What The Heck?

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Believe it or not, we are not fancy people... we never were.

 

I Practice What I Preach

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Many of the things we do... I mean the non-traditional things are food or beverage related... we do these things because it saves us money and it's better for us.  We like knowing what goes into our bodies.

Years ago, there was a television campaign that promoted more natural food product.  The point they tried to make was that if you can't pronounce all of the ingredients, maybe you shouldn't eat it.

Our point is - look at your food, read the labels and find out if your eating as healthy as you could be.  If you don't like what you see, once-a-week, start making meals from scratch.  Short on time? Watch for Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network.

Kitchen Tips

Carol is the person in our family that has been able to exercise the most creativity, when it comes to doing things the 'old fashion way'.  We're talking about canning, pickling, cheese making, baking breads and making dozens of great tasting meals from scratch.  It's extremely rare to see fried foods in our house... there are alternatives to frying.  There's a reason why we have most of the family holiday meals at our house... it's the food.  And yes, she loves to be in her kitchen. 

We don't cook on a wood stove mind you, but appliances that produce lots of heat is very important.  Carol has a dual-fuel Frigidaire Pro Series stove and a Jenn-air gas grill/cook top.  We had electric for years, but found that quality gas appliances will save you hours.  And by having the two cook tops, Carol can keep the preserving process going, even while cooking dinner.

Please don't think we are wealthy.  Yes, we have brand name appliances, but we found them after looking for the best deals possible.  The Pro Series cook-unit we found on eBay... we saved nearly $800 on that deal and the Jenn-air cook top retailed for nearly $1100. We found it at Home Depot for under $240, on clearance.  There are deals out there... be diligent in your pursuit to find them.

Pre-prep Your Base Food

Batch cook/fry your meat.  I did this more when I was working full time and needed to get meals of the table quickly.  I fried up several pounds of ground beef with base seasonings.. added green peppers, onions and tomatoes.  I, then, measured out 1 pound of the meat mixture into a freezer bag and froze it.  This is the base I use for several dishes; from tacos to goulash to spaghetti.  I could get a meal on the table in about 20 minutes.  Today, I no longer do this as I no longer work full time outside our home.  Another benefit to batch cooking... only one set of dirty pots/pans!

Easy Soup

Everyone should know how to make this soup and it's so simple.  Here's what I do:  I save the leftover cooked veggies (corn, peas, carrots, green beans, etc...) with the liquid from each meal, by putting them into a freezer bag.  I use a large zip-lock bag and just keep filling it up.  Once the bag is full, it's time to make soup. 

In a crockpot, throw in a couple of cups leftover meat (chicken, turkey, beef) and some stock/broth along with diced onion and celery, turn the pot on low and let it simmer away.  Now would be the time to add other ingredients your family loves (beans, potatoes, carrots)... anything that needs to be cooked.   I have found that diced potatoes are best if used fresh, not frozen.

An hour or so before mealtime, open the frozen leftover veggie's bag and dump it in. There is no need to thaw.  The liquid you froze with the veggies is chucked full of vitamins and very flavorful.  Normally, one would have thrown this away.  When hot, season to taste and enjoy!

Applesauce

Did you know that you can use applesauce in place of fat, lard and oil in many baked items. I've read it's recommended you use unsweetened, but I've used both sweetened and unsweetened... the results have been the same.  I suppose, the unsweetened would make it healthier.

Using applesauce makes for a moist and healthier bread.  I've only tried it in quick breads and bars.  I'm not sure how it would work in cookies.

Use Real Food

By this I mean, use natural food, such as butter.  Eat fresh foods and stay away from processed foods.

Butchering Animals

Recycle, Reduce, And Reuse

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Compost

We compost most of our waste from the kitchen.  Our kitchen waste ends up either in the compost pile or in the stomachs of chickens, goats, rabbits or pigs. We try not to waste anything.

Manure

Our rabbits produce a very rich fertilizer for my gardens and a lot of it.  We also use llama manure.  Did you know that rabbit and llama waste are 2 manure products that can be placed directly into your garden?  There is no need to compost them first.

We also have goat, poultry and pig manure.  I leave these sit in the compost pile for at least a season before putting on the garden.  It needs to breakdown so it doesn't burn your plants.

Recycle/Reuse

We recycle everything we can in our area.  Plus, we also reuse old wood to build pens, cages, etc. 

When dropping off  recyclables at the local center, we look for used glass wine bottles and gallon jugs for our winemaking.  I've even found canning jars.

Reduce

We try very hard at Coyote Ridge Farms to conserve resources to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, by reducing the waste we create. 

Instead of using a conventional sprinkler to water your garden, do what we do.  We switched to soaker hoses. They not only reduce the amount of water we use (which saves $$$) but they also reduce our need to pull weeds... if you don't water the weeds, they won't grow as fast.

Coyote Ridge Vineyards

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In the spring of 2007, we planted nearly 1200 grape vines on 2 acres, just south of the house.  Last fall we ordered 551 vines of LeCresent plants, 551 of Breanna, 51 Marquettes and 5 vines of the King of the North variety.

Due to the drought, we lost approx. 100 vines.  But from what we understand, we did a great job.  We went nearly 6 weeks without rain... without the time we spent watering the vines (3 days/week), we would have lost hundreds more.

You can learn more about grapes, our vineyard, and wine making at CoyoteRidgeVineyards.com.