Aside from owning a ranch, I am also a member of the Idaho CattleWomen and the Idaho Cattle Association. I have sat on the ICA Board of Directors and served as Chairwoman for the ICW. Now I am responsible for the scholarships that are given out each year to college students from our great state that are going into some form of agriculture-related field.

This year we had an unfortunate situation. The applications that were mailed to our main office in Boise then mailed to me have been lost in the mail somewhere. We are hopeful that they will show up, but would like to ask all of the students who did submit an application to please do so again either by mail to by emailing to me at lablvid@gmail.com. The new deadline to submit applications will be Sept. 15, 2014. Scholarships will be announced at Convention and monies paid to the respective colleges for the spring 2015 semester.

Applications can be found at this link: https://www.idahocattlewomen.org/about-us/

Thank you and good luck with your future endeavors.

~Lyndella

Hi, my name is Lyndella and I live in beautiful Round Valley in Challis. My husband and I are first generation ranchers, learning and living a new life every day. We have been ranching now for more than 20 years in this valley. Ranching was a dream both of us had and were able to make come true. We are always open to inviting friends to our ranch to experience what we have grown to love…amidst the hard work, long hours and satisfaction of accomplishment.

In July, our daughter, a large animal veterinarian practicing in California, came to visit with her first child, Lochlan, who’s six month old. While she was here, I bribed her to come help vaccinate horses, shear llamas, check on pigs and take a quick run out to Copper Basin where our cattle range.

Getting to the ranch is always a challenge. Alicia and Lochlan arrived in Idaho Falls, then still had a 2 ½ hour drive to the ranch. Since Nana (that’s me) has a full week planned for them… we had steaks for dinner!!

First stop was Island Park, where we lease ground for heifers. We are hauling salt and mineral up for them. We also had horses and hay to leave at the cabin for family coming in that week. Alicia vacinated horses for me there. She loves doing dentistry on horses so she also floated several of the horses teeth the next morning. Nana took care of Lochlan and Alicia and Dad went for a horse back ride. I watched Lochlan scoot across the floor trying very hard to crawl.

The next stop was our ranch where we spent Monday relaxing.  Well, most of it!! We decided to shear the old llama once it cooled off a little. Very interesting trying to get Tractor, our old male, into a head catch in the cow barn!! But, we succeeded and sheared his very heavy fur coat.

Tuesday afternoon promised to be warm, so we got up early to vaccinate the horses and work on their teeth.

It’s always great having the kids and grandkids home to our ranch, as we love having visitors. The visits never really seem long enough though.

~ Lyndella

Our ranch encompasses a cow-calf, yearling operation and custom feedlot in southwest Idaho. My husband and I both were raised on livestock ranches in Weiser, so our industry roots run deep. Our children have been very active and involved in the ranch and feedlot, with both girls developing registered Angus and Hereford

herds. Our son, Sam, prefers to “run grass calves,” but still competes with his steer at the Washington County Fair. Shane will be a senior at Kansas State University, majoring in animal science. Dana will be a senior at Weiser High and is currently narrowing her college choice, and will major in animal science, as well. Sam, a fifth-grader, focuses on building forts, football, hunting and following in his Dad’s footsteps.

When asked to write a narrative of a “normal” day here, I randomly picked a Tuesday in May. It occurred to me as I wrote out the day, each day finds its own rhythm, but all the days flow because of the purpose and passion our family lives.

5:45 a.m. – Up with a pot of coffee, Magnificat and quiet time. Much needed before the day begins.

6:30 a.m. – Kids up and going. Sent them out to feed show heifers and 4-H steers. Breakfast, lunches, homework signed…only two more weeks of “school schedule”! Put a roast in the crock pot for supper.

7:45 a.m. – Up to feedlot to weigh and ship two loads of heifers and steers. Rode pens while crew finished up shipping and paperwork. Brought down two steers to scales for the local butcher to harvest.

11:00 a.m. – Back to my office to make payroll tax deposit, check balances and get a receivables deposit ready for the bank. Made calls for the upcoming Weiser River Cattle Association Turn-out Golf Tournament. Emailed Jodie Mink sponsor logos.

11:45 a.m. – Picked up the feedlot crew for lunch at the Farmer’s Co-op Café. Dropped by the bank with a deposit. Picked up a part at Hollingsworth’s for the swather.

1:15 p.m. – Checked cows and salt in three pastures.

2:00 p.m. – Helped load bulls to be Trich tested at the vet clinic.

3:00 p.m. – Headed to town to pick up Sam & Willie for guitar lessons. Stopped for Twisty Cones at Jeb’s for snacks. “Lucky Number Tuesday” at Bi-Mart—always need toilet paper on Tuesdays! Won a package of beef jerky, which Sam had half-finished before we turned down our lane.

4:45 p.m. – Home for chores and start supper. Homework finished. Did I mention only two more weeks of school?!? Answered phone and email messages. Dana will finish preparing supper while I head to play for Confirmation Mass practice in Fruitland at 6.

9:15 p.m. – Home from practice. Read with Sam as we are in the middle of Lincoln’s Last Days. Prayers.

10:00 p.m. – Read the Idaho Statesman, talked about today’s highs and lows with Bruce, and made a plan for tomorrow. Finished the night with Magnificat and thanks!

