Processing~

Since this was our first time ever

to process an elk,

we had a lot to learn!

I think the bucks are a little easier,

and definitely quicker.

Just getting an elk carcass up to the house, skinned, quartered,

and 

on the table 

was a feat!

We are able to really save, though,

by processing the meat ourselves.

So,

we bagan~

My husband did a great job cutting meat
off the bone~

Daniel cutting up strips for fajitas~

Jonathan trimming off a roast cut~

We could not process without this
great grinder attachment to my Bosch machine.
I love it!
Next year I'm saving up for the sausage attachment~

Works like a gem~

Olivia isn't pictured here-she's
always taking most of the pictures :)
But her job was to grind and weigh
out the meat~

I did all the seal-a-meal packing,
with labeling and
keeping track of tallying up all the cuts of meat
for the freezer.
This is important so once everything is packed away
in the freezer I'd know exactly what I have for meal planning and
can cross it off when we use it.

Voila~
The elk was about 130 lbs. total meat~
What a blessing to pack in our freezer!
We mainly cut steaks, roasts, stew & fajita meat,
and did some ground.

For the two bucks the boys got with their
tags we made breakfast & Italian sausage
with more ground.
We found these recipes that are definitely keepers!
Very good ~
So, if you're looking for a good, healthy sausage recipe:

Breakfast Sausage

http://www.foodrenegade.com/homemade-breakfast-sausage-patties/

Italian Sausage

http://www.free-venison-recipes.com/mild-deer-italian-sausage.html


Note:
For the breakfast sausage, because we were using venison, I did at least
1/2 venison, to 1/2 pork shoulder/fat.  We think the molasses is KEY for this one.
For both the recipes,
I added a little more spices than the amounts given, so that the flavor was full~
For the Italian I added some red pepper flakes, and an Italian
seasoning I had along with the given spices.