You're Never Too Old To Learn

 
Earlier this week John and I attended the Midwest Dairy Expo in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The expo is a great atmosphere for farmers to learn of the latest in their industry. Each of the three days there were exhibits to explore; to drool over the newest dairy equipment, to sit in a shiny, new combine, or to discuss finance and marketing strategies with the experts. 

There were also many seminar topics to choose from; managing employees, feeding strategies, cow management, and telling the dairy story through social media. Social media? Like blogging and Facebook and Twitter? That's right!  I was a panelist for the social media session on how we as farmers can share our farming story. I was joined by Seena, another Minnesota dairy mom, and Sami from Midwest Dairy who served as the moderator. We shared what we have done to tell our story; to educate and inform with a little entertainment along the way. Hopefully we inspired our audience to someday share their experiences of "life on the farm."

Seena, Sami and I after our Social Media presentation

And we can't go to a farm event without visiting with other farm folks who took some time away from the farm to make farming even better!

Ashley and Nikki are on Facebook (2farmgirlz)

The Skinny On Skim

While sitting around the Thanksgiving Table with my extremely supportive family, my blog came up in the conversation. Family members were giving me suggestions for topics that they would like discussed.  Some of the family wanted questions answered, while others wanted me to inform consumers about different topics. So Katie, this post is thanks to your suggestion.

How do we get skim milk?

Let's start from the beginning. The milk that comes directly from the cow is called whole milk.  Whole milk contains 3.5% fat by weight.

2% or 1% milk, which is also called reduced-fat or low-fat milk, has its fat and therefore its calories reduced. This milk has either 1% or 2% fat by weight, which is how it gets its name. Clever, huh?

Fat-free or skim milk has no more than 0.2% milk fat. This is the lowest in calories.

But how does the fat percentage get reduced? Milk goes through a centrifugal cream separator which separates the cream from the milk, therefore reducing the amount of fat in your milk. This is done at the milk plant where our milk is delivered fresh for packaging, so that it can be in your grocery store within two days of leaving our farm.

Here's more good news...All milk, no matter what the fat content, has the same nutrients as whole milk.  So you get to choose what fits your dietary needs AND your taste buds! Cheers!

Giving Thanks

  

I am thankful for my family; for my husband that loves my quirks, and my children that accept that I may embarrass  them once in a while. I am thankful for my friends, who put up with my crabby days as well as my silly days. I am thankful for my comfortable home, messy bathrooms and all. I am thankful for our farm and our animals, even when machinery needs repairing and a cow needs help giving birth in the middle of the night. Thank you God for my many Barnyard Blessings.

 

What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

This Thanksgiving wooden plaque, which I love, is available at etsy.com 

(Patti's Primitives Tomorrow's Treasures)

Wishing all of you a peaceful, blessed Thanksgiving.

No "Pie Gene" From Me

My family takes turns hosting the holidays, and it's my sister that gets the honor this year. Since my sister is the hostess, she assigns what each of us brings to the table. This year I bring hot vegetables and a pie. If you read Santa Lives In Our Neighborhood (posted August 9, 2012) you know we have the vegetable taken care of, now on to the pie. I have accumulated a pretty vast collection of cookbooks and I chose a recipe from The Hershey's Homemade cookbook. Since my family did not aquire the "I like pie gene" from me, most pies were out of the question, but anything chocolate is a hit with my gang.

Chocolate Marble Cheesepie

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk), divided
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 4 packages (3 oz. each) cream cheese, softened, divided
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
•   CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST (recipe follows)
•   Chocolate curls (optional)

1. Stir together cocoa and 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk in small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and very thick. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
2. Beat 2 packages cream cheese in small bowl until fluffy; add cocoa mixture, beating until well blended. Cool thoroughly.
   
3. Beat remaining 2 packages cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in remaining sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla. Alternately spoon vanilla and chocolate mixtures into prepared pie crust; gently swirl with knife or spatula for marbled effect. Refrigerate 8 hours or until firm. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired. 6 to 8 servings.
   
   CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST: Stir together 1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter or margarine. Press mixture firmly on bottom and up sides of 9-inch pie plate; refrigerate about 2 hours before filling.

The Party's Over

Thanksgiving will soon be over for another year. Then it's time to relax, put your feet up and reminisce about the day. You've earned it! But wait, your out-of-town family is staying with you, and you still feel like you must be in hostess mode. Thinking ahead, here is a simple make-ahead breakfast or brunch recipe for Black Friday morning (before or after shopping.)  

Breakfast Casserole Bites

Ingredients

2 pieces whole wheat bread
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste
4 ounces grated cheese, I like sharp cheddar
1/2 lb cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage or bacon

Directions 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Distribute 12 foil muffin cups into a muffin pan. Cut the bread into half inch squares and evenly distribute them on the bottom of the muffin cups. In a mixing bowl or large measuring cup with a pour spout, thoroughly whisk together the eggs and milk. Add salt and pepper. Evenly distribute the mixture into each muffin cup. Bread may float to top.
Sprinkle an equal amount of both the grated cheese and the crumbled bacon or sausage into each cup on top of the egg mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until eggs are set. Enjoy now or freeze for later.

Make a big batch and freeze. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Heat in microwave (after removing foil muffin cups) or reheat in toaster oven.

Thanks to Pinterest and 100daysofrealfood.com for this recipe.

MyBarnyardView is on Pinterest. I'd love to have you as a follower!

And The Winner Is...

I just got in from milking cows, and as promised, here are the answers to the Dairy Trivia Game I posted yesterday.

• How many servings of dairy are recommended each day ? Adults and children nine years and older are encouraged to have three servings of milk and milk products each day.
• What percentage of dairy farms in the United States are family owned? 99 percent of U.S. farms are family owned.
• Which dairy product is proven to refuel tired muscles after physical activity? Chocolate milk contains an optimal ratio of carbohydrate to protein. It is almost twice as effective as commercial sports drinks.
• How much milk does an average dairy cow produce per day? The average dairy cow produces anywhere from six to eight gallons of milk each day. That's 2,000 gallons of milk every year!
• How far away does a cow's sense of smell reach? Cows can smell something up to six miles away.
• What is the approximate cost of milk per glass? Milk is a nutritional bargain costing about 25 cents per glass.
• How many hours a day do most cows chew their cud? Most cows chew at least 50 times per minute, and spend 10 hours a day chewing their cud in order to aid in digestion.
• How many spots are identical on the average dairy cow? Every cow spot is like a snowflake; no two are the same.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little Dairy Trivia. 

The girls and I say thanks for playing!

Food For Thought

Thanksgiving celebrations center around food and family. But when all that's left of our family Thanksgiving feast is empty bowls, turkey bones, and full tummys, then what? At our family holiday festivities we go nuts over board games. Some of us play like we are the big cheese, or cool as a cucumber, while others find themselves in a pickle, but either way there's no sour grapes. It's always fun to end up being the top banana, but if not, oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. No use crying over spilt milk!

Here's some food for thought. Why not try this Dairy Trivia game on your family?

How many servings of dairy are recommended each day?
What percentage of dairy farms in the United States are family owned?
Which dairy product is proven to refuel tired muscles after physical activity?
How much milk does an average dairy cow produce per day?
How far away does a cow's sense of smell reach?
What is the approximate cost of milk per glass?
How many hours a day do most cows chew their cud? 
How many spots are identical on the average cow?

I'll post the Dairy Trivia answers on tomorrow's post. Let the games begin! 

To learn every thing from soup to nuts about dairy go to Midwest Dairy You may just find some answers to the Dairy Trivia!