Saturday Food Forage: Picking up our meat

Today we drove out to Black Earth again to pick up our meat.  Hooray!

After loading the kids in the car, we felt like taking a drive, so we drove via Dodgeville, Spring Green, and eventually made it into Black Earth.  Adrienne was so excited to see the airplane that sits outside a motel in Dodgeville.  We stopped on the side of the road and talked for a long time about the wings, tail, engines, and propellers.  At bed time, she listed it as her favorite part of the day!  Strange, the little things that matter so much to kids.

Anyway, we finally made it to Black Earth about two hours later.  (Yes, we took it very slowly!)  Just in time for lunch!  Finding a cute little diner, Luckenbooth Restaurant, we stopped in for a bite.  The atmosphere was country and cozy, and the food portions were huge.  A lot of the menu was egg, though, but we managed to find some sausage and fruit for Noah.  Nice and full, we headed for our real destination--Black Earth Meats.

Our entire meat order fit into just two boxes, but we ended up with a ton of food.  I am super excited to get cooking.  The tally is as follows:

Soup bones -- 3 packages
Stew meat -- 11 packages
Oxtail -- 1 package
Liver -- 3 packages
Ground beef -- 38 packages
Short ribs -- 3 packages
Steaks -- 13 packages
Roasts -- 13

By my calculations, this meat should last us for at least six months, even if we don't buy anything else.  Hopefully, though, we will be buying some lamb and pork in the near future.  Half a lamb would be delish!

Yet another good Saturday Food Forage was had by all!

Our Saturday Food Forage: Black Earth Meats

Starting with last summer's farmers market, our family has taken to foraging for food on Saturdays. Some months we forage more than others. For example, when on bed rest, it is all we can do to remain fed, let alone go on foraging excursions. Since my cortisone shots and osteopathic manipulation therapy this week, I have been feeling well and itching to get out of the house. So, being Saturday, we went foraging!

For months, I have heard about Black Earth Meats, but I was initially skeptical to try them. While their prices for grassfed and organic meats are great, they did not reply to several emails I sent inquiring about their buyer's programs. And, being contrary by nature, I wrote them off. Unfortunately, I have found our local farm source drying up, and prices at a nearby store are not nearly as nice as I'd like.

So. Off to Black Earth. If nothing else, it is a pretty drive through the countryside to get there, and Nathan and I have always liked to take the scenic route. We bundled the kids into the car with the promise of a nice drive and a "meat snack" once we reached our destination.

The store had a surprising variety of meat cuts, and it was fairly reasonable if you were buying meat by the cut. With four of us to feed (and a fifth causing me to consume everything in sight!), we need to buy a bit more meat, though, so we inquired about the buyer's programs. AGAIN.

For a hindquarter of beef, their prices are excellent! For grassfed beef, including wrapping , we only paid $2.79/lb, and we are getting a wide variety of roasts, steaks, organ, stew, and ground meat. The staff were very patient with us, and walked us through the entire cutting process, guiding us as to typical portion sizes, cuts, and variety. Definitely an excellent experience!

While we were there, we picked up some "meat snacks" for the kids, including beef sticks, which were some of the tastiest we've tried in a while, and dried beef. The dried beef was absolutely divine, and we're headed back in a few weeks to pick up some more!

Last, but definitely not least, we picked up some pineapple brats for our dinner tonight, and boy, were they something. They were a different flavor to those we get from Ruef's Meat Market in New Glarus, but the casings were soft enough for babies to eat. Another win.

Chalk today's excursion up in the win column! :-D

Haiti Relief

Sitting here in bed for the week, there has been no way to miss the Haitian crisis. Every time I turn the TV on, there are images of people in need. Starving, homeless, injured people who didn't have much before the earthquake and who are now completely bereft.

When I headed over to Heavenly Homemaker's blog this morning, Laura had a post up about how to save money to donate to Haitian relief. She is also donating $0.50 for every blog linked up to hers that talks about what people are doing to give to Haiti. So this is my meager contribution, since every $0.50 helps.

Nathan and I talked last night for a long time about how we would like to help the Haitians in this time of need. With a new baby on the way, and not too much wiggle room in our budget, we are not going to be able to donate as much as we'd like, but I suppose we all have to live within our means.

Nonetheless, we are going to put off our Azure Standard order (which needs to be a minimum of $550) and get our groceries from the co-op for the next few months. It may be cheaper in the long term to get our groceries from Azure Standard, but this way we will have some cash next month to be able to donate, instead.

Also, we are going to make our donation to Doctors Without Borders, since they are a reputable organization that does good work with people all over the world. Having lived in the third world for a portion of my life, I am hesitant to give money that will enrich corrupt politicians and gangsters. While food, shelter, and clothing can be stolen or bartered, no one can take medical care away from the recipient. Of course, they can do damage, but there is (I hope) no financial advantage to injuring the recipient of free medical care.

I hope lots of people link up to Laura's blog so that as much money as possible can be donated to help the victims of this awful earthquake.