Small, Realistic Lifestyle Changes for 2019

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January 1, 2019

Did you know 80% of New Year's Resolutions will fail by the second week of February? I am guilty of setting New Year's Resolutions about getting healthier, exercising, saving money etc... but within a month or two I've usually given up. How can we make sure we stick to those resolutions or goals?! By making smaller and realistic changes! Hear me out, if your goal is to wake up earlier - why not start with small increments? If your goal is to lose weight - why not start by eating healthier and then moving on to bigger steps? Here are just two things that could make a HUGE difference for you and your family, if your goal is to try and eat healthier (which is a great step if your bigger goal is to lose weight):

YOU COULD DECIDE TO CUT DOWN YOUR SUGAR INTAKE

Sugar is seriously SO bad for you.. I'm not going to give you a lecture about it (unless you really want me to), but here is just a small list of why sugar is bad for you:

Sugar can cause Weight Gain
Sugar can increase your risk of Heart Disease
Sugar can cause Acne
Sugar can increase your risk of Diabetes
Sugar can increase your risk of Cancer
Sugar can increase your risk of Depression
Sugar can lead to a Fatty Liver

I could keep going, but do you really need me to? There is so much added sugar in basically EVERYTHING we consume, even in bacon because apparently nothing is safe anymore... There are short-term diets you can look into that will curb your sugar addiction; Whole 30, Keto, etc. Once you have finished a round of one of these diets, you could make some day-to-day grocery shopping changes to keep that sugar at bay. For example, you could purchase our Sugar Free Bacon, in addition to our pigs being pasture raised they are also fed healthy food! As you may know, our motto is "No Weird Stuff!" and we have worked VERY hard to make sure no strange ingredients end up in our meat. To go even further, our butcher is amazing and willing to make batches of our Bacon without sugar!

Once you start reading labels of your food products, you're going to find sugar in the ingredients everywhere; breakfast sausages, chorizo, brats, etc, so you can also find all of our Sugar Free products in our store using the tag "Sugar Free."

YOU COULD CHANGE UP YOUR WEEKLY MEAL ROUTINE

Making an entire diet change can be difficult, but what if you only did it a night or two a week to start? You could replace one of your weeknight meals with one of our Meal Kits - which usually follow those major diets mentioned above and are gluten-free and dairy-free! So even if you aren't tackling a whole new diet, but want to make some healthier meals throughout the week our Meal Kits are perfect for you. Our Meal Kits are great even if you aren't making diet changes, but you have family members or friends that have food allergies. If you swap out one or more meals per week with one of our Meal Kits, I promise you will see some great changes! Plus they're super delicious, so you can't even tell you're eating super healthy!!!

I know what you're thinking, "I don't have time to make a recipe that takes 30+ minutes!" - but what is SO SO great about our Meal Kits, is that they are specifically created to SAVE you time!! All you do is dump the contents into your slow cooker, turn your slow cooker on high or low for the specified amount of time (normally 8 hours aka all day), and come back to a delicious meal! This is a GREAT way to avoid fast food, because you just have to think of it in the morning and throw the meal in the slow cooker! How easy is that?

We also have eCookBooks that have all of our favorite recipes to make your own meals at home and save time and hassle (convenience is key with making these lifestyle changes) plus almost all of our eCookBooks come with with our super amazing pre-made and customizable grocery lists and labels!

I'm still a sucker for New Year's Resolutions.. but I think that making the changes above will really help create better eating habits for myself and my family. What is your goal for 2019? Have you made any crazy New Year's Resolutions that you quickly gave up on? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Off the Hook Fish Sale is LIVE! 🐟

