"I'll have a stister??!"

Gracie(3) "Mommy?" Suddenly looking at my belly that is at her eye level as she sits at the table eating her breakfast "You are getting fat."

Mommy(36) "Yes, Gracie, that isn't fat(well, not most of it, lol) It is a baby."

Gracie "A baby? A baby what?"

Mommy "A baby sister, a real baby. It will come out soon and you can hold her."

Gracie, totally shocked "A stister?! For me?!? I'll have a stister?!"

Mommy "Yup, you're going to be a big stister."

Gracie, now staring at my belly now everytime I walk past her "That is my stister in dere, and I get to hold her and she will look like me and be cute" (say "cute" in a squeaky, high pitched little voice)

Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese

The “only and the best” mac-n-cheese we serve in our home. Forget the ingredients you can’t pronounce, once you try this, you’ll never go back to the box. It is easy, quick and you know my favorite word…cheap. Although there were a few years where this meal was too expensive because of the dairy products, but Junie solved that one.

For as long as I can remember I have been served or preparing this dish. Another beauty passed down from my mother and I am pretty sure this recipe may predate her cooking years. It has been served at more birthday dinners in our home than any other meal.

Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese

• 8 C dry macaroni(or shells), cooked
• 1 pkg all beef hot dogs, sliced thin, fried if you like‘em that way
• 1/2 C butter
• 4 C milk
• 3/4 C flour
• 4 C grated cheese(save a little for topping)
• salt and pepper

Boil macaroni. Make a white sauce(melt butter, stir in flour until bubbly, slowly add milk using a whisk, stir constantly until simmer. Simmer for 1 min) Remove from heat and add grated cheese to white sauce until well blended. Mix cheese sauce, hot dogs and cooked macaroni all together. Sprinkle with cheese, paprika and a little parsley. Bake in a large baking dish at 350 degrees for 40 min or until bubbly. Serves 10-12.

 

Serve with a side of fresh steamed broccoli and thenb stir it all together(if you allow your portions to touch each other)……ahhh bliss.

Montana Meatloaf

What meal plan is complete without a meatloaf? I mean really? My mother used to cook the most amazing meatloaves ever….EVER, and I got this recipe from her. Hidden deep inside are freshly grated carrots, cheese topped with a sweet and sour sauce that will leave your dishwasher wondering why the plates are in there, they’re scraped so clean. We of course double this and put it in one of those looooong bread pans.

Montana Meatloaf

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 C milk
• 2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 3 slices bread, crumbled
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 C carrots, shredded
• 1 C shredded cheese
• 1.5 lb ground beef

Sauce:

• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C ketchup
• 1 T prepared mustard

Combine all ingredients together(except sauce) and press in a loaf pan. Mix up sauce and pour over top. Bake in 350 oven for 1 to 1.25 hours. Let set 10 minutes before slicing.

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On the baby front. I woke up Monday morning feeling a little banana’ish in the belly(some of you can relate). I walked different, I sat different…I happened to go to the midwife that afternoon and after kneading my belly she made a funny look, scrunched up her nose and said lil one is laying with her feet in my pelvis and her head tucked down, like a candy cane, like she’s standing up hanging her head down. What a goof. It causes a very wide feeling. I had one baby who liked to lay perfectly sideways and it kind of feels like that that…just plain weird.  11.5 weeks left!

Jessie is getting soooo excited again to attend the birth. We were talking last night now fun it was last time. We both slept on the queen mattress on the floor together with baby tucked between us. She ran and provided for my every need. She got lots of snuggles with babe and three days of quiet time with mother. We can’t wait for that!

Petting Zoo 2011

Drawing winners

girls – Melia D

boys – Marcus F

mothers – Crystal P

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WOW, That was FUN! Besides a freak panicking beef cow running through our yard full of children, it was another great year(though my heart is still pounding after that one)  Don’t ask.

2009 – 20-some people

2010 – 33 people

Ready for this one?

2011

16 adults, 44 children, 3 little babies for a grand total of 63 people!! Thank you everyone who came, that was a blast(again, except the cow ordeal)

Shoes everywhere…

 

Elijah went bed just before everyone arrived and slept through the whoooole thing.

This year we had a parking plan and Jess and Jacob parked cars so no one was trapped. It worked very well.

