Homemade Breakfast Patties

This is something I have wanted to try for a long time.  But, to be honest I have spoiled my kids.  They love the shape and size of the tiny breakfast patties you can buy pre-made (and think about how much more pure and healthy these are, being homemade) and hate my hand shaped mini patties.  I guess there is something to say about uniformity. Anyway, I started to research and I found this.  Isn't it cute?  Oh, how much do I love Amazon??  A lot.  :-)

Unfortunately, for you, as of today this patty maker is out of stock.  But keep your eye on it and hopefully they will get more back in stock.  I only paid $7.99 for this one.  So, I would hold out for a bit and see if they get them in stock.  Otherwise, if you don't mind paying $12.95 you can get this one.  Which looks great too.

So, of course I bought my ground turkey from Becker Farms.  Remember this post about Kyle and Emily Becker.  (a.k.a. the best place to buy all of your meat! :-)  ).

I used one pound and made 9 patties.  I wish I would have made a couple of them thinner, so I probably could have had a total of 10-11 patties.

Homemade Breakfast Patties
1 pound local raised ground turkey, chicken, or hog
Redmond's Sea Salt or Celtic Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Cast iron skillet
Small patty press

I would put about 1 1/2 - 2 rounded teaspoons of ground turkey in each patty maker press.  You don't want the meat to the top of the press, but just below.  All I did was sprinkle the patties as they were cooking with salt and pepper (you can add a ton of different ingredients here, but I didn't want to lose my kids, so we went the simple route).  

You do not want to overcook them, so watch them carefully.  Remove from heat when you think they are done.  The patties will cook further when you take them out of the freezer and warm up for later breakfasts, keep in mind.  Of course, I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet, cause I think EVERYTHING tastes better cooked in cast iron.  I season my cast iron skillets with KerryGold butter.  It is the best way I have found to season a cast iron skillet.

Let me and my son tell you...they are DELICIOUS!!!  So, Kyle and Emily, I will be placing an order soon for more ground turkey and sausage!!

They are cooling right now, but after they cool I will place them in a glass Pyrex container and separate them with parchment paper for future breakfasts.  You can thaw them or simply place the frozen patties in your cast iron skillet, heat thoroughly and enjoy.

Enjoy!

And keep living GREEN,

Please Stop Buying Meat at the Grocery Store!

Let me introduce you to Kyle and Emily Becker.  Click here to see their awesome website.

Seriously consider buying your meat from Becker Farms and not at the grocery store any longer.  You have no idea how the animal was raised that you are buying and eating from the grocery store.  Get back to the basics and KNOW your farmer and KNOW how the animal is being raised and slaughtered.

We buy 95% of our meat from Kyle and Emily (I give 5% to the organic boneless breasts I occasionally buy at Costco and rare shopping trips by my hubby).

Today was "The first annual Becker Farms Open House."  We had a tour time of 2:30p.m. 

We arrived and were warmly greeted by the beautiful Emily Becker.  They had set up a tent with fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, cookies, milk, lemonade and water.  A special treat was we got to take the tour with our great friends Leslie and Rick.  (yay!  Love you both.)

Before we had started the tour someone had made a comment about a calf being born.  From where I stood I glanced out onto the field and could see about 6 inches of two calf legs protruding out of the back end of momma cow!  It was amazing!!  I immediately was transported back to my childhood.  We had a farm and raised cows and horses and it was AWESOME!!  I didn't realize how great of a life I had life at that young age, but trust me now I get it and I miss it.  A lot.

So, obviously everyone who was there for the tour was mesmerized and in awe at the awesome display of life that was right before our eyes.  It was AWESOME!!  We didn't get to see the actual birth but it was still something amazing to be there and I was thrilled that my kids got to witness this amazing gift of life and to feel the excitement of God's miracles.

Momma cleaning her new baby.

So, the tour started with the baby chicks.  Ahhhhh so cute.  Then we walked to the laying hen house.  Soooo cool!  And I made a friend in the chicken coup.  As I started to walk out of the coup, I realized that I couldn't move my.  I looked down and the shorts that I was wearing had two strings hanging down on the sides of the leg and one of the amazing little chick girls took a liking to my strings.  She scared me at first and then I thought it was funny as she continued to peck and bite at my strings.