Every cattlewoman’s day is different, but we all have one thing in common—to care for our animals and raise delicious and healthy BEEF!

~ Julie

When I married my husband, I knew I’d never live in town or drive a beetle car. I’d need four-wheel drive and it’d be easier to see across my field than into my neighbor’s window. I knew there would be dirty boots by the door. On our honeymoon, we bought a sign that reads, “Please remove your spurs before getting into bed.” We anticipated cattle and hard work, but we pictured it with the bliss and naivety with which every newlywed couple enters into marriage.

Enter reality. No matter what time of year it is, there is always a potential for hay slivers in the sheets. I learned how to cook on a budget. I made a lot from scratch. Actually, it’s been sixteen years and I’m still doing that.

The reality is that we all have dreams and ideas of what life will look like. We imagine how it will transpire and it is beautiful!! Everyone is healthy, the work gets done in record time, and nothing ever breaks down or slips past a fence. Dreams are good for creating a hopeful platform as they propel us to keep going. Yet, I certainly never pictured tractors breaking down, bailing hay through the night to beat a storm, or feeding cows while having the flu.

On the flipside, I also didn’t imagine that ranching would rope me in and dally itself right to my identity. I had been raised in town. Please don’t stop reading. City girls can go country!
I met my husband in college at a country dance that someone coaxed me into attending. I gave him my number and didn’t think I’d hear from him, but I did and we started dating.
He took me riding, moving cows, and showed me everything I never thought I’d know about ranching. He didn’t get embarrassed of my lack of knowledge or ability, but kept encouraging me to try. It wasn’t until later that I realized this was in his favor, as now all my training came from “his” way of doing things.

So I married him and he carried me off to our first little trailer home.
Older than most of the dirt that held it together, it felt like a mansion.

Then something unexpected happened. Instead of me working for years alongside my man to get ready for a place of our own…we had a baby. Ahhh. Yes, it was wonderful. She is wonderful. But it is hard to ride pregnant, especially while still a beginning rider. Then we had another baby and another. Motherhood is the most amazing thing that could ever happen to a person, but also a fair amount of work. We didn’t have family around, so it was up to us to bring these babies everywhere we went. Our oldest daughter spent much of her first birthday in her daddy’s saddle, on his lap, while working cows. (That was a good horse.) I’ve ended up growing up in ranching along with my kids.

True, I never really knew what I was getting into, but I wouldn’t change it. Well, not most days. Guess what? Those dirty boots by the door? They aren’t going anywhere. They are mine.

~Marci

Marci is a city girl gone country. She married her cowboy and never looked back. While life may be different than what she first imagined, it’s also better than expected as well. She and her husband are raising their three kids on the ranch, and she has grown used to all the boots by the door.

…not to be confused with Finger Steaks if you’re from the West. I’m from the Midwest so I didn’t know what Finger Steaks were until I moved to Idaho. Technically these aren’t the traditionally Finger Steaks recipe, so I’m sticking with calling them Steak Fingers. These Steak Fingers use Cube steak, whereas I believe Finger Steaks use Sirloin steak. Okay, best to just get to the recipe…

If you do an Internet search for recipes for Cube steak, a lot of times you’ll come up with Chicken Fried Steak. I call these the junior version of that.

Cube steak is tenderized, rectangle in shape and thin. It’s also economical and relatively lean as it comes from the round. I’ve actually been experimenting to come up with some other recipes to use this cut of beef. I admit, it’s one of the last used in our freezer, but it’s worth giving it a try.

Chicken Fried Steak can seem a little thick and bulky to me at times, so one night I decided to slice up the meat before breading it. It was definitely a good choice. These turned out delicious!

Even though this cut comes tenderized, slicing it helps break down the cut even more. I found the Steak Fingers to be really tender and easy to eat.

I dipped the meat in a egg wash. I used a 2-3 eggs with dashes of seasoned salt and pepper. You could throw in some cayenne or any other spices you like. This is how I love to cook. A little of this, a little of that. Fortunately this is a recipe that you don’t need exact measurements.

Next I dipped the meat into flour and the same seasonings. Then back to the egg wash and into a third bowl of Panko bread crumbs. You don’t have to do the second dip, but I love the crunch the Panko adds.

Into the oil they go. Try not to put too many in at once as adding the meat lowers the temperature. You don’t want to crowd them either and have them stick to each other. I just kept an eye on them and turned them when they were golden brown.

Oh my goodness; just looking at this photo makes me hungry again! They were so, so good.

I usually buy large bags of potatoes, but as a busy mom of four, sometimes convenience is the winner. I’ve found these Steamables on sale a few times and decided to give them a try. They were really good, and I did love how quick they were. 6-7 minutes in the microwave. Can’t beat that! They are easy to throw some seasonings on and serve right after cooking. I’ve also smashed them after they were cooked and put them in the oven to crisp them up a bit.

Feel free to pin!

If you haven’t tried cooking with Cube Steak, I suggest you give it a try. I’ll have a few more recipes to sharing using this cut of beef too. So whether they are Steak Fingers or Finger Steaks to you, these are definitely good to eat!

~Maggie