Dark Days Week 2

I am so far behind in this challenge it is not even funny. Our second meal of the challenge started out to be a great meal with the whole family but ended up with just me and the kids a few days late. So I will make this one quick and short. Basically it was chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. The tenderized round steak is from a local cow we bought a few moths ago. It was raised by my brother-in-law about 80 miles from us on pasture and local hay. It was coated with flour, egg, and salt and pepper. None of which which were local or organic but were in the kitchen. The potatoes come from the San Luis Valley which is to the south east of us in Colorado and are readily available in the local store. A little locally produced milk and some butter and seasoning and there you have it. We were going to have some frozen corn from a farm stand in Rocky Ford but it was late and we were starving so that will have to wait till another time.

Dark Days Challenge Week 1

Well today is my first post for the Dark Days Challenge. I have been doing some research to get ready for it. Normally the range for the challenge is about 150 miles but I am going to be using the State of Colorado as my range. I have been looking at the different people that are going to be participating and it seems that most of the people are from the two coasts and just a few from the central states and and I am the only one from Colorado. This is my first time to do the challenge and have never really thought about the SOLE aspect of food. My garden did not do very well this year so it might be a little more difficult for me this year but it has opened my eyes to what is out there (or not as the case maybe). I have been buying my beef and some pork fro several years now from local producers. Not because it was local but because it was cheaper to buy it in bulk if you will. I might be concentrating more on the local aspect and not so much on the organic part this year. It is a start and will build on it as time goes by. We are able to have exceptions of spices, chocolate, coffee, tea and oils.

So my first meal was mostly a success. I made beans

with pork and tomatoes. It was really simple. I have just learned to cook beans, so thought I would give it a try. The beans are from the Adobe milling company in Dove Creek Colorado, the tomatoes were a fire roasted organic canned from the health food store and the cubed pork came from a pig we had slaughtered awhile back. It came from a farmer about 80 miles from here. Probably not organic but very local. I also used some boxed chicken broth that was in my cabinet. Not local or organic but it was there. Threw it all in a crock pot and let it go for the day. That was all there was to it and it turned out pretty good. You could use any spices that you like to turn up the flavor. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with and hope to find some new sources for local products as time goes by.