Gooseberry Patch Giveaway!

Gooseberry Patch is having a blogging giveaway! Details are found on their blog.

So, here is my blog to enter the giveaway, because I love their cookbooks, and I'm all about getting something in a giveaway!!

Tonight I made Taco Soup from the book GBP Family Favorites.

I'm so happy to find so many recipes in my GBP collection that are diabetic friendly. Even without the nutritional breakdown, I can look at the ingredients and see right off if it is something I can eat. 

With this recipe, as with most things I cook, I did adjust it a bit for my own taste. I added about 1 cup of Dreamfields Pasta, which is diabetic friendly pasta. (YUM!)

Here is the recipe, it's a great one to share!

Taco Soup

15.25 oz. can whole kernal Mexican-style corn
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
1-1/2 cup chunky mild salsa
Cheddar cheese, shredded for garnish, if desired
(I added 1 cup pasta, optional)

Combine corn, beans, broth and salsa in a Dutch oven.  Cook over low heat until thoroughly heated.  Top with shredded cheese if desired.  Makes 7 cups.  *If pasta is used, heat soup to boiling, add pasta, cover and simmer until pasta is tender.

And as part of the GBP blog giveaway, I have pictures to include.  Since I'm taking the pictures myself, it was a bit tricky, so I had to get 2 pictures.

Taco Soup, from GBP Family Favorites, pictured

also with our Boeren Kaas Gouda. Recipe calls

for Cheddar, but I'm always experimenting

with our cheeses that we make.  The result

was delicious!

Me, with the cookbook and my serving of soup.

Since today was a snowy day, this was the perfect soup!!

Hope that everyone is staying safe and warm during this snowy time.  At least snowy here in our neck of the woods in southeast Ohio! Will be posting more snow pictures tomorrow! Finally got them off of my camera and on the computer. 

We have SNOW!!!

Friday into Saturday we got our fair share of snow! I'd say we had at least 12 inches or better, and they are calling for more tomorrow into Wednesday!
Emily and I took a walk on Saturday, but it was so hard to walk through snow that deep!
It's a beautiful snow, and it sticks to all the trees.  Sun peeking out today and it really is pretty!

Will be shipping out cheese orders tomorrow morning, hopefully before the next round of snow hits!

So, anyone in the Athens, OH or Dayton OH areas, please check out The Village Bakery and Dorothy Lane Market~Oakwood Store.  Lola's in Cleveland also ordered some of our Hill Folk that they use in some of their yummy dishes! You can find their webites and info on our cheese site!

Buckeye Grove Farm Cheese is now on Twitter!

I just started up an account on Twitter for our cheese.  I have the link to it posted on the side of my blog.  I haven't done any updates on Twitter yet, as I'm waiting for some followers to actually read them! lol

Looking forward to using this as another way to keep our customers up to date on what we are doing around here! We'll have lots of updates in about a month or so!

You can also go to https://twitter.com/buckeyecheese/

Quiet Winter Days

Sitting back with a hot bowl of chili with homemade cornbread. Mmm...it's good.  Such a dark, cloudy day. The perfect comfort food for a day like today. 

Spent last Friday morning at the hospital. Outpatient D&C surgery.  Never felt so sleepy as I did after I got home.  I crashed on the couch and snoozed! Emily snuggled up against me and she fell asleep.  Felt good to snuggle with her.  She says that she's my "snuggle bug".  Just love that girl!!

I missed the farm market, and I really had hoped to go, but didn't realize I would be so sore and sleepy.  Decided to take the drs. orders and rest. 

I have taken the time this week to get some of my "spring cleaning" started a little early.  Because for us, once spring is  here, there will be no time for house cleaning.  Starting next month we'll be making cheese again, and soon after cheese making begins, the hay starts to grow, cows need to be turned out to pasture, so that brings a lot of fence work and getting water lines checked and run to each stock tank.  I find that February is the best time of the year to dig into getting the house in order. 

Orders have started coming in for cheese for the month. Yay!  Glad I'm feeling pretty good now, so I can get busy on getting back to business.  I will be making my calls to our stores tomorrow.  For those who are in the Athens Ohio area, The Village Bakery ordered today, so they will be getting our cheese in by next week.  Lola's restaurant in Cleveland will also be making some really yummy dishes using our cheese. 

I'm looking forward to going to the farm market on Saturday.  I have MISSED everyone so much!  Along with selling cheese, I look at my time with customers and other vendors as my social time.  I shipped an order to one of our regular customers on Monday.  So glad she received it in good shape! Love meeing folks!

Getting back in gear to get some recipes put together and get our cookbook started and hopefully finished before fall.  I want to have some available before Christmas.  Good chance for me to test some of the recipes out! 

Now, I'm off to see what I can get into this evening.  I'm really wanting to get my sewing machine out that I received for Christmas and do some sewing....just not sure what to make first!

Winter Soup

I tossed this soup together without a recipe and it turned out really good.  And, it seems to be working well with my diabetes, so that's a bonus! 

