Cheese and Bacon Celebrate June Dairy Month

Can you imagine a better start to June Dairy Month than getting to sample delicious dairy recipes prepared by a group of amazing young cooks?  It was my privilege to be one of three judges for the Arkansas Farm Bureau Dairy Foods Contest last week in Little Rock.

Each recipe is judged on the use of dairy products, originality, the availability of products used, and serving technique. Contestants for this contest are selected from the winning recipe submitted from  each county Farm Bureau.

Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Shells prepared by Kendall Yarbrough,14,  4-H member from Benton County  won second place in the Main Dish Category. I can tell you first hand--it is rich, creamy, and deliciously loaded with dairy products. Kendall told us that she loves this recipe "because of the cheese and bacon" and  "likes stuffing the shells." 



Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
2 cup chopped  fresh mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup butter,divided
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened and divided
1 1/2 cups Asiago cheese,divided
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup crumbled, cooked bacon
2 tablespoons  minced fresh parsley,divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup 1 percent milk
2 cups shredded Romano cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions:
 Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large skillet, sauté  mushrooms and onions in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. In a large bowl, beat ricotta and 4 oz. cream cheese until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, Parmesan cheese,bacon, 1 tablespoon parsley, garlic salt,nutmeg, pepper and mushroom mixture. Spoon into shells and place in a greased 13"x 9" baking dish. In a large saucepan, melt remaining butter. Stir in flour until smooth and then gradually add the cream,
broth and milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in Romano cheese and the remaining cream cheese, Asiago and parsley. Pour over shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10-15 minutes longer.

Serving Size: 2 stuffed shells
Servings: 12

 

How much milk does an average dairy cow produce per day?

Answer: The average dairy cow produces anywhere from six to eight gallons of milk per day.

This means the average dairy cow produces more than 2,000 gallons of milk every year!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

It was my privilege   to be one of the judges for the Arkansas Farm Bureau Dairy Foods Contest held in Little Rock today.

These eight young contestants from across the state provided this dairy farmer with a delicious celebration for the start of  

 June Dairy Month!

 

 

                                       I'm thankful for the many programs and contests that
                                   Arkansas Farm Bureau members across our state  support 
                                                to help young people develop life skills.

Happy June Dairy Month!

Spotted Cow's Tuesday Trivia with Taste

To celebrate June Dairy Month, I thought it might be fun to share a tasty dairy recipe every Tuesday during June served with a little dairy trivia!

 

 

 

Can you name the six breeds of dairy cattle?

Answer: Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey, Milking Shorthorn

 

 

Do you know how many spots are identical on the average dairy cow?

 

Answer: Every cow spot is like a snowflake; no two are the same.

 

 

No matter which kind of dairy cow produces the milk you enjoy---milk is a nutritional bargain costing about 25 cents a glass.

 

You can find Spotted Cow's Trivia Taste recipe this week at

Dairy Makes Sense.

 

 

Banana-Caramel Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 medium bananas, peeled, sliced and frozen
2 cups fat-free milk
1/4 cup purchased caramel sauce

*Note: Use frozen banana slices to chill and thicken your smoothie. Just peel and slice each banana and freeze in a separate zip-top plastic bag. This is a great way to use ripe bananas and have them ready for your smoothie.

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth. Serve in tall glasses or on-the-go drink containers.

Can You Hear the Moo-sic?

From the feed barn,

 

 

to the hay field,

 

from the visitors on the farm,

 

to  the calves in the hutches,

 

 

and from the dairy farmer getting ready to tie the knot,

 

It's the Moo-sic of June Dairy Month that we hear!!

 

 

 

Happy June Dairy Month!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

        I'm thankful for not only the beauty of the season but the smell of sweet roses and the wild       
                             honeysuckle blooming in the fence rows. It is absolutely heavenly!

 

It was so fitting when I read this from  Sarah Young's Jesus Calling devotional book:

 

"Approach each new day with desire to find Me. Before you get out of bed, I have already been working to prepare the path that will get you through this day. There are hidden treasures strategically placed along the way. Some of the treasures are trials, designed to shake you free from earth-shackles. Others are blessings that reveal My Presence: sunshine, flowers, birds, friendships, answered prayer. I have not abandoned this sin-wracked world; I am still richly present in it.

Search for deep treasure as you go through this day. You will find Me all along the way. "

Farms and Friends

A crane is not part of our dairy  farming operation but we were happy to see our friend and his crane   this morning after the axle under our feed wagon broke as the loaded wagon was moving towards the barn to feed the cows. Although this is a bad situation, we were very fortunate that no one was injured and that we have a friend that owns a crane and was willing to help us get it pulled up right so that it can be repaired.

 

 

Before the crane had set the mixing wagon upright, the boys were hooking up another friend's mixer wagon so that our cows could be fed.

 

Our cows definitely appreciated our friend's willingness to let us borrow the wagon.

They never missed a bite of nutritious feed!

 

 

 

If our days were always trouble free, we would miss out on these opportunities to appreciate the friendships we have in our farming community!

Fruit Salsa Yogurt Parfait

I picked 5 strawberries from my three brave  strawberry plants that survived our harsh winter. What can you do with 5 strawberries? The simple answer is--just eat them! Thanks to strawberry farmers, I bought fresh strawberries this weekend  and can combine them with my five to try  Fruit Salsa Yogurt Parfait from the recipe collection of Dairy Makes Sense.


Fruit Salsa Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients:
 1 can (15 oz) peach slices in juice
1 can (8oz) pineapple chunks in juice
2 kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 cup strawberries,chopped
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ground ginger
1 carton (32 ounces) non-fat vanilla yogurt

Preparation:
Drain peach slices, discarding juice. Drain pineapple chunks, reserving juice. Chop peaches and pineapple.

Toss peaches, pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, brown sugar, spices and reserved pineapple juice in a medium bowl.

Layer 1/2 cup yogurt with 6 tablespoons of fruit salsa in each of 8 parfait glasses or dessert dishes. Serve immediately.