Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

The Busy Season Begins

We are starting to come out of the winter season filled with feeding cattle and planning for the next year of crops.  Now is when the long days of fertilizing, planting, harvesting, spraying weeds, and making sure everything else gets done in between.  Redbeard has started fertilizing our irrigated fields that will have corn or soybean planted in the next couple months.


The long days have been easier for Redbeard this year.  He takes our (not so) little Custer with him.  The boys have so much fun in the field!

Tired puppy!
So I will sit back and enjoy the last moments of the Winter schedule and look forward to great opportunities for farm photography!

agronomygirl

The Moo-ternity Ward

A couple days ago I went with Redbeard out to the field by our house to visit the cows.  These cows are going to be new mommies very soon.  They met their perfect match in May and now is the time for the cute babies to arrive!  I can't wait to get out and take pictures of the new bundles of joy!  So what do cows do while they are waiting to have a calf?  They eat, drink, and wait.  I caught a few pictures of them that I wanted to share.

They weren't taking their eyes off the stranger with the black object in front of her face.  And look at the belly on the cow in the back!

This old girl is eating snow and any food she can get her mouth on.

Still looking for the perfect bite!

Number 51 was photogenic.  She is hired!
As you can tell, the cold weather and snow hasn't gotten them down.  Now the weather is going to be nice for about a week.  It would be a good time for them to have their babies. (Hint, hint cows)  My good friend Sarah Jane at The Bos Lady wrote about cows and snow.  They can learn to eat snow as a water source in a matter of days!  Amazing!  If you want to learn more you can check out her blog post, Snow As a Water Source.

That is all for now from the Moo-ternity Ward. :)

agronomygirl

14 Goals to Accomplish in 2014

It is a new year!  Time to put goals on paper to forget or fail at, right?  This year is different.  (I hope!) I have goals and I intend to keep up with it!  Will you join my challenge?  Use my goals or edit them to fit you!  I plan to give updates along the way.

2013 was a great year, let's make this one even better!

1. Lose weight - I have lost 8 lbs since starting my goal after Christmas!
2. Get in the best shape of my life - Unfortunately our exercise equipment is out of commission while the floor in My Purple Palace is waiting to be finished.
3. Eat healthier - I hope to eat more green beans and carrots this year! (Small steps for the picky eater)
4. Stay in touch with friends better - Now that we are grown up, my friends are scattered all over the state, country, and world.  Facebook, texting, etc. help, but how often do we not take the time to actually have a conversation.
5. Keep the house ready for company at all times - I currently have the house as clean as it can be for having one room completely emptied into the living room!
6. Do one load of laundry - (Thanks for the idea, Kelly!)
7. Do the dishes every morning - It sure makes the kitchen feel better to have everything clean and put away!
8. Take a picture of something with my camera...EVERY DAY - I want to have a record of everything that happens this year!
9. Learn a new skill each month - I am going to learn a new crochet stitch or pattern and maybe pick up sewing!
10. Cook at least one new recipe a month - I am a picky eater so I tend to cook in my comfort zone. 
11. Write more - I would like to start writing a letter with a friend, like a pen pal!
12. Finish our house projects - We have a long list!  It is all written down and ready to have projects checked off the list.
13. Have an open house for friends and family when our house is finished - I would love to have my family and friends come up to see our house when it is finished!  Be ready for an invite!
14. Get more involved in the community - We want to get more involved in the community and church this year!
And an obvious goal for life, cherish every day with Redbeard, Scraggly, Andie, and Custer - I am very lucky to call them my family!  I must enjoy every day this year!

Join me on my year long journey to be a better me by January 1, 2015!

agronomygirl

Snapshot #29 - Blame it ALL on my roots!

There is one thing I hate about Christmas coming...SNOW.  I absolutely hate winter and the temperature and snow that comes with it.  On the upside Christmas and deer season happens when it gets cold, so I tolerate the weather until the snow falls.  My dad shares my dislike for snow.  In our minds, snow means digging out of the house, driveway, and gravel road and chopping ice for cattle.  Not fun!  Snow also means bad roads, especially if the snow starts to melt, only to refreeze over night.

Now to show what the snow has messed up in 24 hours.  Sunday we were supposed to have a potluck at church to celebrate new members.  That means us.  Our transfer to First Lutheran is finally complete.  It was hard to say goodbye to St. Paul's, but that is part of growing up.  I knew the recent snow would interfere with our plans.  Redbeard has cattle to give food and water to and with snow and frigid temperatures that means chopping a lot of ice.  Plus, the roads were less than ideal.  

