Category Archives: life

Farm-to-Fork Dinner with Hungry for Truth SD

June 26, 2016

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

I LOVE food. Especially summer food! Fresh food, farmer’s markets, growing your own garden, summer is a really special time for food. Something about picking that rosemary and kale right from my back yard is so exciting! I was invited to a Farm-to-Fork dinner last Thursday and it was so spectacular! The evening was absolutely gorgeous, the food was incredible (and fresh!), and the company made the night flow like the pinot I was sippin’ on. So anxious to share this event with you!

Hungry for Truth South Dakota, is new initiative started by South Dakota Soybean designed to open discussions about food between South Dakotans and the farmers who grow it. They invite people to talk with the farmers directly about any questions you have about food and/or farming. They also allow for the farmers to share their stories about their farm and the care, hard work, and pride they put into growing their food to make it healthy for your family.

And that’s where this event comes in! The farmers and locals got to enjoy a marvelous evening together while we heard their stories and I drilled them with questions! Ha! Getting to sit next to these farmers that produce our food is pretty spectacular. Listening to them tell me what they’re doing to ensure our food is healthy, free of harmful chemicals, additives or antibiotics, while gathering more knowledge about food and farming and knowing that the food I eat is really coming from a South Dakota farmer is pretty awesome! I just think that is so neat! I love supporting our farmers and this Farm-to-Fork dinner was so inspiring!

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

Sarah Jo, who helps coordinate the Hungry for Truth initiative, is a friend and fellow blogger (see her DakotaChic blog here!!), and she is currently on the cover of the Sioux Falls Woman magazine! She had the vision behind this event and it turned out SO amazing! It was on the Thompson’s farm near Colton, SD and the home and farm and land were sooo beautiful! Something about being out in the country on an old dirt road. The decor spread out across their front lawn and it was like out of a movie! The tables were so gorgeous! I was obsessed with all the eucalyptus leaves, which is my current favorite for home decor! It was so lovely and so tastefully done.

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

Now on to the food! What I love about these events, is that I am getting to eat food that came STRAIGHT from a farmer who I am sitting at a table with! Getting to discuss with them about their food, what they do, and how the whole farming process works is so intriguing. I sat next to a farmer from Mitchell, Peggy Greenway, and she has 5000 pigs! She considered herself a small to medium farmer, and I couldn’t believe that! 5000 pigs! She has one full-time employee who helps with the daily tasks, but otherwise, it is completely family run! She provided the bacon for the dinner that was on the wedge salad and caramelized bacon for the ice cream sundaes, SO FREAKING GOOD. I loved hearing her talk about how pigs can get sick just like humans and how sometimes they need antibiotics or extra TLC. She went on to explain that her pigs are COMPLETELY antibiotic free though by the time they are sent to be slaughtered. Peggy values health and no additives in her pigs, so she is passionate about ensuring her pigs are healthy and free of anything but juicy delicious meat at the end! The way those pigs are treated at her farm, it’s like a spa day every day for them! Peggy has such pride in her food and pigs, I love that. She sells to a company that sells to Costco, so it’s pretty awesome that next time I buy a pork product there, it might be from one of her pigs!

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

Here was the menu! I made sure to try everything and wowza, these farmers are the real deal! My favorites were the beef bulgogi, the grilled chimichurri pork tenderloin, and OF course the caramelized bacon on the ice cream! Chef Jeni was the chef for the meal and really did an incredible job. Everything was so delicious and each food item came straight from a local farmer! SO COOL!

Farm to fork dinner 2 Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

Overall, this event was perfect. So enjoyable to be able to discuss anything and learn from local farmers. Which is exactly what Hungry for Truth SD is trying to push! I loved this quote from farmer Jerry, he said “Always leave the land better than you found it. We have a whole world to feed.” That really hit home! These farmers have SO much pride and hard work put into their farms, all to FEED US! Makes me extra thankful for them (gotta feed our families!!) and inspires me to be more knowledgeable about foods and where they come from. I love to wonder about where those veggies or meat products came from and all of the work that was put into it when I pull them off the shelf. Thinking of the whole process to get that into my hands is pretty miraculous.

