Here are my tips on buying a great-tasting and ethically raised chicken so that you can nourish your family without the additives or the guilt.

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Best chicken option:

Buy from the farmer! 

You can ask the farmer whether the chicken is pasture raised, eats organic or conventional grain, has access to sunshine and grass, is free-range and how free that actually is, if they treat their chickens with any antibiotics, and how they were butchered.  You can find a local option for the things that matter to you most.

Pastured poultry.

Joel Salatin-like pastured poultry is raised outdoors, eating fresh grass, supplemented with grain, probiotics, kelp, vitamins, and raised in fresh air and sunshine.  The green material that pastured poultry eats gives them a high amount of vitamins and minerals, low levels of saturated fats, and free of medications because they are eating how they were intended. This creates birds that are happy, healthy, and nourishing chicken for your table.

Next best chicken option:

USDA Organic.

When you purchase an organic chicken, there are guidelines that each of those birds must meet.

• The chicks must be raised organically no later than 2 days from hatching.
• The chickens must eat organic feed all of their life.  Organic feed contains no antibiotics, GMO grains, animal by-products, or chemicals.
• The chickens receive no drugs, antibiotics, or hormones.
• The chickens must have outdoor access.

Good options to look for.

No antibiotics. This doesn’t mean a chicken is raised organically, but it wasn’t given any medicated feed with antibiotics in it.

Certified humane. This means that the chicken meets the requirements for the Humane Farm Animal Care seal so they have access to clean water, no antibiotics, and not raised in caged confinement.

Air chilled. Air chilled birds aren’t chilled in water and absorbing too much of it.  Air chilled birds can be tastier and crispier when prepared.

Don’t fall for these!

100% Natural.  This term is not regulated AT ALL.  It doesn’t mean a thing!

Free-range. This is also unregulated, so unless you are talking to the farmer and visiting their farm, you won’t really know how free they are.  This term just means they have access to the outdoors, but not how much.

Hormone-free. All chickens are hormone-free by Federal regulations, even conventional chickens.

Cage-free. This can still mean a chicken is living in a building, tightly packed with other chickens, and in unsanitary conditions.

I hope that this has given you a little bit of insight on how to purchase a chicken to feed your family putting what is most important to you first.  What kind of chicken do you usually purchase?  What’s your favorite way to prepare it?

This week is fairly laid back, and I am welcoming it with open arms!    Here’s our menu!  What’s on yours?

Monday ~ Porcupine meatballs with roasted root veggies

Tuesday ~ Hamburger soup and garlic bread

Wednesday ~ Boiled dinner and salads

Thursday ~ Black bean wraps

Friday ~ Pizza

Saturday ~ Veggie noodle stirfry

Sunday ~ Veggie lasagna and garlic bread

For other menu ideas, visit The Org Junkie link up.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!  This is my kind of Mother’s Day: the sun in shining, I am surrounded by my little family, I have a cup of tea, I am blogging, and I get to see my Mom (and my big family) later for brunch.  I don’t need any special gifts on this day because I have already been blessed with mine.

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Here’s a little bit of inspiration on this special day ~

::A must-read for every Mama (or Dada) with a smart phone.  Have a tissue!

::The Problem is you Taking Responsibility for your Life

::Do you Really Believe the Crap you are Telling Yourself?

::A recipe for Gluten Free Rhubarb Crumble

::A FREE gift for Mama’s - a meditation and workbook

The homestead is bustling and I can feel the energy shifting here. It’s a busy time of year on a farm – starting seeds, babies being born, and preparing for the next things.

We are awaiting ducklings.

We picked up new chicks from the post office today. We will be raising these for meat birds.

I also got Americauna chicks for colored eggs. Val is loving climbing in the brooder to hold them.

Our egg production is up! Silly hens love laying in the goat hay.

Val even loves farming in the house these days.

Our baby goats are getting big but still love cuddling Mama Fawna.

And proof that we have a third cat. This is Barnella who came with the homestead and she’s getting a tad more social. A tad.

Spring is in full swing! How are you preparing for summer?

{Photo Source}

You know how I said I loved The Organic Sister?

I love her a little more today.

She has gifted us something perfect for Mother’s Day!

A mini-retreat workbook and meditation – a girl after my own heart! <3

Did I mention it’s FREE?!

Get yours here.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Is it really Monday?  I got to sleep in, and the rest of my family is still in bed too.  Besides the gloomy weather and drizzle, I say it’s a sign of a good week ahead!

Here’s our menu for the week:

Monday ~ Spaghetti with venison meatballs, salad, and garlic bread

Tuesday ~ Chicken pot pie in the crockpot with biscuits

Wednesday ~ Grilled burgers topped with fresh sprouts and a side of grilled pineapple and potatoes

Thursday ~ Tuna noodle casserole (carry over from last week)

Friday ~ Brinner (California style wraps with bacon)

Saturday ~ Korean rice bowl

Sunday ~ Leftovers

I’ll be sharing this menu on The Organizing Junkie‘s linky party.  Check it out if you need more menu ideas!

I am very blessed to work from home and very part-time for one of the people I admire greatly.  This week Tara left me a short message on facebook that made me feel so supported, blessed, and loved.  It’s amazing how a little bit of love can go such a long way.  I wanted to hug the entire world in that moment. I want to love on her back because she does AMAZING things, and I get to support her in those efforts.