While he was off tending to cattle, I made a dish for the potluck.  I decided macaroni and cheese would be a good addition to the potluck since I didn't have any eggs left to make a dessert.  In a short thirty minutes, I let the noodles stick to the pan and boil its slimy noodle juice onto the stove.  Yuck!  I was trying to do too many things at once.  Next time I will focus only on the noodles.  I blame it on the yucky snow!  It has me going crazy!

Redbeard finally got home right before 11 and church starts at 10:30.  We hopped in the truck and made the trip to town.  We entered right as they started playing the closing song, but at least we made it for the potluck.  Better late than never, right?

Here is what the roads looked like on our way to church
We had a great time at the potluck.  I think it was the best potluck I have ever attended!  Between cheesy potatoes, macaroni and cheese, beef and pepperoni Pizza Hut pizza, and Hawaiian rolls, I was stuffed!  I didn't even eat supper last night!

The road on the way back from church...much better, but still not great.

After church and the potluck, Redbeard and I went out to give a few bunches of cattle some more water.  They sure drink a lot, even though it is cold out!  Custer came along for the ride and loved every minute of it!

Sniffing around

The puppy sits weird sometimes
Our cattle live on the fields harvested this fall during the winter.  This includes corn and grain sorghum fields.  The nice part of having the cattle in the fields is they are gaining weight while cleaning up after us!  They also leave behind some fertilizer.  The "girls" pick up the corn or sorghum reside that was lost out of the combine during harvest and eat it.  There is little waste then!  They get a bale of alfalfa or other yummy forage to supplement the corn or sorghum.  I think they deserve a little treat when they are doing so much work!

Some of the cattle eating corn

Redbeard is the official ice chopper

Redbeard ice chopping in action.  Don't be fooled, he isn't the only ice chopper.  I put the camera down sometimes to chop some ice, also.

The girls eating some alfalfa

"What are you looking at?"


I blame my long, cold, yucky day on the snow and my long-time hatred for it.  It causes problems in our days, but it is nice to go chop ice and feed with Redbeard and Custer even though it is cold.

agronomygirl

Snapshot #28 - Roast Beef Recipe

I never liked roast beef.  I thought it was bland and stringy.  After having my own freezer of beef, I realized roast is a large portion of animal.  Basically, I was forced to find a desirable recipe for roast.  I combined my mom's and Redbeard's meat preparation secrets and made my own!  

Start with a thawed out roast.  Rub my (Almost) World Famous Seasoning on it and put in a ziplock bag.  Add Italian dressing to the bag and seal.  Let sit in the refrigerator over night.  The next morning cover the bottom with Italian dressing and place the roast and all marinate in a crockpot on low for the whole day.  The roast will be ready for supper that evening.

I forgot to take pictures while it was cooking, but I assure you it was yummy!

agronomygirl

Snapshot #27 - (Almost) World Famous Seasoning

A few months ago I discovered Grill Mates Sweet and Smoky seasoning.  I put it on everything.  It didn't take long to see that this was becoming a grocery shopping regular.  I decided to try my hand at my own sweet and smoky seasoning.  The result wasn't the exactly the same, but it is even better to use for a meat rub.  I use it on roast beef, hamburgers, steaks, chicken breast, and....well that is pretty much all I cook or eat.  I shared the seasoning with my mom and she went home and made her own.   I have my mom's approval so I think it must be pretty good!

Here is my almost world famous seasoning!


Start with:
The ingredients

2 T paprika
3 T cinnamon
3 T chili powder
3 T garlic powder
4 T onion powder
5 T sugar
Up to 1 T cayenne pepper (optional if you want some heat to the seasoning)
2 T Grill Mates Sweet and Smoky (optional)
3 T Dillo Dust (optional - free with a LaRue Tactical purchase)

I love the way the ingredients look before mixing!
Put the ingredients in a bowl with an airtight seal and shake until mixed.

The final product!

Use a funnel to put the seasoning in a shaker if you desire.

Like I said, I use this seasoning for everything.  Tomorrow I will share my special roast beef recipe.  It is cooking right now!  Yummy!!

What are your favorite seasonings?

agronomygirl

Snapshot #25 - Arby's Curly Fries From WAL-MART

This past week I was shopping for groceries in Wal-mart.  I had a few items on my list, including french fries.  I am very picky when it comes to the fries I eat.  I refuse to eat any fries that do not pass my crunch test.  Redbeard makes fun of me because I touch every fry before eating it.  If it is too mushy, it goes straight to the RB pile.  Some of my favorite fries are Arby's curly fries.  The seasoning is perfect and makes up for the lack of crunchiness.

