Roast Leg of Lamb

A week or so ago, I was tired of thinking about what to make for suppers, so I told Nathan it was his turn and he needed to pick something to fix for supper one night and make a meal for us all. After thinking about if for a while and going through some of my cookbooks, he decided to go with a recipe from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook. Because lamb is a new product that the farm has started to carry, he (and us) wanted to try some of it......so he went with a Roast Leg of Lamb

I know this picture is not going to do it justice or make it into any cookbook, but I needed to take it quickly before it got too cold and everyone started eating chunks out of it. I want to give you an idea of what it looked like though.

I thought he did a very good job! Maybe he ought to do this more often. The lamb had a pleasant (but not strong) flavor and was very tender. I was very pleased with the taste. Along with the leg of lamb, we also had grilled veggies, basil pesto pasta, and garlic bread. The pesto was from a pasta sauce mix from Simply Organics that wasn't too bad.

I will have to say it was very nice to just show up at the dinner table when the meal was ready and to walk away when I was done eating.

This recipe is simple as he just put on a paste then baked the leg of lamb in the oven. Hopefully you'll find this recipe helpful and want to make some for your family as well....maybe you can even get one of your kids to do it for you like I did, which would make it all the more enjoyable. : ) Enjoy!

Roast Leg of Lamb

The paste would also be good on grilled rib, loin or sirloin chops

5-6 lb leg of lamb (we used 2 of our half legs)

Rosemary, Thyme and Mustard Paste (recipe follows)

Paste:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. course salt

2 tsp. black pepper

1 T. rosemary, chopped

2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried mustard

6 T olive oil

Rub paste all over leg; rest leg at room temperature for 1-2 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 500*F

Place leg in roasting pan, set in oven, and immediately lower the heat to 250*F; continue roasting until thermometer reads 120*F for rare, 130*F for medium or 140*F for well-done. Cooking times will vary based on the size of the leg and the desired doneness, but allow at least 2 1/2 hours (at 250*F) for a medium-rare 5 1/2 pound leg.

Remove the lamb from oven, cover loosely with foil and rest for a minimum of 15 minutes before serving. The lamb will continue to cook during this time and the tempature will go up another 5-10*F

Louise

Egg-citing News!

If you are into eating pastured or grass-fed farm products at all, you probably already know of the health benefits of consuming food grown this way so this might not be real big news for you. I thought I would share it anyway though, as it only helps us to keep our commitment strong to eating this way when it's tempting (especially now given the down turn in the economy) to give up those healthier higher priced foods for cheaper foods in hopes of saving us some money. I personally like the nutrient comparison chart--it's a good visual.

I think you will agree this is Egg-citing news!

*** ***Taken in part from the current issue of Mother Earth News (Feb/March 2009) and their website******

Eggs from hens raised on pasture are far more nutritious than eggs from confined hens in factory farms.

The results from Mother Earth News’ latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests are beginning to come in. So far, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry’s butt — yippee, go free range!

We’ve invested a lot of time and energy over the last few years in researching the differences between the meat and eggs coming out of the commercial industry and those produced by conscientious farmers who let their animals graze on fresh pastures. In the past, we’ve found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol

• 1⁄4 less saturated fat

• 2⁄3 more vitamin A

• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids

• 3 times more vitamin E

• 7 times more beta carotene

If you'd like to see a cool nutrient compassion chart of free range vs. standard factory eggs go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedFiles/EggGraphic.pdf

Now we’re looking at vitamin D, which many of us do not get enough of because we don’t spend any time outdoors, and even when we do we use sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production. (More about that here.) Eggs are one of the few food sources of naturally occurring vitamin D, and we wondered if true free-range eggs might be higher in this important vitamin, too.

Our latest tests show that pastured eggs have anywhere between 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs.

So …

(1) Get out there and eat some fresh, free-range/pastured, farm eggs!

(2) Check out our ongoing pastured egg research here.

