A meal can be simple, it can be delicious, or it can be the fruit of your labor… perhaps even all three.

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The meal that I had last night was. I’ll include a recipe in case anyone wants to replicate it, and I’ll even ship steemians in the US some seeds for free, in case you want to grow your own Chinese Noodle Beans.

So, what was so special about the meal?

I made a simple stir-fry last night, but it is the ingredients and where they came from that made it special. The meat was Ground Venison, which came from the woods near where we live. The Garlic that I sautéed in the butter was foraged in the woods nearby last summer. The Chinese Noodle Beans were ones that we grew in our garden last year and froze to use in the winter months. I added a few extra ingredients too, but the bulk of it was hunted, foraged, and gardened by our friends and family right where we live.

THE APPRECIATION

You’ve probably often heard me speak about having a trustworthy food supply and about the joy of taking more of what you eat into your own control. I won’t go too far into the details here, but I will mention the blessing of putting effort into providing food for yourself and family.

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The @little-peppers and myself walked around in the woods to harvest that garlic. We pulled them out of the earth, washed them, and braided them into long strands to store for the winter. Now, when we grab a few cloves to use in a meal, we have all those memories and gathering and preparing them.

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In our area, a few deer were harvested last year too. I harvested three myself. The @little-peppers and @mama-pepper remember each time that I came home with a deer, and how I had to clean and butcher them. They were there helping as I cut the meat into different pieces for different meals. I remember Pinkie-Pepper writing things like “Roast,” “Stew Meat,” “Tenderloin” and other things on the bags before we filled them with meat and froze them. It was quite an experience for me, and my children got to share in it. When we cook some of that meat now, it’s not just a hunk of meat. We remember the animal that it came from, and the process of preparing it to be used as food for our family.

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The Chinese Noodle Beans have a inspired a similar appreciation in us. We planted the seeds. We watered the plants. We weeded around them. We harvested the ripe beans. Now, we have all those memories each time we enjoy some at a meal.

THE RECIPE

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INGREDIENTS

• 2# Ground Venison
• 1 Quart Chinese Noodle Beans
• 10 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/4 Stick of Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
• 5 Medium Portabella Mushrooms

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DIRECTIONS

• Brown Ground Venison in a skillet. Season if desired.
• In another skillet, melt Butter.
• Thinly slice the Garlic and sauté in Butter.
• Once Garlic has sautéed, add Chinese Noodle Beans and cover.
• Slice Portabella Mushrooms and add to the second skillet.
• Once the Beans and Mushrooms have cooked, add in Ground Venison and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.
• Allow Liquid Aminos to thoroughly permeate the dish and serve.

THE CLOSING THOUGHTS

This is one that the @little-peppers enjoyed as much as we did! Soon, dishes were empty and bellies were filled. One of the biggest blessings of providing more of our own food is to see how the children react to the meals, now that they have a real connection to what they are consuming. Often, there is far less complaining, and far less left-overs now that they understand more of the process and actually played a role in providing it too!

Again, if you would like to try growing some of your own Chinese Noodle Beans, just let Papa know. I’ll ship them for free to anywhere in the United States.

RELATED POSTS

I have previously posted about each of the main ingredients that I used in this dish. Here is a great post about the Garlic, the Chinese Noodle Beans, and the Deer.

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FORAGING FOR WILD GARLIC

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GROWING CHINESE NOODLE BEANS IN THE GARDEN

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PAPA’S FIRST TIME HUNTING DEER

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:

proof-of-dinner

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FULL STEEM AHEAD

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FOLLOW

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Awesome Handcrafted @papa-pepper logo kindly donated by @vlad - Thank you!!

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OPERATION TRANSLATION logo provided by @oecp85.

(click link above for more info on Operation Translation)

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The long-term purpose of this account is to help provide the necessary funds to live a self-sufficient lifestyle at home with my family.