Food on the Farm

I'm currently beginning month 4 of gluten freedom. I have had a coupe rough patches where I ran out of will power and just needed a piece of bread. But they were few and far between. I ate fast food for the first time in almost 4 months on Saturday, the Farmer and I went on a day road trip to Green Bay and we stopped at Burger King. Last time I got a salad and I was less than impressed so I figured if I was going to eat something gross and terrible for me, I might as well enjoy a little bread, right?! So I had a chicken sandwich - it was OK. I sincerely do not miss fast food. French fries, though....they continue to be my biggest weakness. They're technically gluten free- but they're fried and salty and ranch dressing makes them so irresistible. Baby steps!

This morning I tried those 3 Ingredient Paleo Pancakes you've seen floating around Facebook and Pinterest and since social media claims they're amazing I figured I would give them a try....

To put it lightly, they left something to be desired. 

I was expecting a stack of fluffy, delicious pancakes. Instead, I managed to not screw up 2 of them. They were tricky to flip and the first 4 didn't make it past the first side. The final product was more like banana flavored scrambled eggs than the fluffy short stack I had envisioned. I even cooked them with coconut oil and used Agave Nectar instead of syrup. I added fresh strawberries to the top and ate both of them and I am full. They weren't terrible, but probably won't be on my menu list regularly. The person who claimed these things were so amazing must have never had the real thing because we're talking about apples and oranges here. There was no comparison.

So that's it, that was just my little review of the 3 ingredient pancakes that Facebook is raving about.

 In case you'd like to try them anyways, here's what I did:

 I started with 2 eggs, 2 bananas peeled and mashed, a dash of cinnamon and a little bit of vanilla extract. Whisked it all together with a fork and it becomes a nice little batter.

I warmed a skillet on medium heat and sprayed it with some expeller pressed coconut oil. Like I mentioned flipping them was a little tricky and in order to get them to flip and not fall apart I turned the heat down a little after pouring the batter and cooked them for 3-4 minutes per side.

They never reached the sightly crispy hard exterior that I was expecting - like with traditional pancakes. They were just soft - like scrambled egg consistency. The flavor was fine, just not what I was expecting texture wise.

So there you have it. Don't let me discourage you - again, they weren't terrible and I am pretty full considering I only had 2. This recipe probably would have yielded 6-8 pancakes had I not screwed 3/4 of them up.

If you're interested in a recipe that I actually really LOVED and will be adding to my regular rotation then I'll share with you what I had for dinner last night! SALMON EN PAPILLOTE which sounds super fancy and if you ever want to impress someone with your culinary skills (whether you actually possess any or not) make this dish! Seriously requires little to no cooking skill. Sometimes if you don't cook a lot making something like salmon can be intimidating. But making anything en papillote (which literally means in paper) is super easy and dummy-proof!

I followed the recipe found here at Jessica Gavin  Culinary Scientist. I also just looked at the date on this post and it was 12/15/14 - the exact day I changed my eating habits for the better....funny coincidence.

I made a few minor mods. I didn't have carrots so I just omitted them. I started with my asparagus (trimmed the bottoms a little) on the bottom of my paper pouch (I followed her recommendation of 15"x 18" piece of parchment paper cut into a heart shape) topped the asparagus with thinly sliced red onion, then my salmon which I seasoned with a little minced garlic (about 1 tsp or less) kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. I skipped the lemon zest and just put a pinwheel of lemon on top with a little bit of chopped fresh chives. Finally (not pictured) I put a couple dollops of the basil compound butter she had in the recipe - it's pretty amazing, but if you're satisfied with conquering one culinary trick at a time then regular butter will suffice!

Oven heated to 450 degrees and popped these babies in for about 10 minutes. Once you fold over the pouches, put them on a cookie sheet for easy handling. 

The finished product:

Just cut open the pouch and serve! She explains the science behind how it cooks but basically the steam cooks the fish and veggies perfectly inside the pouch. So no flipping, sauteing or boiling necessary. Just super flavorful food not to mention extremely healthy. And the Farmer LOVED it. So that's a triple win!

The menu for this week includes
 marinated skirt steak tacos + avocado cucumber relish

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

and probably shrimp risotto - because when I'm not sure what to make I just default to risotto.

I also invented an amazing home made chicken salad recipe that I was eating for lunch last week. I'm going to attempt to recreate it this afternoon and hopefully post about it later. It was fabulous wrapped in some big lettuce leaves or just over greens as a salad. Yum, now my mouth is watering. Time to go!

Happy cooking - from the Farm,

The Farmer's Wife

Broken Record

Remember this post? The one about how I said I was fed up with my old eating habits and I was going to eat "clean"? 

[excuse me]

HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahahahaha. Ha ha. Ha. 

