Shiny snow

Sunday night we got about 4 inches of snow, then Monday we got freezing rain. This created an ice layer on top of the snow. It is very slippery and a bear walking out to the goats 3 times a day carrying 2 buckets of warm water. It is however very beautiful! It is shiny and smooth.

Nothing has been open for 3 days. I'm hoping we can get back to normal activities tomorrow. I'm going a little stir crazy. On the upside, Logan got to go hilly billy sledding yesterday. The neighbors pulled him around on an inner tube attached to their ATV. They also sledded on a dumpster lid. Logan has a real sled and the neighbors were very impressed by it!

Luckily, we've kept power so it's been nice and warm in the house. It's been highs of 27 or 28 and windy for the last few days. Not pleasant for anything living. The goats are miserable and I feel so bad for them.

For those that live where it snows a lot, what do you give the goats to eat in the winter? They really miss their grass, they are used to being able to eat it all the time. I've been giving them hay twice a day and their normal grain ration at night. Does this seem like enough? It looks like this snow will be around for at least another week.

A few recipes

I had some requests for a few of my recipes on Facebook. I decided since I typed them up, I might as well post them here. We got about 4 inches of snow, and now it is freezing rain.


Sesame noodles
This dish is great for picnics because nothing can go bad while it sits out.

Sesame oil
sesame seeds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup low sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
cayenne pepper
16 ounces whole wheat fettucini
Chopped scallions (green onions)

Coat skillet with sesame oil. Brown sesame seed lightly (burn easily). Shut off heat and cool down. Add sugar and tamari and whisk over heat. Let get bubbly while stirring. Pour over cooked noodles in a 8X8 glass pan (use 9X13 if you are doubling the recipe). Add cayenne pepper to taste. Stir well. Let sit overnight in fridge, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle scallions and extra sesame seeds on top before serving.

Can also be served warm immediately after making. The flavors wont' be as strong


Spicy Mac and Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni (I use whole wheat)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 of a block of pepper jack cheese cut into small cubes
4 oz can chopped green chilis
1 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup cream
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
Pepper

Boil pasta until al dente. In a skillet heat olive oil, add garlic, chilis and corn. Cook until corn is done. Drain pasta, add back to pot. Dump contents of skillet into pot. Add cream and cheese. Stir well over low heat until all the cheese is melted (you can shred the cheese to make it melt faster but that is too much work for me). Add butter. Add pepper to taste. Stir well.


Chicken and Dumplings
Whole chicken or chicken parts (I like to use drumsticks because they are usually cheaper)
Potatoes cut into the size pieces you like
Carrots same as potatoes
Bisquick
Milk
Thyme
Pepper

Boil chicken in enough water to cover it, if you use parts you will need to use more water than just what is necessary to cover it. Boil until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from pot into colander. rinse with cold water, shred into pieces
Add carrots and potatoes to water, boil until they are soft. Add thyme and pepper to taste
Add chicken back to pot
Make dumplings according to Bisquick directions, drop into boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Add more water if you want it more liquidy.
I'm very loosy goosy with this recipe so the thickness of it varies everytime. Sometimes like a soup, sometimes more like a casserole. I like it a bit soupy better.

Goats don't like white Christmases.

I think I missed my blogaversary this year. I'll try to do some post for that soon. They are predicting 6-12 inches of snow for us here tonight. Last time we got that much snow we lost power for 3 days, so I thought I'd do a post now while I have electricity!

We had a white Christmas here in GA. The goats were less than thrilled. They seem to blame me whenever they aren't happy with the weather.

We were able to get them out in the snow with the promise of sledding however.


Following Logan down the sledding hill. I think they are hoping for a ride back up.

Jump on quick Io!

Mommy make this stuff go away! (Notice my cool new pink quilted overalls. I've been loving them this year!)

Callisto has grown a lot.

Buddy boy really wants a treat of some sort to make up for having to put up with the cold white stuff.

The goats are getting bored with sledding.

Can we go in now?!

Ursa was the only one that seemed to like the snow. How odd that the goats from Africa wouldn't like snow.

Finally! Time to go in.