Turkey Beards, Kale Chips and Does a Baby Shit in the Woods?

Heritage breed "Beltsville Small White" Vinnie

So, I was holding my Turkey Vinnie today (yes I am aware that that sounds super weird, they are lovely creatures and quite smart and friendly and make great pets) to show one of the kids friends how friendly they are, the air he holds in his chest to look all big and how when you press on his chest and the air is pushed out he sounds like a horn, the skin under his chin is a wadle, the long skin on his nose is a snood etc..
Then I noticed something on Vinnie's chest, it felt like a burr so I asked my 6 year old Theo to pull it off, but when we looked closer it was attached and looked like a clump of very hard wire like feathers growing from the centre of his chest. I was worried he had a growth so I rushed to the house asking if anyone had heard of this! my brother in law quickly googled and found out it is his "Beard" and only the most handsome Toms get them and they can grow quite long. learn something new every day;)

A picture of Beltsville Small White with a prominent "beard"

Turkey Fun Fact:

Turkeys are the only birds that reproduce a sexually, AKA parthenogenic. Ok, that means they can have fertile eggs without a Man around, but they will only have boys! Crazy!

A specific line of hens was discovered and developed to lay eggs which will hatch into clone "sons" since in birds the female is XY and males XX. Which is the opposite of us mammals.
   
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as the USA bird but the bald eagle won the vote.... I think the turkey would have gone over well?



Kale Chips:

We grew Kale in our garden this year for the first time. It grows like a weed, and we love Kale so this is a good thing! I have heard about how amazing the Kale chips taste so I decided to experiment. Well, good thing I did because I have now found my new addiction, and it's a healthy one!

Pre-heat oven to 300 degree celcius
Bunch of Kale with the heart removed to leave the green leaves only no center.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Sherry or Wine Vinegar
Pinch Sea Salt 
Mix in a small bowl to help disolve salt.

Coat the leaves completely with the mixture, use your hands in a bowl or shake in a bag.
Place on cookie trays
Cook for 35 minutes

Spicy Kale Chips:

Add a dash of Tobasco Sauce or Cayenne Pepper to the mix


Kale Nutritional Facts:
"One of the healthiest vegetable around"
-Cholesterol Lowering benefits
-Risk-lowering benefits for cancer
-detoxifying power
-at least 45 different Flavanoids in Kale which provide ANTI-INFLAMMATORY and anti-Oxidant benefits
 1 cup of cooked Kale equals:
Nutrient                                   %Daily Value
vitamin K1327.6%
vitamin A354.1%
vitamin C88.8%
manganese27%
fiber10.4%
copper10%
tryptophan9.3%
calcium9.3%
vitamin B69%
potassium8.4%
iron6.5%
magnesium5.8%
vitamin E5.5%
omega-3 fats5.4%
vitamin B25.2%
protein4.9%
vitamin B14.6%
folate4.2%
phosphorus
3.6%

vitamin B33.2%
Calories (36)2%

THATS AMAZING!

Great site to get more info on how awesome Kale is:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38



Poop:

We recently went berry picking which took us about 2 hours. Well, my 3 year old had to "poop"... this is a farm, with no washroom, and I didnt happen to have a potty, or extra clothes for her in case I told her to hold it and she couldnt.
SO, what do ya do! Well, baby had to shit in the woods! She did very well, she could have cared less and a nice doggy poop bag cleaned everything up so as not to leave our "poop" print on mother earth;)

Free Range and Free Range, Kids Meals and Crazy

As I was out this morning letting our chicks out into the field I looked across at our dog Ruby guarding them and thought how this is what the true definition of "free Range" should be!

Our chickens are out from dusk till dawn roaming in the grass field, only put in at night for safety from predators. So much room so that you can hardly see that there are over 40 in this picture alone!

Ruby guarding the flock

Maeve with Blue

I sat with my favourite one named Blue, my dad and then Maeve when she woke up to come out for awhile. It was so peaceful and calming, it was in that moment so very glad and proud of our decision to raise our own.

As we were talking I decided to write a post on the topic of what "Free Range" meant in the farming industry and this is what I found.

Free Range

The term “free range” has not been legally defined in either Canada or the U.S. but generally, it refers to poultry that has been permitted to graze or forage outdoors. Since there is no hard and fast definition of this term, speaking to your butcher or grocer about what exactly is meant by free range, especially when buying chicken in the winter or early spring as chickens cannot be raised outdoors in most Canadian winters is the only way to know for sure.

Free Run

Free run is different than free range in that chickens do not necessarily need to be raised outside but they are required to be able to move around freely within the barn. Though there is no legal definition of this, all chickens raised for meat in Canada are considered free run.

Chickens not kept in cages are often housed in shelters where the floor doubles as a giant litter box. As a result, hens have direct contact with bacteria and microorganisms that grow in the litter, which can greatly increase health risks, said the study, available on BioMed Central's journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica.

Grain Fed

This term is typically just used for marketing purposes. Chicken labeled as “grain fed” is stating the obvious, though some brands boast special types of grain, such as vegetarian grain.

