Animals, Around the Homestead

Early Spring Around the Farm…

Early spring storm…

As is the norm, this storm scooted around south of us.  We need the rain so bad.  Maybe next time.

This little guy thinks he is big stuff curling his lips at the girls.

He didn’t have a single taker though.

 

Polar bear, they don’t all have names….I promise.

See the lamb eating hay off Hank.  He is absolutely the best guard llama.  He is so gentle with the little ones.

Celia being sheared.

 

The girls were really well behaved this year.

Does it get any cuter than this?  She loves her pig.

I apparently got a little too close to pig.  She snatched pig up and bolted.

Hope spring is treating everyone well.

Animals, Around the Homestead

Around the Homestead…

The chickens have started laying well again giving us anywhere from a 12-16 eggs a day.

We picked up this fun little egg basket at TSC and really love using it to collect eggs.

Everyone’s favorite place to be when the weather is nice.

Notice the upside down rocking chairs…gotta love that prairie wind that sends everything that isn’t earth anchored down soaring.

Buddies

This is 1112…one of eleven bottle lambs we got from Dad last year.  Since this picture she has given birth to two little ram lambs who are just as cute as their mama.  She is so sweet and loves attention and hugs.  Not your typical Romanov is you are familiar with the Romanov breed.

Enjoy your day!

In The Kitchen

Strawberry Shake…no refined sugar

Here is a recipe for a strawberry shake with no processed sugar and no artificial sweeteners.  It was so good!  Even Randy requests these as an after dinner sweet snack.

Strawberry Shake…sugarless

This was actually really, really good and such a fun treat after three weeks without sugar.  No condiments, no crackers (except homemade which I will post the recipe for later), or anything else with sugar in it.

All I did was put:

1 cup of nut milk (preferably homemade)

4-5 frozen strawberries with their green tops

1-2 t raw honey, maple syrup, or stevia (optional)

Blend in Vitamix.

It was the consistency of a strawberry shake without all the added junk.  It was delicious.

Animals

Texel, Dorper, and Romanov Sheep For Sale…

We have just placed an ad in the High Plains Journal to run thru the last part of May into June.  We are selling some of our 3-4 year old Texel ewes for $225, a 2 year old Romanov ram for $300, and our 2 year old Dorper ewes for $225.  Our flock has just gotten too big with both of us working.

Romanov/Texel ewe lamb.

**Not all of the ewe lambs are black.  We only have two black ewe lambs for sale and one black ram lamb.

The ewes are all nice and healthy with good udders.  They have done well for us, and we hate the thought of shipping them off to the sale barn and would love to see them sell off our farm and go on to another farm.

Texel ewe with Texel Romanov ram lamb.

We have about 7 Dorpers to sell and possibly as many as 20 Texel ewes to sell.  We could fix you up with a nice starter flock if you want to include our Romanov ram.  We will also have Texel/Romanov ewe lambs and Texel ram lambs for sale for $175 up until we take them to the sale sometime in July and August.

Dorper ewes very pregnant and taking it easy.

Leave a comment or email me if you are interested.  Thank you so much and have a wonderful day!

Animals, Around the Homestead

2012 Lambing Season…

Our 2012 lambing season isn’t quite over, but we have put a big dent in it and have been so very please with the results.  I will let the pictures and a short description do the rest.

Texel Romanov Ram Lamb

Romanov Texel Ewe Lamb

Texel Twins

Texel Ewe with Romanov Texel Lamb

Texel Romanov Ewe Lamb

Romanov Dorper Lamb

 Randy and Big Texel Ram Lamb

And there you have a big chunk of our lambing season in pictures.  We loved crossing the Romanov Rams with our Texel and Dorper ewes and our Texel Rams with our Romanov ews.  We will have Texel Romanov crosses for sale the first part of July if anyone is interested in ewe lambs or a ram lamb.  We will also have older recorded Texel ewes for sale.

Hope everyone is enjoying an early spring!

