Make Mine a Stiff One!

Ideas and deals to save you money

2010-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

I love a good deal! I have been told by more than one person, "you always find the good deals". So thought it might be a good subject to write about, and maybe save you a few bucks. Some of these may be more local than others, but most are not. Even though there are only 2 of us, I cook for 4-6 people, Allan eats A LOT, and we love leftovers. So, most of these ideas will work for your bigger family for the same price. I would also like to mention, that even though I work at Wal-Mart, and would love to support them, a deal is a deal, and I go where the deals are!

I will start with the basic, and then get into the "ideas" and recipes in a later blog.

Buy in bulk when at all possible! If you are a small family, find a friend and split things. I make a trip over to Corvallis about every4-6 weeks. I start at Grocery Outlet, I get a few odds and ends there, but the majority of my purchases here are frozen food, that is where the big savings are! The down side is that they always have different things, so that is why I start there, then if I don't find something, I will get it at the next stop. One of my favorites is an Orange Chicken mix, they also have it in BBQ, for $3.99, this makes a lot, and the directions are actually for 1/2 a bag. All you need to add is the rice. Pretty cheap way to feed the family, and it is very good. This is one thing I have been buying for years there, they always seem to have it. It is very quick to prepare, so I use it when I have a busy day, or people show up, and I need to cook extra food.

My next stop is Winco. They have all the other grocery stores beat on prices, and they have a great deli, bakery, and bulk bins. They have an amazing assortment of bulk items, from spices, baking items, nuts, cereals, sweets, dried fruit and trail mixes, beans and rice, to animals food and treats. The have a bread called 5 seed, that is about $3 less a loaf than the name brands, tastes the same, we buy about 10 loaves and freeze it. We also freeze up some of their yummy bagels, they freeze wonderfully. They have great deals on meat too, buy the family packs to save the most. Pork seems to be one of their the best deals, but it is all cheaper than I could get here in Lebanon.

So, even though I have to drive 35 minutes each way, I still save a ton, and make it worth the trip. I feed us for less than $200 a month, and that is with plenty left over. My cupboards and freezers are usually overflowing!

Happy shopping!

Muscovy Recipe

2010-11-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

So, I have been searching for an easy Muscovy recipe to try tonight. I took 4 of our young drakes in, and am anxious to try it. Out of all the recipes, I found this, by Julia Childs, I figure you can't go wrong with Julia! I hope it is good, would be nice to raise some of our food right here on the farm.

Slaughter or buy a Muscovy male (using a female is a waste) and PLUCK it. DO NOT use a skinned duck.
Take one or two oranges cut into 1/8s or 1/4s; stuff the pieces WITH the rind into the duck cavity.
Put the duck in the oven--you can use an oven bag--at 300 deg. F.
Mix one bag of cranberries with one can of concetrated of orange juice and about 1/2 cup of water in a pot on the stove--cook until its kinda slushy. Baste the duck with this sauce every so often--approximately 3-4 hours.
When serving, take the cranberry/orange sauce and put it in a dish to add to the duck.
Muscovy can be served medium rare.

Some hints...
If you are doing this yourself, don't bother with a female duck--it ain't worth it.
Use a duck that is at least 16 weeks or and only use males.
If you think there is some health benefit by using a skinned duck, forget all you have read and buy celery.

Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T08:58:00.001-07:00

Fall ducklings

2010-10-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

13 ducklings born yesterday, aint they cute???? They will be on their way to Florida Monday, funny that I would have an order from a state that is claiming to be overrun with Muscovy, and the driving force behind the new law to take effect in December. The law will prohibit owning Muscovy as pets, they can only be used for meat and eggs. Easy enough for us, as they are, but I feel very bad for those who have drakes as pets. Not sure how they plan on enforcing this law, or how it will effect our ability to ship and sell Muscovy. This could hurt as big time if they make it difficult or illegal. Lets hope not, crazy ducks are laying up a storm, don't they know it's almost Winter???

What's going on.

2010-10-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well, our new buck Happy is finally here from Texas! He looks good, and I am excited to see what he produces this coming Spring. Our Junior buck Tesla took 5 grands and a reserve grand at the 6 shows he was entered in. He and Happy are the same age, so it will be interesting to see who wins out next show season. I thought Tesla was a moose, Happy is quite a bit bigger! We are going to spread out kidding season this coming year, getting too many goats to do it all at once anymore, and the bucks are getting too big to be kept in adjoining pens when the does are in heat, so we had to try a new strategy this year, and bring them up in groups to a breeding pen away from the others. It was a big pain, but the only way I could see to get it done without my fences being torn apart.

Getcha Some, our Silky buck (long-haired fainter), will be up first, he bred Veronica, Layla, and Cattiwampus for Christmas time kids, that should be fun, a bit earlier than we usually start, but that just means less time for me to have to wait, and more time to spend with individual kids. Kidding season is my favorite time of year, and I can not wait! We have some exciting pairings this year, and expect our best crop so far. Everyone looks great and I expect to give those California girls a run for their money in the show ring next season :)

So many kids, so little time.

2010-03-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to blog everyday, but a hectic start to kidding have slowed me down. We lost 4 kids, had a few kidnappers, and a bottle baby, so time has been short. I will try to do better. Here are a few kids, and of course you can always see them all at our website.

Mojo

2010-01-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

A quick share, this is Mojo, born a few days ago. He is the first of many kids that will be born here in the next 2 weeks. His mother is a first timer, Ahart Acres Layla, she did an awesome job, and is very attentive to him, which makes me very happy! His dad is HbarH Getcha Some, aka "G", who is a long haired buck that we will be trying to get registered as a mini silky also. So, back to Mojo, what a doll baby, and look at those goat lips, which are my favorite part of the baby goat anyways, perfect black lipstick! I think he could be a member of KISS, eye patches and all! I did not think Kiss was a good buck name, and Gene or Ace are a bit too plain for me. Somehow Mojo popped into my head, and it seems to fit. I do love Austin Powers, yeah baby! So, will it be just Mojo, or Mr. Mojo Rising?

About Us.

2010-01-29T02:45:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, my first real Blog! I will start by telling you about us, and what we are all about.

We are Allan and Lisa, and we have a small hobby farm in Oregon. The majority of the time, I will be sharing stories and pictures of our fainting goats and other animals here at Ahart Acres in Sodaville, Oregon. But there is so much more to our lives, you just never know what I will be sharing! Family, friends, cooking, local events, trips, and of course the upcoming Oregon Fainting Goat Show in July.

Here are a few of the links, to get you familiar with things:

http://www.ahartacres.com
http://www.oregonfaintinggoatshow.com

I will end here, and think of my first topic...............until then.............................