"Why?" - you ask.
Oh. I'll tell you why.
Because yesterday, we picked up over 150 pounds of grass-fed, locally raised beef to store in our chest freezer. To eat!
Yes, as it red meat!
Yes, as in something besides chicken!
Not that I don't love chicken. Chicken stock is a staple for almost every meal here in on the homestead, and I will see to it that we continue to utilize this nutrient-dense nectar.
But red meat! Oh, heavens!
We purchased the steer from Oberg Brothers Natural Beef. Go visit their site! And if you live locally, order some danged 'ol beef! They are a family-owned ranch that is located about an hour(ish) from where we live in north central Washington. The steers are born and raised on the ranch, and apart from a small amount of grain and silage through the winter, are primarily grass fed. No antibiotics. No crowded feed lots. No hormones. Just high quality, traditionally raised, home grown beef.
The price is right too! Cut and wrapped, we paid $3.23 per pound and you can purchase by the quarter, half, or whole steer. Have you priced "natural", "organic" or high quality beef at the supermarket? Around here, hamburger alone goes for $4.99-$5.99 per pound! And you can forget about steaks! Just forget about 'em!
To me, the piece of mind of knowing where my meat comes from, how it was raised, how it was handled, how it was butchered, how it was aged, and where it was packaged makes a big difference. Remember - I majored in Beef Production. I've seen feedlots. I've seen dairies. Trust me - where your animal products come from makes a huge difference.
The bonus is getting to support a local rancher, too. There is a lot to be said for puttin' the money right in their pockets. I'm all for that.
Knowing we have a wonderful chest freezer full of delicious, nutritious meat makes my heart happy. We even got all the traditional cuts and organ meats - tongue, liver, heart, and soup bones.
I have no clue what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out.
Unless they just taste like poo poo and I can't eat them. Then, I'll just pretend like I never even tried to cook them. For your sake. My Nourishing Traditions has an entire "Organ Meats" chapter, so I am slightly hopeful.
Now if you'll pardon me, apparently Georgia is in need of her Mother or something. Doesn't she know I'm blogging? I mean, it's like, hello baby!? Can't you see I'm busy?...
Children these days...
Children these days...
The end.
