organic Archives | Zweber Family Farms

Tag Archive for organic

07 May 2013

30 minute meals • Cooking • Cooking with Beef

Taco Seasoning recipe

This week I am painting Hannah’s room and our kitchen. I am also traveling a bit for work. That means no time for new blog posts. I am re-posting my taco seasoning recipe because frankly tacos are the easiest and quickest healthy meal I can come up with. Perfect for busy weeks like this one.

Taco Seasoning Recipe: Re-post from February 28, 2011

I usually try to plan all our meals at least a week in advance, but there is always one night that something doesn’t go as planned and I need a quick, healthy meal. My go to meal is tacos. I usually have plenty of items around to use as toppings and of course ground beef is never in short supply around here (if you need to order, give us a call). I have started making my own taco seasoning to cut the salt and others “extras” I don’t want to be feeding my family.

Emily’s Taco Seasoning: You can adjust all these ingredients to your family’s taste.

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. This recipe will be enough for 2 lbs of taco meat.

Brown 1-2 lbs Zweber Farms ground beef

Add, 3 tablespoons and 2/3 cup water to each 1 lbs of beef. Simmer 5-7 minutes

Assemble your toppings of choice (didn’t have any tomatoes last night)

We like to saute green peppers in butter

Serve and enjoy with a large glass of Organic Valley milk. Our kids love making their own tacos and will even add veggie toppings they don’t normally eat. Our two year old likes to eat a nacho instead of a soft shell taco because it is easier for him to handle.

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30 Apr 2013

30 minute meals • Cooking • Cooking with Beef

Recipe for Beef Stir Fry

Honestly, you don’t need a recipe for beef stir fry. Once you learn the “art” of stir fry, you can add a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Veggies, garlic, soy sauce, some meat, then served over rice or noodles is all it takes.

Two nights ago, we grilled some sirloin steaks. I must not have marinated them long enough because they were pretty tough when we ate them. We had two steaks leftover and I was dreading what to do with them. I posed the leftover question to our Facebook fans. Lynn suggested stir fry and I thought “of course!”

I had some leftover broccoli, some lonely mushrooms, carrots and the steak. They all made a great combination for stir fry. Here is my recipe for beef stir fry

Recipe for Beef Stir Fry

Two Zweber Farms sirloin steaks cooked and sliced thin
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic minced
1 head of broccoli chopped
2 carrots chopped
3-4 large button mushrooms chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
noodles or rice

Slice the steaks real thin

Chop up veggies. Use whatever veggies you have on hand

Mix corn starch, soy sauce and minced garlic with steak.

Heat olive oil in wok (or large fry pan). Saute veggies until soft. I started with carrots and broccoli, then after a few minutes added the mushrooms.

Add meat and heat through.

Add noddles or rice and toss to mix

Enjoy!

Make sure to check out our other organic recipes. Also, make sure to visit us on Facebook too. I am constantly asking for cooking advice. Your advice might inspire the next Zweber Farms recipe!

~Emily

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24 Mar 2013

30 minute meals • Cooking • Cooking with eggs

Egg Salad Recipe

I just made a simple egg salad recipe that will be a tasty treat after the Easter eggs are all found.

First, I hard “boiled” the eggs in the oven like Corey at Family Fresh Meals. In Corey’s words cooking the eggs this way is a “game changer.” I agree! I could never remember all the delicate steps of actually boiling the eggs. Plus the shells were really easy to peel.

Egg Salad Recipe

9 hard boiled Zweber Farms free range eggs, peeled
1/2 cup organic mayo
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 rib organic celery, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Chop up the eggs. I like to slice the egg in quarters and then chop each quarter in three.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

Enjoy! ~Emily

Make sure to check out our simple Easter Glazed Ham recipe that I posted last week. Check back next week as I share a lovely Oatmeal Almond cookie recipe.

Egg Salad Recipe

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Simple, yet tasty, egg salad recipe. Perfect for sandwiches and using up left over Easter eggs

Ingredients

9 hard boiled Zweber Farms free range eggs, peeled
1/2 cup organic mayo
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 rib organic celery, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Chop up the eggs. I like to slice the egg in quarters and then chop each quarter in three.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

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17 Mar 2013

Cooking • Cooking with Pork

Easter Glazed Ham Recipe

This is a re-post from March 25, 2012, but as Easter nears, we are often asked the best way to cook a delisious Zweber Farm’s Ham. This recipe is a goody.

