the world was going to happen if he got it!?

we went to the aquarium and had a great time. it was a rainy day. (geoffrey, i won’t tell the story how you forgot the umberlla and we had to walk blocks to the restaurant and half of my head…the half my hood didn’t cover…was soaked by the time we got there! i even think my mascara was running a bit!) love you honey!

we also went to the imax and something happened there later i realized that i was indeed falling in love this guy. he let me drive home and i remember talking the whole way!

there was a rough few months where i wasn’t quite sure what to do about this boy. did i really love him? did i want to marry him? would we make a great couple? THANKFULLY my dad knew me and kept telling geoffrey to just be patient and wait…i would make up mind, not look back and he would be a happy man! geoffrey, are you still happy??

while i had 57 chickens at my feet today i was thinking to myself…it all started with a trip to boston. by the way, he turned MIT down because he was afraid if he took it he’d loose me. we had talked about it a little but not much. how were either of us to know what would happen? we had just started hanging out. (i don’t really know when we crossed the line to dating…maybe the night he kissed me on hi parents sea green couch??) he is SUCH a great decision maker! we got married about 7 month later. he started nursing school, we had two babies, we moved to houston….and we now run a small farm and our customers are spread across the greater houston area- the 4th largest city in the nation! don’t you just love the way god works?…the way life turns out…not at all how we expect it sometimes! but, from boston to houston and EVERYTHING in the middle….i wouldn’t change one thing! i thought i knew geoffrey. this man who became my husband, my best friend, father to the children we would have, an emergency room nurse who loved hunting and the great outdoors. he turned farmer on me and i love him SO much more than i could have ever dreamed…

happy october my love! i’m looking forward to many, Many, MANY more octobers with you.

i have been realizing that is mid october and school has been in session for over 6 weeks and i’m doing it! i told myself this summer that with seamus going to school and me having to pack 3 lunches a day (2 kids, 1 husband) that i wanted to move away from plastic baggies. and even though i have been tempted to put it on my shopping list i haven’t! back in the summer i had a mamapedia deal come through my email for re-pac bags, reuseable bags. i bought it! i have 3 of the large ones and 2 of the snack ones. they work great! sandwiches, muffins, fruits, veggies all go in them. i can throw them in the washing machine or i have even washed them in the sink, before i start washing everything else. they dry quick. i would recommend mamapedia/mamasource, i’ve gotten some good deals from them!

i also bought two sets of smaller type tupperware (BPA free) on sale at the grocery store. they are the perfect size for cut up fruit and veggies, for the kids. and the others are good for salads and things for geoffrey’s lunch. i did awhile back invest in a set of two good non leaking containers for things like chili and soup for geoffrey.

i went through my tupperware/storage containers and weeded out a few that no longer had lids. i keep the sets together and usually have enough clean in the cupboard when i need them. its made a big difference. i have a few that are hard to get the lid off and have learned they aren’t the best for my kindergartener seeing he told me he spilled his snack everywhere trying to get it open. my next step is probably linen napkins around here. i want to be done with paper napkins and i seldom buy paper towels.

i used to try and make the lunches at night after supper but, that just didn’t work. between getting home just before 4 from school, homework for two kids, supper prep, showers, daddy coming home in the mix…it didn’t work well. now, seeing i get up with geoffrey about 5:15AM everyday i do them in the morning. works much better. what will happen when geoffrey stops working 7am and starts at 11am….i do not know! i guess i’ll still get up early but not at 5:15. that’s only worth it cause i get to see him and kiss him before he leaves for work!

so, i wasn’t sure i could do this no plastic baggie thing for the packing of 3 lunches daily and i was sure i would cave so…i’m patting myself on my back!

things i pack the kids for lunch….

sandwiches (homemade bread)
apples cut up, brushed with lemon juice
carrots
celery
pretzels
muffins
greek yogurt
bananas
canned local pears/peaches
raisins
cheese
oranges (cut up, bite size)
larabar (for layla ocassionally)