2013 Whole Hog Processing Cost Analysis

I thought I had written out our beef and pork breakdowns for the last couple of years, but obviously I haven't as I can't find them on the blog!  I want to have them to compare from year to year so I'm going to type this one up today and add the others when I find the box they are buried in....  Lots of unpacking left to do here!

This pig was processed at Country Pride Meats in Clinton, WI.  The owners also raise the hogs and we ordered during a March special when it was $1.75/pound based on hanging weight and that included the slaughter charge, smoking and all other fees.  We didn't have them do any other special brats or things that would have caused there to be additional fees. 

Hanging weight 166 pounds

Processed meat
4 ham (they were cut in half) 19 pounds
4 ham steak (cut to 1/2") 4 pounds
4 hock 7.5 pounds
2 spare rib 6 pounds
2 country rib 8 pounds
4 shoulder roast 14 pounds
8 pork steak 8 pounds
2 loin roast 8.5 pounds
14 pork chop 12.5 pounds
7 bacon 7 pounds
1 ends 2 pounds
14 breakfast sausage 14 pounds
1 jowl 1 pound
1 fat 5 pounds

Total weight (without fat) 111.5 pounds  67% conversion from hanging weight  $2.61/pound
Total weight (with fat)  116.5 pounds  70% conversion from hanging weight  $2.49/pound

I believe these numbers are similar to what we saw with our pig from Cedar Road Meats.  However I did not have them include liver, which would have added weight and lowered the price/pound.  We also have enjoyed the bacon from Country Pride more than we did from Cedar Road Meat.  We haven't tried the ham yet, but are hopeful we'll like it more too.  The pigs were raised by local (to them) farms, were not pastured, but the feed was raised on the farm and they do no hormones or antibiotics unless treating a sick animal.  Since we now live right by Country Pride we'll be doing pork from them from here on out.  The beef will depend as the grass fed beef farmer that we order from takes the animals to Cedar Road.  We LOVE the meat and it is processed really well, so we may be doing the very, very long trek if we don't find a local grass fed beef farmer.

Give Me a Break, Give Me a Break...

Please God,  can you just give us a break?

I know I shouldn't complain because there are so many people dealing with much bigger issues, but our little family could really use a break.  We've been sick for more than a month now and we really would love to have a break from the coughing, congestion, fevers and other illnesses that have invaded our house.  And our little one could use a break from the teething for a night or two.  He needs to sleep and even giving him pain killers has barely made a dent.  Five big teeth at once is a bit much for our little 15 month old to take, especially when dealing with a cough too.  And really Mommy and Daddy would be healing better if we could catch a good night's sleep too!  We don't really like the hours of 10:30-2:30...we'd prefer to be sleeping.

And as long as I'm whining we could really use a buyer to come along quick so that things could get wrapped up and we could just focus on settling into our house.  And really if you wanted to send an angel to unpack and organize and decorate our house that would be great!  And fix all the things that need to be dealt with in the house.  And make the snow and cloudy days stop so we can get on with spring!  And, And, And...

But just so you don't think I'm a totally self indulgent complainer we want you to know that we love our new church!  And are so grateful for the awesome library system!  And meeting the local butcher who raises the pig we'll be ordering this week and also goes to our awesome church!  And for all the friendly people who've done so much to make us feel welcome!  Really we are grateful and very optimistic that this will be everything we had hoped for in a new home in the country.

We just kind of need a break from the sickness and the dreariness and the snow....we can't wait to for SPRING!

Thanks God,
Heather

Home Turtle Home

We've closed (on Feb 1st) and we've moved (on Feb 5th) and we are so overwhelmed!  Things went fine at closing and we moved a load of things that day.  Then I went back another day and painted two rooms and took a van load of stuff again.  And then we took down our smaller chest freezer and a ton of frozen food the day before the movers came.  We have a HUGE chest freezer as well and were worried about trying to move all the frozen food in both freezers at the same time.  This made it a lot easier.

The 5th was a crazy day. The movers took longer than expected to load the van and we had tired, cranky, cold kids by the time we could hit the road to the new house.  And about an hour before they finished loading the snow fell and fell and fell.  So we were trying to get to the house before them (they were going to stop for lunch) with enough time to clear the driveway for them.  Turns out it would have been good to move the snow blower before moving day!  But we shoveled like crazy while the kids watched a movie in the new house and we got a good chunk done before they got there.  And they didn't even stop for lunch!