It is that time of year again where people are searching for glazed ham recipes for their Easter celebrations. If you have a Zweber Farms humanely, raised ham in your freezer, you are in good shape. Our hams are delicious and juicy. Remember if your ham is smoked (unless you specified fresh hams, it is), it is ready to eat out of the freezer. Most people prefer their hams warm and with a few added flavors. I loved glazed ham, but don’t like recipes that are overly sweet. This recipe is has a tangy sweet flavor. Just perfect for Easter.

Here is a super easy and tasty glazed ham recipe and that will

Easter Glazed Ham Recipe

3-5 pound Zweber Farms smoked ham
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 orange (zest and juice)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Make sure your ham is defrosted (place it on a plate in the refrigerator overnight)
Melt honey in the microwave (about 20 seconds) and spread on all sides of the ham
Mix mustard, brown sugar and orange zest together. Rub the mixture on the ham
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Mix the apple cider vinegar and orange juice, pour over the ham gently. Make sure to not splash off much of the rub.
Place your ham cut side down in roasting plan. Follow the USDA guidelines for cooking your ham.
Baste your ham about every 30 minutes with the juices in the pan.
The ham is done when the internal temperature is 145 degrees.

This glazed ham turned out beautifully! All our kids asked for seconds; even 9 month old Hannah. We served this ham with roasted potatoes, green peas and big glasses of Organic Valley milk. But of course on Easter you will want to include your favorite side dishes.

Easter Glazed Ham Recipe

Rating: 51

Easy Easter glazed ham recipe that is not over sweet and will look beautiful on your holiday table.

Ingredients

3-5 pound Zweber Farms smoked ham
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 orange (zest and juice)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Make sure your ham is defrosted (place it on a plate in the refrigerator overnight)
Melt honey in the microwave (about 20 seconds) and spread on all sides of the ham
Mix mustard, brown sugar and orange zest together. Rub the mixture on the ham
Mix the apple cider vinegar and orange juice, pour over the ham gently. Make sure to not splash off much of the rub.
Place your ham cut side down in roasting plan. Follow the USDA guidelines for cooking your ham.
Baste your ham about every 30 minutes with the juices in the pan.
The ham is done when the internal temperature is 145 degrees

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10 Mar 2013

30 minute meals • Cooking • Cooking with Chicken

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

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Please don’t tell my Italian mother and grandmother about this quick and easy chicken cacciatore. They would for sure chase me with a wooden spoon. This chicken cacciatore is not traditional, but it sure is flavorful and only takes about 3o minutes to make.

This dish was inspired by a few ingredients in the fridge, a hungry family and no time to spare. In fact, I was certain it wasn’t going to turn out so I didn’t take any pictures until the end.

Quick Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups roasted Zweber Farms chicken chopped.
1 tablespoon Organic Valley butter
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28 oz can whole peeled organic tomatoes (or about 4 small frozen tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste

Steps

Melt butter in a large pot or pan on the stove top.
Saute chicken with onion, garlic, basil and oregano for a few minutes until the chicken starts to brown.
Add tomatoes and chop up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
Bring mixture to a gentle boil, cover, lower the temperature and simmer for about twenty minutes.
As the mixture is simmering make polenta.

Quick Polenta recipe

Bring to boil 2 cups water, 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup coarse ground corn meal.
Whisk continuously for 10-15 minutes. The mixture will become creamy.
Mix in spices to taste.

Serve you quick chicken cacciatore on top of the polenta. Tosh up a Caesar salad and add a glass of Organic Valley milk for a healthy meal.

This was a very yummy and most importantly quick meal. You can tell your Twitter friends, but don’t tell my Grandma Baregi!

~Emily

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Quick and easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe from the farm table of Zweber Family Farm in Elko, Minnesota

Ingredients

3 cups roasted Zweber Farms chicken chopped.
1 tablespoon Organic Valley butter
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28 oz can whole peeled organic tomatoes (or about 4 small frozen tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Melt butter in a large pot or pan on the stove top.
Saute chicken with onion, garlic, basil and oregano for a few minutes until the chicken starts to brown.
Add tomatoes and chop up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
Bring mixture to a gentle boil, cover, lower the temperature and simmer for about twenty minutes.

