My Favorite Recipe 10/6/11

The last two and a half years have been a huge learning curve for Sheri Wadsworth and her family after they purchased a 10-acre farm outside of Pullman.

“Neither my husband or I grew up on a farm so we are really new to farming,” Sheri said.

Sheri grew up in Sayre, Okla. She went with her father to her grandmother’s farm to help with the chores.

Her husband, Michael Wadsworth, was raised in Concord, Calif., just outside of San Francisco. He too had little experience raising animals and taking care of land.

Six years ago, Michael took a job at Decagon and they moved to Pullman. They knew they wanted to buy a home with at least an acre. Two years ago, they found a home with 10 acres that met their wants and needs.

Sheri made it clear that having a farm required a lot of work. They took a family vote on the purchase of the farm house. All the children, Alyssa, 16, Emilee, 14, Jacob, 11, Abigail, 8 and Shaylee 4, voted yes and were excited to start doing chores.

“Jacob said he would scoop poop every day and never complain if we bought the farm,” Sheri said. “That lasted about a month.”

The farm came with several cats, a dog and one bunny. Since then, they have added pigs, goats, chickens, a couple of horses, three beehives, and several more cats, dogs and bunnies.

“The first year we did pigs it was a disaster,” Sheri said. “We didn’t have the right feeder so they kept kicking it over, and they would pee in their water. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it again. It was a real learning curve.”

This year they installed the proper feeding and watering troughs. Sheri said raising pigs for FFA and 4H was much easier after they installed the right equipment. She said they have learned a lot by trial and error.

“Last year we made our sausage, bacon and ham. The ham wasn’t very good. I don’t think we’ll make ham again this year,” Sheri said.

This fall was the second year the family took their pigs to the fair and the first time they stayed all four nights in their camper. Sheri said it was a lot of work but really fun and they are looking forward to making it a new family tradition.

“Jacob’s pig was really smart this year. His pig could unlock the pen door at the fairgrounds,” Sheri said. “That pig let himself out into the barn twice and got out of the barn once. It took a bunch of people to get him back into the barn. I was not sorry to see that pig sold.”

This year was also the first year the Wadsworths cut and baled their hay. Jacob drove the truck while his older sisters and dad bucked the hay onto the trailer, another first for their family.

They have also planted a large garden and several fruit trees. Last winter, Michael, the beekeeper, lost all three hives and had to start all over this spring.

“Mike learned this summer it’s better to use your smoker when working with the bees,” Sheri said with a smile. “You get stung less.”

Sheri said next year they are thinking about adding a steer, a few miniature goats, and trading in the horses for ponies.

“Maybe we will even try milking the goats, who knows,” she said with a chuckle.

Recipes:

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

3-4 Lbs of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 stick of margarine

1 Good Seasons Italian salad dressing packet

1 can cream of chicken soup

9 oz. of cream cheese, softened

Mix Italian dressing packet with melted butter and pour half in the crock pot. Add chicken breasts to crock pot and pour the remaining butter mixture on top. Cook in crock pot on low about 6 hours until chicken is tender. Shred chicken into small pieces and add cream of chicken soup and cream cheese. Cook until cream cheese is melted and stir together (about 30 more minutes). Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

Chicken Enchiladas

3 cups of cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

1 can cream of mushroom

1 pint sour cream

1 small can sliced olives

1 can chopped green chilies

2 cloves garlic, minced, sauteed

1 onion, diced and sauteed in butter with garlic

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

12 flour tortillas

Mix together soup and sour cream and spread a thin layer in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix chicken, onions, garlic, chilies and olives in remaining sour cream mixture (first remove - for later use). Stuff the tortillas with mixture and some cheese. Lay rolled tortillas on the sauce in the pan. Spread remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (uncovered).