Thank you farmers for all of your dedication and hard work to feed us! You are so appreciated! And thank you to Hungry for Truth SD and SD Soybean. I am so thankful to be a part of this!

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

And obvs I had to get a picture with the tractor :)

Farm to fork dinner Hungry for Truth SD

Hungry for Truth SD and SD Soybean

Event details – The Event Company SD

Media and photos – The Sampson House

Chef – Chef Jeni

My dress – Coquette Couture

Leave a reply

Hello June!

June 1, 2016

Hello June
I am a SUMMER LOVER! Bring me ALL of the heat and sunshine with looooong days. June is so glorious. Not yet too buggy, cool nights still, and plenty of sunshine! Not to mention it’s my birth month! AND Leo’s now! We were even born on the same day! So June is definitely a month to celebrate.

– Top 5 reasons to look forward to June –

1. BIRTHDAYS!!! June 8 – Leo’s 1st birthday and my 32nd birthday! EEE! I can’t believe he is going to turn ONE! In a week! I’m planning a small get-together with a Where the Wild Things Are theme (see inspiration here). I am anxious to see how it all comes together. Riding the thin line of small details to going overboard… just can’t really help myself once I get going! 😜 Just ordered his monthly photos from Social Print Studio to hang for a photo visual and I almost cried seeing how teeny he once was! My baaaaaby. But, excited for the party and maybe I’ll have a cocktail or two to celebrate my birthday too :)

2. BOATING AND THE BEACH! I am more excited than I usually am about boating and the beach down at our cabin in Yankton. Last year I had Leo so it was a little tough, this year I am FULL on indulging! Loving this swimsuit, and see more Mommy and Mini Me swimsuits here.

3. FARMER’S MARKETS – Summer food and drinks are the best! So fresh! June brings the farmer’s markets back and fresh veggies, meats, herbs, and gorgeous flowers and bouquets. Something about buying straight from the farmer makes me FEEL GOOD. And I’m honored to get to celebrate this month with Hungry for Truth South Dakota during an event with local farmers for an evening near the field for a farm-to-fork dinner. These are my favorite kind of events! Listening and learning more from the farmers that grow our crops while indulging in fresh fabulous foods. Can’t wait! And give me all the summer beers (favorite is Citradelic right now) and white wines to go along with it. Cheers!

4. SHOPPING! Last summer I still had my baby weight so I didn’t bother buying hardly any new summer clothes. So I am on the lookout for some new casual shorts (like these), feminine pretty tanks (like this), flirty summer dresses (like this), and I’m totally into floral rompers (like this)! I need to freshen up my wardrobe. And I’ve recently partner with Coquette Couture to become a Coquette, so be on the lookout on here and my Instagram (@kayleemaykoch) for some more style inspiration from them. Love this gorgeous blue top and this pretty romper! Follow them on Insta (@coquettecouture) for pics of their new arrivals. And 20% off all orders right now with code YOUASKED

5. FUN EVENTS – Summer is when all the fun outdoor things happen! The animals are out at the zoo, the Storyland Theatre plays at McKennan park begin, the parks are full of children, the pools are warmed up, people gather for block parties downtown, delicious food truck Fridays, and jammin’ concerts during the 605 Summer Classic! I love all of the opportunities to get outside!

Time to go soak up this sun! June you’re my favorite month!!

Leave a reply

Ivy 47: Mom 1

May 15, 2016

IvyandMom

So I don’t know what it is, but things are really starting to get to me #nopatience. Do you have those days (or weeks, humph) where you just can’t win with being a Mom?! I’m in that la la land of motherhood where I’m on a bad streak and I’m pretty sure Ivy is probably singing in her dreams at night, “Ivy 47, Mom 1,” and chuckling in her cute but I-freaking-want-to-die-if-I-hear-that-again type of laugh. Nevertheless, we’re somehow chugging right along, day by day, but these repetitive and annoying (GASP! Did I just call my child annoying?! 😱) things that are happening at our house lately have gotten the best of me! Where did my Mom mojo go?!