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06 Mar 2013

Calves and Heifers • Organics • Raising Animals

Cute Baby Dairy Calf Photo

Check out this cute baby calf photo. She was born during our recent snow storm, but she is a good eater and is strong on her legs. We have her in a coat to keep her warmer until she is a little bigger.

We need help naming her. What are your suggestions?

Tell your Twitter Friends about this cutie and her need for a new name.

*Update (March 7, 2013): We had a such a HUGE response to naming this beautiful calf, we decided to do a giveaway. The winner will receive an Organic Valley Chico bag filled with coupons and of course the honor of naming this calf.

Contest Rules:

Leave a your name choice in the comments below.
Contest closes at 9pm Central Time TONIGHT March 7, 2013.
A Random Winner will be chosen using the “And the Winner is” WordPress plugin.
The winner will be notified by email, so PLEASE leave a real email when you register to comment.
If the winner cannot be reached by 9pm March 8, 2013, a new winner will be announced.

If you enjoy cute baby animal pictures, learning about how your food is raised, and yummy farm house recipes, make sure to subscribe to the our blog (upper left hand corner). We promise no spam. Only a few blog posts a week and sometimes random Organic Valley coupon giveaways to our subscribers.

~Emily

Zweber Farms | 34 comments | Tags: baby calf photo, family farm, minnesota, MN, organic, photo contest

03 Mar 2013

Cooking • Cooking with eggs

Easy Angel Food Cake Recipe

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This easy angel food cake recipe is a favorite around our house. I don’t know why I make it more often. I think it is because my mother never was successful at making it and now I have an ingrained fear that I will burn it (though I have never burnt an angel food cake yet).

If you are in need of eggs, stop by the farm and pick up a couple dozen brown eggs. Eggs sell for $3 per dozen. Our hens are laying about nine dozen a day.

Easy Angel Food Cake Recipe

1 cup scant 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoon corn starch
1 12/2 cups white sugar (divided)
12 egg white from Zweber Farms eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Sift together the flour, cornstarch and 3/4 cup sugar. You will want to sift the ingredients several times so that they are good and aerated.

Separate the yolks and whites of your eggs. You can freeze the yolks up to three months. I freeze mine in an ice cub tray. Once they are frozen, put them in a ziplock bag and use as needed.

Next make sure your mixing bowl is clean before you start. You will not want any oil residue. Then whip your egg whites with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt to medium stiff peaks. They will start to get “bubblely”

Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar while continuing to whip.

Don’t be afraid to crank up your mixer. You will want to whip until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in a third of the flour mixture at a time. It is important not to overmix.

Make sure your tube pan is clean, dry and free of residue. Then gently put the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when it bounces back when touched.

Invert your pan to cool. My pan has built in kick stands. You can also stick the pan on a bottle.

Hannah tried sneaking some cake before I got it off the pan.

Enjoy this easy angel food cake recipe with a sauce made from frozen organic strawberries, raspberries and a pinch of sugar.

Jen over at Food and Family has a great list of recipes to use up those egg yolks.

Easy Angel Food Cake Recipe

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Easy Angel Food Cake recipe. This cake is light and fluffy and will taste like heaven in your mouth. Serve with a fresh fruit sauce.

Ingredients

1 cup scant 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoon corn starch
1 12/2 cups white sugar (divided)
12 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Sift together the flour, cornstarch and 3/4 cup sugar. You will want to sift the ingredients several times so that they are good and aerated.
Separate the yolks and whites of your eggs. You can freeze the yolks up to three months. I freeze mine in an ice cub tray. Once they are frozen, put them in a ziplock bag and use as needed.
Next make sure your mixing bowl is clean before you start. You will not want any oil residue. Then whip your egg whites with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt to medium stiff peaks. They will start to get "bubblely"
Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar while continuing to whip.
Don't be afraid to crank up your mixer. You will want to whip until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in a third of the flour mixture at a time. It is important not to overmix.
Make sure your tube pan is clean, dry and free of residue. Then gently put the batter into the pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when it bounces back when touched.
Invert your pan to cool. You can also stick the pan on a bottle.
Enjoy with a sauce made from frozen organic strawberries, raspberries and a pinch of sugar.

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26 Feb 2013

Organics

Is Aspartame in Organic Milk?

Is aspartame in organic milk?