In The Kitchen

Pumpkin pie with no sugar, grain, or eggs…and it is still edible

I am doing an elimination diet trying to reverse some food sensitivities I have been struggling with.  I have been scouring the web for recipes and tried this one from Spoonful Of Sugar Free the other day.  She has some really good sugarless recipes on her site.

Pumpkin Pie

~The pie is dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, peanut-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Pecan Crust:

  • 2 cups pecan meal (make your own by finely grinding pecans in a food processor)
  • 4 large dates
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • pinch salt

Blend dates in a strong blender or food processor until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine until well-mixed. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan and press the mixture evenly to the bottom and sides. Bake at 375* for 10-15 minutes or until browned.

Pumpkin Filling:

  • 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
  • 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 12 oz. can full fat coconut milk (too lessen the calories, substitute up to 3/4 of the coconut milk with almond milk)
  • Sweeteners*

Combine the pumpkin, eggs, milk, sweetener (if using) and spices and beat until combined and smooth. Pour mix into crust and bake, uncovered, at 400* for 10 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake at 350* for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Sweetener ideas: I blended four dates with the filling in my food processor.  She also recommends using 1/2 teaspoon powder or liquid stevia drops.

Serve with Cinnamon Whipped Cream as a truly decadent Thanksgiving dessert.

**Instead of eggs (because I can’t have eggs right now) I used chia seed gel.  I used 1/4 cup to replace the two eggs in this recipe.

I couldn’t eat it all at once and Randy had real pie to eat.  So I froze individual pieces of this pie to eat whenever I’m craving something almost like dessert.  Enjoy!

Animals, Around the Homestead

Another Rescue….

Gotcha!!  It isn’t us this time, but it does run in my family’s blood.  My brother just rescued a full blooded Dachshund, Brody, to add to his collection bringing his dog total to three.

This little guy was taken from his home when his owners decide they wanted to harm him and didn’t want to feed him or care for him properly anymore.

Can you imagine?

The little guy now has a safe place to lay his head, adequate food, buddies (2 Bassets), and people around him to give him the attention and love he deserves.  He has already had him neutered and vaccinated.  He was emaciated when he got him, but is starting to fill out from a good feeding schedule.

He is so sweet and always wants to be where you are…he follows you faithfully.  If you are bound and determined to get a full blooded breed look for a recue site for that specific breed.  Everytime you buy a dog from a breeder or a pet store…it is one less shelter dog who finds a home.  These dogs (or cats) deserve a safe home and someone to love them!

Have a great day!

Animals, Around the Homestead

Lenny…rescued a kitty lately?

Our cat population is now at eleven.  Mom had a cat dumped near her store.  She couldn’t find a home for him, so we volunteered.  He is the sweetest little guy and loves to be held unlike 9 out of the 10 we already have.  Just yesterday Lenny and I snuggled up on the hammock to catch some vitamin D.  He is so much fun!

Please spay and neuter your pets.  We domesticated them…that makes it our responsibility to take care of them properly.

Lenny is neutered and vaccinated for rabies to comply with our states requirements.  We also had him tested for feline leukemia…which he obviously tested negative for.

If you want to improve the quality of your life…rescue a pet or even a farm animal.  Animals bring joy to your life!

Have a wonderful day!

In The Kitchen

Coconut Oil Chocolate…

This is the easiest “chocolate” to make without sugar.

Coconut Oil Chocolate:

¾ c coconut oil

½ to ¾ cup cocoa powder depending on how dark and chocolaty you like it

1 T raw honey

1 t vanilla extract

**add shredded coconut (unsweetened) and nuts (optional)

Gently heat your coconut oil.  Coconut oil becomes a liquid at 76 degrees F, so this needs to be done at a very low setting on your stovetop.  In a blender add everything (except shredded coconut and nuts) together and blend.  Pour into a bread pan lined with wax paper and put in the freezer.  If using shredded coconut and nuts sprinkle in bottom of pan before pouring blender mix on top.  This will make a nice sized chocolate bar to snack on whenever you get a hankering for chocolate.

Just FYI…The Raw Food World has their coconut oil on sale right now if you are in the market for stocking up.  This where I have started buying mine.

 

Enjoy!