March 2016

Photo of the Month

This month's photo shows the youngest Hansen grandchild, Beckett, sharing a snack with our kangaroos Pogo and Razz. After the long winter break, the roos are ready for hands-on tour visitors to come and feed them wheat bread again! To learn more about farm tours, visit our website or call Jeanne at (319) 939-2187.

Easter Hams coming soon!

Happy Easter!

Hansen's Hams are once again available for this Easter. If you purchased a ham from us in the past, expect a call from us to see if you'd like another one. Reserve yours today by stopping at one of our stores, or call Hansen's Dairy Moo Roo in Waterloo (319-234-3309) or Hansen's Dairy in Cedar Falls (319-266-3044) to order. Each ham will be available to pick up from the location at which it was ordered.

Hansen's Hams come fresh, not frozen, from Webster City Custom Meats in Webster City, Iowa. They are bone-in, shankless, cured only with their own natural juices, certified hickory-smoked hams made especially for Hansen's customers. There are two sizes: half hams (7-9 pounds, serve 10) and whole hams (15-18 pounds, serve 20). Prices for half hams are $4.75 per pound and whole hams are $4.49 per pound. The deadline for ordering Hansen's Hams is Thursday, March 10.

Are you looking for an uncured ABF (antibiotic-free) ham for your Easter dinner? This year we will be offering a limited number of orders for Beeler's ABF Hams. Beeler's hams are uncured and fully cooked. With limited supply, we recommend contacting us as soon as you know what size you need. We will have 8 whole hams (14-15 pounds) and 24 half hams (7-8 pounds). These hams are on a first call basis. If you would like one, be sure to call your preferred Hansen's store and reserve yours today! Prices for half hams are $4.99 per pound and whole hams are $4.75 per pound. Beeler's hams are out of Lemars, Iowa. For more information on Beeler's Pork, visit their website Beeler's Pure Pork. We do regularly carry other wonderful Beeler's products regularly in our stores.

Both the Hansen's Hams and the Beelers ABF Hams will be ready for pickup starting on Monday, March 21.

Sweet treats in green

In the spirit of spring and St. Patrick's Day, we will be offering a plethora of green desserts at Hansen's Dairy Moo Roo. In addition to our normally green treats, we will also have mint brownie sundaes, creme de menthe shakes and spring mint soft serve ice cream all month long! It's a good reason to visit our stores, despite the construction going on outside our door!

Hansen's Dairy, fueling your body AND your car!

Schematic image of new Hansen's Dairy
gas station signage

You probably already know that Hansen's Dairy took ownership of the gas station next to our Cedar Falls store last year, making our site a one-stop shop for many of your food and fuel needs. Soon the signage will reflect that as well.

With this transition we will be letting go of the Conoco label, thus keeping more of your money in the Cedar Valley and less going to big corporations. This is one more way we offer people to spend their money locally.

In mid-March, the gas station will have a new exterior look as we officially transition to the Hansen's Dairy logo on the street signs, fuel canopy and gas pumps. Keep your eye out for some fun promotions as we hold a grand reopening event. More details to come!

National Ag Day

There are over 7 billion people in the world today. That's 7 billion mouths to feed. To help recognize and celebrate the abundance
provided by American agriculture, Hansen's Dairy will be giving away an Ag Basket on National Ag Day, March 15.

Beginning Tuesday, March 8, customers can sign up at each one of our retail stores (Moo Roo in Waterloo, Hansen's Outlet in Cedar Falls, and the farm's Tour Center in Hudson). One entry per customer, please!

The basket (a $75 value) will be filled with Hansen's Dairy products, meats, eggs, and other local goods produced by farmers in Iowa. The winning name will be drawn on March 15 and notified by phone.

Find out more about National Ag Day at agday.org.

Half-gallons hit the I-380 Corridor

Hey, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City customers! Hansen's half-gallons of milk are now available at the Edgewood and Mt. Vernon Hy-Vee stores in Cedar Rapids and New Pioneer Co-ops in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Iowa City. Customers have been requesting half-gallons and we are delivering. Enjoy!

Customers of the Month

Charlene Sauer (right) and her "happy tummy bunch" --
Paetra, Fritz and Fulton

The March Customers of the Month are Charlene Sauer and her family of Shell Rock.

Charlene uses many of Hansen's Dairy products to make food for her daughter Paetra, who is diagnosed with intractable epilepsy and other health challenges. They have been experimenting with a low-carb, high-fat diet for Paetra to help control the seizures.

"I make every single meal -- breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks -- and I would go so far as to say that Hansen products are a part of 99% of those meals," she said. "High fat and healthy are what we strive for, and Hansen's is just the place to play a role in delivering that!"

Charlene says she appreciates Hansen Dairy's support of the community.

"Our family chooses Hansen's Dairy because of your commitment to the animals, how they are raised and the product you produce. In addition, the products that you source for the outlet stores we have found to be delicious and seem to follow in those same principles," she says. "People go to church, the park, school and can visit with neighbors, friends and family. We see going to our Outlet on a similar plane. The people know us and care about us."

Thanks, Charlene! Customers of the Month receive a $5 gift certificate for our stores and hands-on tour passes for the farm. Submit your entries at our Hansen's Dairy stores in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

Cow of the Month

The March Cow of the Month is Martha Stewart (but we just call her Martha). Martha just turned 4 years old and is in the prime of life. She has calved 3 times with each one being a bull calf. Thankfully each of her calvings has gone well without assistance.

Martha is very independent. She knows she is a cow and doesn't really socialize with us humans. That's OK. She doesn't give us any problems at milking time and must be a happy cow because she is our highest producer in the bunch -- currently pumping out 135 pounds/day. Martha is a strong girl and looks to be a long lasting cow.

Cedar Valley Local Food & Film Festival

The UNI Local Food Program is planning its annual event Saturday, March 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

The Cedar Valley Local Food & Film Festival (formerly Cedar Valley Local Food Fair) celebrates the local food treasures of the region: farmers markets, orchards, farms, U-picks, farm shares (CSAs), bakeries, creameries, meat lockers, community gardens, breweries and all places in the Cedar Valley where locally grown foods can be found.

This is a free, fun family event. See their Facebook page for a listing of the day's events.

Genuine Faux Farm CSAs

Hansen's Dairy will once again be partnering with area CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) to help make local vegetables available to customers.

Genuine Faux Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm located in Tripoli, will again be delivering vegetable shares at the Hansen's Dairy store in Cedar Falls on Thursday afternoons from June-October. Genuine Faux Farm delivers vegetable shares "market style" so customers can see the vegetables and have choices from each type of vegetables. While selecting the produce, customers can talk with their farmers, Rob and Tammy Faux, about growing methods or get ideas about how to prepare the vegetables. Brochures and sign-up information are available in both Hansen's Dairy stores in Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

Cooking with Hansen's

As spring is getting ready to make an appearance we will continue to get busier. Are you looking for a different after-school snack for March? Try this great recipe:

Shamrock Milk Mixers

Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Hansen's 1% milk

2 tbsp Pistachio-flavored instant pudding

1/2 crushed chocolate mint cookie sandwich

DIRECTIONS:

Pour 1 cup of milk into a tall glass. Add 2 tablespoons of pistachio instant pudding and stir with a fork to dissolve. Stir in cookie.

Quick tip: Crush the cookie by placing in a small plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin or with your hands.

We had no winners last month in our CA$H COW contest. Keep those eyes open for the winning jugs!

Every month we mark several of our gallon milk jugs with either $5 or $100 under the label. There are 10 jugs EVERY WEEK marked with a $5.00 prize. There will be three lucky jugs marked with $100 in March.

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