Our Move to Clover Stornetta

At one time, there were 200 dairies in all of Marin County.  That was 64 years ago in 1950. Today, Marin County has dwindled down to 27 dairies.  Our family farm, George Grossi & Son Dairy, is one of the remaining few but not without a lot of sacrifice and love for dairy farming and the lifestyle that comes with it. Like many of the remaining dairies in our area,  a few of the adjustments we've had to make over the years include building new free-stall barns and updating our calf barn to help contain all manure produced here on the farm, year-round and to keep up with the ever-changing and stringent water and air quality regulations.

An important factor in our continuance as operating as a working dairy farm, was the decision to join the Clover Stornetta family. With no end in sight to high feed costs, being accepted by Clover Stornetta and joining Clover in the spring of 2012, was a much needed and welcome step for us.

Clover Stornetta was founded in the 1970's.  As a multi-family run operation, they see the value and importance of locally produced milk.  By collecting milk from dairies in Marin and Sonoma counties, they are able to process the milk quickly after receiving it at their creamery and processing plant located just 12 miles to our north, in Petaluma, CA.

As a Clover Stornetta family dairy, we are required to pass the American Humane Certification and maintain that certification for as long as we are a member of Clover . Clover also created the North Coast Excellence Program, which requires its producing dairies to maintain very high quality standards of milk.

It's been almost two years now, since becoming part of the Clover Stornetta family and I wanted to share with you, our change.  If you're local and drink Clover Stornetta Milk or are eating Clover Stornetta butter, yogurt, cheese or ice cream, know that it's coming from our family farm.

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Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whole {raw} Milk Fresh From the Dairy

With the holidays bringing seasonal flavors and scents and if you've been a frequent reader here, you know how much I LOVE all things pumpkin.  Starbucks makes a great pumpkin spice latte but the Starbucks in my area move onto Gingerbread and Peppermint lattes as soon as they can and pumpkin spice is no longer available after Thanksgiving.  So I thought I would try and recreate my own pumpkin spice latte at home.

I began with one cup of whole {raw} milk.  Now of course you can use 2% or nonfat milk but I use what we have on hand and that's whole {raw} milk.  And now that my kids are old enough for me to feel comfortable enough to feed them raw milk, it's what we drink. 

Heat it up the milk until it's hot.  I used the microwave.

For my recipe, I used a dash of French Vanilla creamer and some pumpkin pie spice.

And if you don't own one of these Aerolatte tools, you might want to ask Santa for one, because in the long run, it'll save you lots of $$ if you're a frequent visitor to Starbucks.

After you've heated the milk, use the Aerolatte, until the milk is nice and foamy.  The Aeorlatte is battery operated whisk which froths up your milk in no time......no need for an expensive espresso maker and steamer.

Add your one cup of milk to one cup of your favorite coffee, add a dash of the French Vanilla creamer and top with the pumpkin pie spice.    There you go!  I'll still go to Starbucks when I'm on the go, but for a special treat at home, I'll be putting my aerolatte to use.  Now, I wonder if I can find Gingerbread spice?  Is there such a thing?

I can honestly say, that I enjoyed my homemade version more than the Starbucks version.  Maybe it's the use of the whole milk compared to the 2% I normally order.  Mmmm, so creamy and sweet with a touch of pumpkin spice.  Such a treat.

Related Posts you may enjoy:
Everything Pumpkin
Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Happy Tuesday!

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Is All Milk At The Grocery Store Local To You?

Last week when I was at my Healthy Cooking Group meeting, the subject came up about buying local milk and what dairy products are local to our area.  For us here, in northern California, most of the milk bought at the grocery store is local to our area.

For instance, our milk, here on the ranch, is picked up once a day by our Cooperative, DFA (Dairy Farmers Of America). DFA then markets the milk to a number of different processors such as, Sunnyside, Berkeley Farms & LePrino Cheese. DFA also owns a cheese plant in Hughson, CA. Each processor packages the milk into their own label......many different labels, same milk.