1.CRYING. And I mean, like, WAILING. HOW is it possible, to in one brief millisecond, go from happy to FULL ON TEARS running down my face, like cry me a river, wailing like I’ve never heard her wail before. Ivy. Uncontrollable. She’s on a whole new level. LITrally. Can’t. Take. It. Anymore.

2. The words chicken strips. “What do you want for breakfast?” “Chicken strips.” “What do you want for lunch?” “Chicken strips.” “What do you want for dinner?” “Chicken strips.” Seriously her daughter’s child. BUT COME ON.

3. SWING SWING!!! Tis the season for swinging and parks, which ensues the season for COMPLETE MELTDOWNS when you take them off the swing even after they’ve been on there for thirty minutes and you make them go do something else because your wrist is getting sore from pushing but they completely lose it and wail on the ground like, “MOOOM HOW COULD YOU DO THAT, SWIIIIIIIING SWIIIIIIIIING,” type of wailing and they won’t stop crying till you put them back in the swing and then they completely turn off the crying like it never even happened (refer to #1, again, HOW?!). FML. Can I pretend she’s not mine at the park today? Ok thanks.

4. Clothes. Ivy has this tutu obsession and basically wants to wear one every day. She has two outfits that she would seriously be happy wearing every day. One of the outfits is this purple fairy tutu and matching shirt (pictured in the above photo). The other is this gold kitty shirt with a gold and white tutu and gold arrow leggings, and of COURSE she has to match it with a gold glitter hairbow (bc obsessed) like the kitty is wearing on the shirt. She pulls those out every time they’re clean. I’m seriously thinking about hiding them so she can’t wear them anymore #badmom. But this whole clothes thing is getting to be ridic. She picks out what she wants to wear and half the time it is so outrageous but she will go into COMPLETE MELTDOWN mode (again, refer to #1) if I don’t let her wear it. So, we’re just done negotiating with her and it’s something I’m saying, I don’t give a f**k.

5. Asking the same question 15 times in a row. So. I don’t know where my ability to respond to my child the first time she asks for something went. Maaaaaaybe I’ve gotten better at tuning her out (EEEK), but, I’m definitely still hearing it, just not responding. Like, I’m hearing it, but it’s something I don’t want to answer, or something I have to tell you no to and don’t want to hear you cry, or something that you want but I don’t feel like getting right now, or whatever it is. Like, I think, if I don’t respond to her, she will quit asking the question (please tell me you relate!!!??), but EXACT OPPOSITE. She KEEPS asking AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. Until finally I respond in a super irritated voice. And then I kick myself because why didn’t I just respond the first time so that my blood wouldn’t boil when I have to hear it 15 times! And then she realizes I’m annoyed and asks, “Are you happy?” And I want to respond, “NO! I’m not effing happy!!!” But I somehow calm myself and tell her yes like a good Mom should, meh… Again, Ivy 47, Mom 1.

I need some Mom mojo back! This lull is killing me! And then she’ll come and hug and kiss me and I’ll tell her how much I love her when she wakes up from this nap, and then I’ll forget I ever wrote this. Until she asks for chicken strips for dinner tonight 🙈

Photo May 15, 3 38 38 PM

Leave a reply

6 Things I Want to Remember About My Kids

April 27, 2016

Kids are just damn cute. The quirky things they do, the hysterical things they say, the funny photo you take of them caught up in their own world with no cares at all, kids, they are just freaking adorable. There isn’t a single ounce of caring what others think on their minds, they simply, JUST LIVE. And they’re so sweet and sassy at the same time. That’s why I need to remember these things, for me now, for them later, for us to remember and laugh about in a year, 5 years, 20 years. Whenever the time, it MUST be documented! (A previous toddler talk on Ivy post here)

Ivy and her blankie. It’s still the cutest thing. She has slept with it every night and every nap since she was just a teeny baby and I finally got brave enough for her to have a blankie in the crib with her. In the past few months, she’s gotten to where she finds a corner of her blankie, and holds onto it with both hands. I giggle each time. Like, why the corner? It’s so cute and we both chuckle now when she says “here’s my little corner!” It’s too funny. And so sweet.

