Category Archives: farm fun

Don’t Fold Laundry

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So, I was in the living room, folding laundry, when a surprise walked in…

Look! See! Pretty!

I tried not to lose my cool…but what the *#@!

Don't you like my surprise?

At this point, I just had to laugh. Or else the tears wouldn’t quit, you know?

Are the legs a bit much?

And then I wondered…where did he all color?

I'm so proud!

Thankfully, the only “artwork” I found was George. So, it quickly became bath time!

Oh no! I'm melting!

He kind of freaked out over the marker melting off…and I had to keep draining the tub and adding clean water.

Someone wasn't happy about losing his tats...perhaps he thought he was losing his street cred?

My lesson learned for the day? Don’t fold laundry. Now,  just to let my husband know that. 😉

A Meal for a Crew – Steak Pizza

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I’m linking up to a Latte’ with Ott, A’s September Iron Chef Challenge. And this month, the ingredient of choice is Red Star Yeast. I was looking through recipes, and thought I would do The Pioneer Woman’s Steakhouse Pizza, but didn’t have much of the ingredients (except yeast, flour and steak!)…so I decided to make my own recipe.

I was nervous if it would turn out, but since the pan was empty in less than 15 minutes, I’m assuming that meant it was edible.

Here we go!

Great ingredients make for a great meal!

 

Ingredients (crust):

  • 1 teaspoon Quick Rise Instant Dry Red Star Yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Sprinkle yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Let stand a few minutes. Combine flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. next, pour in yeast/water mixture and combine until dough comes together. Coat a separate mixing bowl with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it. (Note: I made the dough the night before. It worked really well the next morning!)

Mixed dough

 

 

Dough - after being in fridge for 14 hours!

 

 

Pizza ingredients:

  • Dough (see above)
  • 14-15 oz. pizza sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • mushrooms (or toppings of choice)
  • steak (arm, ribeye, skirt, cut of choice)
  • 3 cups shredded cheese (pizza blend is what I use)

Ready to hit the oven!

 

Directions:

On a cookie sheet, spread out dough. Combine pizza sauce and BBQ sauce. Spread evenly over dough. Top with toppings of choice, end with cheese. Bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese it bubbly and crust is turning golden.

Cook your steak as desired!

 

 

While crust is baking, cook your steak to about medium-rare. Let it rest. When pizza is done, slice steak into very thin slices and place on top of the pizza. Stand back and watch it disappear!

Did I say, Mmmmmmm?!?

 

 

Yummy!

 

 

This is what was left, about 15 minutes after it came out of the oven!

 

 

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Eating Dinosaur Eggs

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Just thought I would throw out a quick blog update, so that you didn’t think that I had fallen off the face of the planet. Actually, harvest is upon us and things are getting busy around here. This week we:

  • need to clear an area for our new hay shed
  • need to freeze more corn
  • need to can more salsa and tomatoes
  • finishing my Dad’s siding project
  • county Farm Bureau annual meeting
  • attended a funeral
  • school functions/homework/etc.
  • prepare for corn chopping
  • get ready to wean cattle
  • prepare for my trip with Katie to the Small Town 140 Conference in Hutchinson, KS!!! (I’ll be a presenter there!)
  • prepare for a return trip to Rochester
  • get ready for a super-huge, ginormous rummage sale next weekend
  • get ready for Applefest
  • get some freezer meals ready for the rest of harvest

Sounds simple, right?

But this little story had me giggling this morning, so let me share with you…

EJ (4), asked if he could eat some oatmeal for lunch. I didn’t have a problem with that at all, I mean, a simple, fast meal that dirties one dish and can be made in a minute? Sure, count me in! I had picked up some special instant oatmeal packages the last time we were in Aberdeen, so he grabbed one of those and away we went.

EJ’s job was to open the package and put it in a bowl. I add the water, we push the buttons on the microwave together and voila! A meal is served. But he had a bit of a problem when he opened the package.

Dinosaur eggs in your oatmeal? Why not?

“Mom, what are those?”

“Hmmm….well, it says that those are dinosaur eggs.”

“Mom, I don’t think I’m hungry any more.”