Then we visited the ducks, turkeys and hogs.  And of course every chance we could we had to check out how momma cow and her new calf were doing.  It was so amazing to watch the newborn calf make attempt after attempt to get up on those 4 wobbly legs.  He was taking a nap from the exhaustion of trying to get up when we left, so I didn't get a picture of him walking.

Look close, the turkey's are running towards Kyle.  It was funny.

Piggy tail.

We got to meet Chuck.  Chuck is a chicken who thinks he is a duck.  He lives with the ducks, eats with the ducks and who knows, may walk like a duck.  Just kidding, he walked like a chicken.

Meet Chuck.

So, anyway you get a touch of Becker Farms.  It is real.  It is the way things should be.  Now to let you know why I am really writing this.

WE HAVE TO GET BACK to the basics, we have to have a relationship with our FARMERS!!!!!  We need to purchase directly from our farmers.

We have completely lost the relationship with our food.  We don't think about or for some of us, even care how our food gets to the grocery store.  Is the animal really free range?  Are the animals in a building with 3 million other animals of their type stacked on top of each other, living in their own poop?  Are they picked up for processing by a machine that looks like a combine sucking the chickens in for processing?  What did the cow eat that you are now eating?  What hormones, pain pills, antibiotics are in the meat you are chewing in your mouth right now?  Did the farmer even care about the animals or does he/she simply see dollar signs when he looks at his animals?  Does your farmer care about what he or she is selling to you?  Does your farmer care about your health?  I could go on and on for a week.  You don't know the answer to these questions when you buy meat from the grocery store.

I met a farmer that does care and does it the right way.  And his name is Kyle Becker.  

Of course I knew he was going to be awesome when I heard where he went to college for Veterinary school (BOILER UP!!).  And the fact that he raises grass fed beef....I was sold!  (Thank you to my friend Jessica for introducing me to Kyle and Becker Farms.  Because I haven't looked back.  We actually had to buy a second deep freeze, lol, but that's ok.

Here is what we buy on a regular basis when we start running low in the deep freeze:
1/4 of a grass fed beef (cut the way we like it and DELISH!)
1/2 pig (we had given up pork completely.  until I met Becker Farms.)
Chicken breasts (they have boneless and bone-in)
Ground chicken
Ground turkey
And we always need extra BACON and Ground beef!!!!!!

Here is why I buy Becker's beef:
It is GRASS FED in the summer and forage fed in the winter (just google "why eat grass fed beef" and you will be amazed at the number of posts there are out there on this topic).  The way a cow is supposed to be raised in my opinion.  A cow was not meant to have a diet of genetically modified grains and corn nor to be stuck inside a building year round.  Grass fed cows produce the most nutritious and delicious meat I have ever tasted.  And when you can buy a 1/4 beef the prices are great.  If you can't buy a quarter their prices are competitively priced with grass fed beef today.

Turkey, Ducks, Chickens and Hogs:  They are fed a non-GMO Corn, non-GMO Soy, Organic Kelp and Mineral diet.  They chickens and turkeys get to forage around the field, stretching their wings, happy as a chicken and turkey can get eating bugs and sun bathing.  The hens get oats added to their diets.  Without the corn and oats the chickens are very underweight.
  
You and your family will be much healthier if you buy your meat from a local farmer who actually cares about his animals.  Look at your life.  Are there any area you can cut to free up money for you to use on healthier food? I hope so.  I want the best for you and your family.  And so does Kyle and Emily Becker.

So, get back to the way it was.  The way it should be.  Find a farmer locally, that you can go visit, and see how they raise their animals.  Ask what they feed the animals?  Do they feed them genetically modified feed (GMO)?  Just ask questions.  Find out where you meat is coming from.  And IF you continue to buy your meat from local grocery stores than I challenge you to watch Food Inc. before you buy another item.  You can watch it here for a few dollars.

