Zest ‘n Zing

Last week was Food Check Out Week. By this week, most Americans have earned enough money to pay for their food for the whole year. The American Farm Bureau thinks this is a pretty big deal – after all, the average American only spends about 10% of their annual income on food – and State Farm Bureaus sponsor celebrations and events all over the country.

This year, the American Farm Bureau came to Indianapolis and helped the Indiana Farm Bureau put on a huge event for the first time called Zest ‘n Zing: A Foodie Event for the At-Home Chef.

We all had a blast at this food party! There were food samples for everyone to taste, and lots of farmers hanging around for people to meet, talk to, and ask questions. We had a big food-oriented party for two hours before launching into the main event, an Iron Chef-style cook-off, featuring pork and cheese products.
The first team was Team Pork, starring Real Farmwife and pork farmer Heather Hill, Indiana’s weatherman Paul Poteet, and Chef Chip from Barto’s Banquets and Catering at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.


The second team was Team Moo, starring Real Farmwife and dairy farmer Liz Kelsay, Dave Smiley from Indianapolis’ Smiley Morning Show, and Chef Jason from Ivy Tech.

Remodel Mondays – Warm and Cozy

Roof? Check. Windows? Check. Insulation? Now we’ve got it!

One major thing we found when we tore the drywall off the inside of the old house was that there was no insulation. Up on top of a windy hill, no wonder the house was drafty! So we insulated. Did we ever!

We put blue board Styrofoam on the outside of the house, and insulated the heck out of the inside.

Here’s the eat-in section of the kitchen.

Ouch, my thyroid!

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to it been brave enough to write it yet. It’s finally gotten to the point where this is taking up so much of my time and energy (and, frankly, just plain stealing my energy) that it’s time to write.

I have Graves’ disease. This is a type of hyperthyroidism, where my thyroid gland is overactive and produces way too much thyroid hormone.

Here’s how a normal thyroid gland is supposed to work. Your pituitary gland (in your brain) makes a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). This hormone goes to your thyroid gland and tells your thyroid to make two hormones, T3 and T4. T3 and T4 are basically just two different forms the same hormone; one has 3 iodine molecules on it (T3) and the other has 4 iodine molecules (T4.) See, science isn’t that hard!

Remodel Mondays – I can see clearly now

Because we have windows! Whee!

Yes, all of our new windows are in, and I’m so excited! We went with 3 foot wide by 5 foot tall windows in most places, so there is a ton of natural light inside.
This is the eat-in part of the kitchen.The smaller window that you can see to the left is actually in the mudroom. There will be a door between the mudroom and the kitchen. I’m pretty excited to have a room dedicated to just mud. Hubby Doc can really make a mess when he puts his mind to it.

Now this farmwife has boots!

A while ago, I finally upgraded from a Nissan Altima to a Ford Expedition. Driving a truck finally made me feel like a farmwife. But something was still missing. It took me a little while, but I finally figured it out.

Boots!