Okay, but really. I really thought I could do it. And I even said I was dead serious. Because I was. I really wanted to change. But, cheeseburgers. And Ranch. Hashtag: EPIC FAIL. I think I made it an entire week. Seven days. Then I quit. Why do I suck at this so much? 

An entire calendar year has passed since those posts and I've thrown the towel in on eating unhealthy again. And I'm not even going to make any promises this time because....well....because you've seen how that works out. I feel like a broken record every time I tell the farmer "I'm on a diet". Bless his heart, he doesn't even react anymore if those words come out of my mouth because he knows it's most likely going to be a short lived jaunt down diet alley filled with hormonal imbalances, "hangry" tantrums and just plain starvation. Diet pills? I've taken them. Lemonade/juice cleanses? I've tried them. Being vegetarian? (excuse me again....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha) I've tried it. Paleo? Yep. 

So what now? How is this time different? This time I really think it's actually going to be different. #knockonwood

This time I've armed myself with knowledge. I have decided to take all the failures of my past attempts and learn from them. Every year around December - on the heels of a new year - I decide the week of my birthday I'm going to indulge and eat/drink whatever I want and after that day, I am starting fresh. In that respect, this year was no exception. December 14 came and went and on December 15 I began my "fresh start". I hate New Year's resolutions because - let's be honest - no one keeps them anyways! So I always resolved to a "new" me on December 15. 

Last time I tried this I dropped everything at once. I went from Taco Bell drive thrus and Starbucks latte's and hot dogs, nachos, mac n cheese and highly processed everything in one day, to strictly veggies, lean protein and water the next day. I pretty much just set myself up for failure. So knowing what I know now, I've decided to take baby steps into this new food paradigm. 

Baby Step 1.  GLUTEN

I decided to go gluten-free on December 15 and I haven't looked back. I actually don't miss it, and I'm being completely honest! In addition to taking cues from my past failed attempts I've taken the time to read and learn about what impact the food we eat has on our bodies. Blogs have been the most helpful as well as some friends who are gluten free. And though it sounds complicated because gluten is in a lot of things - it really hasn't been that hard at all. I started with this helpful post on how to transition to being gluten free. It suggests to, rather than buy things that are "gluten free", to just eliminate things with gluten all together. And honestly, I think that's the best approach. Because you can have corn tortillas with your tacos, you really don't need bread, and you can have rice instead of pasta. Being gluten free has also helped me to cut out most processed foods and most importantly, fast food. Because of this, for me, gluten was a good first choice.

I have, on occasion, indulged in a little gluten. Fortunately for me, eliminating gluten is not a medical necessity, so there were 3, maybe 4 occasions in the past month that I have indulged in gluten - and boy did I pay for it! It's amazing to think that something that is in so many things could have such an impact on the way you feel. I realized how big of an impact gluten really had on how I felt only a week after giving it up. It was the week of Christmas and I figured I would splurge. I was at Starbucks and ordered a vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was delicious, but entirely not worth the horrible cramps, gas and bloated feeling I had for hours following it's consumption. I mean, seriously....it made me a believer in this whole gluten-free movement. The other two occasions were social functions where I didn't want to be a rude guest and reject the awesome food that had been provided by the hosts. I indulged a little each time and one time I really paid for it and the other time it didn't seem to effect me as much. 

So what does being gluten free look like for me? I have carved out a space in my pantry just for my gluten free foods, which really aren't that bazaar. I have some gluten free granola (that I found on clearance!) Larabars, soft corn tortillas, Arborio rice, Chex (yes, some regular food is naturally gluten free!) and tortilla chips (see?). My guilty pleasure snacks are Snyder's Gluten Free Onion and Mustard pretzels and chips and salsa. I made these 2 ingredient, gluten free, Nutella brownies and they hit the spot if I'm craving something sweet (which I rarely do, in all honesty). For starches I eat potatoes and black beans. Gluten freedom has helped me to cut down on processed foods (no more cheez its, frozen pizza, mac n cheese, jar sauce, etc) so it's been like giving up lots of things with only really giving up one.

Baby Step 2. MSG

In deciding to only give up one thing at a time, I've found freedom in indulging when I want to (ice cream, french fries and chocolate) and it doesn't make me feel like I'm suffocating beneath a pile of frozen diet meals and green tea pills. The more reading I do about the toxins found in processed food and drink, the less I want to eat/drink them - no matter how much I've loved them in the past. Literally the key to success is knowledge.  When I read about how horrible and gross MSG is, I wanted to never eat it again. I've done research and found the names of ingredients that MSG hides in and I've become a label-reading Nazi!

