Well, it was time. We had taken the last piggy into the locker.  We actually butchered 3 ourselves this year but time was short for this last one and when we loaded up one for a customer, we took our last one in also.

(Will we see more on butchering pigs later? Maybe, I have pictures!)

Anyway, my processed pig came back with our lard. At our local butcher, you have to ask for it (and the beef tallow, and bones!)  Apparently, some people don’t want their lard! (Can you imagine?)   If you can’t raise your pig yourself, try and buy a local one! Get one that is out on some pasture and well loved!

You can see our pigs are well loved 🙂

Your lard will come as a chunk.  You need to cut it up yourself into 1″ squares, or run it through a machine like this :

Once you run it through the machine, I put mine in a roaster pan and put it into the oven. I usually do pretty low for a long time 🙂  no chance of scalding.

After 10 hours yesterday, it looked like the pic above.  It is not a lovely smell but it wasn’t overpowering, we wouldn’t have had to leave.  I like to do it overnight so we don’t have to worry about using the oven.

Then I strain it like the picture above.

This becomes jar after jar of lard goodness!

After I fill a jar, I wipe the rim and cover it with a metal lid and ring. I then flip it over 🙂

and this is your final product 🙂

Why Lard? http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/02/the-top-3-reasons-why-you-should-be-eating-lard.html

What can you use lard for?   I use it for cooking and soap making. We had some this morning as I cooked french toast. I store it in my root cellar 🙂
Blessings

Amanda

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Hi all,

after being asked about how we do breakfasts at the big fam house, I decided to share what we’ve been doing for about the last 10-11 months.

Monday – always Oatmeal… Mondays are a bit (ahem…) harder to get going than other days, and I love a nice hot breakfast where I don’t’ have to stand in front of a stove!   Variety we add ~ different fruits – fresh, frozen, dehydrated or home-canned 🙂   My favorite is probably peaches (canned from Azure) and cream.  (We’re milking a cow, so there is lots of cream!)  Other choices – dehydrated rhubarb or apple pcs, brown sugar with a little maple syrup. Yum!   I’ve just recently started adding a little bit of cinnamon bark Young Living Essential oil for a fresh taste.  It was October’s free special with ordering so I just started.   A drop goes a long way!

Tuesdays – always eggs.  Lots of variety! Eggs/Bacon, scrambled fried, breakfast burritos.  One of my favorites is breakfast bowls – take sausage, hashbrowns, fried egg and add cheese 🙂

Wednesday – pancakes, usually buttermilk but occasionally pumpkin.

Thursdays – biscuit days –  biscuits and gravy, biscuits and sausage, buttermilk biscuits and home-made jelly or apple butter. Yum!

Fridays – waffles 🙂   We have this one!

Saturdays – French Toast and Sausage.

Sundays – Granola

Easy to remember ~ Easy to plan for ~ Still some variety 🙂

What do you do?

Blessings!

Amanda