Tag Archives: ham

3 Simple Ways to Eat Healthier in the New Year

Three Simple Ways to Eat Healthier in the New Year

Now’s the time, right? You’re sick of sweets and ready and motivated to eat better. Don’t get overwhelmed by the elaborate meal plans and complicated recipes one sees “out there” these days. Don’t go crazy trashing everything in your pantry and fridge and leaving the family hungry and tempted to grab a pizza on the way home.

Instead, gently move toward a better way of eating healthy foods regularly. And if you’re anything like me, if you’re going to do something regularly, it has to be pretty simple.

Here are 3 really simple (and delicious!) ways to eat healthier in 2018:

  1. Eat real food for breakfast.
  2. Make bone broth.
  3. Use your crockpot wisely.

Eat Real Food for Breakfast

I wrote last month about a perfect breakfast food: Smoked Ham Steak. I called it this not because there’s nothing “healthier” out there that a person could eat for breakfast, but because sometimes something really tasty but still really good for you, all the while being really easy to incorporate in a fast-paced lifestyle… those criteria are what make a good food great. If “healthy food” requires so much work, planning, and supplemental ingredients  that we end up saving it for when we “have time”… that’s just not sustainable, and we’re going to fall right back into the processed-food rut. Why? Because it’s easier.

But I’m convinced that homemade food doesn’t have to be difficult. I DO think it’s best to approach it with baby-steps, and that’s why I’m writing this article.

So now that the holidays are behind us and the last of the Christmas cookies, candies, and pie are eaten up, we’re all thinking about how much we want to start our new year out making good food choices and instituting new, healthier routines. May I just remind you to be sure that they are doable routines?

Here’s a very doable breakfast item that I would encourage you to incorporate at least once a week. It’s done in less than 10 minutes with no extra ingredients required. And it’s on sale this month, just in time for our January deliveries! Add Ham Steak to the menu!

Make Bone Broth

I can’t tell you how many food bloggers and recipe sites I’ve come across that just make broth too complicated, and they intimidate perfectly capable people out of making this nourishing and delicious food.

There is no “right way” to do broth. But a definite wrong way to do it is not to do it at all! Now you have no reason not too—we’ve got chicken soup bones back in stock, and beef soup bones are on sale for half price this month. Read my Broth Tutorial to learn how very simple and no-nonsense broth-making actually is.

So what do you do with this broth? Well, one really easy way to use it during cold weather, is to make soup! The simplest soup I know of is French Onion Soup. Are you ready for the recipe? It’s a 3-liner: Thinly slice a large yellow onion, then sauté it in a saucepan over medium heat in a few tablespoons of butter or lard. Once the onions are soft and translucent (about 5 minutes), pour in 2-4 cups of prepared homemade beef broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. That’s it! You will not believe how delicious and simple this is. Go for it!

Use Your Crock-pot Wisely

What do I mean by wisely? Well, for one, you’ll need to thaw the meat the night before you set this up, so add that to your evening routine. That’s probably the hardest part of this healthy-eating strategy! But I’ve even been known to cook a partially frozen roast if I forget to take it out the day before.  The texture will be nicer if the meat can be allowed to do a slow thaw, but in a pinch, frozen works, too. For mostly-frozen roasts, just plan for some extra cook time, and add a touch of liquid at the beginning of cooking.

But I think a bigger issue than remembering-to-thaw-the-meat is when people assume that recipes have to be super-elaborate to be tasty. Again, if a mile-long list of ingredients is holding you back from real home cooking, you’re doing something wrong. You don’t need exotic spices to make a good meal. When you use good meats, their flavor is brought out by a good sea salt and appropriate cooking time. That’s all you really need.

My favorite way to make a crockpot roast is to take either a beef chuck roast or a pork shoulder roast and place it at the bottom of the crock. Sprinkle it with salt, then add whatever veggies you like: potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic. You can even mix it up and use rutabaga, turnips, cabbage, peppers, or sauerkraut! If you prefer a soupier roast, add a little homemade broth or water. You could even add beer or wine! I do not usually add any liquid, as the roast will produce plenty of liquid on its own. Fit the lid on snugly, then turn it on low and cook for 6-8 hours.