“Don’t you want dinosaur eggs in your belly?”

“No, they might eat me.”

Well, being the nice mom that I am, I only tormented him for a little bit, then explained that they were actually just like little jelly beans. I would’ve kept the ruse going longer, but I didn’t want to have to make something else for lunch! 😉

Hunk of Meat Monday – Gooseberry Patch Recipe #2

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It is Labor Day, our first week of school is done, a fun weekend was celebrated and here we are…back at Monday.

I promised last week that there was going to be a special surprise added to my “Celebrate a Year of Blogging” celebration, so here it is: added to the prize package is a Smart Pot 5 1/2 qt. Crock Pot and a Gooseberry Patch Slow Cooker cookbook!!! With the crock pot craze of late, and with school starting and activities picking up, I thought that a crock pot would be a perfect addition to my celebration! Be sure to go to this blog post, and post a comment…or go to Facebook and “like” Wag’n Tales!

Celebrate a year with me! Win a Crock Pot!

I know that I L-O-V-E my crock pot…and I know many of you do as well! This crock pot is great! It cooks to your desired time, and then switches to keep warm! As soon as my old crock pot decides to kick the bucket, I’m getting myself one of these babies!

Well, enough about that, on to my Hunk of Meat Monday recipe!

Easy Cheesy Potatoes & Sausage

All ya need!

Ingredients:

  • 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 lb. smoked pork sausage, cubed
  • 16-oz. pkg. pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed
  • 1/2 c. butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. milk

I left my sausage in bigger chunks, that way it's easier to pick out for George.

Mix all ingredients together and transfer to a greased 10X8 baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for one hour, or until potatoes are tender. (I would suggest stirring occasionally.) Makes 6 servings.

All done!

Cost for this meal:

  • Potatoes – $1.77
  • Sausage – $1.50
  • Cheese spread – $2.50
  • Total – $5.77 – and since it makes 6 servings, that’s less than $1 per serving!
Hunk of Meat Mondays

Ag Book of the YEAR!!!

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Howdy, all! If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll remember that in May I did an Ag Book of the Day theme, where I picked a book a day to feature…it coincided with my sons’ school reading program. It was an amazing month, and there were great books featured.

And now, I’ve found our latest treasure, and I’m sure it’ll soon be yours as well! And if you’re lucky, you’ll win one of the signed copies I’m giving away!!!

Here it is:

A family favorite!

 
Levi’s Lost Calf, by Amanda Radke, illustrated by Michelle Weber. We received our copies on Saturday, and we’ve already read it 15 times!!! The boys LOVE the colorful artwork and all the animals involved. The story is a simple, yet completely realistic farm story…a little boy is helping on the farm, and realizes one of his favorite calves is missing, so he takes his trusty horse and goes to find it!
 
Not only does the book have a GREAT story, but it also includes a great cowboy recipe, and vocabulary words to help those that may not be familiar with ranch lingo…how cool is that?
 
I’ve seen some really good farm books for kids, but this is one of the best! I highly recommend it, and if you leave a comment on this post, you’ll be signed up to win a copy, signed by Amanda Radke herself!!!
 
This is Amanda’s first book (and I’m hoping for many more to come!), and the artwork by Michelle Weber is breathtaking, as beautiful as it is captivating! So be sure to get your copy soon, you don’t want to miss out!
 
To enter in the contest, just leave a comment on this post. For extra entries, subsribe to my blog and follow me on twitter (wagfarms or Cows_Life)…let me know if you already do those things, it’ll still count as an entry! I’ll have a random number selected from random.org to pick my winner!
 
Good luck…I’ll draw TWO lucky winners on Friday, August 19!
 
*I better add that, although I was given the copies of the book, the opinions expressed are my own, and don’t reflect anyone else, but me, myself and I. Although, I still think it’s a super-cool, absolutely fantastic, out-of-this-world ag book, you can buy a copy yourself and decide on your own. But trust me, it’s great! 😉

Take a Moment – Giving Back

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An organization that I follow on Facebook (and happen to be involved in) has put out this request for assistance…and I’ve decided to join in the fun and send out my own request for help:

Here it goes:

Now, we all have heard about the flooding in Bismarck and Minot. And although the mess and destruction is tragic, we hardly ever think of the little things…like the little ones that are also struggling to make sense of it all, and are wondering when their world is going to be “normal” again. Well, we can help, at least a “little.”

