An Update from The Homestead

Me oh my oh me! I really LOVE writing here but it has certainly taken a back burner in the last almost year. I could make an empty promise that I'm going to get back to it but... I won't! If you're reading this, I hope you are well and in a good place no matter your circumstances.

I won't try to bring you up to speed of the last year in one blog post. Don't worry! Let's start with my holiday baking plans and tasks since this blog is about Family. FOOD. and Fun!

Every year, we plan a HUGE Annual Holiday Dinner where we invite everyone that we know for an open house / buffet style meal. I use nearly all of my crock pots and roasters. We often raise the turkey ourselves that I cook for our party. Sometimes, I have to use a bungie strap to hold the lid down on the roaster because the turkey is so large! I also bake up a storm to have desserts both for our party, to take with us when we visit family, and to provide as gifts. Unfortunately, we won't be hosting our big party this year BUT I am still baking up a storm! (Whatever that saying even means haha!) I usually bake 10 or so different cookies / desserts. I even put a new one into the rotation. A friend of a friend posted her list of Christmas baking and WOW... 29 cookie types (2-6 batches of each), four candies, and five muffins (2-6 batches of each). Puts my little list of 10 to shame! haha Made me want to expand my list though! I'll dig around for some family favorites that don't always make the cut!

I always start with these ones to ease myself the marathon of holiday baking... Buckeyes! Some people just call them Peanut Butter Balls. I think that's a regional thing though. My step-mom said she likes them best with rice krispies in them! Maybe that can be one of my new options for 2020! Mine aren't always pretty but they are delish! Far too easy to eat :)

Next up like clock work I bust out my recipe for No Bakes short for No Bake Cookies haha! Homestead Phil every time says "Why are they called "No bakes" when you still have to cook them?". Oh Homestead Phil. They aren't called "No Cook Cookies". They are called "No Bakes". :) Every. Time.

Snickerdoodles! This year's Snickerdoodles weren't as good as years past likely because the dough is to chill in the fridge and not camp in there for a week until I found time to bake them! :)

Gobs - it's a Western Pennsylvania thing! Other regions call them Whoopie Pies while other areas call them Moon Pies. Gobs are a soft chocolate cookie sandwich with lovely fluffy filling. It's one of my top fave cookies!

Sugar Cookies! These cookies are so soft! I used to slather the frosting across each but now I use less and think they look a bit nicer. Although, you may notice, I'm no cookie decorator despite my previous Jenn The Baker status :)

This lovely Friendship Bread recipe was gifted to me likely in 2013. I've only made it maybe once or twice before but I took the plunge on smaller bread pans for cute loaves of Friendship Bread and Pumpkin Bread. Homestead Phil devored a little one of these Friendship Breads in the last 24 hours!

Last cookie so far this season is Homestead Phil's FAVORITE - Peanut Butter Cookies! I probably make these cookies more each year than any other cookies. Someone may be spoiled here at the Homestead!

I have country ribs thawing to pop into the instant pot for dinner tonight so I have to scoot. Maybe I'll share that recipe one day!

What's on your holiday baking list for 2020?

-Homestead Jenn

My business heart hurts.

Is that a thing? "business heart"? Let's say it's a thing. Mine is hurt.

Homestead Phil, each of our Affiliate Partners, and I work really hard to provide these fantastic products of Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken. We strive to have ethical standards of business practices as well as farming / homesteading practices. Certainly our service isn't for everyone! That's OK.

Now and again, potential renters ask "what happens to the chicks / chickens at the end of the rental?". I chuckle and make light saying "We don't have a big barbecue that's for sure!" They chuckle then I provide a more in depth response.

Sometimes, potential renters state "Someone said you kill all of the baby chicks after the rental.". Wait. What? Someone said *WE* do what? Who said that? This week, some one said they read it on a website. Certainly not our website! Those babies are worth more to us and our Affiliate partners as live baby chicks than dead baby chicks. :(

Here are a number of scenarios as to what happens to the baby chicks after our Hatch The Chicken program is complete:

The girls are raised to be hens for Rent The Chicken

The girls are raised as breeding stock for Hatch The Chicken

The boys are raised to be roosters to fertilize eggs for Hatch The Chicken

The girls are raised to lay eggs for our families

The boys are raised to protect our flocks to help keep them safe

The chicks are sold to families looking to expand their flocks

The roosters are sold to families looking to protect their flock

I can't confirm what other organizations do with their baby chicks after a hatching program but I know with my whole heart that all of the chicks hatched with our Hatch The Chicken program provide a purpose following the rental. We value their lives and value what they bring to our business and those who participate in our programs.