That’s it!

Don’t add cans of cola or cream-of-chemical soup. You don’t need Italian seasoning mix or meat tenderizer powder (MSG, anyone?). Just let the meat be delicious because of the clean way it was raised.

Recap!

  1. Eat real food for breakfast.
  2. Make bone broth.
  3. Use your crockpot wisely.

I hope these 3 strategies will help you include more real food in the coming year. Happy, Healthy Eating!

–Jerica  

The Perfect Breakfast Food

The Perfect Breakfast Food

What’s the perfect breakfast food, according to your farmers?

Is it a smoothie full of hidden organ meats, freeze-dried berries from Mt. Everest, and a dozen types of organic greens? (My crunchy self is giggling over this one!)

Is it a powdered mix that serves itself up all hot and caffeinated as a one-pot wonder?

Is it the sweetly encrusted donut that is the only thing you can face at that hour of the morning before your coffee has kicked in? Hey, some breakfast is better than none, right?

Is it a 16-course gourmet meal complete with locally-grown edible superfood flowers, homemade bread with freshly-churned butter, biscuits, pancakes, a tall glass of fresh raw milk, and a plate full of farm-raised eggs, bacon, sausage, and ham?

Well… My husband would probably nod his head vigorously to this last option, and I’ll give you a hint that it’s the closest thing to what I envision as the perfect breakfast food for the fast-paced family on the go. But not the whole 9-yards. Just that last little 3-letter word.

Ham.

But not just any ham.

Real, smoked, pasture-raised, chemical-free, deliciously natural ham. Just sweet and salty enough to be nice and hammy but not overwhelming in any particular direction, and of course plenty smoky. The best part is that it’s sliced thin enough to thaw quickly and cook even more quickly with little effort (choices include ½” or ¾” thick).

Just warm your skillet, maybe toss a tablespoon of butter or lard on unless you’re using cast iron, and lay the ham steak gently down. Warm over medium heat until steaming, then flip and repeat, a few minutes per side. Voila! Done. Breakfast. The perfect breakfast.

What’s so perfect about pasture-raised ham?

Well, it’s sweet enough to face in the wee morning hours. Lightly salted so you don’t have to guess on seasoning. Nice and smoky. And our favorite feature: Ready to heat and eat.

And even if that’s all you eat for breakfast, you’re probably going to have one happy tummy all the way to lunch, not to mention you hardly had to do anything to prepare breakfast, and there might be enough left over for tomorrow or to carry with you for lunch! But you can get fancy, too, and cook some eggs or biscuits or hashbrowns or whatever you like, and have a delicious country-style farmer breakfast. Toss the bone into a freezer bag and save it to add to your stockpot next time you make broth to get even more value from this humble but lovely little cut.

So why am I telling you about ham steak when you’re busy stuffing Christmas stockings and trying to keep the baby from climbing the tree (at least that’s what happening at our house…)?

Because I have been pondering a renewed vision for helping folks get healthy by getting back in the kitchen, eating the right things, instead of feeling overwhelmed by daily decisions, the last of which ends up being what’s for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Maybe you just need a few good, but brainless, decisions to help you along your way. Enter pasture-raised ham for breakfast. Sure, doll it up with some scrambled eggs and fresh fruit if you like and are able. But the point is, even if all you eat for breakfast is a chunk of SGR ham, at least you are eating something filling and real. Ham steaks also make a pretty convenient quick-dinner idea, whether you do breakfast for dinner or chop it up for soup or eat it on a sandwich. It even goes great as a centerpiece meat alongside mashed potatoes or rice!

Ham is a cut we produce a lot of because, well, the rear-end of a piggy is pretty large! We finally found a smokehouse that will do an all-natural cure for us, so we are excited to officially introduce this delicious and convenient cut of pork! Check out all our delicious and clean smoked products here.