Family Voices of North Dakota, VSA North Dakota: The State Organization on Arts and Disabilities and NDCPD are partnering together on a project to let children who have been affected by this disaster know that others in communities around the country are thinking of them.

They are asking for these things:

  • Notes of kindness
  • Notes of hope
  • Picture drawing/coloring from children about the flooding and their thoughts

The purpose of this project is to collect the submissions and to put together a collage. One will be for Minot (and surrounding area), and one will be for Bismarck (and surrounding area). The collage will be used for an exhibit in the months ahead, as recovery is in full swing.

Donations will also be accepted, serving as a fundraiser for these communities.

Notes, pictures, drawings, colorings and monetary donations can be sent to:

Family Voices of North Dakota, PO Box 163, Edgeley, ND 58433

Questions??? Call (888) 522-9654

If you are sending in a picture or drawing, please send it in a large enough envelope as not to fold it (they would hate to have such hard work be destroyed by creases!!!).

Alrighty, folks, those are the details…now get to being creative, inspiring and colorful! And don’t forget to involve your children, you daycares, your schools, your churches…anyone who would love to share some love and joy (and a little sunshine!)!

 

 

 

 

The Littlest of Blessings

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A few weeks ago, I received a great surprise in the mail. The boys were so excited because it came in this HUGE box…

So COOL!!!

It wasn’t what they expected, but I was still really stoked about it!. It’s a beautiful garden bench plant stand from Avant Garden Decor.

I LOVE IT!!! It’s so beautful, and fits in with any outside decor.

And it’s tough. (But I’ll get to that in a minute.)

First, I purchased some flowers to plant, and prepared my area.

Getting everything ready to go!

Then, I got to work and it turned out wonderfully! I was so excited about my planter!

It fit in so nicely!

It was growing to well, and the flowers were really taking off…and then the storm hit. I thought for sure that my beautiful little planter would be toast, gone with the wind, vanished into thin air. For pete’s sake, the wall to our shop was caved in, how could a little plant stand stay put???

But it did.

A little rough, but still standing...hope for us all!

The flowers were a little rough around the edges, but they’re coming back. My precious little planter withstood winds that our great cottonwoods couldn’t stand up to…and it taught me a lesson.

Sometimes in life, it’s not the largest, strongest that survive. And sometimes amid destruction, you can find a little beauty.

If you would like to win a Hanging Basket of your own head over to the Real Farmwives of America & Friends Blog and sign up for their giveaway!

Avant Garden Decor did provide me with this product to review, however the thoughts, opinions and photos shared about this product on this blog are my own.

King Arthur Flour meets Grandma Vivian’s Dumplings

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I’ve joined a party…and am creating history all at once!

As part of A Latte with Ott, A’s King Arthur flour Iron Chef Challenge, I decided that I would make Brandenburger family history…I would use my Grandma Vivian’s Dumpling recipe. (Mind you, this recipe has never been written down [to my knowledge] and for certain isn’t on the internet.)

This recipe isn’t something you just “throw” together for a quick lunch, but it’s a wonderfully delicious authentically German dish that is requested time and time again at my house. Especially at family gatherings!!!

First of all, you need bread dough…and this is where the King Arthur flour comes in. For those that have been reading my blog for a while, you know that our youngest son has OTC, which limits his protein intake to 10-12 grams per day. Well, it just so happens that King Arthur flour has a product  that is lower in protein! Woohoo!!! And I used this flour for our bread dough (although it’s labeled for wonderfully, delicious and super light pastries, pies, etc.). It worked beautifully!

Anyway, on with the recipe:

Grandma Vivian’s Dumplings

Ingredients –

3 cups flour (I used King Arthur Perfect Pastry flour – only 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup!)

