I want to take this opportunity to tell you about my friends, Nathan and Ellen Melson.  Nathan and Ellen operate Sloans Creek Farm in Dodd City, Texas.  I met them back in March 2009 when the Sulphur Springs Farmers Market bloomed in its first season.  They are a very cool couple raising and selling grass-fed meats and marketing their hard work around the Dallas/East Texas area.

Nathan and Ellen raise heritage animal breeds such as Red Poll Cattle, Irish Dexter Cattle, Murray Grey Cattle, St. Croix Hair Sheep, Myotonic Meat Goats, and Red Wattle Hogs.  Their animals eat grass and forage freely on the farm.  Their hogs are pastured on soil and grass where they can root around, wallow in the mud, and compliment there grain based diet as they see fit with grass, roots, bugs, and worms. This is just as swine were intended to be raised.  The animals are not injected with hormones or subtherapeutic antibiotics.  Sloan Creek Farm is a non-certified organic, family farm.  And family farms care more about their animals, the environment, and the local economy.

Do you think organic foods and grass fed meats are expensive?  For someone like me, a consumer accustomed to low meat prices, at first it was difficult to agree on paying a higher price for grass-fed meats.  I wanted my family to eat healthy foods; I just wasn't ready to pay the price.  That was until we TASTED the difference.  I kid you not.  There is a distinctive difference in the aroma and flavors of grass-fed meats compared to large feed lot finished meats.  For example, fresh ground beef from grass-fed cattle actually smells clean and fragrant.  There's very little fat and I don't feel compelled to cover it with spices so it can taste like something else.  And let me tell you about the pork!  Oh wait.  I told you about the pork chops when I wrote, Grilled Boneless Pork Chops. Well, I feel the same way about pastured raised chickens.  I stopped buying grocery store chickens last year and there's no way I'm turning back.

I've learned something about myself and paying more for higher quality.  I don't waste food.  I use just what I need and save & stretch the good stuff out as long as I can.  I've learned, and still learning, how to preserve higher quality foods in the freezer and by canning.  Delicious fresh food raised by family farms is the way to go, my friends.  I'm not saying the grocery store is a bad place.  I still need the grocery store, but not for everything.

Farmers' markets are fantastic places to meet and get to know where your next meal is coming from.  I realize that as I write this article, it is the end of October.  Most farmers' market are closed and the growing season is over.  We still need the grocery store to get us through until next spring.  But not all is lost.  Fresh meats are still available!

Sloans Creek Farm is prepared for the holidays and has plenty of meats on stock.  Take a few minutes to read through their website, and download their Price List.  Then, call and order so you can taste the difference like I have.

I'll be completely honest with you.  I haven't been a fan of sun-dried tomatoes. I'm not even sure I've grown to the level of "fan", yet.  For years now, I've read restaurant menus carry on about sun-dried tomatoes in their dishes.  And for years now, I haven't met a sun-dried tomato dish I liked.

You already know I'm slow on picking up on the latest fads.  But you gotta know something else about me.

Even when I try a new food or dish for the first time and I don't like it, it's not enough for me to declare, "I don't like it."  I will continue trying that fruit, vegetable, dinner recipe - cooked at different times by different people/restaurants/myself, before I'm completely convinced that I don't like it.

Foods that I didn't like as a teen-ager, I have grown to love them cooked differently from the way they were introduced to me.  All the legumes - grossed me out as a kid.  Now, I can't go a week without making a batch.

SWEET POTATOES- could not stand the texture as a kid through adulthood.  I was 30 before I started to appreciate sweet potatoes.  But every Thanksgiving meal, every year, I always took a bite to see if I still didn't like them.

Ok so now you know.  You understand that I don't get the sun-dried tomato thing, but I'm searching out, trying different ways to enjoy them.  I'm trying to figure what all the hub-bub is about.  If they're SO good, why don't I like them?

Well I finally broke down and bought Classico's Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (SDTP).  I already keep their Basil pesto on my frig door and completely love it.  How did I like the sun-dried?  IT'S PRETTY GOOD!  It's rich and I like the strong tomato flavor.  I also like the tomatoes being pureed.  The dried skins have always messed with me.  I don't always want chewy bits with my pasta, you know?

