Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

We spent some time at the Botanical Gardens and then hung out at home.

For dinner we had burgers and malts. Black bean burgers and crackin' bison burgers.

We quit using ground beef a while ago. We don't eat much red meat, but when we do we eat Bison. It is much lower in fat and so much tastier too. I adapted a Jamie Oliver recipe to make the "crackin' bison burgers". The ground bison is so low in fat that they burgers don't stay together well unless you add something to the meat, in this case, an egg and some crackers (thus the name). Ashley made the malts. It was exactly what C wanted for his Father's Day meal. We ate in the living room and watched Doctor Who. Perfect evening.

Nature's Bounty

Our canned goods share came today.

We got apple pie mix, apple sauce, blueberry apple sauce, dilly beans, pickles, pears, peaches, cranberry sauce, salsa, tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, carrots, lots of jam, asparagus and peach chutney. It was great to have all that canned goodness delivered right to our doorstep.

It was over $300 though, thank gods we paid for it back in spring when we were rolling in money. It almost makes me sick to think that we shelled out all that money for the canned goods, as well and a few hundred for our veggie share, just as much for 1/2 a pig and way too much money for having all of our dairy products delivered to our door.

I love that we have been able to bypass the middleman and buy directly from the farms, we supported 4 farms this year with upfront payments to help them out with the costs at the start of the season. But we just can't afford to do it again next year. I will have to do canning, which will cost about $1 per jar, rather than the almost $10 per jar to pay someone else to do it. We will have to buy milk, cheese and yogurt from the store, where they are about half the cost when compared to buying from the dairy. I think we will continue to buy meat from the farm though. I just can't bring myself to condone factory farming. Rather than paying for a crop share up front, I think we will buy all of our veggies from the various farmer's markets. It's still supporting the farmers, just on the back end. We found that there were times we just didn't want to eat the veggies we were given in that week. When we buy exactly what we want, there is less waste, and that's a good thing too.

I have not been to church in months. Our Pastor was reassigned at the beginning of the summer and I was quite upset. She meant a lot to me. It was because of her that I was baptized as a Christian. She inspired me and made me think. Before I met Sue, I thought that all Pastors/Priests/Rabbis/religious leaders were conmen. I thought that they believed, but that being a leader of a church was more about business and money making than spreading God's word.So today we went to church. Ashley started Sunday School and Christopher and I started a Sunday School class as well. The Pastor was leading the adult Sunday School class and to be quite honest, he didn't impress me. Not a bit. Then we went into the service. His sermon was thought provoking and informative. His delivery is not so good, but the message is there. He has been a Pastor for 25 years so I think that his speaking skills are probably as good as they are gonna get. If his sermons continue to be this good, I think that I will be able to continue at the church.I had a craving for red meat today. We don't eat much red meat, I don't like to cook it at all. When we do eat red meat, it is generally hamburgers or some sort of ground beef. Today, however, I felt the need for more. We went to Ken's Meats and got a Sirloin Tip roast. The roast cost $20! I can only justify spending that much because I will only buy a roast like that once or twice a year. It is almost done cooking now, our place smells so good right now. I have had a headache all day, I think that the protein will be just what I need to feel better.