  

Free range Chickens

Basically the laws/regulations surrounding Free Range/Free Run are non existant. Meaning, chickens can be raised on a poop (POOP!) covered field of dirt in cramped quarters and boastully advertise "Free Range!"

Not only does a grass fed truly free range chickens and eggs taste better! They live the life most of us dream of.
The nutritional value is uncomparable to any other as well, the average free range egg results showed:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
• 21 times more omega-3 fatty acid

Keep in mind that these eggs were from hens that are considered legitimately free range. They spend all or most of their lives outdoors, roosting in trees if they choose, eating bugs, grass, running and "attempting" to fly;)

A picture of what eggs look like in comparison

Kids Meals:

We had dinner the other night and thought I'd write a post on what our munchkins eat on a regular day.

Our kids tend to like veggies not cooked, which is a better way to eat them anyway so we just let them!

We always give them a reasonable portion so it doesnt look so overwhelming to them

-Spinach Salad
-Red boiled Potato
-Raw Carrotts and Broccolli
-Steamed Brussel Sprout and Kale from the garden
-Chicken -the kids get the dark meat because of the nutritional content and they like the moist texture much better.
Chicken provides:
*Protein, magnesium, phosphorus, niacin, choline,calcium, iron and potassium
*Chicken dark meat has more B vitamins, iron, and zinc than their lighter counterparts and 3X the amount of vitamin A!
*Dark meat is an excellent source of the antioxidant seleniumWe have a few mealtime rules;

1: You must try everything on your plate if you dont like it you can spit it in the garbage, this goes for every meal so if they tried red pepper yesterday, they try it again today! It has shown to work at expanding their palate as taste budds change so rapidly in children. The average adult has about 10,000 taste buds, and they die with age so it is only known that children have many more then the average adult.


2: No complaining! About what you DON'T want on your plate. I was getting sick of hearing "I don't want that and that and that" so this has become our rule, eat what you do want and we will talk about the rest at the end of the meal. By the end of the meal almost all the foods gone and no more negative complaining at meal time! Worked like a charm!

POOP!

I don't have a poop comment this time but a cute little thing my 6 year old said about being "crazy"...

My 67 year old father is a man of his time. By this I mean crazy. He thinks it's ok for a 4 year old to walk to school on his own 5 miles and own a BB Gun and pocket knife in order to make him a man type of crazy.

So we are always telling the kids "Puppa's crazy" in a funny cute (secretly serious) way so they understand that sometimes he makes somewhat unsafe decisions and to always use your own better judgement when hanging out with him.

One day my mother told him Puppa was crazy and he said "yeah, but crazy is fun!" A matter of fact like. Puppa was very proud of his Theo and chuckled to himself.

Cows, Kale Soup and Llama Spit!

My 2 year old daughter chowing down on her favourite soup at lunch time.
We leave out a tray of fruits and veggies for the kids to much on as they please and it's always gone by end of the day!

Kale, Leek & Mushroom Soup:
-Bunch of Kale
-3 large Leeks
-1 Shitake
-2 cups of Button and Cremini Mushrooms
-8 cups of strong Chicken Stock (MSG & Gluten free) we make our own.
-2 Tbsp Olive oil
-Salt & Pepper
-dash Cayenne Pepper
Pre sear in the Olive Oil the Kale, Leeks, and Mushrooms each separately with salt and pepper before adding to the stock and cayenne.
Let simmer for about an hour and your all set!!

Food Facts:
Kale: Not only is anti-inflammatory but antioxidant as well! It is very high is vit A & C and provides iron and calcium. An amazing veg! Check out it's stats!
• Vitamin K (Very high %DV over a 1000%)
• High in carotenoids (antioxidant)
• Vitamin A (190 %DV)
• Vitamin E & C (antioxidants) (Vitamin C 80% DV)
• Vitamin B-1, B-2, B-3,and Folate
• Manganese, copper, calcium. potassium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus
• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Protein ( 7% of DV)
• Tryptophan
Leeks: Anti-inflammatory and antiseptic high in
Mushrooms: Great source of vitmain B's, iron, anti-inflammatory, antioxidantm antibacterial pretty much anti anything!!

Fifi our Galloway Cow and Rosie our Tamworth Pig behind her.

I was talking to the man who we are getting our 2 meat cows from today on the phone and telling him about our place, he is a bird expert and well known in the farming community. I continued to tell him about my favorite chicken Moe, and how she sits and has coffee w my mom every morning. He said he was surprised we drank coffee because it sure didnt sound like I needed anymore energy and that because we were "back to the land" people that we would make our own tea etc... Caught me off guard but got me thinkin.. Could we make our own Tea??


Farm Facts: Did you know that some cows are neither male nor female! Yup, the farm term is Free Martin which just means hemaphrodite. My sister was trying to figure that one out with our little cow Fiona. We plan to make her a momma this fall so we kinda need to know whats shes made of;)
More cool cow facts:
-90% of wild Bison have cow blood from cross breedings done by the pioneers, aka Beefallo;)
-Bull semen is SO potent that it is diluted to 1/200 for insemination purposes! When you puirchase the semen to get your cow preggers you get them in "straws"...It's just that simple!
-The Holstein dairy cow is the most inbred of all agricultural animals, the second of all domestic animals, the first is research rodents.....


