“Foods from healthy animals contain many nutrients that protect against cancer and contribute to good health. Vitamin A: Strengthens the immune system. Essential for mineral metabolism and endocrine function. Helps detoxify. True vitamin A is found only in animal foods such as cod liver oil, fish and shellfish; and liver, butter and egg yolks from pasture-fed animals. Traditional diets contained ten times more vitamin A than the typical modern diet.” Quoted from the Weston Price Foundation. Many people fear vitamin A today because of a study done on synthetic vitamin A that showed harmful side effects. What we need to realize is that getting vitamin A from food is much different than taking a supplement. Vitamins work synergistically with one another so taking a single vitamin can really confuse the body and may cause a deficiency with another vitamin. I always look to food for my vitamins and minerals because they are more easily assimilated and I don’t have to worry about getting too much of just one. For example if I want to increase my zinc, I know that lamb is an excellent source and when I needed more B vitamins because of an irregular heart beat in my baby during pregnancy, I started eating liver which I hated and now I crave. Do you have foods that really nourish you and provide energy and vitality? We would love to hear from you!

This is taken from the book Pasture Perfect by Jo Robinson. This is a great read. “Keeping Omega-6s and Omega-3s in Balance. Compared with grass, grain is very low in omega-3 fatty acids and high in omega 6 fatty acids, a competing type of fat. Both of these fats are essential for our health, which is why they are called “Essential Fatty Acids” or EFAs. As a general rule, however, omega-3s and omega-6s have opposite effects on your body. For example, foods high in omega-6 fatty acids promote blood clotting, while foods high in omega-3 fatty acids slow it down. Both properties are essential. After a serious injury, blood clots need to form immediately or you risk bleeding to death. But the rest of the time, your blood needs to flow freely. If your diet contains too many clot-promoting omega 6s and too few clot-busting omega-3s, there is the risk that an errant clot will develop inside your arteries, cut off the blood supply to your heart or brain, and trigger a heart attack or stroke. For optimum health, you need the right mix or ratio of EFAs.” One of the ways we can upset this balance is by taking the animals off the grass, but getting them on grass will help to bring back the right balance.

Have you heard the slogan, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?” Until recently I always assumed that statement had been scientifically studied and proven to be true, but it turns out that it was created by Kellogg’s cereal to sell more products. I will admit that for me, breakfast is my most important meal, but eating cereal for breakfast would make for a horrible day for my family. Honestly I would be better off fasting than indulging in highly processed, sugar laden, preservative filled cereal. I can’t even imagine the frustration I would encounter teaching my children. I have found, at least in our family, that by taking a little extra time to prepare a nutrient dense, Nourishing Traditions style breakfast, not only are we all more focused, but we add hours of productivity to our day (school, work, and of course FUN!). Nobody is starving midmorning (usually) and I can’t remember the last time I was hungry before lunch.

To simplify breakfast we have the same thing every day. Sounds boring, I know, but we all love it and I don’t have to think about what I’m going to make, and the process is efficient, because it’s so automatic. Our breakfast includes pasture raised eggs cooked slowly in plenty of vitamin rich yellow butter (not the food coloring added stuff in the store), highly digestible, whole grain einkorn wheat bread toasted, oatmeal that has been soaked overnight and topped with butter, cream, and frozen fruit from our orchards and gardens. We also have full fat homemade yogurt on the side. I always multitask while I’m cooking breakfast. While I’m keeping an eye on this, I can get my sour dough bread, cheese, and yogurt going for the day, answer questions that come up with school work, keep the laundry going, strain the milk, shower and get ready, wash up a few dishes, and do a little cleaning and have everything on the table by 8:00.

Things don’t always go as smooth as I would like, so I do have to have grace with myself when they don’t and be flexible. A lot of people ask me how I do so many things, and while I feel like I don’t do enough, and that I could always get more efficient, I remind people that I have mastered these skills one at a time over a long period of time to the point that I don’t have to think about them. Start small, make a plan, write it down, and it’s amazing what can be accomplished in a short amount of time! Do you have a breakfast that helps you to feel energetic and focused for the day without a midmorning crash? We would love to hear from you!!