Mike and I had done a lot of the running at the old house, bringing boxes and totes and such to the main level in order to save time since we were paying by the 15 minutes. And at the new house we had them just drop everything in the garage (the benefit of having 2 two car garages attached) and only take in the heavy furniture.  Even so it was a long 10 1/2 hour day with the movers and we were so relieved to have them gone!

The day after we moved my parents arrived and spent the next four days helping us.  We moved a million boxes (give or take) into the house and unpacked a bunch of them.  We worked like maniacs up in Milwaukee at the old house.  We painted, cleaned, moved more loads of stuff and fixed things up.  Their help was amazing and got us so much further ahead and yet I know they feel like they didn't get much done.  Sometimes I think they are superhuman!

Of course the day after they left I got sick.  I don't get sick often, but when I do it is big.  Really big.  And although a day of rest, rest and rest seemed to have me back on the right path towards being better last night I woke up feeling like it is starting over. And the kids all have it too,so the little one has had some rough nights.  Fun!  It is a cold with sinus issues, cough, etc and we just are all praying for recovery and for Daddy to stay healthy.

We need one more big work day in Milwaukee and wanted it to be tomorrow, but now we are thinking it will have to wait.  The house needs to get on the market, but our health is more important and we can't get much done when we are all sick.  We keep sending prayers up that the right buyer will find the house once it is on the market.  Someone who will be reasonable to deal with, will appreciate the house and will love the neighbors like we have!

So for now, signing off from Turtle!
Heather

Let's Get Popping!

I heard that today is National Popcorn Day and just had to put it out there so I remember in future years!  We love popcorn at this house and for dinner tonight we'll be doing popcorn and smoothies with a movie to celebrate...the kids can't wait!  We will even have a very special (and not very good for us) treat of dessert popcorn.  For Christmas we were gifted the Chocolate Lover's collection of Boy Scout popcorn and there is a bag of white chocolate popcorn and one of chocolate popcorn.  They'll be enjoyed by our little family tonight! 

We've enjoyed popcorn a lot more around here since I found a source for bulk popcorn that is raised without a lot of chemicals and such.  We bought 100 pounds (half yellow, half white) and are enjoying a lot more cornbread (grinding it in the nutrimill) and movie nights with popcorn and smoothies.  We've even gifted a large container of it to my dad who is the ultimate popcorn lover!  I've even been collecting recipes for different spice combinations and ways of making it to enjoy some variety.  I love having a whole grain snack that my kids love and is so reasonable in cost. 

Happy Popping!

Freedom!

Our little family will soon escape the city for the freedom of the country!  We've wanted to find a home with more space and to get into a more rural setting for a while and yet, it seems like it happened so fast.  A couple of years ago Mike and I made a list of steps to get where we wanted to be and set a timeline for when we wanted to have it happen.  So far, so good!  And really, way quicker than the timeline so far...here's hoping that continues.  We still need to close and move, clean up our current home and get it on the market and then sell it!  Once it sells we'll dump all of the proceeds into our current home and pay it off as quickly as possible. After we are debt free we'll be saving up for a big dream vacation for our entire family...we're going to Disney!  Mike can't wait to take us and the kids are very excited as well.  Of course we won't go until we hit our goals and everyone is potty trained :)

Our new home is more than double the square footage of our current home and yet it only has three bedrooms.  It has an office for Mike in the basement, far away from the craziness of our 4, 2 and 1 year olds.  We'll have an acre and half with some young fruit trees, mulberry trees, some hazelnut trees, a raspberry patch, wild asparagus, and two garden areas.  We plan to expand the gardens in a big way, add more fruit trees, get chickens and maybe even ask around about the acre lot next to our home. It is the only other area that could even possibly be developed and we may try and buy it to ensure we have the space to do what we want in the future.  The home is on a dead end road with only a few other houses, but it is very easy to access the interstate which makes things much easier for Mike as he travels.  We have met one neighbor and they have a HUGE garden, bees, chickens and I'm really hoping they will help me learn a lot about all of those things!

