cooking

Two Ways to Thaw Frozen Meat

Two Ways to Thaw Frozen Meat

If you’re new to buying meat from us or another local farmer, you may not be familiar with purchasing frozen meat.

Since all of our meat is frozen, our goal is to help you feel confident in thawing meat from us in a way that does not compromise the quality or food safety of the meat.

The nice thing about buying meat from a local farm like us is that the meat was most likely vacuum sealed and frozen directly after butchering, which is perfect for freezer storage and will remain top quality in the freezer (at zero degrees) for at least a year and food safe indefinitely.

Meat purchased from the grocery store was likely butchered, frozen for storage and transit, and then thawed to display at the store. This is why grocery store meat doesn’t last long once purchased.

However, once you thaw meat from our farm, it’s good in the fridge (below 40 degrees) for up to a week!

Let’s dig into the two ways we’d recommend that you thaw your meat.

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Simple Nourishing Bone Broth

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Simple Nourishing Bone Broth

If you’re like me, you value nutrition, taste and ease when it comes to what you eat and bone broth is the key to all of these things in our home.

Whether you’re throwing a quick pot of rice together, preparing a nourishing soup, or you simply want to enjoy a nutritious warm drink to start your day, bone broth has completely revolutionized our kitchen and our bellies.

In this blog post, I’ll share some of the health benefits of bone broth, how I love to make it (don’t worry, I keep it simple!), and some of our family’s favorite ways to cook with it.

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Cast Iron Lard Biscuits

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Cast Iron Lard Biscuits

I had never been a huge biscuit person until recently. These are melt-in-your-mouth, flaky, buttery, savory and pure deliciousness.

These biscuits, made with our lard, are amazing with apple butter, jam, sausage patties, or for an epic breakfast sandwich. They come together quickly and are simple to make. Enjoy!

Lard Vs. Leaf Lard

Lard Vs. Leaf Lard

If you were to ask me the difference between leaf lard and regular lard 2 years ago, I would have had no idea how to answer. I didn’t even know what lard was before raising pigs. I thought it was the same thing as crisco!

I’ve learned a lot these last few years, especially when it comes to honoring the whole animal we’ve work so hard to raise well. I’m still learning daily.

One of the things that heritage breed pigs raised outside tend to have a lot of is fat and once rendered down, is called lard. From a pig, you can get both regular lard and leaf lard. Read more to learn the difference!

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A Farmers Guide to a Perfect Roast Turkey

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A Farmers Guide to a Perfect Roast Turkey

You’ve made your Thanksgiving plans, reserved your turkey fresh from our farm and now you’re anticipating a wonderful meal with those you love.

This turkey was raised the way God intended - enjoying fresh grass, bugs and lots of sunshine.

You will love knowing where your food comes from and your taste buds will too.

Whether you’re confident in the kitchen or just starting to dip your toes into cooking, we hope this step-by-step guide will be helpful for you.

Stretch Your Food Dollars with this Ham, Bean & Veggie Soup

Stretch Your Food Dollars with this Ham, Bean & Veggie Soup

Now that we are a couple weeks into fall, I’m getting excited for all the soups and broths.

Soups are cozy, easy to make, and usually utilize the more inexpensive cuts like chicken broth bones, pork neck bones, or like in this recipe, ham hocks.

The hock is basically the very bottom of the leg bone where the foot is attached. It’s a lot of skin and fat with a bit of meat so a lot of butchers have these smoked & cured to add flavor and a bit of meat to beans, broths and soups.

This soup comes out to just over $2 per serving and then I usually serve with some yummy toasted and buttered bread or a grilled cheese.

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Homemade Chicken Ramen Soup

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Homemade Chicken Ramen Soup

It’s soup season! And this is one of the most cozy, filling and nourishing soups I’ve had yet.

My sweet friend Kathryn that helps us so much with the farm and our kiddos inspired us to try this. She is an amazing cook! So I got all the ingredients one day that she was coming over and she walked me thru it. I remember that afternoon leaving the kitchen a disastrous mess, because all we wanted to do was sit and enjoy every bite and sip of this soup.

Use this as sort of a fridge dump soup with leftover veggies you may have! Hope you enjoy this as much as we did :)

Cooking with Bone Broth

Cooking with Bone Broth

I had written a blog here on our website a few years back all about the health benefits of bone broth, how to make it and some simple ways to use it. I wanted to write up a separate blog to expand specifically on how we use bone broth, because it has honestly become a staple in our kitchen. It’s something I always like to keep on hand for daily cooking and sipping.

Back to School Quick & Easy Dinners for the Week

Back to School Quick & Easy Dinners for the Week

I know the weeks when school starts back can be stressful and chaotic as you adjust to a new normal. I wanted to create a meal plan of simple, yummy and quick recipes for that first week back to help make the transition as smooth as possible for you, mama!

Plus, we curated a bundle straight from the farm that provides all your protein needs for this meal plan thru the month of August. Recipes include crockpot tacos, sausage alfredo garden pasta, and more!

Never Eat a Dry Pork Chop Again

Never Eat a Dry Pork Chop Again

You know what I’m talking about….the pork chop you have to slather gravy over or need to chew for minutes before swallowing. I grew up thinking pork chops were tasteless, tough and dry. I honestly wasn’t that excited to try ours when we harvested our first pork, because I was expecting the same thing.

BUT then I learned how to cook pork chops well. That paired with the flavor and wonderful fat content of our pigs made for the most delicious pork chops I’ve ever had.

Read more to learn my simple tips for the perfect pork chop…

Cooking With Grass-Fed Beef

Cooking With Grass-Fed Beef

It can be intimidating to cook with grass-fed beef, I’ve been there! Grass-fed beef tends to be leaner than other beef you may have cooked, but not to worry, it just needs to be prepped and cooked a little differently to ensure a delicious final product!

Read more to learn about our friends at Piney Woods Farm, who we currently partner with to provide y’all with beef until we have our own and learn some of our favorite cooking tips!

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