1 1/2 TBSP. butter

1 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1 package instant dry yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 TBSP. sugar

1 qt. chicken broth (liquid)

potatoes

2 cups heavy whipping cream (pic shows half and half, which is what I used…but Grandma always used heavy whipping cream…half and half tasted just as good!)

Everything you need!

First, we need a simple loaf of white bread dough. This is a simple, easy loaf recipe…and trust me, if I can make it, anyone can!
Mix together 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Set aside. Then mix together water, milk and butter, heat until hot to touch, but not boiling. (I microwaved for 40 seconds.)

When making this dough, mix together dry ingredients, then mix and heat wet ingredients before combining.

Then, pour your wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a dough-ball is formed. Take the 1/2 cup flour that’s left-over and add as needed to make a smooth dough-ball that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl. (I ended up using just about all of the flour this time, but it will vary, depending on your humidity, etc.)

Dough - finished but not raised.

Cover the dough with a cloth for 10 minutes, to let it rest. Then shape into a ball again and let it raise for 1 hour.

Fluffy, yummy dough ball!

Now, we’re ready to make dumplings! Peel and cut your potatoes, enough to fill the bottom of your kettle (4 or 5 quart kettle or dutch oven works wonderfully!).

Enough potatoes to fill the bottom of a kettle, or maybe even a little more!

Add the chicken broth. (I use chicken broth instead of water to boil my potatoes. It adds great flavor!) You can flavor your potatoes if you’d like, with salt, pepper, onions, etc. Whatever you would normally do for boiling potatoes. You won’t be draining any of the liquid.

I use chicken broth instead of water with my potatoes. Yummy!

Heat the potatoes to a boil.

Potatoes are boiling!

Remove the kettle from heat. Punch down the dough. Tear off about quarter-sized bits of dough and layer across the kettle, on top of the water and potatoes.

Pull apart the dough, enough to fill one layer across the potatoes in the kettle.

Dough, completely covering potatoes and ready to cook!

The next part is very important: Place lid on kettle, put it back on medium heat. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID!!! In fact, if your lid does not seal well, or isn’t a very heavy lid, place something on top of your lid…such as:

If your lid isn't heavy enough to make sure there's a seal, set something heavy on top of the lid! Be creative!

Why is this important? The steam from the potatoes and water is cooking the dumplings. If the liquid in the kettle evaporates too quickly, your dough will fall and will be more solid, than light and fluffy. (Grandma would call them “klutzy” when that would happen.) Once you can hear the potatoes boiling again, turn the temp down a bit and simmer. Cook for 30-45 minutes or until the “dumplings start talking to you.” (Grandma’s terms) In cooking terms, this means to listen to the kettle and the dumplings are done when you can hear them starting to fry a little bit.
And then lift off the lid and pray…just kidding…it should look something like this:

Dumplings are done!

Next, stir up the dumplings, mixing the dough, the potatoes and whatever liquid is left. Then pour the cream on top of the dumplings and stir.

Add cream to the finished dumplings.

And finished product, all mixed up...yum!

And that, my friends, is my Grandma Vivian’s Dumplings…actually wrote down and save for all of posterity. She would have been proud of me! She was my best friend, and has been gone for almost a year now. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her, and wish that I would have just one more day with her. She taught me so many things about life, but the thing she cherished most was laughter…and good German food! 😉

These are authentic German dumplings...made from scratch! (And low protein!)

Grandma would normally serve this with chicken, but it goes well with any protein item of your choice: beef, lamb, pork, etc. (Not sure it would go well with fish, but go ahead and try! Life is made for rules to be broken, right???) With this particular meal, my sister and I ate these dumplings all by themselves. Just because we could.
Enjoy!
King Arthur did provide me with flour to use for this recipe contest however the opinions listed here are my own.

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Not a Mommy Blogger

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Now, before you go off, accusing me of lying and thinking that I’m discounting a HUGE portion of the blog-o-sphere…let me explain. I’m not sure Mommy Bloggers exist.

What?!?