Can you imagine how surprised I was to find this in the fry section?

Yummy fries!!!!

The first question was, will they be as good as the real deal?  Well I made them for lunch yesterday and I am here to tell you they are almost as good as from the restaurant.

Baking in the oven

All you have to do is bake them for 16-18 minutes at 450 degrees.  They are delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised.

Flavor                        = 4/5
Ease of preparation    = 5/5
Time to make             = 4/5
Wyrill overall rating   = 4.5/5
Will I buy again? YES

agronomygirl

Snapshot #22 - It Is a Little "Chili" Outside

I have quite a few friends getting married and some have asked me what items I recommend putting on a registry.  In the future I am going to start reviewing some of our wedding gifts.  We received a lot of great gifts for our wedding.  This will give me an excuse to use some of our favorite gifts and share them with everyone!  This is the first of "Wyrill Wedding Wins!"  Warning: These will be my own views on products and there will be a lot of purple.  Let the purple begin!

Jake has been begging me for days to make him some chili.  I am not a fan of soup.  Like I usually say, "I like to chew my meal, not drink it."  Call me weird, but for the most part I only tolerate soup if a crazy amount of cheese is involved.  In order to keep my status as Jake's best wife, I made chili to warm him up after his afternoon deer hunt.  I decided again today to stay inside versus braving the cold.

Instead of using my usual pan to make chili, I decided to try out my purple 2.75 quart dutch oven.  Since it is smaller than the other pot, I figured this would keep me from making too much chili.  I made the decision to use the dutch oven from start to finish.  I have never used one before so it was a good learning experience.

First I browned the hamburger.  The instructions said to coat the bottom of the pan with oil and warm for about two minutes.  I was concerned about the amount of liquid in the hamburger at first, so I added a little bit of water.  The meat browned up nicely after warming up.



After the meat was browned, I added a can of tomatoes and chili beans.  I also added Kroger recipe starters chopped onion, chili powder, and corn.  Anyone who really knows Redbeard knows that the way to his heart is with cube steak (made it for lunch), corn, and potatoes.  So corn in the chili and baked potatoes on the side.

Here is the final product!  Redbeard came by and approved of my surprise.  He is excited to have a bowl of chili when he gets back from hunting.





As for the dutch oven, I am impressed!  When I make a meal that has ground beef in it I will use this again.  I am sure there are people that are going to say, "She has never used a dutch oven?"  Yeah, I grew up on grilled cheese, cheeseburgers, and steak.  What can I say?  I am an extremely picky eater.  Now I can say I have used a dutch oven!

agronomygirl

Snapshot #20 - My Favorite Burrito

Jake wasn't here for lunch today.  I decided to make my favorite meal, burritos!  I will share my recipe (if you can call it that.)

Beef frying up

Add some taco seasoning

Add onions

Add a can of green chiles and some more onions (if you are me)

Stir it up and let cook for a few minutes

Put it on a tortilla, add cheese, and enjoy!

Here is my happy plate.  This doesn't happen often.
I still haven't eaten supper at 8pm (which also doesn't happen much.)  That shows how satisfying this meal was for me!  What is your favorite recipe to make when you need a quick meal?

agronomygirl

Snapshot #14 - Stand and Wait

As I write this post we are hiding in a row of bales. (Shhhh...don't tell the deer!)  We are hoping to get our first good shot together.  Redbeard has had a few opportunities to shoot at a deer, but I haven't yet.  Of course I need to be a lot closer to the deer than Redbeard.


As you can tell Redbeard was being a little bit grumpy at the time of this picture.  For now we stand between the bales and wait. This is a good break for us from my barn quilt block priming and RB's electric fence installation.


After the hunt analysis:  Now that we are back inside and reflecting on our hunt, I will tell the stories of the November 14, 2013 bow hunt.  It was an exciting experience for me!  I had a shot at two does twice.  I drew back to shoot one of them the first time and at the same time a truck drove by and they ran away.  I was lucky enough to hide behind the bales again and the same deer came right back to the area and I had another shot at her.  Unfortunately I shot too low and only gathered a few hairs on the arrow.  Better luck next time I guess!

agronomygirl

Snapshot #11 - We Miss Our Mommy

Today a bunch of cute baby calves moved into the corral by our house.  They are letting everyone know that they miss their moms.  Sometimes we have to move away from our parents in order to grow up big and strong.  I know I have changed into a completely different person since the first time I left my home for college, and again when I left April 6th for the last time single.  The calves will soon realize that life goes on and new adventures are to come!  Some will have the joy of being a mother to a calf just like them and others will grow up to feed hungry people.  Pretty cool!