I added  a tool called "Find Out Where Your Milk Is From"on my side bar to the right under "Favorite Sites"that I came across a while back that lets you know where the dairy product you're buying is processed.  This will work for dairy products nation wide.

The less milk has to travel, the better, in my opinion.  Luckily for us here in California, there are quite a few dairies and most of the milk found at the store is local to us......from Sunnyside, Lucerne, Clover, Redwood and many more.  A question came up, "Is Horizon Milk local?"  I wasn't sure of the answer, but had to find out.  Dominic thought  the  milk was from Idaho but wasn't 100% sure so I googled it and according to Wikipedia:

" Horizon produces organic milk on a 4,000-cow dairy in Idaho and a 500-cow dairy in Maryland. The company and also purchases organic milk from smaller dairies."

This peaked my curiosity so when I went grocery shopping this morning, I snapped a photo of Horizon milk and punched the code in when I got home.

The Horizon code is 4134.  This milk was processed at Darigold Inc. in Portland Oregon, which means they use milk from surrounding Oregon dairies.  Now we know!

Here are some of the products in my fridge:

Product code is 06-94.  The first two digits in the product code refers to the state and 06 is the code for CA.  The remaining number is the plant number.  The codes can look different from one company to the next.  Some use a dash in between the two numbers, some use a back slash and some, like Horizon don't use anything between the two numbers. 

Lucerne butter: 06/94.

Kirkland butter:  06/94.

All of this butter is processed at the same plant; California Dairies Inc. in Turlock, CA.

Sour cream that I purchased at CostCo:  06-26 processed at Super Store Industries, Turlock, CA.

I bought this box of single serving bottles of Nesquik chocolate milk, figuring this would cut down on any given visit to Starbucks with the kids. I would just bring a bottle along instead of buying Starbuck's chocolate milk.

Nesquik's code:  18-1901 processed at the Nestle plant in Indiana.  Nestle tried for almost two years to build a processing plant in northern CA, which would have been great for us local dairy producers because they would have bought our milk.  I don't know the exact details but the California regulations were too restrictive and costly for Nestle to deal with so they decided on Indiana instead.

So, when you're curious about where your milk and dairy products are processed, you can use the link on the right hand column of this blog.

If you find something interesting in your fridge, let me know!

My original post on this subject was posted back in March.

Happy Monday!

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Is Milk Your Best Source of Calcium & Are you getting enough?

Since 1980, milk consumption in this country has dropped by more than 22 percent.

What happened? When did we stop needing milk?

Many American households still don’t drink the amount of milk they probably should and have largely replaced the milk in their diets with sodas, energy drinks, bottled teas, juice and bottled water.

Why is milk important you might ask?

Here's one reason I can think of.......
It takes calcium to build strong bones. So calcium is especially important during the tween and teen years, when bones are growing their fastest.

How much calcium does a body need?
{according to the National Institute of Child Health & Development}

Birth - 6 months   ~   210mg
6 -12 months       ~   270mg
1 - 3 years           ~   500mg
4 - 8 years           ~   800mg
9 - 18 years         ~   1300mg

Boys and girls in these age groups have calcium needs that they can’t make up for later in life. In fact, by the time teens finish their growth spurts around age 17, 90 percent of their adult bone mass is established.  It's important to store calcium in a child's 'bone bank'  before they reach the age of 17 years.  Storing up calcium also helps later on in life with combating Osteoporosis.

Unfortunately, fewer than one in ten girls and only one in four boys ages 9 to 13 are at or above their adequate intake of calcium.This lack of calcium has a big impact on bones and teeth.


How much calcium does milk contain?

An 8 oz serving of milk {whole, low fat, non fat, lactose free} contains 300mg of calcium.

Milk isn't the only way to get calcium into the body but I think it's the easiest.  For example:  you would have to eat 5 cups of broccoli to get as much calcium that's in a glass of milk. 