Winter Soup

1 can (26.5 oz.) spaghetti sauce (I use the "no added sugar")

4 cups water

1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

1 cup pasta (I use Dreamfields brand pasta)

1 lb. ground sausage, browned and drained

Mix sauce, water, mushrooms and tomatoes in large saucepan  Add sausage after it has been browned and drained. Bring to a boil and add uncooked pasta, allow to boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until pasta is tender.

Sprinkle each serving with Parmesean cheese.

One Day At A Time

That's how I'm moving.  I feel good, considering.  Glad I took the weekend to just be sad and rest. And while I'm still sad and disappointed, I am thankful that I am able to look at it as a blessing. 
I'm still waiting to hear from the doctors office, which they won't call until tomorrow to set up the appointment at the hospital. 

Emily and I took some time together yesterday morning, and it was FUN! I had to go to Woodsfield anyway to the bank and put some gas in the van, for the trip to Marietta later.  We stopped at our favorite gift shop, Pat's Gift Shoppe, I think there is 16 rooms full of beautiful things.  We looked through each room, and each thing.  She found a Valentine teddy bear in the discount room, which is my favorite room to look through, after I check out their Gooseberry Patch cookbook display.  Was disappointed that the newest books are not in yet, but it was just as well, I didn't have enough money on me! :) Will keep checking on that.  After we shopped around there, we went to our next favorite place to go, the library.  We have our routine, she picks out 2 or 3 books, then we look at videos, then mommy is allowed to find some books.  Emily sits on the stool in the cookbook section and looks at one of her books while I look for my books.  It seems to work pretty good too.

Tax time is here.  We'll be digging out all of our tax stuff and that will be what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks or so.  Hoping the tax books don't take over our kitchen table like the cattle books have done right now.  Seems like our office expands to the kitchen.  I'm not looking forward to working on taxes this year.  Adding the cheese business to the already chaotic farm books has been less than easy.  May take a couple more years, but I'll get it all figured out.

Only about 2 months until we start making cheese.  I'm looking forward to it, for different reasons, 1. I enjoy making cheese, just wish my feet enjoyed it as much! 2. It means spring is on it's way! 3. Gets me out of the house and moving around.   Still hoping to add one more cheese, but as it is right now, we are going to have to really work hard to get the shelves in our cooler filled up.  Cheese is moving really well! 

Cows are all done with the herd certification for another year.  Always feels good after it is done.  Waiting for paperwork is all we have to do now.  Got our dry cows moved into the "upper barn".  In about 2 weeks through April we will be busy with babies!  Had one cow calve a week ago.  We bred her with beef semen, so we have a huge baby bull calf out of a Belgium Blue.  They grow and put weight on fast!  Mama cow is a bit wore out, but she's perking up now.  It was cold when she calved.  They seem to like to do that when the temps. fall down below 20.  We're making up a list of heifers and milk cows for sale this spring, or sooner.  Have had several folks contacting us for some animals.  So if anyone is interested in cattle, just let us know.  All ages and stages of lactation.

I found a couple of good diabetic cookbooks at the library yesterday.  I'm anxious to try something out for lunch, I just don't know what yet.  Watching what I eat, insulin and some exercise is really working well.  My morning fasting glucose this morning was 96, and even though my target number is 90 or less, I'm happy with my 96.  I looked back on my book that I keep track with, and less than 2 weeks ago my fasting glucose was 202.  I'm amazed at the energy I have, and I feel so positive and good.  I'll post some of the good recipes that I've tried.  I've found some really good ones, and even a dessert! 

Today we have snow and ice.  I want to take a walk later, and take my camera.  I didn't do that with the last snow because the temperatures dropped in the teens with a -0 windchill.  It's cold today, but I think it will be tolerable for a short walk.  Until we take that walk, today will be a busy laundry day! :)

Saying Goodbye....

I now have 2 babies that I have never had the chance to hold. 
We were told on Thursday, after looking at the ultrasound, that the baby did not
grow past 6 weeks, and the heart stopped. 

So, here at home I've been since Thursday, for the most part, sitting in my
pj's and not up to going out and about. 

I skipped the farm market yesterday.  I do apologize to my customers.  I just
could not make myself spend the day "business as usual".

My D&C was scheduled for tomorrow morning at 6 am.  I am rescheduling because there
is no way in the world I will be able to make the appt. at that time.  I want Al with me,
but those cows still have to be milked.  That's our reality, dairy business goes on.  Plus,
I would have to pull out of here no later than 4 am. 

And, maybe I'm just dragging my feet about the appt.  I want to be ready, not make the
appt. in a hurried way.  The news was so sudden, and I don't think I was even to myself when
they made the appt.  Now, I'm a little clearer, and have some questions to ask regarding it.

Emily is understanding very well.  I'm so glad we chose to tell her about the baby.  She would be
very scared at my hospital visit this week if she did not know why.  She told me that she
would take care of me. 

I will be going to an Endocrinologist (sp????).  The appt. for that is April 2.  Such a ways off!
It will be good to be with a specialist regarding my diabetes.  Thankfully my numbers are
heading in the right direction, and consistently.  I will make that the positive of the sadness.