Maybe this seems a bit extreme. But that's the beauty in these baby steps. Inevitably there's going to be a day when I'm not going to be able to read the label and I'll probably eat things with MSG in them many more times in this life. But if I choose to avoid it when its in my control, then I'm much better off than I was when I just ate whatever I wanted because it tasted good. Which is another funny thing, because things I thought tasted so good - just a few weeks ago - I now find to be repulsive. I splurged at lunch yesterday and had beer battered perch with french fries. It was so good, and totally worth the gassy, upset stomach I had at bed time last night. But I figured with my splurge I would have a Coke. I loved Coke ... it used to be something I drank without thinking twice. Now I consider it a treat. Well, yesterday I couldn't even drink a glass of it. I made it through half of my glass (with ice - so probably only like 6 oz of soda) before I just switched to water because it tasted like straight poison. No lie. So I pretty much just took myself to the next step without even trying!

Baby step 3, SODA/JUICE

Juice isn't that hard for me because I didn't drink a ton of it before, but now that I've cut out soda I have been drinking a bit more of it. But what's wrong with juice as long as it's 100% juice, you say? Well there's just so much sugar in it, even if it's naturally occurring sugar, it's still unnecessary. So that's it really. Water is really my beverage of choice these days and I don't mind at all. I still have coffee on occasion, but that's probably going to be my next baby step. But for a girl who's drank coffee regularly since the ripe age of 4 (yes, four), that's going to be a tough one. I've cut back considerably, but to give it up altogether will be pretty difficult for me. 

Well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading the inner thoughts of my crazy. This has been an interesting journey to say the least, and I'm so excited about my progress and my ability to stay on track this time. If you're interested, I've actually dropped 9 lbs since December 15 - part of this lifestyle change has also had a weight loss goal. My clothes fit better, my gut feels better and I'm more motivated to keep going than ever before. I am by no means an expert on any of this. I've been meaning to get to the library to take out a few good reads on the subject. Wheat Belly and Grain Brain are a couple books that have been recommended to me by friends. I'm excited to learn more. 

My next baby step is regular exercise and physical activity. I've purchased a couple yoga/Pilates and cardio work out videos, I just have to keep reminding the farmer to hook up the DVD player for me. That's on this week's "to do" list....to really help kick-start my weight loss. 

Until next time (judging by my last post should be sometime in April),

The Farmer's Wife.

Grace and [Lots of] Starbucks

Edit: This was written back in September, but I finally got around to publishing it on 11/6. Jack has now been in school for 3 months!

To say these past 4 weeks have been overwhelming would be a severe understatement. If I'm being honest I'm really not completely sure how I'm even still alive. I've had newborns and done the whole sleep-walk-through-the-day thing. I have, it's horrible. But this. This is something entirely different. This is like a new lifestyle.

Allow me to elaborate.

4 weeks ago, Jack started Kindergarten. I've had mixed emotions about this momentous occasion for the past year. A year. I've been fretting this day for a full calendar YEAR. For real, though.
So we spent the two weeks leading up to Kindergarten picking out the coolest school supplies, shopping with Grandma's for backpacks and lunch boxes and shoes and everything in between. I took  him out for lunch and to the zoo and to Chuck E Cheese and for ice cream (like every day). He got to stay up late and bake cookies with me. We savored every last second of summer.

Then it was labor day weekend. We had plans with the family to go to Bay Beach and continue savoring summer's last moments. We had a blast! Rides and games and swimming and pizza  and more swimming and more rides. It was awesome. Until I discovered a little "bug bite" on Princess' leg. It seemed too reminiscent of the one I had found weeks earlier that led to a MRSA staph infection. By Monday (Labor Day) she had spiked a fever and the infected area continued to grow.

As you can imagine, Urgent Care is not the most ideal spot to spend your holiday weekend. We waited for close to 3 hours before we saw the doctor and it took us another hour to get things all squared away. They sent us home with an antibiotic under the assumption that the MRSA was back and scheduled an appointment for follow up in the morning. This is the moment that began my perpetual state of exhaustion. It hasn't ended since.

So at our follow up appointment on Tuesday (mind you Jack starts Kindergarten on Wednesday)  where the baby was running another (higher) fever, they told me that the abscess in her leg would have to be drained surgically. "Surgically" is not a word any mother wants to hear - no matter what the circumstance. They tried to get her in right away that afternoon, but couldn't. They scheduled her first thing in the morning (aka 1st day of Kindergarten, that I've been freaking out about for A YEAR.) I kind of laughed and said - "so, it has to be tomorrow?" And the nurse looked at me like I had lost my freaking mind. And I started to explain the first day of school thing, and she kept looking at me like I was completely insane. So I just said, "ok, what time should we be there, and where do I go?"

8:45 am. Children's Hospital Main Campus. Clinics Building.

