What I’m Eating 2/10/15
Garth made some bresaola, which he just cracked into. It is slightly on the salty side, so to cut the salt I made a chicken/potato salad and used the beef as a garnish. I rarely (almost never) eat chicken and beef in combo, but in this form it was quite nice. The aged meat added a complex,...
Homemade Bresaola
If you’ve got a jar of sauerkraut bubbling away on the kitchen counter or a crock of pickles tucked away in the basement corner, but you just don’t get the same thrill from them as you used to, you might be ready to start curing meat. Though I am grossed out by certain food combinations...
What do Pigs Eat in Winter?
The short answer is, "anything they can get", they're pigs after all. My pigs' two staples are "hay" and yogurt whey. The hay is wrapped in white plastic and ferments into so called "balage", which improves its digestibility. The whey is a byproduct of greek yogurt manufacturing. My farm is close to one of the...
A Reader Question
In my last post I asked for topics you would like to see addressed, and I’ll try to answer all of them (and any others you think of) in the coming month. Here’s one to start with. Question: What are some simple ways to save money and help the environment? The first thing that comes...
The Ethics of Eating Meat
Slaughtering sucks. I don't like killing animals, but I guess I like eating meat more than I dislike killing. Over the years I've grappled with whether I should eat meat at all, and for a while I was a vegetarian. These days I accept that my actions have ripple effects far and wide no matter...
At the Crock-Pot Crossroads
There are few thrills in this world that compare to cracking the lid of a slow cooker and smelling the savory aroma of beef shanks wafting out into the kitchen. Some people go in for skydiving or heli-skiing, but when I want to get my pulse racing I break out some knuckle bones and start...
What I’m Eating 1/31/15
Well, the real answer to the post title today, is "not a whole lot," though not for a lack of food. My boy brought a GI bug back from school, and kindly shared it with my whole family this week. I didn't feel particularly ill today, but my appetite is still largely MIA. I did...
A Lack of Surplus
For breakfast I ate (what else?) rutabagas with ground beef and sage. I find it interesting that I am still able to enjoy these simple ingredients so much even entering week five. True, I’ve turned on turnips, but they were on thin ice at the outset. Generally, I find each meal I eat immensely satisfying, and I...
Rough-Legged Hawks and the Blizzard that Wasn’t
Before Christmas - before I began this whole experiment - I went shopping prior to a snow storm. Less than a foot was called for, but the roads would be dicey for a few days, and so, while not packed, the supermarket was a bit more crowded than usual. The produce and meat cases were...
Rabbit
Don't worry, I'm not resorting to small game as a major source of sustenance. If I were, I'd be gearing up to quit in a few days when I hit my 15% weight-loss limit. The lack of variety in my diet is boring though. When I saw this rabbit sitting still on the frozen streambed, I thought,...