This hurts now, but the best is yet to come!

Moving away from parents, family, friends, and everything you have known is hard.  Sometimes it takes a drastic change to encourage someone to grow up and stand on their own.

I am learning to stand on my own.
After the pain of leaving everything you have known goes away, you forget the pain and remember the journey that brought you to where you are.  These calves will soon forget about leaving their moms and get to work in the next chapter of their lives, just like me.

agronomygirl

Snapshot #7 - Wheat Growing on the Farm

It has been a little over a month since I wrote about our wheat fields.  We caught a few rains since planting and I am pleased to show it is growing.  The field looks wonderful!

Wheat up close one month after planting
The wheat we plant in Kansas is winter wheat.  It is planted in the fall and harvested the following summer.  This wheat will begin to go dormant soon as the temperatures continue to decline.  Winter wheat needs to be cold enough for a certain amount of time to flower.  This is called vernalization.  Varieties have different vernalization requirements.  Some are just days and others are weeks long.  The temperature must be around 32 - 45 degrees F for this time period.

Another angle of wheat plants
In Kansas we usually don't have any problem hitting the requirement.  The biggest problem we have is if the weather changes fast and it gets too cold.  Right now the wheat is starting to harden (getting ready for the cold winter).  If the temperature drops suddenly, the plant would be in danger of freeze damage.

View from above of wheat on 11/7/2013
 Soon the wheat will be dormant to survive the winter.  When winter is over and the temperatures start to rise, dormancy will end.  At that point the wheat will start to grow and the flowering structures begin to develop.
View of field toward Kirwin

It seems like a different world just by turning around
As you can see, the wheat fields are looking green and lush!  Now we wait for spring and hope it rains when the wheat needs it.  Stay tuned for a new update on the wheat in the future!

Snapshot #6 - 3 Reasons I Love Redbeard                                                        Snapshot #8 - I Have a Fabric Addiction

agronomygirl

We Are Corny

Corn harvest will be over today!  (Big relief!!!!!)  All the soybeans and grain sorghum are cut and delivered to the grain elevator.  It is time to relax for a little bit.  I wanted to do a post about corn like I did with It's a Bean World Out There.

Corn rows lined up with the header as they come in to be harvested
We use a 12 row corn header.  Redbeard lines the sections on the corn header up with the rows of corn.  The plants enter into its own section and teeth grab the ear off the stalk.  The ear enters the combine and the trash flies out the back.  The grain piles up in the combine bin.
Corn being picked with one of the combines in the background

Corn unloading into the grain cart
Corn is used in a wide variety of products.  Products such as ethanol, plastic, toothpaste, makeup, shampoo, and diapers.  Food products like gum, salad dressing, yogurt, and milk contain corn components.  Corn products are everywhere!

Corn harvest is over for this year.  (Can I get a WooHoo!!!!!)  Harvest is a beautiful time of year, but sometimes it has gone on long enough.  Sometimes we act a little corny by the end of the season!

Source: 12 Surprising Products That Contain Corn http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ffhm45jfm/12-surprising-products-that-contain-corn/

agronomygirl

Meet Bowhunter Jessie!

It is official! I have joined the bowhunting world!  My obsession with bowhunting started when I was very young.  My dad and aunt have been bowhunters for a long time.  When I was little I would admire the deer that my dad shot with his bow.  I always wanted my own bow and dreamed of shooting my first bow killed deer.

Redbeard got a bow about nine months ago and that made me want one even more!  I never thought it would be possible for me to have an adult bow because I am so weak.  I figured I would have to be able to pull at least 45 pounds before I could get a bow.  A couple weeks ago, Redbeard started investigating my options.  Well...he found one!  I am now the proud owner of a Mission by Mathews Craze bow!  It can be adjusted from a 15 to 70 pound draw weight.  My starting draw weight is 35.5 pounds.  I was shocked that I could pull back that much weight.  My draw weight goal is 45 pounds.  Maybe one day I will get that strong!

My first bow!


Shooting my new bow!

A week and a half ago Redbeard and I went to Cabelas and found the ground blind that we will be using to hunt deer and turkey.  We are excited to get out in the elements and hunt!

We decided to see how the blind looked, so we set it up in the living room.

Scraggly decided to get in on the action!

The blind is ready for a hunt!

Can you see me?

I was really excited to check out the blind!

Hopefully I will be able to have a little bit of success this fall and winter!  

agronomygirl

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