Photos by Google image

Here are some ideas for calcium rich meals and snacks:

Breakfast:
Pour low-fat or fat-free milk over your breakfast cereal.
Have a cup of low-fat or fat-free yogurt.
Drink a glass of calcium-fortified orange juice.
Add low-fat or fat-free milk instead of water to oatmeal or hot cereal.

Lunch:
Add low-fat or fat-free cheese to a sandwich.
Have a glass of low-fat or fat-free milk instead of soda.
Have a piece of pizza or a serving of macaroni and cheese.
Add low-fat or fat-free milk instead of water to tomato soup.

Snack:
Make a fruit smoothie with fruit, ice, and low-fat or fat-free milk.
Try flavored low-fat or fat-free milk, such as chocolate or strawberry.
Have low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt.
Try some pudding made with low-fat or fat-free milk.
Dip fruits and vegetables into low-fat or fat-free yogurt.
Have some low-fat or fat-free string cheese.

Dinner:
Make a salad with dark-green, leafy vegetables.
Serve broccoli or cooked, dry beans as a side dish.
Top salads, soups, and stews with low-fat or fat-free shredded cheese.
Toss tofu with added calcium into stir fry and other dishes.
Serve with a glass of chocolate milk.


For more information about this subject, please visit Milk Matters.

How much calcium do you get and how? 

Happy Wednesday!
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Milk, Cola and the strength of your Bones

Well, I guess I'm going to have to give up my Cocktail of Choice - rum and diet cola :(
I just came across a very interesting article in the L.A. Times about a study linking cola consumption to weaker bones.  If you want stronger bones, eat foods high in calcium and vitamin D, such as milk and you might want to cut out cola completely.

In the past few decades, consumption of cola has steadily displaced the consumption of others —particularly milk.  Studies have shown, consistently that soda consumption is linked with weaker bones. Now scientists are trying to figure out how and why, precisely, drinking soda may affect skeletons.

One theory is that a component in cola, Phosphoric acid that gives cola it's tangy flavor, and which is not naturally found in the food chain, may cause bone to deteriorate. Another is that people who drink soda simply drink (and eat) fewer nutritious foods.

I think most of us know that if we consume more calcium and vitamin D, it's definitely healthier for our bones.  But what I found so interesting in this study is that cola consumption can deteriorate bone. This study published by Tucker and colleagues in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006, shows women enrolled in the ongoing Framingham Osteoporosis Study who drank just three or more colas a week had a 3.7% to 5.4% lower bone mineral density in their hip bones when compared with women who didn't drink cola.

Did you know that as much as 90% of bone mass is acquired in youth, particularly from age 16 to 25, according to Dr. Jeri Nieves, director of bone density testing at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, N.Y.  Which makes it so important for our children to consume plenty of calcium and vitamin D.

A study published in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine in 2000 showed , teenage girls who drank carbonated beverages were three times as likely to suffer bone fractures compared with girls who didn't drink soda.  Even stronger for girls who drank cola beverages, who were five times as likely to suffer bone fractures.  Children who don't get enough calcium and not enough exercise end up with increased risk of osteoporosis and fracture as they get older.

We need to somehow, replace soda consumption with an alternative, such as milk, for our youth; for their health, strength and longevity in life.  Flavored milk is such a tasty, nutritious, healthful replacement.  If only schools would replace all or most all soda sales from their school systems with milk, flavored and regular, it would be so much healthier for our children. And I really think the kids would go for the flavored milk.  I know I would have if I had been given the choice.....strawberry is my favorite.

Click HERE to read the article in it's entirety. Pin It

Fun Dairy Facts & Chloe's First Professional Grooming

• Starbucks® uses 2 percent of the nation's milk in their growing coffee drink business. ( I knew there was a really good reason to go to Starbucks! )

• PayDay Pro bars use 15 million pounds of milk annually. (I haven't tried these yet, have you?)