Our attempt at a “how we use our goat milk” table.   

 

Let the petting begin…our little twin doelings were well tamed(or in shock) by the time it ended.

   

 

 

The chicks and the baby bunnies were definitely the hit of the party.

 

  

Yes, I cut off close ups on purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, look at the 12 yr old holding the witto bunny wabbit. I LOVE this picture. Doesn’t he look excited?!?

 

 

We went from 6 wild bunnies to 6 tame bunnies. And you thought we were just letting your children come over to hold animals, our REAL motive was for you to instantly tame our animals for us!

So, if you’ve read this far you deserve a quick explanation. As the last families were leaving, there were still a bunch of children playing in the yard. The neighbors large beef cow had gotten out of the field next door and he had been trying to get it back in the field. It decided to run…RUN…through our yard of children. Poor little Zeke was running for all he was worth, that poor little thing, I hope it doesn’t give him nightmares. The cow then ran in-between a couple of parked cars(At this point I am thankful for homeowners, but the cow managed to not hurt a thing) and to the back of our property where Mr. C had the gate open, ready to catch her. We have NEVER had that happen, and it had to happen today, of all days. <sigh> Thank you Lord for Your protection.

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Anyone wanna claim these?

Spinach Sausage Casserole

Ahhhh…casseroles. That is pretty much all we ate before I discovered The Warehouse Gourmet and AllRecipes.com. They’re cheap, they make a lot, they’re an easy 1 pan clean up and there are always leftovers for Daddy’s lunch….well, there used to be.

Don’t let the “S” word in this title scare you off, or assume your children won’t like it. It is requested regularly in our home now, every one of them. Give it a try and don’t mention the “S” word until after they compliment you for the meal.

• 1lb cooked, crumbled sausage
• 1 T dry onion
• 3/4 t oregano
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 pkg chopped frozen spinach or 2 small bunches fresh chopped spinach
• 1 can cream of celery
• 1 can milk
• 1 C sour cream
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1/2 lb fresh shopped mushrooms. Diced into smithereens if you want to hide them.
• 1/2 t pepper
• 4 cups cooked rice

Mix ALL together, place in 9x13, top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until hot in the middle. We have also served this as leftovers in crisped tortillas the next day for lunch. Yuuuuuuuum.

Suppa Tuscana with Bread Sticks

 

Ever since Paul and I were dating we’ve loooved going to the Olive Garden. Paul’s favorite? Suppa Toscana(sp?). Here is my tweaked copycat version that he looOOOoooves and it is a surefire way to give him a pick-up after a bad day at work. You may need to scale our recipes down a bit ;)

• 12 C chicken broth
• 2 chopped onions
• 6-9 links Italian sausage links
• 9 Lg potatoes
• 2 med bunches of kale or spinach(we like kale, about 3C – but whatever is cheaper ;) washed and chopped
• 1/2 C evaporated milk(I just use cream or double goat milk)
• Salt n Pepper
• 6 garlic cloves

Squeeze sausage out of skins into frying pan  and cook with onion over med heat until just cooked. Place in large pot and add stock, potatoes and garlic. Boil until cooked. Add kale until cooked. Remove from heat and add milk. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with parmesan, pepper and a little chopped kale. MMmmm…

O.k, now go buy breadsticks from the store. 8/$1.49. I can not make breadsticks for the life of me….yet. Melt 4T butter, 2 t garlic powder, 1 T chopped garlic and brush over breadsticks and bake.

This also makes a great base for Refrigerator Soup two days later ;) Freezes well.

Recipe Week

I know you are probably sick of hearing how much I loved reading Large Family Logistics(on sidebar), but can I say it again? I LOVE that book. I have been using her methods for 13 weeks now and feel the honeymoon is over and I can still say it works*!   (*disclaimer - well, as well as it can be for 8 people at home all day, every day.)

Laundry, meals, shopping, baking, cleaning…it’s all  getting accomplished(again, see disclaimer). It is such a blessing to ME, my hubby and my sanity ;)

Thanks to LFL I now have a book filled with two months of our favorite dinner recipes that we cycle through, making meal planning a cinch.

