“The best way to make your spouse and children feel secure is not with big deposits in bank accounts, but with little deposits of thoughtfulness and affection in the ‘love account.'”

Zig Ziglar

Keeping the refrigerator clean and smelling good is important to me. At times it gets forgotten for longer periods than I would like, and I find myself asking my family members if they know what something is, and how long it’s been in there. My favorite way to keep the refrigerator smelling fresh and clean is to keep a container of baking soda in the door and add essential oils to the baking soda every few days. My favorite right now is eucalyptus and peppermint. Every time I open the door it reminds me of mint chip ice cream (homemade of course).

We turned an old freezer into a smoker this week on the farm. We hope to build one with wood someday, but this was free, and it seems to work great.

According to the Weston Price Foundation, “Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain, and fatigue.” Not only is soy added to a lot of food products, it’s also fed to most animals. For a few years I was crazy about soy. I didn’t do much research on it; I simply believed the little bit I heard about it. I believed that it was good for preventing heart disease and breast cancer and that soy milk was a great replacement for dairy. My eyes were opened when someone very close to me was diagnosed with breast cancer and she had the type that is believed to be caused or accelerated by soy consumption. We were both taking a supplement that was very high in soy, and I have to wonder if that wasn’t part of the reason for her cancer. There were other risk factors as well, so it’s hard to know for sure. That was a very humbling time in my life, and part of the reason that I started questioning the status quo, and doing my own research.

“A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.”

Abraham Lincoln

It’s simple but true, right?

For the last few weeks, I’ve been reading though How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It’s a book full of wisdom in handling people, and I’ve been learning a lot while going through it. When I saw Lincoln’s quote in there, I knew I had to share it.

Naturally, I think our reaction to negative situations is to respond in a negative manner. As Woodrow Wilson said, “If you come at me with your fists doubled, I think I can promise you that mine will double as fast as yours”.

Have you noticed that when you walk into a big department store these days, the air quality is worse than ever? Maybe it’s just me, but I do everything possible to avoid them. My husband and kids joined me after being in one last week, and you could smell the chemicals releasing off of them when they entered the van. The timing couldn’t have been better, because I was working on this blog post! It also seems like there’s a lot of people these days that complain about headaches, sore throats, and fatigue. I have to wonder if all those chemicals we are putting in the air, on our clothes, in our homes, and on our food are creating an unhealthy environment and destroying our immune systems.

The books you read, the thoughts you think, the TV you watch, the conversations you participate in, the people you associate with, and the music you listen to combine to create your future. Are you sowing the seeds for the life you want five years from now?

Dan Miller

We were blessed with two testimonies today about our pork. We greatly appreciate it!

Robert Christensen said “Pork chops last night and bacon this morning, all I can say is I’m glad I got 2 pigs! Flavor is wonderful and I’m very pleased! Look forward to working with you guys more in the future! Thank you!”

Glenn said, “Just received our first 1/2 hog from the Mentinks.   I managed hog confinements for 35 years and have had my share of pork.  I will say this was some of the best breakfast sausage I have ate!!  The flavor was so good and it cooked up so nice and the smell was fantastic.  The pork chops, ham steaks and roast all look really good too, can’t wait to try them.  Well done Mentinks!!  All of your hard work and effort in raising these organic hogs sure makes a huge difference in flavor and quality. Hope we are on your long list for another ½.”