Want to read the link for the Oct/Nov 2007 , Meet the Real Free-Range Eggs article, go to:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

Another cold one!

Well it was another cold night last night....hopefully our last for a long while!!

As you can see by the picture below that Chad took at 6:00 AM this morning, it was about -6* outside. This thermometer is connected to the house under the patio so it was more than likely colder out in the fields.

I, along with you I'm sure (and the animals too), will be glad when it warms up a bit. This has been a very cold and snowy winter. Last winter it was warm which made it hard to do things around here in other ways as it was never quite cold enough long enough to freeze anything so we always seemed to be in working in mud...now this year we are in cold, ice and snow. Whatever happened to global warming--I like it better warm!! I'm not sure which is easier though (warm or cold) as the snow is making it hard to get things done around here too...just walking is a chore.

We have found it a major task to bring firewood out of the woods to sell as the 4-wheeler can just barely get itself going let alone a wagon full of wood.

It looks like we are in for a big thaw this weekend (YEAH) and temps are looking good for the beginning of maple syrup season, BUT I think we will have to sit this one out as even if we did tap trees and the sap flowed, we won't be able to get in or out of the woods to collect it until some of this snow melts. We had a big snow storm last year right before a major flow and it was horrible working in that. So I guess we will have to just watch the snow melt this time and catch the warmer temps next time around. Maple syrup season can be a short season (it depends on the weather) so we will be watching that closely.

Louise

Looking Out For Us?

And the government wants us to believe that they have our bests interest at heart and are looking out for us? Who are they really serving?

A few short articles for our 'In The Know' category.

****Both are from: Acres, December 2008****

USDA Subsidizing GMO Crops
The USDA is offering corn farmers a $3 per acre discount on crop insurance rates for fields planted to a genetically engineered corn in the 2009 season. To qualify, a farmer must plant at least 75% of his crop from a qualified variety of GM corn from Monsanto, Pioneer, Sygenta or Dow AgroSciences.

Testing Pesticides on Children
The EPA has "temporarily" shelved two experimental studies that would have exposed infants and school children to potentially hazardous levels of pesticides and other chemicals. One would have involved infants under the age of 3 in the Las Vegas area, and the other would have assessed "exposure for school-aged children." In 2005 the agency had canceled a program that would have paid Florida parents to spray pesticides in the rooms of their infant children, but in 2007 the EPA formally legalized experimentation on human subjects. Jeff Ruch of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility noted that these corporate-sponsored experiments "are usually designed to justify higher human exposure to pesticides.....while serving no discernible public health purposes."

Brrrrr!

OH BABY-- it's cold out!!

The thermometer on the house under the patio read -8* last night when I went to bed at 1am (I was going to take a picture of if but the batteries in the camera were dead). John said when he got up this morning it read -11*. I'm sure it was much colder away from the house. At noon today with the sun shinning, it still was only 2*.

Because money is tight, we are trying to not turn on the electric heat that we have in the house and keep the woodburner good and stoked at all times. Anything that generates heat by using electric uses more energy than most other things. I was quite surprised as to how warm the house stayed with it being this cold. We usually have the electric going more when it's this cold to keep the chill off but the woodburner isn't going as good either as we have it going now. One good thing, firewood sales have picked up since the cold snap.

When it's this cold, it can be a challenage to keep everyone warm and happy here on the farm. The cattle tend to like it a bit colder than our comfort zone of 70-80* but I don't think they like it this cold. Thankfully the sun is shining today as the cattle can go out into the snow covered pasture to walk around and eat the hay the guys give to them. With the black 'fur' that they have, they warm up nicely. Giving them more hay is important as the energy produced by the digestion process will produce heat and helps to keep them from using their fat layer for energy. Keeping the water from freezing is another issue but there is plenty of snow out there and they do like munching on that.