2. Leo and his fingers. He’s been a finger sucker since very teeny. At first it was whichever fingers (it was always two) make it in there first, but now it’s been his right hand and the last two fingers. It’s such a bad habit, per the dentist 😒, but I am ALL about self-soothing and the second he gets tired, he sticks ’em in there, or when Ivy pushes or hits him (ugh), he cries a second and fingers in. It’s pretty sweet to see him do it, keeps him just a teeny baby to me a little more.

koch0059

Photo by Amie Hansen Photography

3. Ivy and her obsession with anything girly. SERIOUSLY. This girl would wear a pink tutu every day of her life if she could. She has several tutus that she just LOVES to wear and she loves any girly dress also. And ALWAYS has to have a hair bow. She dresses herself now (with me trying to plead this over this usually) and comes out with the funniest combos sometimes. I taught her about matching colors because some of the outfits were so ridic that I would not claim her as my child, but that has backfired because now she thinks she has to have a pink tutu, pink tights, pink shirt, pink hair bow, pink shoes. MY GAWD. So I’m occasionally trying to persuade her into something else that also matches without every shade of pink together imaginable. But most of the time, I just giggle and think to myself, whatever floats your boat, girlfriend. You’re only a kid once :)

Ivyclothes

4. Leo and how snuggly and sweet he is. I literally just have to walk over to his crib at nap or bedtime and he instantly cuddles himself up on my chest, inserts fingers, lays his head down and tucks his feet under his body with his tush out. It’s so flipping cute and I look forward to it every time. He’s gotten funny sometimes where he’ll let out a 5 second little whine and then cozies in, that kind of the best because he tries to fight it, but then just gives right in. Gosh, I love a snuggly kid. We so did not get that with Ivy. And he’s always so sweet! Nothing hardly ever bothers him. He’s easy and such a dream baby.

Photo Apr 26, 2 39 37 PM

5. Ivy and her (freaking) LOUD VOICE. I swear she is like the loudest person alive, has no awareness of her voice AT ALL. And it doesn’t help that she is talking ALL OF THE TIME. You can have an entire conversation with this chick. A loud one at that. Even though I am usually telling her to lower her voice, I swear that loud voice will get her somewhere someday. (Hopefully something good!)

6. And lastly, Ivy and her obsession with makeup. My friend got her this play makeup kit that looks SOOO real and she has been obsessed with it. Always wanting to put makeup on herself and me and Leo. Hehe. It’s the worst when I’m putting on makeup (rarely these days) and she comes in and starts putting on mine! EEEEK! I have to usually wipe her face off because she has it all over her eyebrows, cheeks, everywhere! Also she LOVES lip stuff! My goodness she is always carrying a lip gloss or my chapstick or sometimes gets into my lipsticks. Gah! That’s where I thank Snapchat! (username kaylee.koch) Those make-up filters are the best!!!

Photo Apr 19, 2 02 29 PM

Kids really are the best. Aren’t they. SWOON.

Leave a reply

Circus! Circus!

April 25, 2016

I LOVE the circus. It’s so fun reliving your childhood, seeing all the ecstatic people and incredible acts while you wave your light up toy in the dark and stuff your face with cotton candy. (Last year’s circus post here) I love it all! So I couldn’t WAIT for this year’s circus and to bring Leo. He was staring at all of the lights and had fun waving his light up toy around. Ivy said she wanted to ride the camel (I was hoping for the elephant), so her and Dad hopped on and she was so funny on it! Didn’t move a muscle and just smiled :) So cute. Ivy really wanted her face painted too and of course picked the Frozen one. Obsessed. Overall, it was so much fun! I loving these kid things, makes me feel all giddy inside :)

Leave a reply