I just learned that 70% of the meat that is sold in stores is treated with carbon monoxide to keep the meat from looking brown. This is just one of the many reasons to find a local farmer to support! You can learn more about this at the link below.https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/why…/….

Three kids were born on the Mentink Family Farm yesterday! Thankfully these cuties waited until the cold snap was over. While we do try to hold birthing off until late April, sometimes things happen. Congratulations to Kailey and praise the Lord they are all rambunctious and healthy.

I never thought I would render lard, let alone cook with it. After learning that it’s high in vitamin D, highly digestible, and shelf-stable (meaning it doesn’t go rancid like vegetable oils) I was all in. Now that I have done it several times, I have found it to be very easy to accomplish. Rendering lard simply means heating the fat until most of the moisture is boiled off. You can cut the meat into small pieces or run it through a grinder to start. We have tried both and like the convenience of ground fat. Our lard that we sell in freezer safe, clear packages has been ground by the processor.

I received my Christmas and birthday presents for at least five years this winter. It may sound strange, but I got a used wood chipper and a new saw mill. Whenever we are driving down the road, I feel really sad when I see a pile of trees ready to burn. I know how generous farmers are in our area and I’m hoping that once people hear that we have this, maybe they will let us take some of that wood and turn it into something useful. We also plan to do some milling for other people. We are still working out the details, but so far we are thinking  that we will have a share or paid option. The share option will be where we mill for free and take a percentage of the wood. The paid option will be where we mill and charge an hourly rate. We still have some practicing to do before we do it for others, but my husband and son seem pretty excited about it so far. We plan to use the wood to build moveable shelters and other farm projects that we can’t afford to do at this time because of the price of wood.

At a Crossroads

By Angie Mentink

While the year 2020 has been one of the best years of my life, it has had its share of challenges. My husband and I are standing at a crossroads, because our business is in jeopardy. In the spring of 2020 our local meat processors were flooded with new customers, after some of the huge packing plants shut down, due to the huge number of Covid cases in the plant. Without a place to take their animals, farmers started making appointments at the local abattoirs. We, along with other faithful farmers, that have used these processors for years, are struggling to get all of our animals butchered that we direct market and are wondering what to do.

Dear friends and family (and those who are both),

Need I even mention that this year has been crazy? It’s been crazy for everyone – perhaps crazy-busy, crazy-lonely, crazy-as-always, with a few exceptions of crazy-fun (?). But it certainly has been a unique year. If anyone had told me that this year we would have to wear masks to the bank, stay six feet away from people for fear they give you a deadly virus, that . . . anyway, I would have thought they were crazy.

But such glum talk has wasted enough of this precious small space I have to fill with all sorts of stuff about our family – a paper of only 8.5 x 11 inches, double sides, with 3/4 inch margins . . . I guess I’d better get going before I’m out! As usual, I want to go through all the individuals in our family (10 in all!), but I think it would be helpful (more humorous than helpful) to add in a few lessons we’ve learned this year, as well as some highlights.

Ever wonder why soap is so cheap in the store? Besides having several cheap, toxic ingredients, most of the glycerin (a natural skin softener) has been removed. The glycerin can be used to make lotions or other products which one will need to purchase after using this cheap soap. Here at Mentink Family Farms we wouldn’t even know how to remove the glycerin (nor would we want to!). Our ingredients are simple, natural oils like olive oil, palm oil, and coconut oil. These are saponified with lye (which all soap contains). If anyone says different they are lying. In the past women would soak their wood ashes in rain water to make their own lye, and then add this to whatever fat they were producing on their farm to make soap. Maybe some day I will give homemade lye a try, but for now we buy it. http://www.mentinkfamilyfarms.com/…/bulk-soap-order-10…/