So, I thought I’d do a Recipe Week, brought to you by Gracie and Elijah. Why them? Because the Devious Duo have given me some extra sit-down time. Gracie has decided to stop taking naps and play in her room, secretively, for her whooooole naptime….at the same time, Elijah has learned to scale his crib(and the fortified baby gate in his doorway) and join her. It was a constant battle keeping them separated at naptime and confined to bed. My legs can’t handle the repeated stair climb for consistent discipline. Gracie is too young to stop taking naps so I set up a bed on the floor in Elijah's room for her. I bring my knitting, book or laptop and sit in the rocking chair in their room. Inevitably, they fall asleep within 10min and get their much needed rest.

In the 10m of my rocking chair time, I thought it would be nice to post 5 of our all-time favorite meals.  

I am not gourmet cook, a creative cook or even a good cook. I am a cook-cuz-I-have-to-cook, so you may just find these old news and boring. No offense taken. My favorite cookbooks? Joy of Cooking, The Warehouse Gourmet and church cookbooks. See?

So, here goes nothing for the next week…

Chicks are in!

Now, Spring has officially begun. All the baby animals are born, chores are in full swing, milk is on the table, cheese is in the fridge, eggs being brought in by the handfuls. Step out the back door to the deafening peeps of chicks.

 

After our annual phone call at 7am from our always happy, cheerful Post Office staff(not), I got dressed and bounced in the truck. It is so exciting the day they come. I prayed on the way in there that the Lord would give us a good live rate on the chicks after last year where most of our first set arrived dead as doornails.  

 

I even met Farmer Jon picking up his chicks, too!  When the back door to the Post Office opened, there was  the most annoying sound of hundreds of chicks peeping…poor people. The lady who answered the door said, as a joke, they had stacked the chicks next to her desk, lol. I bet they hope we all come right away and get them out!

 

I prayed on the way home. Jacob had the brooder all set up. We clipped the cords on the two large boxes and took them out, one by one, counting as we go and dipping their little beaks individually in the water to teach them to drink. There was one dead chick in each box! That’s it! We had a couple extra chicks and a couple obviously not going to make it so we should end up with all that we ordered. The Lord is so good and faithful to hear our prayers over the menial things like chicks!

 

They are already eating like all good little Cornish Cross piglets do. Another great experience ordering from Welp Hatchery.

How do you milk a first time freshened milk’n goat?

I dunno. That is one thing I never educated myself on so this morning was quite the chore. I called Mrs. G and asked her how she did it and the phone went silent. I can't find a lot on the subject so I assumed it is just one of those dirty little chores one must figure out for themselves. <sigh>

Jackie(Chan), our small vivacious oberhasli, has never been the friendliest goat, but agreeable and will let us pet her. She has only been in the stanchion for me to trim her hooves. Well, she kidded one Big Kid and the time has come for her to prove herself and fork over some milk.

I pulled her kid at Junie’s evening milking and let her udder fill aaaaaall night, just for us. Now, I have milked her three times(before this morning) total.

Once on the milking stand, she is a wild bucking bronco. Seriously, it is like she has a tick in her ear or something, she goes crazy. We learned that if one of my sons pinched the tendons on her rear legs, it would render her immobilized. It is rather uncomfortable, though, for a boy to sit for 10 minutes in an awkward position grasping an ornery goats tendons. Not to mention with both hands busy, I can squirt him with milk.

Being the kind and determined mother I am(o.k., stubborn and as bullheaded as the goat), I went out to the barn BENT on milking That Goat myself.

She heard the grain poured into the stanchion and gaily jumped right up there into position. Good goatie <pat, pat>. I locked her head in, sat down and she kicked at me. Then I placed the milk pail down and out came the bucking bronco. Both back hooves kicking two feet in the air and her front feet trying to take swings at me in between. I slapped her once on the hind end, hoping to knock some sense into her, to no avail.

Finally, I hollered at Emma to find me some bailing twine, which she found quickly. Amused, wide-eyed and smiling, this little girl is no sissy. She helped me tie twine from the four legs of the stanchion to the four feet of the goat. Oh Jackie was maaaaaaad alright. Testing her, I poked her side...all four feet came off the ground as she jumped straight in the air, but no kicking. I poked her again(how can one resist?), she jumped again, but her feet couldn't' come with range of the milking pail.