I'll post pictures once the home is officially ours, which happens on Feb 1st.  We'll be moving in on Feb 5th and appreciate any and all prayers during those first two weeks of Feb.  We know they'll be crazy as we try and get things done and get our home ready to go on the market.  It is going to be especially challenging because of the travel time between the two homes, as well as juggling the kids and projects.  But we know that once we have the house on the market and get unpacked and settled it will be worth it.   I'm so grateful that my kids will get to grow up as country kids!

Summer 2012 Canning/Freezing

So haven't done so well on the whole 'I'm going to post more' have I?  Ah, well, such is life.

Here is a mostly complete rundown of what I froze and canned in 2012.  I'm hoping these lists help me see what we need more of and what we have a glut of from year to year.  Most of the produce was purchased by the bushel and such at a local farmer's market, but a few things were grown in our little city lot.  (The good news, the exciting news, the unbelievable news is that next year...this year...I'll be growing things in my own huge garden!  Yes, we are moving the country...in less than a month!)

Mustard Greens: 3 bags
Green Beans:  19 frozen bags, 12 pints of dilly beans   (these were crazy expensive this year because of the drought, but we love them so I bit the bullet!)
Dill pickles:  26 quarts
Garlic pickles:  5 quarts
Zucchini: lots and lots chopped and shredded
Salsa: 26 quarts, 8 pints
Cranberry sauce:  about 20 pints
Corn:  22 bags
Tomatoes:  Done with freecycle tomatoes early in the spring, not sure of numbers
Banana Butter: 4 pints, 2 half pints  must do more!!!
Zucchini relish:  6 pints (still had many left from 2011)
Bread and Butter pickles:  4 quarts, 1 pint
Broccoli: 16 bags, 1 bag of leaves
Beets: 11 bags
Cauliflower:  2 bags (still had many left)

So this isn't complete, but I also bought 4 bushels of squash, almost all butternut and about 150 pounds of potatoes, as well as multiple cabbage.

We didn't get any beef this year as the half (bought fall of 2011) will last us for 2 years.  The pig we got in March 2011 was much larger than the previous and we still have a fair amount left.  We are debating ordering another as the butcher is going to be 2 hours from our new home...however we also get our maple syrup there and we don't have enough for another year.  We'll see how the move goes and then take it from there.

Yes, still going...Part 4

I spent the next hour getting stitched up and then x-rayed.  They had not had time to count the instruments and had to make sure nothing was left inside of me.  As they finished up the surgery they also came around and attached my patient bracelet.  Things had gone so fast that from Dr. Wasserman’s check to your actual birth was only 32 minutes!  I was taken over to recovery and spent almost 3 hours there, some of the time with Debby.  She and Kim were able to talk me through some of what happened and checked on you for me.  Daddy and Nancy came down to give me an update and let me know that you were doing great.  You had an IV, lots of monitors and were getting a little oxygen to help.  Quickly you were off the oxygen and just had room air being blown to help you breathe deep enough.  Daddy had some pictures and videos which I loved seeing as well.  I finally found out you were 9 lbs, 4 ounces and 21.5 inches long.  You were also B-, which meant no Rhogam for me and other than a rough start things were looking really good.  The worst news I got in recovery was that you were under a nothing by mouth order for the night.  I was furious that I wouldn’t get to nurse you even after I left recovery.  They wanted you to just be relaxed and stable before we tried anything, which is why you had an IV.  Kim and Debby and Nancy all explained it, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear.

After I was ready to move Kim and Lindsey took me to my room, but not without a stop in your NICU room!  You were actually the first baby to use the room as they had just opened their new NICU on Monday.  They had to do a lot of finagling to get my bed in your room with your isolet, but they did it.  I reached in to touch you and just started crying.  I mumbled something about not having even held you yet and Laura, your nurse said that we should change that.  A whole lot more maneuvering and they were able to get you out and into my arms, even with both of our crazy IVs, monitors, pain med dispensers and everything.  Daddy and I had our first pictures together with you and I was pretty much ready to stay there all night.  You were very quiet and relaxed which was good to see after such a stressful event just a few hours earlier.  After a time that seemed just too short I headed down to my room to pump and rest and you and Daddy spent the night together in your room.

