"Speedy Beef"- It’s What’s For Dinner

   "As a mom, I am very health conscience about what foods I give our family. The thought of consuming insecticides, antibiotics, over-processed, and filled foods makes me want to vomit, so I do what I can to ensure we are getting the best of what we eat. Of course, the world created Doritos, pizza, and Kit-Kats, so not everything is out- I’m just saying that there are better choices out there, and we do what we can to make better choices. I’m down with having as much local, organic, unprocessed food as possible, and that includes a lot of venison in our family. " ~R.R.

   When I said, we love the outdoors that includes hunting, of course! Our kids have grown up walking through the woods, learning about animals, their habitats, footprints, and behaviors. They have also learned to use firearms, bows, and traps responsibly, and to a self-reliant advantage, which includes knowing and seeing how hunting can contribute to healthier, cheaper food options for us as a family.  Venison, rabbit, turkey- to name a few- are not know to have fillers, take antibiotics, or live in cages, by nature, so score one for the family there!

A Family Tradition

   Every year, after deer season closes, we gather with some family and friends, combine our venison, and get to making meals! I love this part, because, for an entire day, we hang out with great people, make delish food, and the kids get to see the fruits of their labors. It’s a good feeling for everyone!



Potato-Tomato sausages

   We usually order pork trimmings from a local farmer friend, and use a small portion of it to make sage infused breakfast sausage (way cheaper than paying almost $4 at the store!), and then the rest is combined with our venison, because it has very little fat, and ground into burger. We use another portion of the burger to make stockpots full of spaghetti sauce and chili for everyone, and then we get to seasoning and making sausages!  
  
   Every year we also decide on seasonings for the sausages- this year’s variable was Garlic flavor (last year was Cajun), and the yearly constants, which include Italian, and the ever-popular fav, Potato-Tomato stuffed. Each flavor is mixed in separate batches, and taste-tested (yummiest part!) before they are put into the sausage press and stuffed into casings (also bought from our farmer friend). When each batch is done, they’re packaged, wrapped in butcher paper, and labeled for storing.


One for the Cause

   The meat we make is divided among our family and friends, and will feed each family the entire year. It provides a mix of our favorite meals and meal companions, while cutting our grocery store meat purchases down significantly, thus our reliability on commercial meat productions.
I’m proud of our peeps for continuing the tradition, supporting our local growers, their dedication for living and eating better. Speedy-beef rocks!

Food for Thought:

   I encourage you to check out this enlightening movie, from one mom to another, sharing her concerns about the safety of our nation’s meat productions, including rising costs, additives, sanitation concerns, and corporate bullying:
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Farmageddon/70235704?trkid=2361637

   Hunters for the Hungry is a great organization that accepts donated deer to provide meals to those in need. Find out more: http://www.h4hungry.org