Debbie White

My husband got to go caribou hunting this winter for the first time in his life, and for the first time since we have been married I have an ample supply of this wonderful meat in the freezer. It had been several years since I had a freezer with more than one or two packages of caribou meat, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

I've always preferred fresh, wild meat and seafood to the stuff in stores. It just seems like it's healthier and with all the food recalls in the news, it probably is. Wild game doesn't have antibiotics and hormones in it. The animals eat what nature intended for them to eat.

What I don't like is a real "gamey" taste to the meat. That's probably one of the best things about caribou. Caribou meat is lean, and doesn't have the marbling you find in beef. At first, that may sound as though the meat will be tough, but amazingly it is as tender as veal (or so I've heard... I will not eat veal.) I read somewhere it is because the meat is so finely grained.

With all game, you do not want to have fat on your meat. Preferably it should all be removed during processing. I like to trim off all visible fat before cooking game meat.

Caribou meat is extremely healthy. Nutritionists call caribou a nutrient-dense food. Caribou meat is low in fat but high in protein. See the comparison below, per 100gram (approximately 3.5 ounces) portion:

FAT Protein IRON

Caribou 1 gram 38 grams 6.2 mg

Beef 23 grams 17 grams 3.0 mg

Veal 12 grams 19 grams 2.5 mg

Chicken 13 grams 20 grams 1.0 mg

Pork 45 grams 12 grams 2.0 mg

Lamb 28 grams 16 grams 2.0 mg

The same meat portion roasted only has 167 calories, no carbohydrates, and no sugars and is very low in cholesterol. The different cuts of meat lend themselves to a variety of cooking methods. Steaks are best cooked fairly hot and fast, yet served rare to medium rare. Roasts can cook low and slow and are good everywhere from medium rare to well done (overcooking can make the meat tough though). Ground meat is exceptionally good in any dish you would use ground beef. The stews are excellent, and chunks of caribou are as good as the best beef on skewers with vegetables too.

I think he needs to go caribou hunting every year. Here's a photo of my babe and his "boo".

Tonight I must have had at least 15, if not closer to 20, teenagers and young adults in my house. The last ones that are leaving just did and a few strays are about on couches, floors and extra bedrooms. For one of these parties, it was pretty mild. We've had as many as 25 young guests in the past. I used to keep track by counting all the shoes!

There are soda cans and paper plates everywhere. The dishwasher is running for the second or third time tonight and I'll need to spend at least another 15 minutes just on the kitchen. I'll probably have some help tomorrow from a few of the guys, but it will take a while to get the house back to normal.

No alcohol was involved, with the exception of the rum & coke I'm having now that everyone is gone or asleep. At one point, it was so loud, my dear husband took refuge in the master bedroom walk in closet because we both have to work tomorrow and he was exhausted.

So, why am I so happy? I knew where all the kids were, and I had a general idea of what they were doing. Mostly playing "Halo" or some other multi-player game although a few may have been watching a movie. We keep a few old TV's around for these occasions. Guests bring extra game consoles, controllers, music, and much of the food. I spend a lot of time talking with my sons' friends and getting to know them. A few even visit me while my older is away at college.

It was LOUD, and there was definitely a lot of foul language that I tried hard to ignore.

I think if more parents would learn to tolerate the occasional messy house and lack of sleep, the world could be a better place. It sure beats having them out drinking, or doing who knows what on a winter Saturday night. Some of these kids (and yes, even at 20, they are kids) don't have an adult in their live they can sit and talk with. Nobody needed it this time, but all of them know that my door is open if they need me. In this day and age, everybody needs that.

When my boys were really small, I was living paycheck to paycheck - sometimes it seemed more like hand to mouth. I decided to save up money for a vacation, without going into debt. There was no way anybody was going to give me a credit card anyway.

I tell you this story because for some people it might help you save up for a down payment on a home. In this tight credit market, you MUST have a down payment, some money towards closing costs, and some money in reserves.

Here are a few of the things I did to save money.

1. I used coupons, lots of coupons, but learned quickly I was only "saving" if it was something I would use anyway (that's another blog someday). When I got home from the store, I would add up my savings from the coupons, and put that money in a coffee can. Eventually it went into a special savings account. Because I didn't use cash, I usually had to write the check for the "before coupon" amount on the bill.

2. One of the stores in town offers these stickers, called "Price Smashers". When you buy groceries, you get a sticker for each dollar spent. When you fill out a card with Price Smashers, you get 50 cents off special purchases. The money saved was also put in the coffee can or the savings account.

3. When I wrote a check, I always wrote it in the register rounded up to the next dollar. I did not have a computer then and I wasn't really good about reconciling my bank statements regularly. Honestly, I only started this to make sure I didn't bounce a check. My mother taught me this trick because eventually you get a cushion that helps in an emergency. Eventually this was a habit and once I started watching my finances more closely, this money would also be put into savings. Since I'd been doing this for several months before I opened the savings account, I was surprised there was over $350 in my "cushion". Granted, it took days to reconcile, but it was there, and it was mine.

4. I saved my change, even though I rarely had cash to carry. Sometimes I did have to use the quarters for laundry, but nickels, dimes and pennies were always saved. Unless I was desperate, I didn't use change in the store. After a year, I had almost $200 in small change.

5. Any money found when doing laundry went into the savings account. This was especially hard one time around my birthday when I found a $20 bill, but it went there anyway.

6. I got a small raise from my job. It was pretty insignificant, but the difference was automatically transferred from my checking account to savings so I wouldn't be tempted to spend it.

7. All cash birthday gifts, rebates, even a penny lying on the street was treated as "found money". All found money - money you were not expecting - goes into savings.

8. My savings account was moved into a separate bank so it wasn't so easy for me to spend. I made this decision once it was over $500.

When my boys were 4 and 5, I took them on a trip to Seattle. Keep in mind, we have to fly to Seattle. We stayed in a hotel part of the time, and stayed with my brother the rest. We rented a car and we even ate in a few restaurants - not fancy restaurants, but I was travelling with little kids anyway. We spent 3 days at Seattle Center and visited the top of the Space Needle. We also visited several museums and art galleries and spent a day at the Seattle Aquarium. When I came home, there was no dreading the bills from our vacation. The rent and utilities were paid, we had money for groceries and gas, and we all had a good time.

Imagine - I saved $4000 between 1991 and 1993. If I'd have saved another year, I would have had the down payment on my first home. At that time, the average starter home price in Juneau was $80,000.

I hope someone can learn from my experience and my mistakes. If there is enough interest in this subject, I will post more ideas on saving money.

The package left yesterday. Every signature in place. Every "i" dotted, and every "t" crossed.

Southeast Alaska Real Estate will soon be "Prudential Southeast Alaska"

There was a lot of soul searching in choosing a franchise. At the last moment, I even wondered if I should.

So, if you are thinking about a career in real estate in Southeast Alaska, you now have another choice of brokerage. I'd love to show you why I think Prudential Southeast Alaska would be the best choice.

If you are an experienced agent looking to relocate to my area, I'd love the opportunity to meet with you and discuss your upcoming move.

Now, it's time to order new signs!

Serving Southeast Alaska since 1999

Only the label has changed - still the same great service!

Check out our listings at http://www.isellalaska.com