Cooking with Nothing

So this blog topic came to me today while I was cooking.

You see, there comes plenty of times on our little farm where the fridge is empty, the freezer bare, the cupboards dusty with misuse. These are times where I must use my imagination to come with with dinner.

So I pulled out some cheap chicken breasts (bone-in, skinned) I bought on sale, a package of instant potatoes, and some queso, because I always have a jar of queso knocking around in my fridge. And before you knew it, I had a delicious moist flavorful chicken breast on my plate, accompanied by a big spoonful of potatoes flavored with a large dollop of queso. Yum!

So that got me to thinking. Why are Americans so damned lazy in the kitchen these days? What ever happened to using your imagination and cooking on a budget.

So often have I heard, "Oh, there's nothing to cook. Let's order out." and I would look at their kitchen full of wonderful food and be absolutely puzzled. Why is it so hard to put together a decent dinner?

And then a mother, (no offense to Parents-not-Breeders out there) tried to say, "Oh, we stay-at-home moms are the best at cooking on a budget" and I just feel like saying, "Bitch, please. I just made a delicious dinner with three cheap-ass ingredients. And no foodstamp card either."

But then again, I'm not a very nice person.

If you want the truth of the matter, the people who are best at buying food, making food last, and making dinner out of nothing are those of us who have been HUNGRY in our lives. I'm not talking about "damn I haven't eaten since breakfast" hungry in the evening. I'm not even talking about "I haven't eaten all day" hungry.

I'm talking about days without food, stomach crampingly painful, can't even get the energy to cry hungry. Thankfully, the majority of people in our country have not had to encounter this. Some have. Including myself. And it really teaches you an absolute respect for food, how to shop to last, and how to make do with nothing.

Skills I am damn grateful for now, because even if I no longer have to fear going hungry, I can budget our grocery bill to get the most with my money, saving that money to buy other things. Like expensive feed for my fat goats.

Check In Post - November

Yup, another boring check in post. Sorry!

I had considered writing another post on BLM mustangs, due to some images and information I came across, but I figured, I only need so many crazy people reading the blog, right? Although . . . crazy people are more fun.

However, I'd rather not do two BLM posts in a row, seeing as this blog is *supposed* to be a bit varied.



So a check in post it is!

The picture above is Pixie! She is a newborn Boer cross doeling from Rancho Volsa Basias. She will be joining the herd here at K-n-S Farm when she is weaned. Isn't she too cute? We really look forward to having her here.

My artwork is keeping me busy. I have several pending orders, several orders in progress, and a few sitting on the drying shelf. Very exciting and I love doing the work. I honestly *should* raise my prices, as my profit margin is pretty small right now, but I do so enjoy doing the models for prices people can afford, I don't know if I'm willing to do that. I suppose time will tell.

I have ordered some Apoxy Sculpt and have begun trying my hand at resculpting manes and other things. Going well so far. Unigoat got himself a little mane. He's going on the painting table here shortly, so keep an eye out for him! Once I have a bit more practice, I will be offering resculpted manes/tails on models, for a small additional fee.

Breeding season is winding to a close here. Blizzard returns home this weekend. I am fairly certain most of the does were covered. Hopefully all goes well and they have all settled. We even have Hope's daughter from her last kidding here; she was bred to Blizzard and I am *very* excited to see the offspring from this cross. It's a real powerhouse lineage. Because her owner is getting married around the time she'll be due to kid, she'll be returning to our farm to give birth. Very exciting.

There have been no more sightings of the dogs that attacked, although some neighbors have shot a few more stray dogs in recent days. Good riddance, I say!

Everything else has been ticking along like normal. But keep an eye out . . . come next week, I should have a little surprise to drop on all of you. What is it, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you.

BLM Mustangs

I had been casting about for a good topic to write about, when a good friend on my Facebook had a topic going about the BLM Mustangs, and the little light went off in my head.

I'm so sick and tired of bleeding heart animal rights fundies stomping all over the place spreading misinformation and lies about the BLM.

Said friend works with the BLM quite often and raises orphan foals, so yeah, I think I'm more likely to listen to her first hand experience, than anyone else's.


