Livestock Grain MAY Equal Human Food

Pic of whole oats (groats) to the right:

Now that we have a farm (goats, chickens, rabbit, quail), we buy wholesale livestock "cleaned grains" like cracked corn, whole oats, and black oil sunflower seeds. Got to thinking ... can we eat these things too?

So I contacted the manufacturer/distributor: Nutrena. I felt kinda stupid asking if humans can eat horse food, so I fudged and acted like my little kid had just eaten some ... was she going to be ok? Was told of course, the oats and corn are just find for people food.

Just the other day, tho, I sent them an e-mail asking specifically if Nutrena livestock feed is ok for human consumption and was told emphatically not.

Of course, I have to encourage everyone to check this out for yourself. It's up to you. WARNING/DISCLAIMER: only YOU can decide whether to stock up on the whole oats and cracked corn as part of your human food storage. And absolutely NEVER store anything that is medicated or from an unknown source.

Nutrena 50 pound bag of whole oats was only $11.99

Nutrena 50 pound bag of clean cracked yellow corn was only $8.49

20 pound bag of black oil sunflower seeds was $14.99

It looked like there might be some grass in our oats bag, but that can easily be cleaned. Keep these in their original bags, in metal trash cans, until you're ready to open and use. Then store in smaller rodent/ant-proof containers.

Soak and cook whole oats (groats) for a long time. Or you can grind the oats to use in baking as oat flour. Same with the cracked corn. The sunflower seeds provide a nice protein for a little extra work (hulling the seeds).

Just something I wanted to pass on to you. Be sure to acknowledge the disclaimer.

Four days of food, family and fun

You know me ... always hungry and always thinking about food. So even tho I don't post regularly on this blog any more, thought this would be the right place (and time) to post this!

See... I'm already thinking ahead to November (Thanksgiving) of this year, planning a Family Fun Time for our little family. There are four whole days where Hubby won't need to go to work, and we won't have to do much more than daily chores (caring for the livestock, etc.). We all have our little quirks about food:

-I'm on a diet and doing great, plus I'm a picky eater and don't really like turkey or chicken. Don't really like cooked veggies, but enjoy them raw. Also found a great recipe for pecan bars (gluten-free and lactose-free) that we can all enjoy.

-Hubby will eat almost anything but he's doing good on his diet too. However, he's lactose intolerant.

-The Kid doesn't eat meat any more, except for bacon and eggs. Is also gluten-intolerant. Also has lots of "adverse reactions" to certain foods (like anything with preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, or chemicals). Likes raw veggies like squash and spinach, and LOVES fruit. Even tolerates (read: eats) my pork-n-beans. Oh, and this Kid hates Thanksgiving food (sweet potatoes, green been cassarole, etc.)

We have some fruits and veggies growing in an upstairs bedroom that should be ready by then: green beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers. Our outside garden got slammed already this year but we might have corn and some winter squash.

Our goats won't be producing milk (one is too young and one should be pregnant by then), so no homemade cheese, but in addition to our one laying hen, the other chicks will be big enough to be laying eggs regularly.... probably between 6-11 eggs a day.

BUT ... we don't want to just eat for four days. We have board games, card games, books, movies, music, karaoke machine, and more. Could take a couple of long walks. Long talks.

Ideas?