Fast forward to Wednesday.

We got up early, made breakfast and I insisted on driving separately than the farmer so that Princess and I can head straight to the hospital. But the farmer insisted we had plenty of time and we'd all go together. So I oblige. We have to travel down 2 roads to get to school. It's a total distance of about 7 miles. I'm not kidding you - it took us 45 minutes to get to school. We left so that we'd get there early and be able to walk him in and say good bye, maybe casually chat with other parents. NO. FORTY-FIVE Mother Loving minutes later, we had to rush in the door, quickly greet the principal, hang up his backpack and wave bye. All the other parents stood around the room as the teacher read a cute little book about the first day of school. And I had to wave and run. I mean literally run.

This day that I had fretted about and worried and agonized over for a year. 365 days spent worried, it was here and then gone. Today was the day and I didn't even have 30 seconds to think about it. My brain was already on to my next fear. A sick child. And MRSA is not exactly "no big deal", you know? I really didn't even let my brain go there. I didn't read anything online about it because I didn't want to gain more irrational fears than I already have. I mean, let's be honest I've got more than enough of those to go around.

So now that we were running late, I had to worry not only about the impending "surgery", but getting bumped because we were late. You know how hospitals are...I mean I don't blame them. They've got lives to save, they don't have time to wait for me. So I parked my car in the first spot I saw, took no notes as to where that spot was and just rushed myself, my feverish, infected baby and my 2 bags that had to weigh a combined 300 lbs. I mean I should have just packed a suit case for crying out loud.

I can spare you some details here....we sat in the clinic where they hoped to drain the abscess right in the office. After realizing she's not even quite a toddler and that it would be darn near impossible to make her sit still, they decided they'd have to administer anesthesia and do it in the OR. So over to day surgery in the big hospital we went, and there we sat. And waited. And she got sicker and sicker. She was burning up. (Ok sorry, I said I'd spare the details) Quick version - they took her back to surgery. The whole procedure was only like 30 minutes from start to finish and she came out of recovery another hour later or so. She was so sick and so sad looking. It broke my heart.

To think I worried about this day because my little guy was growing up. Who knew that I'd have something entirely different to struggle with. I did, however, have an overwhelming peace the whole time. I saw God's grace and mercy in a whole new way. I had a few sad, quiet moments to myself. I couldn't even pick Jack up from school. That broke my heart more than having to drop him off in a hurry. I wanted to talk to him about his day, and see him in the car line and hear about all the fun things he did at his first day of school. But I couldn't - and that was really the only thing that made me cry all day.

He called me from his grandma's cell phone when she picked him up. He was SO excited. He didn't even think twice about me not picking him up. He thought it was AWESOME that his Grandma got to pick him up. (Praise God!) But I had to rush him off the phone because I started to get choked up. I felt guilty that I couldn't be part of that moment for him. I wanted to make this day a big deal, and I couldn't. And I know that it didn't matter to him - he thought nothing of it. But for me it was really a sad moment. I mean, I just cried again from writing about it. It broke my heart all over again.

....getting on to the Grace and Starbucks part. The past 4 weeks have been non-stop. But I'm so humbled by God's gentle way of showing His grace. He's equipped me with a perspective that only God can give. As we left the hospital on Wednesday, I was exhausted. We got there just before 9 am and we were walking out at about 6pm. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. God had a little reminder for me. As I walked out - I saw a family taking a walk. A dad who looked about the same age as the farmer, a mom, who looked like she needed sleep much worse than I, and a precious toddler - not much older than my little Princess. The mom rolled the IV that was attached to the small boy's bald head as he pushed a little walker through the hall. This boy clearly suffered from some type of cancer and my heart was shattered. Suddenly I had a very clear perspective.  This was just a short season. A day....maybe a couple weeks if you count our whole MRSA experience. But it is not cancer, it's not a life-threatening (well, not in our case) illness, it's not a terminal illness. Our time spent in the hospital was just one day. And now we can carry on with our regular lives. No more medicine, no more check ups,

I got to drive Jack to school the next day, and pick him up after school. I get to listen to his stories and buy him ice cream and make random Tuesday's seem like the most awesome day ever. And in a 5-year-old's world that's just as awesome as making the first day of school a big deal. So once again, I'm reminded that God's got me in the palm of His hand. His plans are so much grander than my brain can even begin to fathom. And for that I'm so grateful. I think one day I might remember this truth before I start to freak out....maybe. Just maybe.

