Say Yes to Broccoli Salad

I recently tried a Broccoli Salad recipe that I threw together with ingredients that I already had at my house. I could probably eat this EVERYDAY, it's so good! Not only is it healthy for you, it's also very easy to make. I normally make enough of it to ensure that I will have remaining salad the next day for lunch....so good! The photo above is of my leftovers for lunch. Broccoli Salad Steam or blanch one or two pounds of broccoli, so that it's still crunchy (not soft). Drain. Chop up into bite size pieces and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, add in golden raisins, and bacon crumbles. It's also really tasty with slivered almonds or some feta cheese as well. Mix all together with poppy seed dressing. Poppy Seed Dressing Ingredients 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup nonfat sour cream 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds, toasted (see Tip) 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar Preparation 1.Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, honey, lemon juice, vinegar and poppy seeds in a small bowl until smooth. Tips & Notes Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Tip: To toast poppy seeds: Place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Happy Tuesday! Pin It

Why Do Bulls Terrify Me? - Just Look At Him! & Apple Bacon Pancakes

Holstein bulls and cows are the most popular breed of cattle in the world. They were first bred in The Netherlands and then brought to America in 1857. Holsteins are known for their amazing milk-producing ability. We normally have one or two Holstein bulls on the ranch. This one is taking care of his 'harem', the heifers. A bull's primary job is to breed heifers and cows. He's a busy boy! On the ranch we also artificially inseminate cows, when I say we, I mean Dominic and my father in law, George and that process, I'll save for another blog post. I will not go into the pasture if the bull is anywhere near. He terrifies me, just look at him........They can become very protective of their girls. All cows and bulls have 4 digestive compartments. The first compartment (stomach) is called the rumen. The rumen holds up to 50 gallons of partially digested food. While grazing good bacteria in the rumen helps digest the cows food by breaking it down which then provides protein for the cow. After the food is processed and softened in the rumen, it is regurgitated. This regurgitated substance is called the cud and is chewed again. Most cows chew at least 50 times per minute. The chewed cud is then swallowed and goes directly to the second chamber called the reticulum. This compartment is often called the hardware stomach because if the cow accidentally eats hardware (like a piece of fencing scrap), it will often lodge here causing no further damage. In the reticulum additional digesting occurs with the help of the good bacteria before the food is passed to the third compartment or omasum. Digestion continues in this compartment were more nutrients are removed. Finally in the last compartment, the abomasums, the digestion process continues much in the same way our stomachs digest food. The four stomachs and the intestine of the cow are covered with thousands of blood vessels. During the digestion process the liquid nutrients, which are chemically produced by the digestion process are transferred to the blood stream. Any waste material is filtered out of the blood by the kidneys and the nutrient-rich blood moves to the veins of the udder. As the blood passes through the veins of the udder, mammary glands remove the nutrients, fat, and other valuable life-sustaining elements and store them as milk in the udder itself. An estimated 500 gallons of blood must pass through the udder to make one gallon of milk. The milk is then removed from the udder either by a calf or the dairy farmer. It take approximately 340-350 squirts from a cow's teats to make a gallon of milk. Apple-Bacon Pancakes with Cider Syrup If you like apple pancakes and you like bacon, you’ll love the taste of these sweet, smoky pancakes. All these wonderful flavors rolled into one. Any kind of apple works well. A quick cider syrup drizzled on top enhances the apple flavor. Ingredients 1/2 cup apple cider 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar, divided 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 large egg 1 large egg white 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk 1 medium apple, peeled and finely diced, (about 1 cup) 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 teaspoon canola oil, divided Preparation 1.Combine cider, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking, and cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside. 2.Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar in a small bowl. Whisk egg, egg white and buttermilk in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients, apples and bacon until just combined. (The batter will be thick.) 3.Brush a large nonstick skillet with 1/2 teaspoon oil and place over medium heat until hot. Cooking 4 at a time, use about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and gently spread it to make them about 3 inches in diameter. Cook until the edges are dry and bubbles begin to form, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining oil and batter, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent burning. Reheat the cider syrup, if desired, and serve with the pancakes. Tips & Notes Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the syrup (Step 1) for up to 1 week. Reheat on low before serving. Nutrition Per serving: 256 calories; 6 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 63 mg cholesterol; 40 g carbohydrates; 9 g protein; 2 g fiber; 465 mg sodium; 165 mg potassium. 3 Carbohydrate Serving

What's your favorite Saturday morning breakfast?

Happy Friday! Cheers! Pin It

The Day We Had....

Driving Bryce to school this morning, I snapped a photo of the Happy Heifers on the hill behind our house. I just thought it was a beautiful scene with the little bit of fog.... Paige is on 'Ski Week Break' this week from preschool (because so many preschooler go skiing right?) So, we had a Starbucks date and made a Costco run... It was only fair since last week when Bryce had President's Day off and Paige was in preschool, we had a breakfast date at Stars Restaurant...... After Costco today, Paige and I headed home for lunch. Paige had toast with a hard boiled egg (we cooked a new batch with the Egg Genie) and I pulled out one of the frozen Sweet Potato Burritos I made and had stored in the freezer. They are so good! This is the first one I've had after being frozen.....easy to microwave (about 4 minutes) and so healthy and filling. I will definitely make another batch to store in the freezer for easy lunches or dinners. In the afternoon, we headed down to the milk barn. Bryce and Paige sweeping up the dirt in the yard.... Bryce found a ladybug...... Then off to the calf barn to feed..... And clean.... For dinner, frozen salmon burger patties, from Costco (they don't look very appetizing but they were good) sprinkled with a little brown sugar and baked at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, served with risotto and peas..... Happy Wednesday! Pin It