And the Cookie Winner Is.....

I know you have all been waiting patiently to find out who gets to sink their teeth into the delicious cookies!  Our winner is:

David with the comment "I'm thankful for, farmers, ranchers and bacon!" 

If this is you please email me your address to dirtroadcharm@gmail.com and I will get them shipped out to you!!!  I must agree that those are some pretty amazing things to be thankful for!

I hope you all have a great start to a short work week!

Enjoy!

Giveaway: Cookies for Foodthanks!

Since it is November and everyone gets extra thankful this month I felt it was the perfect opportunity to do a little giving myself in honor of #foodthanks.  I am a huge fan of small town businesses and feel that they are the secret treasures of any small town.  Where I live is no different.  We are lucky enough to have the best cookie maker of all time (and I am serious when I say this.....she is unbeatable). 

Cookies on Demand is our small town secret treasure.  It is also my secret weapon to win over the hearts of my farmer customers and prospects.  You show up with a dozen cookies that are out of this world delicious and it is hook line sinker!

With that being said I am giving away a dozen of these amazing cookies to one lucky winner!!  They will be shipped to you next day air if you are not close enough to pick them up just so you can taste the freshness!
All you have to do is go and like her page on facebook by clicking here and then come back and comment on this post of what you are thankful for! The winner will be drawn on Monday!

Now if you can't wait that long to get your hands on some of these cookies no fear.  She ships all over!  Just give her a call! 

Good Luck!!

Men....The Perfect Gift For The Woman in Your Life!!

If she is a coffee drinker....if not then your out of luck and this post will help you none.

But for real.....I have found the most incredible gift that every woman (or man) that drinks coffee must have.  A FRENCH PRESS!!  People, call me crazy if you have had one for years but this is the most simple and amazing invention ever!  The first time I had french press coffee was in Chicago at my cousin's apt.  It was delish.  However when I left Chicago I clearly forgot how amazing it was. 

Recently a group of friends and myself went to the newly opened Father Johns Brewery and we had french pressed coffee.  My taste buds were in over drive heaven.  It makes coffee so creamy and so rich and smooth.  Just incredible.  It puts my keurig to shame.

So to help make Christmas shopping super easy for all you men out there because I know you normally wait until the last minute, get your woman a french press.  She will love it and you will be a hero. 

And to make it even easier you can order one from Amazon right HERE.

Now you can relax having one less thing on your Christmas list....you can thank me later.

Enjoy!!

Picture Day!

Yes it is that time of year again......to renew your license.   Which means you get a new shot at attempting to take a half reasonable picture.  Never works well for me. 

4 years ago I was working breeding cows so I swung into the license bureau quick to get it over with.  Epic fail. I had on an under armour cold gear shirt which seemed to push ALL of my chins up in visible view and then they decide to zoom in on my face.  Gross. 

Just to reassure me that my picture was that bad, a group of us stayed in a hotel after one of Michigan States football games and since the reservation was under my name I went through the classic line of events.  License and card you would like to put the room on.....says the college student behind the desk.  I hand him my license and say don't judge. It's a bad pic. The kid looks at me, then at the pic and says yeah you could've done better.  Well thanks!

So again this year I get up with anticipation of doing my hair looking all fancy. In my head this is what I imagine my pic to look like.

Photo courtesy of google images

But then I get busy and run out of time and this is what it will most likely end up looking like.

Photo courtesy of google images

So with my hair thrown up in a ponytail here is to 4 more years of looking like a boy!  Happy Tuesday y'all!!

A harvest in pictures

I don't claim or attempt to consider myself a photographer in any way.  I shoot with an iPhone and thanks to some apps my photos look slightly better than a toddlers. However I do love getting action shots of agriculture as I travel the countryside. 

Harvest has really picked up pace here the last couple days after a wonderful 4+ inches of rain and I wanted to share some of my wonderful better than a toddlers photos of the harvest happenings....Enjoy!

I might add according to all these photos we really like the green and yellow up here!

Fall Favorites......HELP!!!

Paleo friends, primal friends, healthy friends in general........I need your help!!!

So I have these cravings come fall that consists of pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice latte, apple crisp, apple cobbler, hot caramel apple cider......pretty much everything loaded with sugar.  Which is great and normal right?  Minus one glitch........apparently my thyroid has went on strike.

I know right?  What a useless piece of machinery up there.  How does it just stop working?  So with that comes a big problem.....fat.  Within the last year I have been working out multiple times a week even multiple times a day and.......nothing, like havent lost a pound or an inch. Ridiculous.  So I made an appt with an integrative doctor thanks to the advice of my badass trainer.  Apparently they are pretty legit and help to heal you as a whole instead of just the issue at hand like a regular doctor?  I don't know but I'm about to find out.....minus the fact that she is such a big deal she is booked out through October so I'm on a waiting list.

In the mean time I am on a paleo diet to help keep me from gaining 500 pounds until we figure out this thyroid thing.  I am supposed to limit sugars but fall and winter are the WORST times of the year!  So this is where all you foodies come in!

I need recipes!!!  I need good paleo healthy yummy recipes to curb these cravings of fall I'm having!!  I need tried and true recipes.  I have found some and tried them and they have tasted like ass so I want some that you all have tried and know are delicious!!!  Also what are some go to things that you eat when you are craving sweets that are a healthier alternative?

Any and all thoughts and recipes are greatly appreciated! 

Thanks friends!

Chipotle Ad Controversy.....the Parody is Spot On!!

I'm sure that many of you by now have seen or heard about the recent release of the "Scarecrow" ad by Chipotle.  This ad which is accompanied by a "cute"  (insert sarcasm and eye roll) little game that they created as well does a great job of sharing lies and false images of what the food industry is like today.  I'm not a fan of  the video nor would I want to send any more views their way so I will not be sharing the video.  I'm sure most of you are very capable of finding it yourselves.

However......I will share this video!  Funny or Die made this parody of the Chipotle ad and it couldn't have made me happier!  Check it out and I will explain why.

 

I love this because it shows that the audience isn't as naive as Chipotle would like to think they are.  The Huffington Post even wrote an article stating that this parody almost makes you feel guilty for believing their marketing gimmicks.  I love that they are bringing this to the attention of everyone and it's not only farmers and ranchers out there standing up it is the general public realizing this video just doesn't seem right!! That makes me smile and warms my heart!!

 My frustration arises when Chipotle tries to get away with bashing big Ag and make you believe that they bring you natural, antibiotic and hormone free meat; (Which might I add all meat is antibiotic free when it reaches the slaughter house, we were all born with hormones so it's hard to get rid of a naturally occurring thing), but with the size of the corporation we all know that just isn't possible.  They have even put out statements saying that they can not supply it all the time because of demand.  Now if you have to supplement with conventionally raised meat why in the world would you try to bash it?  You are willing to feed it to your customers so it must not be that bad right?  These are just my thoughts.

Have a great Friday and a great start to your weekend!!