Yeah, that’s right…there’s no such thing as a Mommy Blogger. That term ranks up there with Big Foot, Toothfairy and Santa (just don’t tell my boys!). Why? Well, it’s simple. When you’re a mom, there’s no way you’re writing just about the cutesy-precious things your children do…and there’s no way you’re just writing about how many diapers you change. Being a Mom is so much more than that.

Last week, I had an online conversation with a friend of mine. She’s actually partially responsible for the creation of this blog in the first place! Let’s just say that she gave me that final push to get this blog started.

Anyway, we were talking blog stuff and the Mommy Blogger title came up. And again, I’m not sure such a thing exists. You see, when you’re a mom and you’re writing about your kids, it’s not just your kids that you’re writing about. Do I have you confused yet?

You write about society, you write about coping skills, you write about recipes. You share cleaning tips, you ask for advice and you share humor and entertainment. You write about education, you write about the future, you write about the past. You explain the simplest of life’s lessons, you share photos of the world and you pass on travel tips. There isn’t a piece of the pie that you don’t touch at some point in time. And all of that information can be translated into different realms.

Read about how a mother convinces a three-year-old that it’s their idea to take a nap. That same reasoning can be used to deal with the most difficult of customers in the retail world. Don’t think so? Trust me, I’ve done it.

Explain to a 7-year-old why our cows don’t make the milk that we drink, but they make the hamburger we eat. Then use that same conversation to base your ag education off of…trust me, a 7-year-old will ask you every hard-nosed question most reporters would think of!

Yes, in every essence of the term, I am a Mommy Blogger. Yet, I’m not. Actually, I’m more of a Farmmy Blogger.

When you come in to my blog, you will read about my children, my farm and my view points. You will learn about cattle, about crops and about life. You will hopefully laugh a lot, cry a little, but come back for more. And I will do the same.

Talk about a complicated answer to a simple question, eh?

Now ask me if I’m Republican or Democrat. 😉

Back to Business

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Well, we’ve spent the last few days cleaning up, tearing down and getting ready for life to resume some normalcy.

In the excitement of it all, I forgot to give a wrap up on our fair happenings! This was our first year as a 4-H family and the boys enjoyed sharing their projects and watching others, as well.

Scooter is now a kitchen safety expert!

 

Since Scooter is only 7, he’s a Cloverbud, which means that he can show projects, but he only gets participation ribbons. There’s no competition for him. It was GREAT for him to receive nothing but praise and suggestions for future years. I only wish I would have had the foresight to do the same thing for Big Bro…but he still did a SUPERB job!

Gak, Gluk, slimy stuff...whatever you want to call it, Scooter made it.

 

Big Bro took nine projects to the fair…including: two fishing lures, one pop-can lamp, three photo projects, two dog projects and one bug display. He received six blue ribbons and three reds! I was so proud of him!!!

Big Bro was researching all the different jobs that "working" dogs do...he thought it was so cool!

 

On top of that, Big Bro tried the consumer choices competition and received a third-place ribbon.

Then, on Sunday, Big Bro and Scooter had both volunteered to participate in the Style Show. Scooter showed off his tee-ball uniform in the Have ‘n Show (just a show with clothes you already have…no judging) and Big Bro showed a school outfit he picked out in the Buy ‘n Show.

Big Bro and his Buy 'n Show school outfit...lookin' sharp!

 

Big Bro was interviewed by two judges on the price of the outfit, uses, how to care for it, whether it was a smart purchase, etc. He was nervous about participating because he was the only boy, but once he warmed up, he did great. When it came time for the judging and the ribbons, we were both surprised when he was named the Reserve Champion! Talk about a happy boy!!!

So, in all, the fair was so much fun and such a great experience! The boys are already talking about next year…and I couldn’t be happier.

I did see one amazing booth at the fair that I really wish more people would have been able to experience:

This display on North Dakota ROCKED!!!

 

This “North Dakota Feeds the World” display was absolutely amazing. It had actual crops growing, commodities available to view, information, great pictures, etc., etc. The only problem was that it was only set up for Thursday afternoon/evening. And that means that not a lot of non-ag people were able to view it. I’m hoping that we can get it back in the area soon…and I’m looking into it. If you see it in your area, be sure to check it out. You won’t regret it!!!