Chicama Run Family Farm

So, last week I get an email from a publishing person from the Weston A Price organization.  I'm a big fan and believer in a lot of what they promote so it's always exciting when I hear from someone asking me if I want to be a part of their publication.

However, here is my issue.  I was asked if I shipped my products so that I could then be included in the 2012 Shopping Guide.

Ok - don't they promote buying and eating local?  Why would I ship meat?  I know people do it - but still.

Maybe I a little of an idealist in this respect.  I get calls on occasion asking if I ship - and I always refuse.  This is not the direction small farmers are trying to go (at least from what I read and from what I understand).

I still will support the foundation - but it does make me think a little.

It was a sad but needed moment this morning before 8am - we loaded one of our dairy cows for the auction.  6 years, this is the first animal to go to auction vs the butcher.

As much as we love our cows, this is something that needed to be done.  First, she did produce a wonderful little bull calf (who will soon be veal) - but she never produced enough milk and was actually a pain to use the milking machine with!  She would make a great hand-milking cow, but then one day she decided she just wasn't going to give any more milk.

It's sad when they walk right up onto the trailer without a problem and just look at you.  It's a hard thing - but to be honest, I think my kids are thrilled (they couldn't stand her), and I'm not THAT heart-broken.

The funds will be used to find another dairy cow or to pay a feed bill along the way.

So goodbye 'Tilda!!

I was just going to post pictures of lunches up on Facebook - however, it occurred to me this morning the different size lunches I make for each kid and people might not always relate - especially with seeing the bento boxes vs the ziploc divided containers.

First up is Alexis's lunch.  This is a standard 2-tiered bento box. Bottom level are grapes, chocolate wafers, celery w/peanut butter & her daily vitamin gummies.  The top level is Jambalaya I made this morning with smoked beef sausage.  It's from a box which is fine - and it works.

Back to planning meals and I'll share whats going on this week!

Dinners for the week are:
Sunday - Lasagna & Salad
Monday - Stuffed Chicken
Tuesday - Tailgate Wraps (Spicy Chicken wraps) - we have a football game to attend
Wednesday - Vegetable Casserole
Thursday - Turkey Burgers
Friday - Chicken Salad Pitas
Saturday - Joe's Choice

Every night would have a side salad and/or fruit :)

The new thing I just finished is planning my bento box lunches for the kids for the week. Since Monday is a holiday, I'm not planning anything for then - plus I expect we will have some of the lasagna leftover so they can eat that.  If they were going to school, I would have included the lasagna in their boxes!

Tuesday - Meatballs, rice w/season-salt, zucchini fritters (Joe's request for me to try to make), grapes, & a dessert jelly (like jello - but really small package)

Wednesday - Cold Soba noodles (these are japanese buckwheat noodles) w/dipping sauce, crab meat & cabbage salad, cherry tomatoes, kiwi, hard boiled egg

Thursday - Chicken Wrap, apple wedges (I might get creative and try to make apple "bunnies"), broccoli & salad -- on this one, I might add the salad to the wrap and instead add carrots on the side

Friday - Chicken Kijiyaki (from the Just Bento book), Rice, pickled cucumbers & cabbage (this is just shredded cabbage and sliced cucumbers massaged with salt the DAY OF the lunch!), sliced peaches

Everyone is getting each of these lunches this week. To save on time, Monday I am cooking some of the chicken thighs I have (Thursday lunch & Friday dinner), cooking the soba noodles, and baking meatballs.  Monday night I will also put a pot of rice on to be ready in the morning - I'll make extra to freeze or even make some fun shapes with the rice!  I also make vegetable sushi rolls for myself, nothing fancy - usually just some sliced vegetables in the rice.

I can't wait for some of my "fun stuff" to show up from http://www.allthingsforsale.com!  I have cute food picks coming in, some bite size rice molds, and things to make lunch more interesting.

My daughter told me today that her friends are now always checking to see what she has for lunch every day - they all wish that their parents took the time to make them lunch.  These are teenagers WANTING their parents ;)

Anyone have any other lunch ideas to share?

A lot of people have been asking me what I am serving the kids for lunch - especially with 5 kids I am packing for - then I have added Joe into the mix (mainly because he didn't think I could pack a full lunch in one of those boxes)

Today:

2 kids got: leftover chicken thighs (cut off the bone), rice crackers, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, jelly dessert

2 kids got: ham/cheese roll up, rice crackers, jelly dessert - then 1 got lettuce, cucumbers, carrots (the other one is taking medicine which affects the appetite so doesn't get a full box)

1 kid got: peanut better & honey, salad with cucumbers & carrots, rice crackers & the jelly dessert

Joe got - chicken thigh, salad, goldfish, pineapple

Next week I am hoping to get a little more creative.  I plan on making stuff this weekend which I can add in - such as meatballs, soba noodles (these are like ramen noodles but better - they are 100% buckwheat), and whatever else I can come up with depending on what is at the market this week.  I saw some super easy recipes to add in (such as pickled cucumbers & cabbage - where you just and salt and massage it, let it sit, drain it out and that's it!)

It takes me an hour to get all the lunches done - once I have a plan.  Just Bento has a bento box planner I plan on using this week.  It's a free download (http://justbento.com/weekly-meal-planner-with-bento-lunch) and I think it will work for me.  I have been doing well with my weekly meal planner for dinners and this will help me for lunches.

