$735.31 WORTH

This is part of the items i have made this past month with the goat's milk:  Ice cream, sour cream, ricotta, chevre, buttermilk, mozzarella, feta cheese, butter, cream cheese, 3 large wheels of cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and then  just the milk in and of itself, I got to thinking, "geez!  How much money am i saving out there?" I mean this is real, organic, fresher then fresh milk, goat's milk at that, which is difficult to find in any store, and its good for you!

So i went out to do some research, and this is what i found:

• organic ice cream: $7 for 1 1/2 quarts
• organic sour cream: $3.39 pint
• organic ricotta cheese: $5.99 quart
• organic chevre: $5 for 8 oz
• organic buttermilk: $4.79 quart
• organic motzarella: $3.99 lb
• organic Feta cheese: $3.69 for 6 oz
• organic whole butter: $6.69 lb
• small tub or organic cream cheese:$4
• a large chunk of organic hard cheese $13 - which is about 1/8 of a wheel of cheese so that make one wheel equal:$104
• organic yogurt:$7.39 quart
• organic cottage cheese:$4.79  for 12 oz
• organic goats milk: $8.29 for a half gallon! (i guess i am not charging my customers enough there)

So tally that up in comparison to what i produced here on the farm and you have exactly: $735.31!!!! Saved on my grocery bill!  So.... with that in mind, i totaled up what i spend to feed the gosh darn goats - and this is for all of them, not just the 2 milking does- comes out to approximately $95 a month. If it was just the two does; only $19.  So now let's calculate my time:  since i don't think i am worth anything less then $10  hour, and if you put the time it takes to milk, feed and create the cheeses and other items as an average of 2 hours a day, most days less, somedays more, that's $600 a month for a total of $695.  Minus the savings on food, and i am left with what? $40.31 pure savings! Oh and add in the $36 i get in milk sales and that comes to $76.31!

Hmmmmmm.....that doesn't seem like much.

Now let's factor in the knowledge that this is really better for me, i know where this food is coming from, its healthier for me AND i get the grand pleasure of ACTUALLY doing it myself:

PRICELESS!

I love my goats!

THE STRANGER IN THE MOTH EATEN PONCHO ARRIVED

The stranger

 in the moth-eaten poncho

Strolling into town

Imagine hearing Clint Eastwood music:

oh no, its not a stranger - its just Harley.

She sometimes forgets to remove her blanket when she wakes up.

THE CONE OF SHAME!

It was time Edy got spayed.  It was sad.  She got all excited about going in the car.

She has no idea what is awaiting her.











She was very shy as usual but i left her in good hands and the surgery went well. So the next day i picked her up from the vet.  They told me that if she starts licking her stiches that i should consider picking up one of those cones to put on her head.  OH NO!  Not the cone of shame!


I would never do that to a dog of mine!  But sure enough, as soon as we got home, the licker started licking!  So i got back into the car and went to Petco, purchased a cone, not in the plain, clear plastic but a stylish, mint green!  Compliments her golden fur nicely!  But she was not happy....

"please, grandma!  this is humiliating!"

She tried to take it off.

But to no avail!
Then we let her outside,

She didn't fit back through the doggy door!  Poor Edy!  Look at that face!

Then of course, Maddie got a hold of her:

She's so stylish now!  Poor Edy!  She will have to suffer with the cone of shame for 4 more days, how will she survive such ridicule!  : (

THE EYES HAVE IT!

 Eyes, it's all about the eyes!

ok, it's not an eye but what is it?

FOOD FOTOS - CUZ I LOVE FOOD

Having fun with images of food.  Cuz I love food and I love taking images.

Breakfast of champions!

WHEN THE FRIDGE IS LOW - CREATIVITY ABOUNDS!

I find that when the fridge is low, i get more creative with my food making, after all food is art! Plus i still need practice in the art of one hand cooking (one hand on camera - which would be easier if the camera's shutter button was on the left hand side - i never really thought about that before - how do lefties feel about that?).

First - dig in the fridge, look around, find some things and pull them out:

Think casserole or in MN - hot dish.  Crumble home made whole wheat bread into a bowl.

Add some seasoning of choice

Take an egg and add a little milk and whisk together:

Then slice eggplant






Rant: "who ever was the jerk that created those little stickers they put on produce now should be shot!"

place eggplant slices in milk/egg mixture, then into breadcrumbs

Fry in a pan with some E.V.O.O. (extra virgin olive oil)

Tempt the hound with the butt end of the eggplant

take the fried eggplant and place in a baking dish

slice some fresh mozzarella you made from your fresh goat's milk and put on top of each slice

pour some leftover pasta sauce on top

bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Take some broccoli and chop it up

tempt basset with stem peelings
(notice hound has not left her spot)















Place broccoli in steamer

tempt fire roasted pig with stem peelings

Next take some scallops

and a little butter, garlic and some chopped bacon, 

fry it up in a pan....and never ever let you forget your a maaaaannnnn, cuz i'm a woman, Ajolie! (ok, if you don't remember that commercial you won't notice that i spelled Ajolie wrong either)

Transfer scallops to a dish

take a half cup of balsamic vinegar and pour into pan

bring to a boil while looking at how cool the reflection of the clock looks in the balsamic vinegar

Stir constantly, then reduce balsamic until it becomes thick

add a tablespoon of butter to balsamic reduction

(look at that action shot!)

Return scallops to pan and heat

Enjoy a scrumptious, nutritious meal all prepared from a refrigerator filled with leftovers!  Tadah!