• Turn your glass of milk into a flavor with the new Sipahh™ milk flavoring straws.The milk is sucked through flavor beads and a filter to create a new taste when it reaches your mouth. (This sounds.....interesting, doesn't it?)

• It takes more than 21 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of butter. The natural yellow color of butter comes mainly from the beta-carotene found in the grass cows eat. (I'm a lover of butter)

• It takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.

• The 3-A-Day of Dairy logo is recognized by 74 percent of moms.

• Celebrity Naomi Campbell launched the Milk Mustache campaign in November of 1994.

• More than 1,000 new dairy products are introduced every year.

• The largest share of milk products is sold through retail supermarkets, followed by dairy and convenience stores.

• The percentage of milk sold in paper containers continues to decline, while 82 percent of milk was sold in plastic in 2001 (the latest data available).
• It takes 3 to 3 1/2 cups of broccoli to equal the calcium in one cup of milk.Milk and dairy products are the most readily available sources of calcium, providing about 73 percent of the calcium in our food supply.

• Culver's® saw skyrocketing sales of both chocolate and white milk since the introduction of single serve milk in plastic bottles debuted in 2006.

• One cow produces about 350,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime. (You Go, girl!)

• It takes all the milk from 330,000 cows each year to fill the fluid milk needs of Wal-Mart®.

• About 700,000 cows are needed to make all the dairy items sold through the Wal-Mart® chain.

• It takes seven quarts of milk to make one gallon of ice cream.

Milk, it does your body good! Drink or eat your 3-A-Day.

Calcium: 30%Calcium helps build and maintain strong bones and teeth. This mineral also plays an important role in nerve function, muscle contraction and blood clotting. Each 8-ounce glass of milk provides 300 mg or 30% of the Daily Value (or recommended intake).

On a different note....I wanted to share with you, Chloe's first haircut, at 10 months old (the 'bowl cut' I gave her doesn't count). I was referred to a couple of places, and for the combined reasons of convenience (it's only 10 minutes from my house) and the personal referral of friends of mine (thanks Paul & Pat!), loving the way Sam cuts their dog's hair, I chose PetCo. Sam, at PetCo, told me that Chloe did fabulously on her first time.....a very well behaved little girl. Chloe is now knot and twig (don't ask) free and I can see her adorable little face. Happy Friday! Cheers! Pin It

How to Cook Anything

The How Cook Anything Feature ~ Have you ever opened up your refrigerator or pantry to find them half full of ingredients that you don't know how to tie together for a dish? Or, maybe you need a new recipe idea? I think I can help you out. Check out the new feature I added....located on the right called 'How to Cook Anything'. I love this handy feature! Just enter any ingredients such as broccoli, soy sauce and click 'cook it' and it will take you to a list of ingredients where you will again click on broccoli and soy sauce and anything else you would like to add. Then click 'Find recipes' and up pops up a number of different recipes. It's a fun feature. I'm going to try it out right now. I've entered broccoli, pasta & tomatoes. I was then taken to a list where I checked marked the type of pasta - I chose penne then broccoli & tomatoes. I then clicked 'find recipes' and this is one of the recipes that came up: Penne with Broccoli Rabe, Tomatoes and Parmesan Ingredients 12 ounces penne pasta 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 4 garlic cloves, chopped 2 bunches broccoli rabe, chopped 8 anchovies, chopped 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper 1 pound tomatoes, diced 1 cup chopped fresh basil, divided 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese Preparation Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain; return to same pot. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add broccoli rabe, anchovies, and crushed pepper; sauté until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup basil. Add vegetable mixture and lemon juice to pasta; toss to coat.Transfer pasta to large bowl. Add remaining 3/4 cup basil and 3/4 cup cheese; toss to blend. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing remaining cheese. Cow Fact~ It only takes the cow’s body about two days to process her food into milk Pin It

A Dairy family's life

This video is about the Martin Family Dairy Ranch in Hanford, CA. The video shows a little inside action on the day to day happenings of caring for dairy ranch calves. Pin It