For things like salad - I grabbed those big boxes from Costco of the spring mix and 1 of baby spinach.  That way I see it and I have no excuse not to give them each some salad.  If you "mush" the salad in the box - it does spring back up by lunch time!

I also plan on making some wraps ahead of time.  Yes, I want to sleep an extra 15 minutes!!

Yesterday I spent at least an hour wandering around the Global Food Market in Ashburn.  I got lost, couldn't find things - yet had a lot of fun!  I did eventually find the things I was looking for (all except 1).  I checked everything though because a lot of items have MSG added - and I was working on avoiding that if I could.  I was able to find the rice seasonings I wanted (MSG free), a soup base for a dipping sauce, even some things I didn't plan - such as these meat filled dough creations where you steam them... they sounded good!

The hardest thing right now is making sure I take care of everyone - everyone is different.  I have a couple of kids who aren't eating a ton right now, 1 that is STARVING, 1 who would probably rather eat the school lunches, and 1 who is just excited to have the cute box :)  Funny thing is that I pack them all up nice and neat, then they all come out and start going through them to see what they got!

I'll continue this some and hopefully will take some pictures if I remember to bring my phone/camera out that early in the morning.

So with school starting - I packed all my kids great lunches thinking they would be STARVING by the time lunch rolled around.  Every single one of them came home with stuff they didn't eat.

Now, I'm back to bentos.  What are bentos?  Japanese lunch boxes!  They actually are very special in Japan - if you like someone a great way to show it is to pack him a special bento box :)  Cute huh?

I was asked today for some ideas for lunches and I will keep you posted and maybe post pictures - because most people do seem to want to know this type of thing.  Understand though - you will see store bought food in some of them!  However, what I buy is still usually better than the "chicken nuggets" they serve in schools.

With a bento, the idea is to make it appealing - not only food wise but visually!  For kids to open it and see what fun stuff they get today is a big treat.  Yes, even my tween to teens get a kick out of some of the stuff I have come up with.

I shop for boxes on eBay - but a Ziploc box (or even a left over lunch meat box!) would work just as well.  I also shop for the little accessories on eBay - honestly because they have some cute stuff.  Also though - I have 2 teen boys who still need to be cool.  So I was able to find bento boxes with a skull on them (that's cool right?) which should keep them happy.

Here are some sites though that I look at:

http://lunchinabox.net/
http://justbento.com/ (I have the book coming in and I'll let you know what I think!)
http://bentolunch.livejournal.com/
http://www.laptoplunches.com/bento-menus/

Now a trick I did learn was to not tell them WHAT some of the stuff was!  (The black stuff you see on a lot of the cutesy things - well that's seaweed)

I plan on heading out to the Global Food Market in Ashburn this week to see what goodies I can find to stuff in their boxes :)

I think this question is asked of me a lot.  HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Answer... I don't always do it and believe me, I screw up a lot!

However, if I can remain consistent in planning my meals for the week, my week goes so much more smoothly.  It doesn't eliminate the "What's for dinner??" question that everyone seems the need to ask multiple times throughout the day... but it helps me figure out where we are.

This year is a little different.  2 kids are playing sports.... this means I don't pick them up until 6.  Then there are meets and games after school - some which we need to attend! Some days we are butchering chickens and I really won't want to "do dinner" after that... you get the idea, dinner is hectic.

I use (and pay for) meal planning services.  My newest favorite is The Fresh 20 which gives you a week of menus that have 20 ingredients.  I'm hopeful this will help my budget out!!  Granted, I have the ability to grab meat from the freezer - but I have had situations where this is not possible.

Then I don't always like the menus for the week or with games and practices, I need something already in the crock pot.  One of my favorite right now is the one from Allrecipes.com - Slow Cooker (100 Best Recipes from Allrecipes.com) This one is an eBook so it's on all my electronics (including my phone).

Lastly - I love freezer meals.  I use Once a Month Mom which is FREE!  They are great recipes and perfect for those days you really don't want to cook.  They have a "Whole Foods" version which is really good as well.  I like these because you can also use these meals to pass on when a friend (or stranger) is in need.

Next I print out what I am cooking for the week.  I am using a basic template from Microsoft Office this year.  Last year - I just printed a list I made up in Word.  After I finish, the list gets posted to the fridge.

This week's menu:

Sunday - Chili with corn bread (one of those recipes in my head for years)
Monday - Carnitas with rice & side salad (from the slow cooker cook book)
Tuesday - Parmesan crusted chicken, new potato salad & apple wedges (the fresh 20)
Wednesday - Balsamic glazed cod, broccoli gratin, steamed potatoes (the fresh 20)
Thursday - Italian Beef Sandwiches, mac & cheese, mixed greens salad (slow cooker)
Friday - Tailgating dinner (I found some wrap recipes on The Food Network that I might try)
Saturday - Joe's Choice (usually something on the grill)

See how knowing what is for dinner takes a huge weight off your shoulders?  It's amazing how that works!  From what I have heard, The Fresh 20 is also going to be doing a LUNCH menu debuting the 5th of September and I can't wait for it because it will be nice to know what's going in the kids lunches every day - especially since school lunches are now $3.10/day and with 5 kids... yeah you get the idea.... and I have yet to meet a teenager that told me they were satisfied after eating one of those lunches!

Hope this helps 1 of you :)