Our 1st Annual Off the Hook Fish Sale is LIVE and it really is Off the Hook!! ⚓It was exactly one year ago today that we announced a new partnership with Bering Bounty and let you know we had finally found some of the best food on the planet: Wild Alaskan fish.plus it's Lentplus a few of us just realized that we've been through 2 false springs already meaning real spring is pert near here and it's time to hurry up and lose some of that winter weight by eating clean high-protein and low fat (halibut).(Although a few others have decided this is the year the sweaters-in-summer fashion look sticks and we're eating all the Sablefish we want.)plus it's time to start getting really serious about Burger Night again so my ability to manage and run big sales like this will end 3/31 and then we'll all be waiting a long while before any more big sales come up. So: Anniversary + Lent + Weight Loss (or Maintenance 😂) + Burger Night is coming (56 days!) = OFF THE HOOK FISH SALE!! We will definitely plan on doing this every March but one thing with the state of Alaska is they are very strict with their quotas in order to ensure sustainability so we never know how much fish Captain Mark will be able to reel in - some of these cuts may not always be available but we are super stoked that right now they all are!!Salmon Lovers Bundle - savings of 27% plus a BONUS 5% + FREE item if you're a subscriber! Includes: King, Sockeye, Coho + Pink Salmon all wild-caught and never-farmed from Alaska's Bering Sea.We have a lot of new people here so we'll do a quick re-introduction.Because I'm constantly keeping an eye out for the best products I can find for you guys I serendipitously stumbled upon Bering Bounty last winter and was soooo excited! I had been looking for a source of good Alaskan fish FOR YEARS but it was either crazy expensive, mostly unavailable or a logistical nightmare. But the coolest thing is that Captain Mark is a Wisconsin-ite with his own small fishing operation (so a ma & pa, like us!).He harvests wild salmon, halibut, and other fish in Alaska’s Bering Sea, which are immediately processed, vacuum-sealed and flash-frozen there and then brought back to his home state so we can all enjoy some of the world's best and cleanest protein!We are his most northern location so we drive to southern WI every other month or so to do our own re-stocking for you guys. Captain Mark & his pet Octopus (not really) battling Alaska's Bering Sea "the cradle of storms" to bring us the healthiest, cleanest and tastiest protein in the world! 🌎(and yes, even better than our 100% grassfed/finished organically raised beef since the best beef still can't beat the Omegas and other nutrients in Salmon and Sablefish.)What's included in the sale In an effort to live up to the name, we have some pretty off the hook deals ranging from a minimum of 10% off to almost 40% off! 😲 Subscribers (free to join, easy to leave) will even get a BONUS 5% off plus a FREE item for life so really it's 15 to nearly 45% off!! No pressure, I often don't make the best decisions with my (+ Andy's 😉) money so I get it (note those percentages listed above 😂) but if you like good fish at all, NOW is the BEST time to stock up and save! Available raw fish portions from Bering Bounty: King Salmon portionsSockeye Salmon portionsCoho Salmon portionsPink Salmon portionsCod portionsHalibut portionsSablefish portions Like with the beef sale we think the star of the show is going to be the Sampler Bundle and we have 3 sizes to choose from: 1 of each fish (7 portions)2 of each fish4 of each fish: ships for free/reduced, the largest savings of all the deals at 38% off (before subscription savings are added) ✨In addition to the Sampler Bundles we also have the Salmon Lovers Bundle pictured above and a White Fish Lovers bundle which includes: 4 Cod2 Sablefish2 HalibutSave 30%!We even have a Buy 3, Get 1 FREE option for: CodCohoSablefishKing Salmon CaviarMix and Match all your different favorites to get free/reduced shipping and stock your freezer! Not only do we have Bering Bounty to bring us the best raw fish, but I also found Alaska Smokehouse so we also have a source of smoked fish!And, guess what? Smoked fish doesn't need refrigeration or special shipping so we even have a few bundles and a lot of products that can be shipped anywhere!! Right now we only ship our frozen meats throughout the Midwest but smoked & tinned fish doesn't need any special shipping so we even have a few non-perishable bundles, spices, cookbooks and pet treats in our Off the Hook Fish Sale that can be shipped anywhere!For more info on how to do a work-around if our online store tells you we can't deliver to you, see this article. Sorry for the extra step, it's the best our software can offer at the moment and once it's set up, it's super easy! But, wait. There's more! In addition to the raw fish and smoked fish we included a few more products in our Off the Hook Fish Sale: ButterSalt SeasoningsCookbooksDog & Cat Treats Obviously butter, salt and seasonings need to be included, what fun is fish without those??We are so happy to have also partnered with Nordic Creamery and we LOVE their butters. We just added their Pepper Butter (won the Gold last year 🥇) to our line-up, we'll see how it performs compared to our current best-seller, their Garlic Butter (won the silver last year 🥈). May as well try them all while they are on sale! Salt & seasonings....I mean salt is my favorite so we'll always have fun options there but check out some of our seasonings and sauces if you are ready to experiment and have some fun with all your fish! Scared that you are going to screw it up because you don't really know how to cook fish? 😬We've got cookbooks! And, as usual, we'll include some of our free recipe cards too or check out the fish-specific page on our website for cooking tips (Captain Mark prefers to cook straight from the freezer!) or our Recipe Page. We aren't the only ones that love fish - dogs and cats do too! 😺So we included some fun fishy treats for dogs & cats too, starting at just $2.70 - there's no reason to leave out our best friends! 🐶 We even have fishy-treats for our 4-legged friends!! (Lots more to choose from in the farm store if you can come visit!)I hope you’re as excited about our 1st Annual Off the Hook Fish Sale as I am!If you have any hesitation or questions, simply hit reply and ask away!Your farmer & a-fish-ionado friend, Stephanie Schneider

2025 Winter Beef Sale is LIVE!

It's taken 12ish years but we finally have enough beef to do our first ever Winter Beef Sale!! 🎉

Herbs for Heart Health & Beyond

Your kitchen and backyard are full of powerful plant allies! Join us on February 22 at Together Farms for a hands-on class exploring common culinary herbs and backyard “weeds” that support heart health and overall wellness. 🌱💓 🌟 In this class, you’ll discover: 🍃 Herbs that promote heart health, circulation, and vitality 🍃 Simple ways to incorporate healing plants into your daily routine 🍃 The hidden benefits of common "weeds" growing in your own backyard 🍃 PLUS: Make & take home TWO herbal remedies to support your well-being! 📅 Date: February 22, 1-2:30pm 📍 Location: Together Farms 🎟️ Tickets: $20 – Purchase in-person at Together Farms but RSVP is required (email togetherfarms@gmail.com) or purchase online at Temperance Herbals & Healing. Nourish your heart and body naturally—let’s explore herbal wellness together! 🌿💚