HERE'S WHAT I DIG SO FAR

• SDTP generously slathered on a pizza crust, topped with grilled chicken, sliced onion, large shavings of Romano & mozzarella cheese, and chopped fresh tomatoes, salt & pepper.

• SDTP loosened up with a little tomato sauce and poured over cheese ravioli, topped with crumbled goat cheese.

I don't have a photo for the next idea, you'll have to take my word for it.

• Goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pesto mixed together and spread on crackers or toasted baguette slices.

So that's as far as I've gone.

What's up your sun-dried tomato sleeves?  What can you share with me that will help me grow to appreciate them more?

Sometimes I go to the grocery store without my kids. That's a real treat for me because it gives a chance to actually read food labels and compare prices.

This week, I wanted to share with you my take on these three honey brands.

Now, I normally just put honey in my hot tea at night. Occasionally, I drizzle it over my bagels. I don't consume it enough to know one from the other and why their cost varies. What difference does it really make, honey is honey, right?

HERE'S WHAT I'VE LEARNED

Cost Comparison

• Food Club $2.69
• Burleson's $2.90
• Goya $3.45

Color Comparison

Burleson's has the lightest golden color. Food Club has the typical golden honey shade. Goya has a orangey-golden color. It's harder to tell from my photo, but there is a noticeable color difference.

Honey Thickness

Burleson's runs faster and thinner out of the bottle. Food Club is thicker. Goya is the Slowest AND Thickest that I've ever watched pour out onto a spoon.

TASTE (The Most Important Factor)

I'm not going to say one was better than another, because they each had their own distinct flavor.

Food Club was the sweetest. I would use it in baking or sweetening up a banana, pouring over sopapillas or French Toast.

Burleson's was mild, not too sweet at all, more of a earthy honey flavor. I would definitely use it in my hot tea or somewhere where I needed sweet but not a overpowering "honey" flavor.

Goya was completely different! It's still honey, but from orange blossoms. It's not sugar sweet at all. It has a deep earthy flavor. I can definitely see why barbecue enthusiasts use it in their sauces. I would think to use it as a cooking honey, before I would add it to my hot tea.

Why are they so different? I don't know. I'm not a honey expert.

I am a consumer; a budget minded Mom looking to understand which products deliver the best flavor and quality for the money. If there's no difference in quality and flavor between the store brand and big name brand, just the price. I'll pick the money saver every time.

Heck, and sometimes it's just good to know the difference.

I was in the grocer the other day, shopping for ingredients to make Mimi's Gouda Mac and Cheese.  I naturally needed elbow macaroni and found myself wondering which one do I buy.  Should I get the healthy pasta or the inexpensive pasta?  There's so many to choose from, that I had to read the back labels to decide which one was better.  I ended up buying three different pastas; a healthy brand, a regular name brand, and a generic store brand.  I'm gonna let you decide which one is better.

CAN YOU TELL WHICH PASTA IS HEALTHY, REGULAR, AND GENERIC ?
Let's look at the actual pasta first, shall we? See any big differences?

Not really, the middle noodle is slightly darker.  Let's go another angle.
Anything different?

Let's study their NUTRITION FACTS and see if you can find anything there.

PLEASE NOTICE, the one on the bottom shows more calories but look at the grams in their 1/2 cup serving size, compared to the two above.  There's a difference of 9 grams, so naturally the numbers will be slightly higher.

Let's move onto the INGREDIENTS, surely there will be big differences there.

What is Modified Wheat Starch and Calcium Phosphate? The only two ingredients that separate one pasta from the other two.  I don't see anything that's impressive, do you?

Let's just compare their pretty packaging and finally see which brand belongs which pasta.

Ronzoni Smart Taste is the pasta on the left, Skinner in the middle, HyTop on the right.

Three different pastas, let's see where they're made.

That's funny, Ronzoni and Skinner have the same address?

Let's look at how much they cost?

The price difference must be because I get so much MORE from Ronzoni than HyTop.  Let's see that too.

Well, I'm STUMPED!  Which one is better?