Outdoor Workouts for Self Sufficient Fitness

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A couple days after the new year I read an inspiring post at Zen to Fitness, called Self Sufficient Training.  The post discusses ways and the benefits of training in the outdoors as an alternative to gyms and how it can be a more self sufficient fitness option.  I’ve been struggling lately of having any real motivation in going to the gym.  Over the past 3 years I’ve been pretty consistent at going to the gym for resistance training and cardio workouts.  I’m just not a big fan of workouts on machines or indoors for that matter.  I’m more of a get a workout from playing soccer, basketball, or going for a hike type of person.  Don’t get me wrong, I think working out in gyms and using free weights or machines is better than nothing.  The article above gave me the idea and motivation to do my first real structured outdoor workout.

outdoor workout stairs

[Use your imagination to find workout equipment in the outdoors.  Here is my outdoors stairsmaster.]

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Reduce By Using a Refillable Olive Oil Sprayer

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misto olive oil sprayerWe go through quite a few cans of olive oil spray every year.  We seem to use it for almost every meal we cook.  My wife picked up a refillable Misto Olive Oil Sprayer recently.  Many might already use these, but I thought I would share this as it is a great way to reduce waste since we will no longer be throwing all of those olive oil spray cans in the landfill any longer.

It seems easy enough to use.  There is a plastic cap underneath the top that twists off to allow it to be filled.  Fill only half way to allow for pressure build up when pumped.  Replace the top, pump, and spray.

So I wanted to share this because I’m guessing since it’s a non-aerosol can that it’s better for the environment.  Those aerosol olive oil spray cans have soy and anti-foaming propellants, and may contain milk and wheat.  This way you will be spraying pure olive oil.  Plus I’m hoping it will save us some money by not having to purchase new cans.

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Fried Venison Liver and Onions Recipe

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fried deer liver and onionsLiver is probably the most widely accepted and well known of the the organs we eat (beef, chicken, deer, etc).  It’s kind of a tradition with deer hunters on the night of the harvest to cook the liver usually fried with onions.  Most hunters that I know still do this but from what I’ve heard it’s becoming less and less common.  This year I used the recipe below for fried venison liver and onions the night of harvesting my first deer (a doe).  2 days later I harvested my second deer and decided to freeze the liver and the heart for later use.  I’m sure it won’t be as good as eating them fresh but we will see.

Fried Venison Liver and Onions

Stuff you will need:

  • 1 venison liver, sliced or cut into bite size pieces
  • about 1 1/2 cups of milk
  • about 1/4 cup of real butter
  • 1 large onion sliced into rings
  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper
Cooking Steps:
  1. Soak the liver pieces in milk for up to 2 hours or however much time you have.  This will take some of the game taste out.  
  2. Use 2 tablespoons of the butter to saute the onion slices over medium heat until the onions are soft.
  3. Remove onions and set aside.
  4. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet.
  5. Drain the milk from the liver and coat liver slices with the flour.
  6. Add the flour coated liver pieces to the melted butter in the skillet and cook on medium high heat.
  7. Cook until golden brown on the bottom and the turn and repeat for the other side.
  8. Add the onions back to skillet and continue to cook just a little longer over medium heat.
  9. Be sure not to over cook.  The liver should be tender and maybe just a bit pink in the middle.
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Grilled Venison Heart Recipe

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Indigenous people of America believed that eating the heart of a harvested deer transferred the spirit of the deer to the hunter.  Whether one believes this or not, venison heart is an excellent source of vitamin B, protein, and has little fat.

grilled venison heart[Grilled venison heart kabobs with about 4 or 5 pieces already eaten from each]

Once the deer has been field dressed, cut the heart and the liver from the gut pile.  I always keep a gallon size zip lock bag in my pack to place them in.  When you get home place the bag in the refrigerator until you can clean them up.  Clean the heart by cutting it in half and remove all the veins, arteries, and fat.  Rinse with water and cut away any damaged parts.

I like to marinate and grill the heart.  Cut the heart into 1 inch pieces.  Marinate the pieces in 1 cup of balsamic vinegar, some fresh thyme, and salt and pepper.  Marinate for about 24 hours.  Grill the venison heart pieces on medium high to high for about 3 minutes and then turn for another 3 minutes or so.  I like to do it skewer or kabob style.

If you have a way you like to prepare venison heart, let me know in the the comments section.

 

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How to Field Dress a Deer

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After one has successfully harvested a deer, it must be field dressed.  Field dressing is the removal of the internal organs of the deer (or other hunted animal).  Removing the internal organs ensures that the body will rapidly lose heat and prevent bacterial growth on the surface of the carcass.   This process is critical to preserving the meat properly.

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Ethical Deer Harvest

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Hunting has become an important source of meat for us over the past 2 years.  The deer we have harvested have been our primary source of meat for about 7 or 8 months out of the year, depending on how you look at it.  I know some might be against the harvesting of deer or other wild game and I don’t really want to go into why one shouldn’t be against it.  I would like to explain why and how we hunt and what it provides for us.  I would also like to share my history with hunting and hopefully provide some encouragement to others who might have an interest but might feel that it’s to overwhelming to start.  This is the first of maybe 3 or 4 posts on deer hunting.

deer in the mist[My primary objective when deer hunting is to successfully harvest a deer, but I also am able to spend some needed time in the woods observing]

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Protecting Garden Soil with Fall Leaf Mulch

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Fall provides a great opportunity for us to collect a mulch source that is free and is an important element in building our soil.  If at all possible, the soil in a garden should never be left exposed or bare for an extended period of time.  Whether you use cover crops, straw mulch, leaf mulch, shredded newspaper, or landscape fabric (not my first choice); mulching is vital to protecting garden soil.  Our strategy to provide soil protection for late fall and winter is to collect the massive amount of fallen leaves, mulch them, and apply them directly to the garden beds.

fall leaf mulch protecting garden soil[Mulching beds with fall leaves is one of our important soil building strategies]

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How to Cook a Whole Chicken : Weekend Homesteader Review

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Whether you are buying a whole chicken from the store or like we will begin doing in the spring, you raise your own chickens for eggs and meat, you need a good resource on how to go about cooking it.  The November edition of the Weekend Homesteader ebook has great information of cooking up that chicken.

weekend homesteader[Photo credit to The Walden Effect]

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Growing Ground Cherries and Making Ground Cherry Jam

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Ground Cherry (Physalis pruinosa) is a new food crop we experimented with this year.  The ground cherry is in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, etc) and a close relative to the tomatillo.  The fruit, which is encased in a paper-like husk, tastes like a cross between a strawberry and a pineapple with sort of a tomato like texture.  The fruit can be eaten raw, or used in jams/pies/breads.  We ate many raw while working in the garden this year and also made ground cherry jam.

ground cherries[Wait to harvest ground cherries once they have fallen off the plant onto the ground and have turned from green to golden yellow and the husk becomes a papery, straw color]

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