Sweet dreams,
The Farmer's Wife

Revived & Repurposed: Couponing for a Cause

Over the summer I really began my conversion to self-proclaimed "crazy coupon lady". Extreme couponing became a sort of "way of life" for me. The thrill of a good deal, the rush of getting a whole cart full of personal care items for FREE. And even better, leaving the store with more value in gift cards than you actually paid in cash. Yes, sometimes they pay me to shop. It's in these past two weeks since I've taken a short hiatus that I really began to reflect on "couponing" and what it means to me and what some people interpret it as.

In my opinion, couponers tend to get a bad rap. We're just cheap, or what's the point in just saving a buck, we're trying to cheat the system, we're thieves, it's wrong. I've heard it all. Trust me.

If you know a couponer, or think you understand why couponers do what they do, I'm asking you to set that aside for a minute and hear me out. Let me tell you why I coupon. I'll be honest, some of us are just cheap, trying to save a buck. Some do "cheat" the system and commit coupon fraud, it happens. But the vast majority of us are in it for something much greater. We're not only in it for ourselves and our family's benefit, but to offer help to others.

Truth: I don't coupon to save money. I am blessed with a hard working farmer-husband that provides more than enough for us and I can certainly afford to go out and buy the basic necessities, groceries, toiletries that my family needs to survive. We are abundantly blessed, beyond measure. Some couponers are just considered poor right off the bat because we're trying to save money. Let me assure you, I am not poor.

Truth: we have struggled financially, I have gone to the grocery store without enough money in my wallet to buy the things I need. My credit card has been denied in the check out lane and I've had to put everything back. We've gone without. I wish I knew then what I know now about coupons, because it was then that I needed the "saving" part of couponing. During this time, I was at the home of one of the families at our church and my friend's mom (who knew we were going through a hard time) took me up to her stock pile room and let me pick out and take whatever we needed. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, shave gel. I remember leaving her house with a bag bursting at the seams with personal care products. I was practically in tears. To me and my family (just the farmer and I - at the time) this meant money that we didn't have to spend on these items could either go toward food or just straight to savings. To her it was nothing, I bet she doesn't even remember and I bet she didn't ever think twice about it. But to me it meant the world.

And that is why I coupon. It started as a way to get stocked up on diapers for princess. But it has transformed into so much more than that. I want to give away all that kind of stuff to others that struggle or have fallen on hard times just the way Natalie helped us out when we were in a tough spot. And I have, and I know how much it helps. Even if my friends are not struggling and they're over and they are like "oh, I have to get going...gotta stop and pick up some deodorant before work tomorrow" I'll be all like "oh heck no you don't! what kind do you use and do you want regular or clinical strength?" Because if I can clear some space in my stock pile that means I have room for more! Which means more deals and more thrills!!

So to all the nay sayers, next time you see me at Target with my cart full of more Pantene Pro-V and Crest Mouthwash than you'll ever use in your life time, don't roll your eyes. And if I have the lane blocked off with 4 separate transactions and a mountain of coupons to accompany each one, please save the under-your-breath comments and sighs of annoyance. I promise you what I'm doing is benefiting many other people than me. In fact, the farmer would probably agree that it really doesn't benefit me at all. Other than just really loving the art and science of couponing - and always having a plethora of shiny new personal care products to choose from - all I do is pay for this stuff and spend hours of my time planning the deals and doing the shopping to, in the end, give it all away. And I wouldn't change that for anything. If I can bring tears to someone's eyes because I just saved them $30 or $40 this month on personal care products than my work was not in vain. In fact, all my time and energy and money spent was quite worth it.

Give coupon ladies and gents the benefit of the doubt. Assume that if they have a cart full of product that either 1.) they have a home full of small or grown children, orphans or missionaries or 2.) they plan to donate most of or all of what they are buying. Don't roll your eyes, just pick another lane. And if you feel up to it, commend them for working hard to save money so they can help others. I've had a few guests and cashiers cheer me on in recent trips and there's nothing more exciting - than to see other shoppers get excited with you. It gives me a platform to talk about the new ministry I've started at church and to talk about the way God has abundantly blessed me and my family. Couponing has opened doors and has created new relationships for me. It's been a fun journey so far. I've taken a little break, but I'll be back in full force as soon as the farmer and I return from our little getaway this next week.

This was just an introduction to a couponing series I'd like to put together. I'll dig more into the methods to my madness and give more in depth couponing tips. I do not have a time line for this series, so just be patient. My new focus has shifted slightly from actual couponing and shopping myself to helping equip others to save money with coupons. So until my next post - happy couponing from the Farm.

Sincerely,
The Farmer's Wife

7 Years

Why do I get ideas like this ONLY at 1 am?
Seriously, though.

But it's officially my 7th wedding anniversary with the farmer. We took the plunge on 6-8-07 and life has been anything but normal ever since. We've had ups and downs, like any other marriage. We added two precious humans to the world's population. We've moved like 4? 5 times, I think. I don't even know, but they were all in the first year of marriage. We've lived on the farm now for 6 years.

