Ag-tines and Agvocating with Your Kids

It is almost Valentine’s Day. 

As you read that declarative statement you fell into one of two population groups.  You either renewed your status as a card carrying Cupid fan club member or you were reminded that those really cute conversation hearts give you hives…

Or maybe you were just like me and wavered between the two until you realized…you have kids.  Kids who will have school parties that will need candy and cards to give to their friends on the bus, in their Sunday school and in their school classroom.  You grudgingly renewed your fan club membership.

For the past seven years, I have experienced some stress about Valentines.  We have sent some to school that were well planned (Pinterest worthy) and some that just happened.  I have been pleasantly surprised to see the valentines from classmates have come home and were treated with a child’s respect every year.  My daughter has regularly commented that one friend or another’s Valentine treat or card really looks like her or him. Last year, we went to the local store to look for Valentines to give and both of my kids looked at me and asked if they could do something else. 

I readily agreed, because the cards that were locally available aren’t things my kids really identified with and some of the attitude in the phases went beyond sassy to snarky. We printed some cute sayings found on Pinterest on mailing labels and stuck them to candy bags last year.  It was okay, but it wasn’t spot on. 

I didn't have time to snap a photo from our cow herd and
honestly in January the lot isn't very pretty so I used this
shot from Flickr.  Make sure you pay attention to use
rights and copyright that are noted on images when you are
using stock  photos or from shared use websites.  Consider
taking photos of your own operation to add to the public
domain to increase quality images of agriculture.

My kids are farm kids from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet and even the Pinterest Valentines weren’t really them.  My kids want to be recognized for who they feel they are right now.  They want to share the skills they have mastered through 4-H projects, working alongside their dad and me and those from my husband’s family that are involved in our Century Farm in Hardin County, Iowa.

The Mini Farmer's mom is grateful to her college friend
 Laura, who lives and farms with her husband Dave by
Conrad, Iowa. They put up a new bin in 2014 and she
shared a picture for this project. 

So, this year my kids will have Ag-tines for Valentine’s Day festivities.  My daughter has discovered a love for cattle and enjoys checking pasture with her dad.  She showed her first breeding heifer at the local fair and showed us that she knows her limits and has a heart for the heifers in our herd.  Her Ag-Tine features a cow head that asks “Will MOO be my Valentine?” She’s at that age where she wants to be different but not weird so she elected to not include information about our cow calf herd or beef production in Iowa. I've included a hard core Ag-tine as one of the images here. Our son’s Ag-tine says “I’ve got a bin full of friendship for you Valentine!” A red heart on a grain bin ties into the holiday theme and we included a small note about a safety feature on the bin photo we choose and how farmers use grain bins in Iowa.

I have to admit that our Ag-tines are really low tech (we are talking less than 20 minutes each to produce) and would make a design maven ill to release, but they achieve what we wanted them to.  Our farm kids have another platform to talk with their classmates and friends about our farm and how we produce safe agricultural products in terms they are comfortable with. I realized that we are raising some great agvocates. They have a captive audience to share a snapshot story of our family farm and they aren't afraid to do it.

I encourage you to allow your Valentines to be a message that is personally relevant to your kids, family or business.  In today’s digital world it is simple to use a postcard template and import a photo from your camera or phone. If you use a local copy shop to copy them, you are even supporting your local economy just as much as if you had bought them at a local store.

Now for my favorite part of Valentine’s Day… The recipes that just must be a part of the day! I’m including my favorite Lazy Lasagna Bake today and next week I’ll post my chocolate raspberry cake roll that is also freezer friendly.

Lazy Lasagna

The Groceries:

1 - 16 oz package of Barilla Campanelle Noodles, boiled to al dente and well drained

1 C Sour Cream

2 C Low Fat Cottage Cheese

4 Cups fine shred Mozzarella Cheese (1 ½ cups and 2 ½ cups)

5 Cups or two Cans of Spaghetti sauce (I use home-canned from our garden, but Ragu or Hunts works just fine, too)

1 pound of ground beef browned and well drained, use two pounds if you want a heartier sauce

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

The Process:

Brown and drain the meat.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté with the meat until the onions soften just a little.  Add the spaghetti sauce and let simmer.

Drain the noodles and toss with the sour cream, cottage cheese and 1 ½ cups of the mozzarella cheese.

Grease a 9x13 pan.  Ladle 2 cups of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Pour the noodle mixture into the pan and spread evenly.  Top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the 2 ½ cups cheese over the top.  Bake covered at 350 for 1 hour or until heated through.

Freezes well, just don’t top with cheese and bake uncovered for one hour then top with cheese and foil and bake until bubbly through. Mmmm…Pasta.

This is a great Iowa dish.  Barilla pasta is made in Ames.  Iowa dairy and beef producers supply the milk for all that great dairy and awesome beef for the proteins that are included.

NOTE: Please feel free to copy the images below and use our Ag-tines, but don't remove the photo credit on the calf photo. If you feel they are worth what you might have spent on store bought Valentines consider a gift to your local food pantry or the AgChat Foundation .