I asked Kailey if she would write a short post about Ace so we could all remember his story. I didn’t think we would ever own a horse, but God had a different plan. Many of you probably remember seeing the paint pony or had Kailey offer to saddle him up and give you or your children rides. Kailey truly loved giving our family, friends, and customers a ride on Ace. Did you get a chance to ride him?

By Kailey Mentink

Anyone who has been out to our farm and had a tour might remember the little paint pony who would stand at the fence and whinny a greeting as they came close. Today I share with sadness that a few weeks ago, we lost Ace to an illness that took him quickly and peacefully.

How Ace Came into our Life

From the time I could talk, I begged my parents for a horse. They tried to explain they didn’t have the land, the money, the feed. It all fell on deaf ears. I just kept begging. My mom would sigh and say, “Well, if a horse walks into our yard, then you can have a horse.”

When we are feeling financially stressed, it’s best to focus on what we are spending verses what we are bringing in.

With the talk of food shortages potentially coming and the increased price of most everything, I thought I would take a little more time today to share what we have learned over the years about finances that have put us in a better financial position and helped us to discern between our wants and needs. We are certainly mindful of what is going on in the world, and trying to be prepared, but we are not scared or anxious, because we know that God will provide, and He has given us wisdom on how to live with less. Anything good or helpful in this post is of the Lord, not us. We never do this perfectly, and can only give God the glory that our hearts have been changed.

I believe it’s possible to live a frugal lifestyle while still enjoying a good quality of life and health. I have had several conversations with people over the years (married couples already both working full-time) that are very stressed financially and are convinced that they just need to “work more” or “make more money.” There are so many potential problems with this ideology. Working more hours is probably just going to add more stress to an already strained situation. We can get so busy working that we neglect the important things. If we aren’t able to take care of the work at home and ensure that we are eating good quality food, getting adequate sleep and exercise, and spending quality time with other people, our health, marriage, finances, relationships with our children and close friends and family, and spiritual life are going to suffer. Also, the busier we get, the less time we have to problem solve and think about where the money is going. I have noticed that my husband and I are doing a much better job of fixing problems or doing projects on our farm with little or no money, and spending a lot less because we actually have time to think through things.

In our modern world we are bombarded with unnatural fragrances and chemicals that make things smell nice, but are slowly deteriorating our health. While we can’t eliminate all of our exposure to these, we can use natural products to keep things clean and from smelling bad, while using essential oils to give a nice aroma to everything.  As always, my goal in teaching is simply to make people aware of potential risks, to encourage everyone to research and think for themselves, and to get better at problem solving (always ask why).

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”

– Thomas Jefferson.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

People are waking up and ditching their toxic candles, room sprays, and products containing fragrances and replacing them with essential oils. While there is some debate as to whether fragrances and other chemical ingredients found in these products are bad for our health, I know plenty of people that have reactions to them like sore throats, headache, fatigue, and respiratory distress to name a few. I don’t know about you, but I’m not waiting around for the science community to tell me what I already know to be true. Our family has simply used the power of observation in ourselves and others to realize that these aren’t good for us. To me it just makes sense to use a natural product made from God’s amazing, healing plants rather than a lab made product from groups that hide ingredients under the word fragrance so we don’t even know what it’s made from.

My history teacher tried to stress to us kids that didn’t seem to care much about history at the time, how important it is to learn from the past mistakes so we don’t repeat history. I now understand how important this is. Here are a few quotes from the past to ponder that are relevant to our current times.

To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.  

Adolf Hitler

Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident that they are acting on their own free will.

Joseph Goebbels

Beans have been used as a food source for thousands of years and have been known in the past as food for the poor. While they are a great source of protein, minerals, B vitamins, and anticancer agents, if they aren’t properly prepared, they can cause a lot of physical discomfort and mineral loss in our bodies. The anti-nutrients in beans will pull minerals out of the intestinal tract like magnesium, calcium, zinc, and iron which are then eliminated through the waste system if they are not neutralized.

The good news is that we can still enjoy our beans and make them a healthy choice instead of a painful one. We simply start with good quality, organic dried beans and cover them with warm water for 12 to 24 hours (for black beans we will need to add something acidic like lemon juice, whey, or apple cider vinegar). After this soaking time, we simply drain and rinse the beans, cook them in a pot with enough water to cover the beans, and bring them to a boil. It’s important to skim off any foam that rises to the top (although sometimes I forget), then reduce the heat and simmer covered for 4 to 8 hours (sometimes it will take less). Low and slow is key to cooking beans. I like to make a large amount at once and then freeze the extra in quart-sized Ziplock bags.

In order to save money and keep some extra food in our pantry, we purchase organic beans in 25-pound bags. I always have black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, and lentils (another member of the legume family) on hand so we can make a wide variety of recipes. When you compare what we would pay for these beans in a can, the savings and health benefits are very significant.

What is your favorite way to use beans? We love to hear from you!

 Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, learned about the benefits of pastured, clean meats, considered getting mercury removed, we got the toxins out of our mouth, skin, and hair, made some changes in our cleaning routines, we talked about raw milk, learned about vegetables and fruits, fermentation, clean water and the benefits of water, the benefits of getting outside, the importance of properly preparing nuts, and this week we are talking about beans. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.

Wisdom for proper storage and preparation of nuts so you don’t have to take enzymes with them.

If you eat substantial quantities of raw pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, filberts or others, you have a choice of swallowing enzyme capsules with them to neutralize their enzyme inhibitors or first germinating the nuts and letting nature do the job through increased enzyme activity resulting from germination.

Edward Howell, MD

Almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts and peanuts have a high content of stable oleic acid Thus they do not go rancid easily and once prepared by soaking and dehydrating may be stored for many months at room temperature in airtight container. Walnuts on the other hand, contain large amounts of triple unsaturated linolenic acid and are much more susceptible to rancidity. They should always be stored in the refrigerator.

Sally Fallon