And if your stomach can stand it, watch this video from Chris Beat Cancer.  I will admit that it was a little difficult for me to watch this video.  But the truth is, this is the way your meat is being processed.  But if you are buying all of your meat in a grocery store, this is the torture and hell your animals are going through.  I am in no way, a vegetarian   I firmly believe that God gives us animals to eat.  But I also know there is a right and a wrong way to care and slaughter an animal.  There is a humane and a non-humane way to care for and slaughter an animal.  This video answers the question of "Do you know where your food comes from?"  And just a side note, I don't drink milk from the grocery store either.  So, the way the video shows the cows being treated is NOT the way my cows are treated.  I, once again, know my farmer where I buy my milk.  There is a lot of peace in that.  A lot.

See the pattern?

Simply put, if you haven't seen the face and said Hi to the farmer that sells you your meat.  Start.

Kyle and Emily Becker
http://www.beckerfarmsin.com/
On FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/beckerfarmsin  
Kyle's cell: 765.714.4457

Becker Farms set up at our local Summer Farmer's Market, the first Saturday in April to the last Saturday in October.  And at our Winter Farmer's Market from the third Saturday in November thru March.  Check out Kyle and Emily's website for more info.  They also list the all the Farmer's Markets they set up at.  You can buy a la carte at the Farmer's Market or call Kyle to buy larger amounts.  And soon you will be able to buy online.  Very cool.

So, take that grocery list that you write for yourself every week and go buy your meat from Becker Farms.

They also have a great CSA available too.  If you are interested contact them.  Trust me you will not be sorry when you taste.


Keep trying to live GREEN,

Easy Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner

So, I have a confession.  I HATE cleaning toilets.  H  A  T  E   

Yes, I know I should be blessed that we have indoor plumbing, yadda yadda yadda but I procrastinate cleaning our toilets to the point that it is VERY obvious they need cleaning.  

Then, I reluctantly make my way to the cabinet to get my wowgreen toilet bowl cleaner (which by the way wowgreen has sadly fallen off of the face of the earth, I have grieved this and finally moved on, by the way).  Spray it in the toilet, let it set and do the scrub thing with the poky brush thing.  And I have a container of Seventh Generation wipes that I use to clean the outside of the toilet, seat, lid, etc.

By the way, I also have a "thing" that I have to scrub my toilets right before I get in the shower, because the idea of scrubbing a toilet and then preparing dinner just grosses me out.  BIG TIME !!  (sharing one of my many idiosyncrasies with you all)

So, a couple of days ago I went to the cabinet to get my wowgreen toilet cleaner and guess what??  The bottle is empty.  Great planning on my part, right?  

So, I think to myself....why can't I make a toilet bowl cleaner myself?  There has to be a doTERRA oil that makes a rockin' toilet cleaner, right?  The answer to that is a big, HUGE YES!  :-)  And it is sooooo easy.

So, here's the deal-e-o.....

Ingredients and supplies:
1 8 oz cobalt blue or amber glass spray bottle (I buy mine here)*
10 drops "do" OnGuard essential oil (buy from me :-) )
1 cup Distilled White Vinegar
1 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Morton Salt (the only place where I use this kind of salt...BUY sea salt that is not pure white to cook and eat with)

1.  Mix the vinegar and OnGuard essential oil in a spray bottle, spray inside bowl.  I used a kitchen funnel to do this.

2.  Mix baking soda and salt together in a shaker container of some sort and sprinkle on vinegar mixture.  I used one of my Bullet cups and the sprinkle top that came with it, it works perfectly.

3.  Spray vinegar/OnGuard mixture inside toilet bowl, until you feel the inside is covered with the spray.

4.  Then sprinkle some of the baking soda/salt mixture inside the toilet bowl on top of the vinegar/OnGuard spray.  You will hear a fizzing/bubbling sound, it's kinda cool.  :-)

5.  Let stand for 10 minutes then scrub with poky brush and flush.

6.  Repeat in other dirty toilets and store for future use.

All done!!

This is the sprinkle top I was telling you about.

*You probably don't have to buy a glass bottle to scrub your toilets...yes the OnGuard will pull petrochemicals out of a plastic bottle, but since you are not drinking it, I think it would be ok.  I just had an 8oz glass, so I used it.

Keep trying to live green,