Ready or not... 2020 is coming!

Hello!

We made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas and now we are clearly approaching New Years and then for us that means January "workation" and our Rent The Chicken Owners Conference!

This time of year comes with goal setting and reflecting. Are there things that I wanted to happen in 2019 and they just didn't? Of course! At the same time, so many other things were knocked out of the park without expectation! We are blessed! We made some big change personally and professionally which certainly had an impact on exceeding our expectations.

One area was my health. You may not know this but I am overweight. It was just getting to the point that I was having a hard time bending over for long periods of time, getting out of bed, and fitting into areas or "squeezing" through areas that had plenty of space for most people. At the same time, I just lowered my expectations to know that I would just be overweight forever. I lost some weight on accident in 2014 (building 54 coops in the front yard in 3 months!) and in 2017 (keeping up with a 6 year old!). Before that, I only ever tried two diets. One when I was in college which was a true diet saying how much and if what to eat at each meal (think tuna salad and raw veggies). The other one was fairly simple - eat when hungry, stop when full, and pray like crazy in between to not eat! I maintained for a number of years with that philosophy and a well used gym membership. I enjoy going to the gym but gym memberships where we live while working from home are far from convenient. (Yes, that's an excuse! haha) I do enjoy running but don't make it a priority.

Just like there are a number of ways to start with backyard hens, there are a number of ways to lose weight. This time of year many make resolutions to lose weight. My resolution is to keep off the weight I’ve lost in the last few months and continue to lose. However you are working to lose weight or maintain, are you able to continue if you have a major job change? An injury? An emotional life change? I have been overweight most of my married life and sturdy prior to that. Miscarrying babies wrecked my already a mess hormones which didn't help with weight loss / weight gain. One year, I cut out soda (and even now I only drink maybe 1-2 a month if that). It was also when I started running for the first time. After a month of running three times a week 3-6 miles per week and no soda, I lost 2 pounds. People always say the easiest way to lose weight is to stop drinking soda. Well... I proved them wrong! haha

You may have seen in the news recently about Intermittent Fasting? People who have never been able to lose or never been able to keep it off are losing and keeping it off BUT... the health benefits are astounding! Even people who don't need to lose are fasting for health reasons. Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure - they are all decreasing! Again not just with weight loss but those who don't need to lose weight have these health benefits from Intermittent Fasting. There are a number of effective intermittent fasting principles. These fasting hours are with water, black coffee, tea without sugar or cream, pickle juice, olives, and possibly homemade bone broth. Some people don't eat for 16 hours (including sleeping of course) and eat meals without snacks during an 8 hour time window. Others build up to 36 or 42 hours of fasting. When some eat, they eat keto or low carb / high fat or just their regular diet at meals without snacking. The huge benefit I see with this program is the higher probability to keep the weight off and continue with the health benefits once goal weight is reached. Since I'm not restricting my regular diet during my eating windows, there's no risk of adding too much "bad foods" as foods are integrated back in if that makes sense? Granted, once goal weight is reached, I will still need to fast a few times a week to maintain but I can plan that around scheduled events without an issue! I can successfully be in a vehicle and not *need* snacks and I baked without taste testing during a fast last weekend. Amazing! Anyway... I could say a whole lot more but I'll save that for another time.

I started this "Way of Life" or "Way of Eating" (or not eating as it may be! haha) on September 19th. I was sick in October and again for 3 weeks from mid-November through beginning of December and was not able to fully fast like I wanted but still did my best. Currently, I'm down about 25 pounds and dropped entire pant size with another size change coming soon!

Here are some helpful tidbits - Buy The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung. Read the back two sections first "What to Eat" and "When to Eat". No snacks. Plan your fasts around celebrations to not miss them because of your "diet". Change up your fasting "schedule" to keep it challenging and exciting! (If you are on any medication that requires food intake, please consult your doctor before attempting Intermittent Fasting.) Find a friend who is doing this and be accountable. More people are Intermittent Fasting than you know about! It's kind of a Fight Club mentality of "What happens in Fight Club, stays in Fight Club" but with Intermittent Fasting. There are a lot of myths about it like I'm starving myself and my body isn't getting the nutrients that it needs, etc. My body has plenty of nutrients to feed off of while I'm fasting. Don't worry :) So I'm breaking the rules a bit by publicly outing myself and hoping for not a lot of backlash. Please be kind to me for being open about this as it's working for me and tens of thousands of others (that I know about!).

Happy New Year!