Meat and Muffins

We took a trip out to the farm last week!  The farm where I have signed up for a produce CSA announced a partnership with a local meat farm.  Locally and humanely raised meat can be ordered ahead of time each week and a delivery will be left one evening a week with Spring produce shares.  I didn't sign up for a spring share, but I will be heading that way once a week come summer anyway and finding a local, healthier source of meat was something on my "want to do" list for a while now.  I sent an email to the farm owners to ask for more information and they sent me a response and told me to come up to see the farm anytime.  So, we took a road trip!

The farm is located just outside of Dublin, New Hampshire, which is such a cute town that I had never been through before.  Myself and the little one headed that way on a nice, sunny, spring day- I think we have finally kicked winter to the curb!  When we got there, I foolishly left my camera in the car.  I was kicking myself because there were some very adorable photo opportunities with pigs, piglets, sheep, baby lamb, cows and chickens.  The owners, Craig and Sarah, were on site, took us around to all of the animals, talked openly about their farm practices and walked us through how and where everything is stored and available in their on site farm store.  The coolest part was being told directly by the owners that we were welcome to stop up anytime and see the farm and animals.  My mind flashed back to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (great book if you have not read it yet) where Pollan talked about a veil of secrecy over parts of the processing of the steer he was trying to follow to someone's table.  In contrast, this farm felt welcoming and transparent. 

Mayfair Farm

Before we left, we stopped at the on site store and purchased Italian sausages, a whole chicken, a bottom round roast and ground pork.  The Italian sausages were delicious....I cooked those up with some whole wheat pasta, sauce and veggies.  We also had a roast beef dinner.  The meat was definitely tasty, but truthfully I have never cooked a bottom round roast before and I think I may need a lesson or two!  The chicken is on deck for dinner this evening and I just found a recipe for homemade pot stickers for the ground pork.  I am excited about this find and look forward to ordering more fresh food!

Onto this lovely Sunday morning, a craving for donuts hit our house again.  So, the little one and I followed this recipe for a Sunday morning baked good.  I am really starting to like spelt flour.  I modified the recipe slightly by cutting out 1/2 the sugar.  I am sure you could substitute honey or maple syrup if you prefer.  I also made a quick chocolate glaze because there is always room for more chocolate.  I melted 2-3 tsp of coconut oil with a small amount of chocolate chips.  Once smooth, I just drizzled on the tops of the muffins.  Done. Yum.

On the pregnancy fitness front, I have resigned to walking, light weights and stretching/yoga at this point.  Between some busy work schedules right now and the third trimester wakefulness during the night, it's all I am fitting in.  This baby is also much lower than bundle #1.  Many people have told me that they think I am going to go early- I won't be upset if they are right! Although, I better finish up my nesting if that is the case.  I tried some "bursts" of jogging on a recent walk and as much as I want to run, it ain't happening! Baby is just too low. 5'ish weeks left until the due date so I will just keep moving as much as I can until then and then look forward to getting back to some running mileage.  My other half just signed up for his first marathon, which I am really excited about.  I have visions of family vacations and endurance event destinations!

Anyone else have end of pregnancy fitness tips?  Tips for cooking beef?

Have a great week!