Dairymom's Sunday Dinner Special

Blue Plate Specials are usually the economic favorite meal choices in the local cafe but I'm developing my own list of Blue Plate Dairymom  Specials that can be easily prepared for a busy Sunday schedule. The criteria for a Dairymom Dinner Special is that it's easy to assemble, can be prepared ahead and ready to eat within 30 minutes of arriving home from church, and the farmers love it enough that they look forward to eating any leftovers! I'm adding Chicken and Dressing Casserole (Jim Graham's Farm Family Cookbook) to the Dairymom Dinner Special  list after a successful trial this week.

Chicken and  Dressing Casserole


1 package Pepperidge Farm Herb Dressing
1 stick butter,melted
4 chicken breasts,boiled,and cut into chunks
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth retained from boiling chicken

Add butter to stuffing mix. Put half of stuffing mix in 9x13-inch baking dish. Add layer of chicken. Mix retained warm chicken broth with the cans of soup. Pour over chicken. Add other half of stuffing mix. Bake in 400 degrees F. oven until stuffing browns. Serves 12.

                                                                               
                                                                       Happy Sunday!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

Fall is a busy time on the dairy farm as we work to harvest every bit of grass and planted crops that are used to feed our dairy cows.

 

Although we would be so grateful for fall rain to replenish our drought striken area, I'm thankful for the beautiful weather that has allowed us to harvest the crops that are desperately needed.

 

 

Healthy Halloween Snack

 'Tis the season for pumpkins and all kinds of pumpkin recipes to try! While doing a little recipe surfing, I found this Dairy Mom approved Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake that looks perfect for healthy Halloween  snacking or a special treat with family and friends.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake

Ingredients

1 can (14ounces) pumpkin,chilled
3 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1  container (6ounces) low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 cups low-fat milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
6 teaspoons graham cracker crumbs,optional

Preparation:
Place all ingredients (except graham cracker crumbs) in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and top each serving with a teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs, if desired.


You can find other nutritious recipes and information about dairy at Dairy Makes Sense.

 

 

Celebrating Drought's Harvest

"Happy as a termite in a lumber mill" was the perfect description of the dairy farmers this week when  chopping sorghum and hauling it to the silo. Planted in late June with only a hope of rain during a drought, this field is proof of a dairy  farmer's faith and determination. It was exciting to see the chopper make the first round in the field and watch the truck fill up with chopped green feed that will become part of the nutritious diet for our dairy cows.













After the sorghum is cut and hauled to the pit silo, it is packed down with a tractor and then allowed to ferment. The fermentation process changes the sorghum to silage. Samples of the silage will be analyzed to provide nutrition information that will be used by our dairy nutritionist to formulate a balanced diet for our cows.

 
While our pastures turned brown and other crops burned up in this season of drought, this sorghum field held its own and continued to grow in spite of the dry conditions. Even the sorghum won't yield as much as in a normal year and is less mature than we would like, we feel fortunate to have a crop to harvest.

 Harvesting a crop is truly a celebration for us in this year of drought!

Benefits of Dairy Farm Living

One of the benefits of living on the dairy  farm is to enjoy the wildlife that are living on the land. We started chopping a field of sorghum this week and while I was waiting for the chopper to make it's way up the field, I spotted this interesting bird hopping from bush to bush in the fence row. What caught my eye were the stripes on his head. I don't claim to be a bird expert but from the pictures in my Field Guide to the Birds, I believe it is a White-Crowned Sparrow.

 

 

 

 

According to information provided by the Arkansas Foundation for Agriculture:

• 75% of the nation's wildlife food and habitat is provided by farm and ranches.
• Farmers have enrolled 31.4 million acres of their land in the Conservation Reserve Program to protect the environment and provide habitat for wildlife.
• Through various conservation incentive progrems, farmers have pledged to install 20 million acres of conservaton buffers.
• The net loss of wetlands has decreased from a level of 24,000 acres lost each year(1982-92) to 24,000 acres each year (from 1992-97) through designed programs, such as the Wetlands Reserve Program (an 11% reduction).

We are blessed by the world around us. The birds in the field are reminders daily of God's perfect plan and our responsibility to care for the land and our animals as we work to provide high-quality milk for you and your family.

                                                                     Happy Sunday!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

It was obviously love at first site when I brought Chester home to the farm more than twelve years ago from a dairy  farm in Missouri.  I'm thankful for this  friend who greets me every morning, loves to ride the four wheeler, nips your heels when you least expect it,  and takes his job of being my  faithful companion seriously.

Dairymom's Show and Tell

 

Do you remember Show and Tell at school? I'm still enjoying Show and Tell! 

As a volunteer for Benton County Farm Bureau Women's Committee, I have enjoyed alot of Show and Tell opportunities to share how farmers  work on the farm everyday  to provide safe, affordable food.  Going to the classroom is always exciting for me--how could you not love all those sweet faces and happy to see you smiles!

 

 

First grade students at Old Wire Elementary gave me their undivided attention today as I shared how we work everyday on the dairy  farm to produce the nutritious milk or dairy product that they enjoy at school or home. Today's Show and Tell included sharing a few props, describing how we produce milk and reading a book about dairy.   As I pulled out my props--a calf bottle, a grain bucket and small sack of grain--I almost felt like a magician getting ready for the next trick!

 After packing up  my props and heading for the farm, I couldn't help smiling and thinking to myself--I hope I never get too old for Show and Tell!