I'm pretty tired so I'm actually going to keep this short.

I made that picture up there because I thought it would be fun to see how marriage has or hasn't changed us. I came to these conclusions:

-I love that man.
-I have shiny skin - not as in like radiant, but as in like oily
-2009 was a rough year - man that was an awkward family photo
-The first couple years after child birth my fashion kinda deteriorated, luckily I have seemed to figure it out
-I'm better blonde
-Girls change, boys really don't .... and that's pretty irritating

So really nothing about those pictures says anything about our marriage.
But I know this. I've failed him over and over again, and I will probably continue to do so. I suck at a lot of stuff, but at the end of the day he still loves me (or claims to, at least). He takes care of us and works harder than anyone I've ever known and for all of his sacrifice I'm so thankful. I had no idea when I said "I do" 7 years ago that all sorts of crazy wonderful would become my reality. I just thought we'd get cushy 9-5 jobs and come home and eat dinner and play catch with our dogs. [multiple] Business owners? Farmers? A laundromat? Who, me? Hahahaha, I would have laughed you right out of town.

But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So here's to the next 7 years and on. I love you Donald Richard Spielman, Jr. With all my heart to infinity and beyond.

-Your Wife

Motherhood is No Joke

This day has just gotten the best of me. There are so many things I am neglecting right now, but I just needed a mental break before I just completely lose it.

It started at 3 am and hasn't stopped since. My youngest, my dear princess has successfully drained every last ounce of sanity I have. It's gone.

I didn't help matters by going to bed WAY too late...but quite honestly I think God kept me awake because had I already been soundly sleeping at 3 am, I would have handled last night WAY differently. When I am asleep I am a force to be reckoned with. The baby woke up (at 3) SCREAMING. I mean, just screaming. So I went and consoled her, rocked her quietly until I thought she was sleeping again.

Wrong.

As soon as I laid her down, she promptly began screaming. And so we did this again another 2 or 3 times until I realized she wasn't going to lay down. I tried laying her down and just letting her cry, but it just got worse, and Jack was asleep just a few feet away and I really didn't need two children awake and such a ridiculous hour.

So I did what I really don't like to, I took her in bed with me. I don't do this for a few reasons. 1. I really enjoy my space. I mean, I love my children, but not in my space 24/7. 2. I fear her rolling off the bed, because it would be a cold day in hell before the farmer let her sleep between us, so she laid on the end of the bed. 3. Once she gets used to a thing like that, I fear it may never end. Literally. So for the sake of all things true, I just don't do it.

But it was 3 am and I hadn't been to sleep yet...so I just gave in. But then I started to drift off into a deep sleep and she started snoring. I figured she was totally asleep again and went to lay her in her bed.

Wrong.

I mean for real. It was like a comedy of errors. At this point my bedroom light was on and the farmer was desperately searching for his ear plugs. I continued to gently rock her and try to get her to sleep and nothing was working. So I made a bottle, gave her a pacifier and went to bed. I think I finally fell asleep around 5.

Flash forward 3 hours. More screaming. Now she's soaked from head to toe. Awesome.

Changed diaper, gave her a bottle, thought about crawling back into bed, but I just decided to give up on sleep for good.

Then the crying continued. And the messes began. As I ran around in circles trying helplessly to clean and organize and tidy it just kept getting undone. I fed her. I changed her. I gave her toys. I gave her snacks. Her brother played with her. I held her. I changed her again. I gave her more snacks. I gave her a bottle. NOTHING WORKED. The screaming just kept on. So I just started ignoring it. Tried cleaning and going about my day. More crying. More screaming.

I mean picture this: A crying baby in the middle of your kitchen while you're trying to sweep. Every time you move her and keep sweeping, she walks over and sits down in the MIDDLE of your pile. The middle. Every. Single. Time. A seemingly mindless, 4 minute task like sweeping suddenly becomes a 15 minute ordeal. AND YOUR FLOOR IS STILL A DISASTER WHEN YOU'RE DONE. So I finally gave up and let her eat the left over piece of grilled cheese that she was after. Yep, it was coated in dust and nasty stuff. But clearly she didn't mind, so why should I? At least she was quiet for like 23 seconds.

I know mom's get this. I know a lot of people get this. I just am so done with it today. Because it's just one thing after another over. And over. And over. And over. It never stops. And when I thought I had completely lost all my marbles, I was putting the cottage cheese away from lunch and I missed the shelf (I'm still really not sure how that happened) and it exploded all over the floor and my pretty new fridge. EXPLODED. Everywhere.

Now I was crying. Yep, I cried.

