A Tale of Two Piggies *love*

I'm still not sure if I will do it again, but Stuart and I raised our own pigs. Bacon and Bianca. We got them when they were "weaner" pigs and raised them until the day they left for slaughter. I personally had to help load them into the trailer and it was not a pretty site. It took me a long time to warm up to eating them, too. Eventually I gave in considering that of all things, I did not want to consider myself a hypocrite. I mean, if I was going to eat store-bought meat without any qualms, why in the hell couldn't I eat a pig that I know was raised humanely, fed well, and overall, very well taken care of. So anyway, we have a freezer full of home-grown pork that tastes 100x better than anything you will buy in the store. Mainly because it is chock-full of love and respect. Yes, I loved my pigs. I cried clumsily the day they left, was a wreck trying to herd them into the trailer and was extremely pissed off at Stuart for making me help him do this. But, I can now say that I will not buy pork from any chain grocery store, ever.

I use the ground pork for dishes like spaghetti, lasagna, add it to bean soups, tacos, egg scrambles, etc. Last night, I decided to make stroganoff. It was delicious. This is how it went down:

1 lb ground pork
2 c noodles (I only had elbow macaroni but would have preferred whole grain egg noodles)
1/4 purple onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 leek (sliced lengthwise, then chopped)
8 mushrooms (I used button mushrooms because it was all I had)
5 or 6 sprigs of parsley (chopped)
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c milk
1/4 c cheese (I used parmesan)

After browning the pork with salt, pepper and garlic, I put it aside. Sauteed my onion and garlic first. In butter, of course. Added the leeks, then the mushrooms, then the meat. I added the milk and sour cream. This amount can certainly be altered to your desired consistency. The parsley was mixed in next and the whole dish topped with cheese!

It was delicious. I ate it again for lunch today and was so appreciative of the food I was putting into my body. I actually felt like saying a prayer! Maybe next time....