But constantly you have PETA-esque jackanapes running their mouths. And then people turn around and parrot it. "Oh, the BLM is so cruel. They're selling mustangs for slaughter. Splitting up families. Running the horses to death. Starving them." So forth and so on.

What a load of shit.

The BLM never sells any mustang to slaughter. Never. Which personally, I think is a shame, but you all know my opinion on the matter. I see a nice way to put some meat on plates in these hard economic times AND solve the mustang problem. Oh, oops, was that a Facebook defriend going off again?

As for the splitting up families tripe, are you joking me? Get off the couch, stop watching that absolute inane documentary about Cloud the "rare white mustang" (he's not white, by the way) and learn about true horse behavior. You think they honestly care? No, they don't. It's all instinct, and soon enough, they've forgotten about the other horses.

BLM does not run horses to death. If they did, you'd see a lot more videos of it posted by PETA and those other asshats. How come you only see one or two events, posted over and over? Because it's a RARE occurrence. Accidents happen. Animal rights morons try to make it out to seem like a regular events. Get real.

You know what else I'm sick of? The damned idea that mustangs are "running wild and freeeee!"

Ugh! You know what? Mustangs aren't WILD! They're feral horses. A domesticated animal let loose to roam about and cause destruction of the environment. They do not belong there. But because of some bleeding hearts, they're allowed to remain. Which, fine, okay, but these same bleeding hearts need to realize, if they aren't MANAGED properly, they will destroy the range to the point NO animal can live there, and what becomes of their precious mustangs then?

Open your eyes. And trust me, running "freeeee and wild" ain't a walk in the park.

Yeah, that's what living "wild and freeeee" gets you. Especially somewhere you don't really belong in the first place. Get the butterflies and rainbows out of your head and look at it properly.

You want to do something about mustangs? Go out and adopt one. Go on then, get going. You can even bid and adopt online, and arrange for your mustang to be shipped to your place. Or, go up there and help with the gathers. Propose ways of controlling the mustang population that WORKS. Help fund the corrals and sanctuaries where unadopted mustangs are held. Take in orphan foals and save their lives. So, what's stopping you? Hmm?

Well then. Stop spreading misinformation and parroting the animal rights jackanapes. Get out and do something about it or shut up. Sitting on your couch flapping your jaw never solved anything.

Look, I like mustangs. I'd like to adopt one. I have many friends who have BLM mustangs and love them. When it works well, it's marvelous. I'd like it to continue working well, which is why I support the BLM and their efforts to manage the range.

Holidays

Ah, here it is. The infamous holiday post you've all been waiting for. Right? Right?

Well I can pretend people care, can't I.

Anyhow. Holidays. I thought I'd take a bit and explain how holidays work around here at K-n-S Farm.

We here at the farm don't celebrate the majority of nationally recognized holidays, for a various number of reasons.

We'll start with the big ones that come at the end of the year.

Halloween! I actually rather like Halloween. It's become so commercialized it makes me vaguely sick, but the core of the holiday is good.

Personally I can't stand the idea of people's little munchkins coming to my door to beg for candy, so it's a good thing I live way out in the middle of no where with electric fence and a gate. No brats at my door! We don't normally get to go out and do anything for the holiday anymore as well, so our way of celebrating is is the yearly Pumpkin Toss. You can see a video of that here.

Thanksgiving is a loaded holiday that I'm unsure of currently. I *love* to cook and Thanksgiving is a great chance to show off my skills. Last year I made the most beautiful turkey breast. It was so moist and delicious and marvelous. However, the holiday is based upon so many lies it's kind of hard to put aside those things. Should we REALLY be celebrating the intrusion of people into another people's lands? Meh . . . I don't know. We normally do not go out on Thanksgiving, and Steven works it, but I do cook, and we do take a moment to be thankful for things, but that's also something we do each and every day anyways.

Christmas? Ha! That will get a blog post ALL of its own. I have some strong thoughts on that holiday. So you'll just have to wait to hear about it.

Easter. We don't celebrate it. A holiday that's become a perverted mixture of Christianity and Pagan celebration? Weird. No thanks. I do love the candy that goes on sale afterward though!

Honestly? Those are the only big holidays I bring to mind. Most of the smaller ones we don't celebrate, except perhaps in a nominal way.