The laying hens are up in the barn by Gandma's house for the winter and today the outside door will not be open to help keep the heat that is in there in. There is a greenhouse that is connected to the barn so the hens can get some sun even though they are inside today. Nathan set up a heat lamp for those who would like to sit and bake for a while to warm up. It is important to keep the layers warm as if all their energies go into keeping warm, then they are not putting that energy into laying eggs. Because it has been so cold, we have had to collect eggs 2-3 times a day. An egg in an unattended egg box (meaning no hen sitting on it laying their egg) can freeze quickly in these temps.

One of the outside cats did make his way into the garage last night while the door was open (this seems to be a great pastime of their's--bolting into the garage when no one is looking). I decided to let him stay as it would be warmer than the adopted treehouse that they now stay in.

All in all, everyone seemed to fair OK through the night. We have one more night of cold temps (not quite as cold but still below 0) and then we warm up.....to the 20's.

Stay warm!

Louise

Pastured Poultry

What sets our chicken apart from conventional chicken? The answer: grass. While this is not the only thing that sets our poultry products apart, it is by far the most significant. So what difference does this make? Everything. Raising chickens on pasture is the most significant way to increase the nutritional density and taste quality of a poultry product. Our meat chickens are moved, in a bottomless pen, to fresh grass daily from the time they are 3 weeks old until they go to market, so to speak. This simple act creates a world of difference in the end product, as well as the health of the growing bird.

Compared to a human's diet, grass performs the same function to a chicken as fruits and vegetables do for you and I. They keep us healthy and provide us with crucial vitamins and minerals. The benefits of sunshine and fresh air also work their miracles with our birds. Unfortunately, birds grown in confinement operations do not get these same luxuries. By putting the effort into providing fresh pasture to our birds, we are able to raise birds that are plump, clean, and healthy.

In the end, all of the extra work put into our products pays off for you, the consumer. How? Well, to start, our products are healthier. Our broilers contain fewer calories, less fat and saturated fat, higher levels of vitamins and minerals, and significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Plus, you don't have to worry about feeding your family anything you wouldn't eat yourself. This is all without mentioning the great taste. We have received compliments that our chicken is the best customers have ever had. These kinds of compliments are very greatly appreciated and make our hard work worth it.

Nathan

Grass-Finished Beef

I will take some time in my next several posts to explain a little bit about our farm products. The first of which I will talk about is our grass-finished beef. As I have mentioned before, our beef animals are fed a ration completely consisting of grass and hay (along with some salt and kelp for minerals). This is the food that cattle, which are herbivores, were created to consume. They have been given a unique digestive system that is capable of turning plant materials, such as grass, into meat and milk. It is amazing the balance our Creator has instilled in this system, because we as humans are incapable of surviving on these same plants.

Cattle were not in any way designed to consume grain products, which is today's standard commercial feed. Grain can actually upset a cows digestive system by making it too acidic, causing a condition called acidosis. This is a cow's version of an upset stomach. Sure, they like grain, but that doesn't mean it is the proper food for them to eat. This would be the same as you and I eating a constant diet of candy bars, ice cream, and potato chips. It would definitely taste good, but it wouldn't be healthy. We would also most likely gain a lot of weight from this diet. This is exactly what happens when cattle are fed grain- they get fat!

Aside from making the cattle healthier, grass-feeding makes a better product for us to consume. Grass-fed beef products are lower in fat and cholesterol, contain higher levels of important omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and CLA, and the meat has a significantly lower risk of carrying harmful strains of E. coli. Our beef also doesn't contain traces of antibiotics and hormones, commonly found in conventional beef. Once people try it, many think that grass-fed beef tastes better too!

What has been presented here is only portion of what could be said about the many, many benefits of grass-fed beef. It is easy to see that God has designed a perfect system for converting otherwise useless grasses into healthy meat for us to consume!

PS--if you notice in the picture above, you will see the Lorain County Fairgrounds in the background through the trees. This is how we arrived at the farm name with 'Fair View' and the name 'Meadow' coming from all the pasture we have....we are a grass-based farm.

Nathan