Around 7am I called up to your room and was told that you were doing great.  You and Daddy were doing skin to skin and you had spent a bunch of time sucking on his fingers.  You were hungry and I was ready to feed you!  We were told a Dr. would be seeing you after 8 and we should be nursing sometime that morning.  Since you were such a healthy boy you were kind of pushed to the back burner and I had to throw a fit to get a Dr. in to see you.  When I was holding you you were bobbing and rooting and screaming at me to eat.  One of the hardest things I’ve done (and something I really kind of regret) was following the order to not feed you when you wanted it and I wanted to give it to you.  It was around noon when they pulled the cannulas out of your nose and then we had to wait to see how you would do with no help.  It was about 5:30 before we finally had the go ahead to nurse.  You were a total champ and latched on right away.  You wouldn’t make eye contact with me and I have no doubt that you did not understand why I had not cared for you earlier. 

We nursed all night long, every 4 hours or so.  Each time you’d feed for at least a half hour and everything looked good.  We met with the lactation consultant, Deanne and she had some great tips as well as noticed that you were tongue tied.  Your IV was off (we knocked it out during one of the feedings) and you were passing your blood sugar checks with flying colors.  You had your first bath that night and while we had planned to be there it was done while we got a quick hour and a half nap.  You also got moved to a regular crib and Kathy (one of your night nurses on Friday) was all on board with us to get you looking as normal and healthy as possible so they would release you to my room.  Dr. Bob was the neonatologist on that night and he was a character.  As morning came he let me know that he had planned to release you before he left at 8 am, but you had just a few times when your oxygen level dropped to 90 and they wanted you to be monitored a little longer.  Our next nurse told us that most babies are expected to stay at 90 or above, but for some reason they had you set to stay above 92.  I guess they just wanted you to be an overachiever from the very beginning!  The best news later Saturday morning was that you were continuing to do great and hadn’t had any more issues with your oxygen levels.  Just before noon we were told that you could come to my room as soon as the paperwork and such was done!  And right as we were told that Dr. Wasserman came up to the NICU and told me that he thought I was doing fine and he wanted to release me that night as well.  That way if you were ready we could maybe be home still Saturday night, but if they wanted you to stay in the hospital overnight then I could stay as a guest in your room, which was really my room on the Mom/Baby floor.  I was one grateful Mommy to have such good news from two doctors at the same time!

Daddy and I went down to have lunch while we waited for you to be ready to transfer.  It turned out that they were swamped and it took a few hours longer then expected, as did everything it seemed.  During the wait Grandma Schneider came to the hospital and got to hold you for the first time upstairs in your NICU room.  You and I kept up our nursing schedule and kept working on getting your latch to improve.  We were really excited when we finally got to ride down the elevator with you and settle into our room. 

Because Dr. Zukowski couldn’t come to St. Mary’s, Dr. Claudia Koch (whose office ordered the ultrasound for us) was going to be your fill in pediatrician.  Of course, she was not on that weekend, so the doctor covering for her told the neonatologists that they should discharge you when they felt you were ready using their instructions.  And Dr. Mario was not going to discharge you when he had just released you from the NICU.  We decided that Daddy would go home to see Garrett and Kelby and let Grandma Fuerniss take the van to come and meet her newest grandson.  I ordered our celebration dinner and Grandma helped me eat it when she got there.  We didn’t want to celebrate until you were in my room and then Daddy was already home!  Grandma and I talked for a long time about everything and then she headed home as well. You had a busy night as you had to pass a car seat test, have your hearing test and we were up nursing a lot as well.  I was one tired Mommy come morning, but was so glad when Dr. Bob came into our room and told me that you were ready to go whenever I wanted to head home.  I called Daddy (who was getting ready to come over already) and we all rejoiced that you were going home!  Even with your challenging beginning we were still in the hospital less time than Garrett and I were!

You were home around 12:30 on Sunday and met Garrett and Kelby who were still eating lunch.  Kelby took a nap and you and Daddy and Garrett all watched the Packer game while I napped on the couch.  It was great to be home and to have you be safe and sound in our arms!  Your entire story is not what we would have ever expected, but we are so grateful that things worked out well for you Evan Otto Schneider.  We are so happy to have you in our family!