Less than 5 days till Christmas. Are you on the good list still?

I am happy to report on the Christmas list front, that there has been progress made with my list and crossing off.

On the Ranch list, we got the preg-check rechecks, rechecked, the replacement heifers got bangs vaccinated, they have their big girl tags, and the heifer bunch is sorted off and on their own.

Get some hot chocolate and I will tell you about our week.

Life on the Ranch

This picture is one of the replacement heifers. Her mom was H111. She keeps part of her mom's number so we can keep cow families tracked and she gets an M for the year she was born, 2024.

I try to keep the numbers to 3 so they are large enough to read. Her's ended up MH1, looks like M hi.

We have another cow E2, her heifer's tag ended up ME 2. I will try and get a picture of her.

The heifers all have their Big Girl yellow tags now.

The 15th I did Body Score pictures. It looks like the dry grass is catching up with them, but they are still in the 5 to 6 range out of 9. Some ribs starting to show. We are giving a bit of alfalfa every 3-4 days. The weather is very nice and most of the cows do not have to feed a calf, so that helps keep their requirements down.
The vet came out to ultra sound the 5 recheck cows that didn't pass their preg check ultra sound in October. One was pregnant, the other 4 still open or dry we say, not pregnant.

Unfortunately, they will go to town in January. If a cow is not going to produce a calf each year, they do not stay here. It costs too much to have a cow grazing and to feed her with no return. A good rule of thumb, is if we would want a whole herd of cows like her she stays, otherwise not. Everyone has to earn their keep.

We are taking 2 beef in before Christmas.

I am busy getting the freezers ordered for those folks so they will get their freezers in January, before we ship and deliver their beef shares.

Those will be the last shares of beef we have until June. We are sold out. You can still get shares for June and July delivery, so keep that in mind and put a deposit down to save yours.

We will be launching a bulk beef share of ground beef in January. We have a freezer full of ground beef. They will be in 20 and 30 lb bundles, Stay tuned for more information on those.

Right now we have a bundle of 13# of ground beef in our store on the website.

I will just put the link here.

https://tbarjranchbeef.com/products/fill-your-freezer-with-t-bar-j-ground-beef

Ground beef goes fast since it can make so many types of meals.

You can get a share of beef with a freezer or without. That is on the same page as the ground beef bundle.

Thought I would put in a picture of a new family excited to have their freezer.

If is fun to see the freezers we bought when we deliver beef.

It is fun to see folks wearing T-J hats.

These 3 pictures have T-J in Bozeman Montana, me at home here on the ranch and one in Rapid City South Dakota.

This last picture is all our grandkids with our two "boys".
That is the reason we go to the lengths we do to grow healthy, wholesome beef. We are feeding them besides sharing our beef with you. This bunch, and the their wives and mothers, mean the world to us. We don't want them eating beef from unknown sources.

You cannot wash hormones or antibiotics off your beef. You can not cook it out either. It is in the meat. So you need to start out with cattle raised the natural way, right from the start.

Al and I are glad you are here and want you to ask questions if you have any, learn about production agriculture, and what goes in to raising cattle.

This week is going to be Meatloaf. I want to encourage you to make 2. One for supper and meatloaf sandwiches the next day, and one to put in the freezer all baked. That way you can get it out and thaw it in the microwave when you need a quick meal. Your freezer is a place to keep more than raw meat, ice cream and frozen pizza. Try and have a cooked ready to eat meal in there too.

2 lbs thawed ground beef
1 cup oatmeal
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 tsp pepper
15 oz can rotel tomatoes with the peppers in it.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Shape into 2 loaves that look like a loaf of bread.

Put both loaves on a grated roasting pan.
I put aluminum foil underneath to line the pan. Makes for easier clean up.

Put a bit of steak sauce down the center of each loaf.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Let cool 5 minutes or so before you slice it.

You can also make homemade potato french fries and bake at the same time. With regular russet potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Put the extra meatloaf in a plastic container or wrap up and freeze.

From Our Customers

This 5 star Review came in this week:

Healthy, happy cows = delicious beef!
"I had been searching for a source for Local Montana beef to buy in bulk, mainly to support the efforts of these hard working ranchers. When I had the opportunity to meet Amber, and hear (and actually Feel!) the level of care they have for their animals and customers, I knew I wanted to order from T bar J. The beef tastes delicious!! The shipping was fast, and the beef was perfectly packaged. Amber even included honey from their bees, a thank you note, and a cooking guide. We are grateful we found Amber & T Bar J Ranch Beef!"
Kirsten S.

We wanted to thank all of you for sharing in our mission to make this corner of the world a better place. Taking care of the land, cattle and people is on our mind. Especially our family and now yours too.

We don't just sell meat by the lb, and it is hard to explain caring for the environment and treating cattle with respect to folks that only care about price. Look at the whole picture here. Ranch raised is better for you.