Chicken Killin'

On Saturday we began the process of butchering the 20-something roosters that inhabit our yard. Of course, true to form, we realized on Saturday morning that we had nothing to put them in! I had a grand total of THREE one gallon Ziploc bags, and I didn't know if the birds would even fit in them whole, which is how I planned to store them. This necessitated a trip into town for a solution to this problem.

I've been considering the purchase of a vacuum food storage system since early last summer. It isn't exactly a NEED, but I feel it's a very good investment in the stability of our food supply. (No more freezer burnt food!) My darling husband has known about this, but I don't think he realized how seriously I wanted it. Since we were about to butcher a year's worth (if not more than that) of chicken, I didn't want all that effort to go to waste. I suggested that the moment may have come to make this purchase, and why. He said, "Get it!" And so I did.

I am not one for having a lot of appliances. In fact, I try to have as few as I possibly can. However, I think this one will be worth the cabinet space.

Before we actually got to the butchering, we had to build our killing cone. I purchased $13 worth of flashing and had enough material to make three cones. (We decided to only make one, and save the rest in case we find other needs for it later.) Here is the killing cone, work table with knives, and coolers filled with ice water ready to accept that wonderful, wholesome, free range meat:

We followed kosher butchering practices to the best of our knowledge, which made the process much less stressful than it could have been, for both the birds and us. One thing we did that was unorthodox to everyone we know is that we skinned the birds instead of plucking them. We didn't have access to an automatic plucker, and dipping the birds in boiling water and then taking all that time to pluck feathers in a wet, stinking mess did not even remotely appeal to us, so we opted to skin them. This turned out even better than I had hoped. It was a little tricky in a few areas, but overall, I think it was a good decision. Here is what our birds look like all done:

When Wayne saw me taking pictures, he had to show off his injury sustained during a skinning accident:

I went a little crazy.

I've wanted stainless steel water bottles for a long time. Maybe as much as two years. All the ones I've seen were in the $20 range. Too much for me at this time. This weekend while browsing Big Lots, I discovered them for $4 each!!!

My goal is to have a plastic, aluminum, and teflon free kitchen! Here's one more step in that direction.

Orchard

I'm so excited! We officially have an orchard. All our trees are dwarf varieties. Last fall I bought a Winesap apple tree and two blueberry bushes. One is an Elliot and the other is ?. On Saturday we bought four more trees: a Granny Smith apple, a Yellow Delicious apple, a black plum, and a Bartlett pear. We also got two grape vines. Both of the grape varieties are seedless. One is black, and one is green. Our plan is to plant the front half of the front yard in fruit trees, and then we will plant the west side yard in nut trees, more than likely. Let me tell you, figuring out how to plant those puppies (as in, the arrangement) was a nightmare. I must have walked at least a mile measuring this way and that. My original plan was to plant each tree or bush or vine in proximity to it's neighbor based on it's mature size according to the labels. I realized this was going to give more of a woodsy appearance than a neat, orderly, rowed orchard. I was actually cool with that. But then I remembered that this would have to be mowed, and what a pain it would be to have to constantly swerve in and out and around all these irregularly placed trees. And we plan to live with this for the next 50 years of so! Argh! After laying out all the trees/bushes/vines according to their individual needs, I decided that I needed to place them uniformly for ease of mowing. So... everything is planted 15 feet apart, with the rows being offset 7.5 feet, to make the appearance more pleasing and to help block the view from the road. Why, oh WHY do I have to make everything so complicated?! Because I am going to have to live with it for the rest of my life and I want it to look RIGHT, that's why!!!

I know it's hard to see the trees, but if you click on the picture it will open in it's own window, and you can see it much better then.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil

I've wanted to try fermented cod liver oil for a long time. It has many, many benefits. Just taking regular cod liver oil has helped me tremendously. I have a brighter outlook, feel more energetic, and feel less inflammation in my body as a result of taking this super valuable supplement. Not if, but when I buy FCLO it will be from Green Pastures because they are the best company I know of for this particular product.

The Plunge

I've known for a few years that I needed to Just Say No to sugar. I tried a couple of times, and was such an emotional wreck that I gave up. The scale has given me alarming data. The mirror, too. A couple of fellow bloggers announced that they were going sugar free, and I thought, "This is it. I must do it. Now." I discussed this with my darling husband, and he was totally on board.

*deep breath* We are doing this. Those of you who know me know that I will not put the chemistry experiment known as artificial sweeteners into my body, so this is the real thing! I will not use honey or sorghum, either, for at least the first month. After that, maybe... we'll see.

I will be consuming plenty of real food, including all the fruits and veggies I want.