• If you are looking to break out of the reactions, the fear, by digging deep into your soul and breaking your habitual negative self-talk – this is her book with audios called Digging Deep.  Amazing inner work will happen with this e-book breaking through your negative core beliefs.  They are there!  What are you telling yourself?
• She has also recorded a guided meditation called Mindfulness Meditation, and I listen to this one often.  Usually it’s when it’s quiet and dark, so I fall asleep during it most nights but it such a good way to get my mind settled and ready to take on a new day.  This is perfect for people learning to meditate because Tara walks you through a whole meditation sitting.
• She also a new and free e-course on her site – Stop Surviving and Start Surviving.  There are so many aha! moments in all of her work that I’m sure you are to find some in one of these sets from her.
• It is guaranteed that she will hit a trigger and a soft spot to make me cry with revelation each and every time I am on a Organic Sisterhood Tribe call.  I love all of the coaching information I have gotten through this!  I can’t even sum up the amount of inner work I have done by being in the Tribe, but knowing that I am growing with other women who at their core are searching out the very same things as me is priceless.

If you feel loved, grateful, or supported pass it on to someone because I bet a little “pick-me-up” will go a long way!  Thank you Tara for doing it for me.  Happy Sunday, friends!

Happy International Day of the Midwife!  Because of my midwives, my last birth (although not my dream birth) was perfect because I was informed, I had choices, and I felt grounded in those choices.  I never felt like things were out of my control and therefore, I had many things happen during my birth that were important to me.  I labored how I felt comfortable, I was able to move around and push in positions that were effective for me and my baby, I wasn’t attached to an IV, I got to listen to Jason Mraz, but mostly I was in an environment where I felt capable.  I thank Birthwise for supporting my VBAC journey!

In honor of International Day of the Midwife, I am going to share all of my favorite birthing, breastfeeding, and postpartum resources with you.  A reminder to you, I labored at a Birth Center so supplies will not be on my list of goodies.  If you are having a homebirth, maybe you could check out this list of supplies.

Pregnancy favorites

• Hypnobirthing book and audios (When I would get nervous about the birth, I would listen to the affirmations audio.  I miss listening to it at bed time, actually.)
• Your Pregnancy Week by Week
• Lots of recipes to make and freeze for easy meals after the birth
• Easy protein snacks
• Floradix for low iron and fatigue
• Hyland’s Mag Phos and Nat Phos for leg cramps and indigestion
• Belly band for wearing favorite clothes longer into your pregnancy

Breastfeeding favorites

• La Leche League’s book – The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.  Every breastfeeding mother should have this book on hand!
• Lansinoh, obviously
• I also took turn using the Lansinoh and coconut oil between feedings
• A boppy.  I only used it while my babies were really little, but it was used a lot more after my c-section birth.  It’s much more comfortable when you can get baby to the breast easier.
• A great nursing bra without underwires.  I found that underwire bras caused clogs and I won’t go back!  I personally love Motherhood Maternity nursing bras and tanks.
• Nursing pads
• Mother’s Milk tea
• Easy whole food snacks.  I feel like I consume more as a nursing mama than while I was expecting.

Postpartum favorites (just a few but be sure to look at the homebirth supply list for more ideas)

• Arnica, arnica, arnica
• Tylenol or ibuprofen
• Smooth Move tea
• Dermoplast was my best friend

This post makes me want sing My Favorite Things from Sound of Music, so I am passing along my earworm. What were YOUR favorite things for pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum?  Please share below!

*Most of these links are to affiliate sites, and if you purchase any of these things it will support me and my family.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A friend recently asked how she could get the negative comments to stop regarding breastfeeding her 7 month old.  I don’t even know where to begin, but I will anyway…

One – he’s still a BABY!  Baby’s were meant to nurse and consume the food made perfectly for them, and to eat that food any time or any where.  They really aren’t trying to offend anyone.  If you go by the World Health Organization recommendations, they recommend a baby nurses exclusively to 6 months and with complimentary foods until they are TWO YEARS OLD!  The world average is far beyond that, actually.

Two – You probably can’t change the minds of the people badgering you about it, honestly.  I am assuming most people bring it up because (for some reason) they aren’t comfortable with it.  They are unaware of the benefits and they are from a society where breasts are sexual instead of used for nourishing their children.  Somehow the most natural thing in the world is foreign to so many people.  Share your knowledge with them, but don’t start a fight over it.  Do what you do because in your heart you are doing right for you and your family.  Period.

Did you know that about 75% of mothers breastfeed at some point in their mothering “career?”  Guess how many exclusively breastfeed to 6 months like WHO recommends!  Just guess!

13.3.%!

That’s a lot of non-support going on!  It ranges from spouses, to grandparents, to friends, to employers, to society as a whole helping a mom nourish her baby.  The nay-sayers lead mamas to feel unsupported in their efforts and they quit breastfeeding their babies.  Sad, huh?

I breastfeed my babies beyond what some people think is normal or comfortable to them.  I just do and the nay-sayers aren’t going to change my mind about it.  Why?  Because breastfeeding leads to…

• Better immunity
• Reduced SIDs
• Less diabetes
• Less obesity
• Less allergies
• Higher IQs
• Better bonding
• Quicker weight loss for mom
• Lower chances of breast cancer for mom and female breastfed child
• The lists go on!

If you are a breastfeeding mom lacking support, please search it out because it does exist.  There’s online support via Twitter or Facebook and real-life support like La Leche League.  And if this little gem means anything to you, I support you!  It’s not an easy job, and even harder without support but you can do this if you believe in your heart this is what you were meant to do.  You are nourishing your child’s whole being, and he/she will thank you. <3