No, we have our own holidays; a mixture of holidays we created ourselves through tradition, and recognized smaller holidays. Pumpkin Toss, RenFaire Day, Winter's Solstice, May 4th, World Turtle Day, Summer Solstice....so forth and so on. If we feel it's a good reason to celebrate, we do!

Quick Post

Many of you may have noticed I haven't been very active here lately. The reasons have been kept quiet, but I recently had a friend thump me and tell me that my community of online friends should know why I disappeared.

Like most of you even noticed!

However, I did fall behind on a lot of things, so it's best to explain for a brief moment. I was sick. Kidney infection. See? No big deal. I didn't die, I'm on the mend, and should be back to form and catching up on things here shortly.

I did have to apologize to one person; their finished model did not get shipped when it was supposed to, since I was busy laying in bed being miserable. It will go out as soon as possible however, with my most sincere apologies.

Rest assured, even if I happen to disappear from the interwebs for a while, I'm sure to return, just as grouchy and offensive as ever. I'm too stubborn to do anything else.

Keep an eye out for a post within the next couple of days, I feel a rant about the holidays coming up, and who doesn't love those?

Halter Horses

It's been a while since I posted something offensive, so I figured, what the hell, might as well open a can of worms.

Halter horses.

If there's one thing in the horse world that puzzles me like no other, it's halter horses.

Huge, overfed, overmuscled horses on tiny little feet, paraded around an arena and judged.



Do you know what halter horses actually are, but no one wants to ADMIT?

Meat.

Yup. Halter horses are the equivalent of the "meat" breed. In every livestock species, we have different breeds. Some goats are for dairy, some for fiber. Some for meat. Rabbits, the same. Sheep, the same. Cows, the same.

Only horses are above and apart from this, in the United States. Horses are pets and riding companions and livestock without a meat market.

But I look at these halter horses, and I'm talking about halter horses that are good for nothing but showing off with their tiny hooves and posty legs. (There are good balanced halter horses out there who go on to have successful careers being ridden.) You know what I see? I see an animal bred for fast growth, heavy muscling, stocky body. To grow up and EAT.

Good for nothing else except a dinner plate. And yet, hypocrisy of all hypocrisy, the people breeding these freakish looking horses would clutch their chests in horror at the very thought. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that's where a good many of them end up anyways. Don't win enough ribbons at the end of a lead rope? Where else is it going to go? You can't ride them. Very few people have the room or money for a fat pasture puff.

Off to auction they go, and then on a truck to Mexico.

Look halter horse people. Stop screwing around and admit what these horses are for. Open the slaughter houses back up in the United States and start eating horse meat. Then you'll really see your market boom!

Got a nice stallion that puts out fast growing fat little babies? Just think of all the money you could make in stud fees!

Halter horses. Delicious.

The Aftermath

Sorry for the delay between posts lately. There's just been so much going on, I haven't felt much up to writing blogs. But I do have some good material sure to offend someone up my sleeve. So bear with my, my four or five readers.

So . . . the dog attack. I lost my beautiful little buckling, and the leased buck, "Billy" was very badly injured. I won't describe the injuries because they were bad enough to make even my stomach turn over. We gave him a chance, treated him to the best of our abilities, but come the forth or fifth day after the attack, he turned a corner for the worse.

So his owner and I put him down. It was heartbreaking.

The dogs have not been seen since. Sigh.

I do have to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, jingles, prayers, and support during this time. It really means a lot. The breeder of the buckling I lost has even offered to replace him, which is an amazing offer, although I don't feel it's something she has to do at all.

Otherwise, life continues on. It's getting colder. I've brought back Blizzard to hopefully cover any does that weren't covered. Zenyatta is in heat today, loving on him, so hopefully he'll cover her this evening or tonight, or catch the next heat. I'm not sure if Ruffian or Seven were bred. Ruffian can be covered by Blizz if need be, but unless Seven gives poor ol Blizz a hand, she is too tall. I think the world conspires against her being bred.

Along with Blizzard, I also brought home a very sweet Mini-nubian doe. She's very petite and lovely and I am hoping Blizzard covers her as well.

Now I must go update my website, so I'll finish off with a picture of the new doe, April Showers.