But I took a deep breath, thought "Ok, get it together" and called Reggie in the house. I always liked that dog. He licked it up in nothing flat, I wiped the residue up and you would have never known it spilled.

So I got a handle on one of my problems today.
Baby steps.

I must go try to tackle something now. I will end this venting session...try to regain a little bit of order in this house before I head to the laundromat with my two precious children in tow and attempt to clean that. Am I completely nuts? Don't answer that.

-The Farmer's Insane Wife

Shop Local + Summer Corn Salad & Basil Buttermilk Dressing

You can go directly to the corn salad recipe - just click here.

June started another month of budgeting here on the farm. We have very strict limits around here for food, date nights, pet expenses, etc. And I do my best to stick to them. 

We won't talk about May. 

And since May didn't go according to plan, we have been living the past week and a half on bare shelves. I mean, let's be realistic. We still ate until we were full, never went hungry and still had plenty to go around...but we weren't eating our usual three course meals with veggies, starches and protein. Frozen pizza, buttered noodles and turkey sandwiches dominated our menus. Again, I'm not complaining, we are blessed and well fed, all the time. But I digress, with a new month upon us there was a fresh start and lots of shopping on the horizon!

I made my grocery list last night after having decided on a few meals for the upcoming weeks. The usual, tacos, chicken, burgers, shrimp pasta. Based on my list of meals and necessary ingredients, I made my shopping list. It was long. I mean really long. We needed a lot of stuff. Like almost 2 whole pages long. Hashtag throw the budget out the window. JK, that's totally not allowed.

But the good news is the farmer has been slowly moving toward this new food paradigm. He's beginning to realize that all the processed foods we buy and eat on a regular basis are just garbage. He's genuinely appreciating the value in whole foods, fresh produce, naturally and organically fed animals and things made from scratch without artificial flavors and fillers. It's good, because I've been conscious of these things but without the farmer on board before it was just too hard to commit too. Don't get me wrong, we still eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Kraft Mac N Cheese. But those things are becoming fewer and father between the fresh vegetables, organic meats and free-range, cage-free eggs. 

While shopping today I did something that I've never really done before. I turned over every product I bought and checked where it was from. I'm now fascinated with how a products origin can affect it's price, quality and even it's placement in a store. I started my day getting gas at Kwik Trip - a Wisconsin based, family owned convenience store/gas station. Let me just start by saying Kwik Trip is awesome. Everyone who has one within 5-10 miles of their house should go there. For real. They have awesome customer service, their gas prices are competitive and their convenience store offers great, GREAT local products and affordable prices. For instance:

 Westby Creamery. 

My dad grew up in a small town near Westby called Newry. As a kid I went there often to visit family and knew all about the delicious products that come from this family owned, Wisconsin farm. Their cottage cheese is the best. We would stop on the way home from Grandma's house and buy fresh cheese curds...you just can't beat fresh Wisconsin cheese curds. Especially if they're from Westby Creamery. And you can get the fine Westby products at your local Kwik Trip. *End shameless plug*

After talking with a clerk once about how cheap Kwik Trip's milk prices are I learned that they also own their own dairy. Their milk is local, fresh and affordable. Same with all their bakery. Their white bread is on sale now 2/$1 - local and cheap. You just can't top that in my book. I also got a bag of russet potatoes, which the cashier told me are also locally grown, onions and chicken breast. I think the chicken breast were from Illinois - which as a Packer fan that's hard to digest, but it's still pretty local. 

I ended up spending about $40 at Kwik Trip, just in groceries. With my gas my bill topped out at $93. But I got 4 loaves of bread, a pack of hamburger buns, hot dog buns and sub rolls. 2lbs of onions, 5lbs of potatoes, a bunch of bananas, 3 pkg of chicken breast, 1 pkg of all natural all beef hot dogs, 2 containers of Westby sour cream, a container of Westby cottage cheese, 2 lbs butter. 

There was probably more but I can't remember.

It pains me to admit that I finished my grocery shopping at Walmart. I've been trying to be so locally minded but I'm also on a budget, so I have to be realistic. Grocery stores just can't compete - and besides Walmart price matches so any price I find at a grocery store that beats Walmart I can get them to match. But I made a few shocking discoveries...I mean not really SHOCKING, but interesting nevertheless. 