Poop: Llama spit smells worse then poop! I know because I was at a petting farm with my hilarious aunt one time and she was, what seemed to be , getting along really well with the Llama! Until she ran up to me yelling he spit on her and her face smelt like poop!
Lesson learnt, no Llamas for the farm...

Spring is Here! Easter Eggs & Dinner

Spring is Here!

Easter Eggs:

This one was named Bob

The chicks hatched over the easter weekend. It was amazing to watch the kids get so excited to watch the process from the time they "pipped"(once the chick picks it's first little hole) to the full hatch and fluff up. They pip around in a circle on the inside of the egg through the membrane then a little hole through the shell and pop, literally some of them popped right through while we were watching! My 2 year old daughter was jumping and clapping her hands. 9 chicks hatched and each grandkid was able to name one and see it grow from the time we started the incubator to the cuteness in the picture below:)

Farm Facts:
While the kids were in music class I was talking to the owner about our farm. I love our conversations and he is a valued customer of ours too! He had a question about chickens and said he thought it might sound dumb and apologized for his ignorance (which I think is hilarious because I have had this question before and when I corrected them the person said I didnt know what i was talking about..)


He thought that in order to have a chicken lay eggs you needed a rooster. You do not need a rooster to have a chicken lay eggs, you only need a rooster if you want fertilized eggs. Just like in Humans! When I put it that way almost always I get an "aha!" Again, I've had this one come up many times in my life!


NO farm question is dumb, lemme tell ya!


Dinner:
For Easter dinner we had 35 people for a sit down dinner.

This is the Buffet

All gluten free except the yorkshire pudding top left.

The only items I did not eat were the mash potatoes, processed meat and pepper salad due to the fact that they are inflammatory foods.

This is my plate

Clockwise starting at top:

Home made Ceasar Salad (no croutons), Broccolli/Cauliflower salad, Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, Our own Pork, Beef with gravy and horseradish, Garlic Shrimp

Yes, ALL Gluten Free and anti-inflammatory!

I stuck to the 80-20 rule when it came to the meat, I eat very little because of the saturated fats and inflammatory properties but only eat our own home raised or organic practice/free range meats.  

Food Facts:

Broccoli, Romaine Lettuce, Green Peas are anti-inflammatory

Cauliflower is anti-inflammatory and high in vit K

Carrots, Sweet Potatoes are anti-inflammatory and high in Beta Carotene and Vit A

Brussel Sprouts are anti-inflammatory and HIGH in Vit K, C Omega 3

Shrimp are anti-inflammatory and high in Vit D and Omega 3

Organic practice free range meat has more Omega 3 and less Saturated fats then feed lot and grain fed meats.

(Great site for anti-inflammatory foods to avoid http://theconsciouslife.com/top-10-inflammatory-foods-to-avoid.htm)

Poop:

We had a discussion at dinner that I just can't share with you all online this week, along the lines of how a man surgically becomes a woman, and yes, it was my 67 year old father that went into detail about the medical procedure of the whole process while we were chewing on our meat...you'll just have to come for dinner for the details!!

Sweet and Sour Stirfry on Mixed Rice

This is one of my favourite dishes.

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup gluten free Tamarisoy sauce

2 teaspoons ginger spice

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips

boiled shrimp

1 tablespoon olive oil

Thicken sauce with Corn Starch or Gluten Free Flour

Cook chicken in oil salt and pepper until cooked through, add mixed vegetables (We add what we have around, today it was asparagus, broccoli, mixed mushrooms and snap peas), shrimp and sauce (all the ingredients mixed together) for approx 10 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Thicken if you want, I love a nice thick sauce on my rice personally.

For the rice I buy the Delrose mixed rice at Costco, it's white, brown, basmati, wild and red rice and I add extra jasmine to the mix. 

POOP:

12 people today for dinner and there was no poop talk at the table! There was gas talk along the lines of "don't get behind a 67 year old man in a furnace room... closest to death I've ever felt" according to my sister.  

The First Blog!

The general idea:I originally decided to write a blog because I had so many people asking me to tell them stories of life in the "big house".... The "big house" meaning my families farm home that my husband (it was mostly his idea) and I moved back into in early 2010 along with our 3 young children.
When he first came to me about the idea I thought he was nuts! We have been together since we were 15 years old, a total of 19 years! He knows my crazy family well! Now he wants to move in with them?

The name "Dinner and Poop" came from two things. "Dinner" because we have dinner everyday as a family and any given day we can have anywhere from 9 to 30 people for dinner, "Poop" comes from the conversations had at those dinners whether its from one of the 8 kidlets or just farm talk, one way or another poop is brought up, at the table no less, at least once!

Another reason to start my blog is because I have been Gluten Free for over a year now. I have had alot of people, yet again (not the same people!), asking about my Gluten Free journey over the past year so it gives me another great passion to share with others.

 SO... Each blog I plan to post a picture of the dinner w recipes and a funny story, usually involving poop, advice, ideas, something learned etc..

Hope you all enjoy!!

Sincerely,
Nat:)