I plopped down next to her snickering, put the pail down and triumphantly milked her out, every drop, just to be ornery myself. She jumped and snorted and did everything her 110lb body could try to hurt me or kick the pail and in the end I won. I WON. We did the happy dance aaaall the way into the house to process her thick yummy milk.

I am going to pull her kid every night now and milk her every morning until she succumbs to the milking. Besides feeling a little out of breath yet and having a few contractions ;) I am on TOP of the world. I conquered a newly freshened first timer milk’n goat.

Please, water your children regularly.

 

“Jessica? You have to stay on top of filling that guinea pig water bottle.”

“Yes Mom, I am filling it every other day, he drinks SOooo much for a little pig!”

“Yeah, It looks like it, but you are going to have to check it every day so he is never low.”

*disclaimer – Elijah, at any point, can walk up to any one of 7 people in the home and sign “Water, please” and we get him a drink, this is just something fun for him as he hung the bottle up perfectly when he was done.

Happy Birthday Little Man

My little man. He loves imitating bugs by making finger antennas and squishing up his nose like he is going to come and eat us. We run from this *bug* and soon everyone in the house is playing. It suits his birthday well that he have a bug cake. An Inchworm to be exact. It was a real hoot and by the end of the night there was one half of its front lip left for Daddy’s lunch tomorrow.

My St Patties Day baby delivered by an Irish midwife, it only stood to reason that his cake needed to be green, too.

 

 

I don't know who had more fun Elijah or the siblings watching.    

He still does not say a word other than “Mamma” and “wow”. He can sign sentences though, and communicates his wishes very well. He is such a blessing to have and is so easy going, you can never get upset with him. He is still a quiet, thinking type of boy and never makes the same mistake twice.

When Daddy gets home from work, he runs up to him and pushes on his leg. Daddy falls to the ground groaning. He then pushes him flat on his back, straddles his stomach and begins to pound him like a pancake…almost every night.

As much as I’d like to stop time, I can’t. I do not like seeing my toddlers have birthdays. This next year he is going to change so much, but at least I will be there(Lord willing) for every step of the way and enjoy every minute of him. Happy birthday Yija-buns. 

3:54PM

Not that I deserve a break, I don’t. But I am taking one right now. I’ll save you my complaints of aches and pain because you probably have them too, but I am using that(as well as the house is quiet because of naptime) as an excuse to sit, drink coffee, and blog. Usually I sit, late at night and add to several posts I have cook’n until I have enough to publish. Well, this is on the fly.

The Day’s Cons: I’m pooped and have aches and pains(I know, I know). My compression hose waist band is strangulating my tummy and I feel stuck between a rock and hard place because I can’t go without them. Very uncomfortable. The goats have gotten out umpteen times today, I am thinking goat burgers sound good. Micah spilled >3000 air soft bb’s across my kitchen floor, then, when I went to dump Elijah's birthday cake out of it’s pan, it came out in about 6 pieces. And the worst of all, my baby turned two today. I miss my chubby little cling 'on child who is now becoming quite independent of Mommy(this IS a good thing, I know).

The Day’s Pros: I have a 2lb block of Farmhouse Cheddar sitting on the counter, salted. It will be waxed tonight and placed in storage to age 4-8weeks.

My first hard, pressed cheese made from Junie and Chloe’s milk. Jessica’s first 2lb pressed loaf of Queso Fresco is in the press and comes out at 6pm today, it does not age so we eat it together tonight for Eiljah’s birthday. I made a second birthday cake, larded and sprayed the tar out of the pan and it turned out. I hear our first three little turk-turks fumbling around in the hatcher.

  

Cheese making Rule #1 – Attention class. Your calibrated, sanitized thermometer is your BEST friend. Don’t leave the kitchen without one.

 

After the Queso Fresco is put in the press, we now process the leftover whey at a higher temp to force out our second batch of cheese, the ricotta! Jess could live off salted ricotta alone, I have to put a padlock on it in the fridge, but don’t tell her I said that.

      

Tada! It reeeeally needs some dressing up. It was pretty much a good base cheese…any ideas….Kristy J, you mastered this one? It needs something… garlic..peppers…??? I am SO not creative when it comes to this.