Extra Crunchy

This year we purchased pastured pork and beef from wonderful people at Snake River Farm.  We joined them in January for their lard rendering and bobsledding day and it was delightful!  Marek loved the horses and Matt really enjoyed chatting while helping strain the lard.  We ate the most delicious cookies made with the crackling from lard rendering as well as donuts, fries, soups, and meats all from the farm.  My favorite part was learning how to make soap and lotion from beef tallow.  I didn't realize that soap making is something that we could do on a small scale at home.  Matt and are excited to try it out soon and I'll be sure to post about it.  Last night I deep fried sweet potatoes in the lard and it was fantastic.  We usually make roasted sweet potato "French fries" at least once a week but these were the real deal!  Eggs cooked in lard are fantastic.  It's so cheap and delicious and healthy.  We will definitely continue to make and use this product in our family.  It's nothing new but it's new to us!

The tallow balm seemed like a very simple process to make.  Reading more about it, I discovered that it is very good for your skin, especially in winter and especially for eczema. It is "bioavailable," to our skin, absorbing easily and fairly non-greasy.  I decided to try it out.  I purchased two pounds of ground tallow from the meat market, rendered it, whipped it up with olive and essential oils and viola!  The smell is distinct but not unpleasant.  Eau de beef fat is the new patchouli. I've been using it on my face for a few nights and it feel amazingly rich and smooth. 

 

I am trying to phase out most of the household products we use/buy that are synthetic and trying out homemade/natural replacements.  I've purchased everything to make laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, and some personal products like lip balm, lotion, and deodorant.  It's fairly inexpensive and I'm having fun with it!  My secondary intention is to simply use less of everything (cleaning products, makeup, FOOD, etc.).  That's also a great way to be natural and save money ;)