On my little shop local binge, I decided to check the origin of the products I was buying. Some things on the farm just are...like Hellmann's Mayo- doesn't matter where it comes from, it's the only kind we buy. Coke, don't care, that's all the farmer will drink. But other things that don't really matter, I have decided to buy as locally as possible. The one thing that shocked me the most was when I was buying cheese. The Great Value shredded cheese (packaged at Walmart in AZ - CHEESE FROM ARIZONA!? um, no thank you) - 8 cup size bag - sells for $8.98, but the Crystal Farms (packaged in Lake Mills, WI) - 8 cup bag - sells for $8.78. I mean I have bought the Great Value before because it's Great Value and I'm on a budget and naturally you just think that it's the better deal. WRONG. Today I learned that the local cheese is actually the better deal. Also, the Crystal Farms butter was priced exactly the same as the Great Value. If the shelves were not completely cleared out of all CF butter, I would have bought some...luckily I had gotten butter at Kwik Trip, so I knew mine was local and I didn't have to worry about it. 

So anyways...all that to say that I think it's important to know where your food comes from. If nothing else it's super interesting. I bought Planters peanut butter because it was made in IL. I needed Yellow Mustard and we DON'T EVER buy Heinz...mostly for political reasons, actually entirely for political reasons...and for some strange reason I feel like French's might also be in cahoots with Heinz, probably not, but it's just this weird feeling I have. So I was about to grab the Great Value - when I just started grabbing different kinds and checking their origin. Turns out Koops is made right here in WI, in Pleasant Prairie. And it was the least expensive one! Double win. Breakfast sausage? Johnsonville, duh. From Sheboygan Falls, WI.

I have this little sense of Wisconsin pride inside today - it feels good to be a cheese head. Now when I enjoy my hot dog I can know that from the bun to the mustard it's all helping support local farms and businesses here in Wisconsin. It'll taste even better!

And that brings me to our dinner tonight:

Grilled marinated chicken (italian dressing marinade), sauteed russet potatoes
& corn salad with basil buttermilk

I can't really take credit for this recipe - or any of my recipes for that matter. I mean I work in a restaurant...where do you think I get all my recipes? All the talented chef's I work for, of course.

This we featured as a special last summer with fresh basil and heirloom tomatoes right out of the farm at Parkside 23

And I really needed a side for my grilled chicken. I considered making a hash with the potatoes. Sauteed red onion, green pepper, basil, black beans and russet potatoes...but I wasn't convinced. And I had this basil from my herb garden that I wanted to do something fabulous with. It smelled SO good.

When *EUREKA* I remembered this salad from work, and I had all the ingredients.

Except I could not for the life of me remember the dressing...I tried messaging the chef, but didn't get a response so I was on my own. I vaguely remember it having something to do with buttermilk so I just went to Pinterest and started looking stuff up. 

Side note: What would we do without Pinterest? I mean is there any other way to look up recipes? Seriously.

Searched: Basil Buttermilk Dressing.

Bingo, that's what it was!

But buttermilk. Who just has buttermilk? Not this girl.

Searched: Buttermilk Substitute

I have done milk with vinegar before, but for some reason that didn't seem right for this dressing. I mean maybe it would have worked, but I found a better alternative: milk mixed with sour cream. 

AND I HAVE AWESOMELY LOCAL WESTBY SOUR CREAM. *end shouting*

So that's what I did:

1 cup Milk

1-2 Tablespoons sour cream

Whisk.

BOOM. Instant Buttermilk.

So now on to the recipe....

Ingredients:

1 Roma Tomato

1/2 Medium Red Onion

1 Can Sweet Corn (drained)

Chopped Fresh Basil (10-15 leaves)

*I used Sweet Basil and Greek Basil from my herb garden*

Buttermilk Dressing:

1 cup buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute - see above)

1/3 cup mayonnaise 

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 heaping tsp of salt

Mince your onion, dice the tomato, finely chop the basil.

Fresh sweet corn would be ideal, cook it and cut it right off the cob 

But since it's not in season yet and I always have corn in the can in my pantry, I drained the corn in a colander and poured it on to some paper towel to get all the moisture out.

Combine your ingredients in a bowl

Now I know the dressing is technically called basil buttermilk dressing, but I just added the basil into the salad and made the dressing "plain". I think I had a little too much dressing on my salad, and I used about 3/4 of it, so you could easily cut the recipe in half for the dressing and I think it would be plenty.

Take your minced garlic and salt and mash it together to make a paste with a heavy knife on your cutting board. Add the paste to the buttermilk and whisk in the mayo. After whisking together I put in sealed container and gave it a good shake too. That's it. You're done.

Just pour your dressing over your salad and serve. You can serve immediately or chill before serving. This is such a fresh, yummy summer salad.I sincerely hope you try this recipe, because you will love it!

In conclusion, shop local, when you can. Check out where the stuff you buy is from. It's interesting. Start an herb garden. I haven't had it super long, but already am reaping the benefits of having fresh herbs on hand at all times. I'm looking forward to having fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and other produce when our garden starts to produce! That I can't take credit for though, that's all the farmer. And that's all. Enjoy the sunshine!

Happy Summer from the Farm,

The Farmer's Wife