There is quite a bit of news going around about “Big Dairy” trying to petition the FDA to hide aspartame in milk. You can read the petition:

Flavored Milk; Petition to Amend the Standard of Identity for Milk and 17 Additional Dairy Products

This is what the petition is trying to do. The FDA already approves of aspartame. Some in the dairy industry would like to have the identity of milk preserved when a non nutritive sweetener is added. Huh? Okay, right now if a dairy company wants to call their chocolate milk ”milk” they have to use nutritive (real) sweeteners like sugar. If they use aspartame they are no longer able to call it “milk”; instead it has to be labeled “beverage, shake, etc.” There is more to the petition than just aspartame, but aspartame seems to be the stickler right now.

So why would some in the dairy industry want this?

With the increase pressure to reduce calories in all foods served during school lunch, adding aspartame makes sense. BUT many question the safety of aspartame. Several studies have shown aspartame’s link to cancer, but they have not been peer reviewed nor duplicated.

Is aspartame approved in organic milk?

Aspartame is not approved for organic milk. The USDA has a complete list of non organic substances allowed and aspartame is not on the list for organic approval.

I pulled this ingredients list off of the Organic Valley website. No aspartame in Organic Valley’s chocolate milk, nor will there be if the petition is approved by the FDA.

Will aspartame have to be labeled?

This is where I am a little fuzzy, but after reading the entire petition, it seems to me that they just want to exclude the nutrition claims that are currently required “reduced calories, etc.” Again, this is where I might be a little off. The FDA’s website is awful when it comes to answering questions. After reading as much as I could, it seems aspartame still needs to be included in the ingredients’ list. Remember aspartame is already an approved ingredient.

Right now the FDA is taking comments on this petition. You can make your thoughts heard on the labeling of milk until May 21, 2013. http://www.regulations.gov.

Please remember that aspartame is NOT approved in organic milk.

If I have any of this wrong, please let me know and I will make the corrections. Like I said it is really hard to find good information out there on this topic.

Also note that this topic isn’t new. I blogged about Neotame (aspartame) back in 2011.

Please share this with your Twitter Friends.

Zweber Farms | 4 comments | Tags: aspartame, big dairy, dairy, fda, milk, organic, petition, safety

10 Feb 2013

Cooking • Cooking with Beef • Food

Sloppy Joe Recipe

This Sloppy Joe recipe was a huge hit in our family last week. Thank goodness I made two pounds of ground beef. I think Tim even had it for three meals and each time raved how good it was.

Sloppy Joe Recipe

2 pounds Zweber Farms ground beef
1 medium sized organic green pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar

Chop green pepper

In large skillet or fry pan, brown ground beef and peppers with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper

Combine the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce.

Add the sauce to the beef. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes.

Take picture of finished product.

LOL, sorry. This picture was so darn cute I had to include it. Since I was taking pictures of our food Erik thought that he had to join me in the fun. He is using his Fischer Price digital camera. I like that he is using an unique angle for the shoot.

Last step, ENJOY!

I didn’t have any buns, so we enjoyed our Sloppy Joe on top of homemade whole wheat bread. We like to top our Sloppy Joes with Organic Valley Cheddar Cheese. I steamed up some fresh broccoli with a touch of soy sauce for the side. And don’t forget a tall glass of Organic Valley milk.

Sloppy Joe Recipe

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 6-8 servings

A super simple, but very delicious classic Sloppy Joe recipe. The addition of green peppers make it easy to get an extra serving of veggies.

Ingredients

2 pounds Zweber Farms ground beef
1 medium sized organic green pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions

Chop green pepper.
In large skillet or fry pan, brown ground beef and peppers with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.
Combine the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce.
Add the sauce to the beef. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes.

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03 Feb 2013

Cooking • Cooking with Pork

Simple and Delicious BBQ Pork Ribs

Oh my goodness! I just made the most amazing BBQ pork ribs EVER. Just ask Tim. Of course my crock pot spare ribs are easy and delicious. But these oven baked BBQ pork ribs will knock your socks off. So with out delay here is the recipe.

Simple and Delicious BBQ Pork Ribs

2-3 pounds (1 package) Zweber Farms pork ribs (Trust me you will want to double this recipe)

Rub:

3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Lowery Season Salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp soy sauce

BBQ Sauce:

2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp all spice
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp Lowery Season Salt
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Boil ribs in water for 30 minutes. This tenderizes the meat and releases some of the fat.

Line a 15 x11 glass baking dish with aluminum foil. Place ribs in baking dish.Make sure there is plenty of room between them. You may need to use two dishes.