Crunchy Mama Farms

03/20/2026

We’re kicking off a great Beef Harvest weekend with a safety briefing! We just did intros and learned what the students were wanting to get out of the class. I love that Shawn tailors each class to meet the needs of each group. 🥰 And we have some fascinating students - so excited to get to know them better!

03/19/2026

Have you ever wondered where the Sirfednard cut is on a beef?? Us too. 🤣🙄 Thankfully, AI isn’t coming for the butcher’s job yet. This is your sign to develop skills that can’t be computerized. Come discover useful life skills with us this weekend and learn the REAL CUTS.

03/18/2026

A couple of weeks ago, we had some very special guests come through a Beef Butchery Class at Crunchy Mama Farms. Operation Pay It Forward brought a second group of veterans for a weekend of camaraderie and brotherhood as they accomplished taking a beef from the field and transforming it into delicious cuts for meals and to feed their families.

But before I tell you about the weekend, I want to say a few things about Operation Pay It Forward. You know we love our veterans. We have had many veterans and first responders come through our classes through the years, and they are always capable and the first to pitch in when something needs to be done. They understand the value of teamwork in accomplishing a goal, but with a witty, slightly twisted sense of humor that keeps things fun. 😉

Operation Pay It Forward focuses on healing, connection and purpose through outdoor activities for veterans as they transition back into civilian life. But many veterans have such a valuable experience in these activities that they volunteer to come back and be an ambassador to take the next group of veterans on another opportunity for renewed purpose. And the cycle of mentorship and camaraderie continues. Love this!

So, back to our weekend! This OPIF team was full of capable men that blew through the tasks of prepping the area, cutting down the quarters into retail cuts and grinding it into ground beef. They were so efficient, in fact, that we took a field trip down the road to Biltong USA so Anton could explain how he cures his South African biltong.

The whole weekend was filled with teamwork, laughs, bonding and unbelievably delicious meals! Chef Brian Santiago and Chef Luca worked their magic by taking the fresh cuts from the students and creating mouth-watering mains and sides.

The students enjoyed a very special breakfast on Sunday morning of farm fresh eggs, cheesy grits, home-cured bacon and the famous Crunchy Mama Farms' Feast of Lesser Known Cuts! When you are the butcher, you get to decide if you want to spend the extra time to get the lesser known steaks that processers do not have the time to harvest and are instead turned into hamburger. This was a great way to start off our last day together!

All of that delicious food gave Shawn amnesia and the team worked together to break down the last quarter themselves. The meat was packaged and divided for them to take home and we finished the weekend with one last meal together. I got a little teary-eyed at the sweet handwritten notes they left for us. We love being a part of something bigger than our farm. Operation Pay It Forward, you are always welcome back to Crunchy Mama Farms!

**And I wanted to let you know that we have our LAST class of this season this weekend! We have 2 seats left, so make your move! Message us to snag one or both!**

01/24/2026

Young ladies, this is VERY IMPORTANT! As you look into your dreamy boyfriend’s eyes, I want you to fast-forward into the future. Would this guy walk over broken glass or through fire to save you? Or more likely, would he walk into the freezing cold to break the ice for the cows or deliver your warm homemade oatmeal + cayenne concoction for the sweet chickens so you don’t even have to go outside? If he passes that test, he can stay and move onto the next round. If he would choose to stay inside and play video games in the ice storm, end it. Find a different guy. It’s not about ability. It’s a mindset.

01/03/2026

Happy 2026! We started the new year off with a gathering of friends and a feast consisting of turducken, dirty rice, greens, cornbread, and black eyed peas. Turducken is one of those dishes that is much more technical than what it appears. Boning out a turkey, duck, and chicken without cutting through the skin is quite a feat. It is one of our favorite dishes, and well worth the effort for a special event.

12/18/2025

Chef Brian Santiago and I at ZestFest 2025.
It has been such a great year and what a pleasure it was to work side-by-side with my friend Chef Brian on the ZestFest Celebrity Chef Stage. This is only a small part of what you experience in our hog harvest class. If you are looking for the perfect Christmas gift you still have time to book spots in the March 20-22 Beef Class and the Father's Day weekend Hog Class

Shawn Kelly runs Crunchy Mama Farms in Texas. He’s described as walking “like someone who’s carried more than most… built from years of hard lessons, heavy l...

12/13/2025

Do you like American Beef? If so, you really need to visit Anton Van Vuuren and his family at their new store just north of Sunset, Texas. They buy amazing quality USDA inspected Angus and Wagyu beef sourced from small farms in Texas and the Dakotas. Then Anton makes his incredible biltong as well as sausages, and steaks. Anton is from South Africa and he is using recipes direct from his homeland. To make things even better, he imports traditional South African drinks, sauces, and even cookies so you can get a taste from the other side of the world, right here in North Texas. If you haven't visited him yet, word has it that Biltong USA is holding a bit of a Christmas Party today from 2:00-5:00 and you might even see a jolly guy in a red suit. If you can't make it, you can always order online and Biltongusa.com delivers right to your door. Please support this local business: 3814 US HWY 287, Sunset, Texas, 76270

11/25/2025

Remember those chicks that arrived on September 11? They sure have grown up. Possibly the heaviest set of birds that we've ever raised. We still have a few spots left for the chicken class this weekend. Please email [email protected] to reserve your spot and take home one of the birds that you helped process.

11/18/2025

A common theme we’ve heard echoed after Tribe Day this year is that attendees were comforted in the fact that they aren’t alone and there are other like-minded families who are just as crazy as they are. 😅

We were not created to do life alone. (Even introverts need a community. 😉) That theme of community seemed to be woven throughout the weekend.

Tag of gave us his favorite definition of Community: A feeling of fellowship with others as a result sharing common attitudes, interests and goals.

Tag talked about the core family being the nucleus. If the foundation of the family isn’t strong, anything build on top of it will eventually crumble. He also talked about the little tasks of homesteading not being hard, but doing ALL of those tasks is impossible. “None of this life is hard. There isn’t a single thing that we do that is hard. But collectively, all that we do is impossible.” There is not enough hours in the day to do it all, but if we do our part well, we can trade with someone else who does their part well. “You are not going to survive at any level beyond medival if you can’t find community.”

Tag continued to talk about the importance of a crew, defined as a bunch of families working together. This could be useful in pooling money to buy collectively and save on costs or doing community rotations to help when someone needs assistance due to a medical issue or worse. Mutual assistance groups are communities that you can call on, but don’t necessarily live close. When tag was going to build a concrete bridge on his property, he was able to call an engineer friend who was able to help him figure out the correct amount of concrete to purchase. The “Mind” community is what Tag calls like-minded people who are experts in their field that you can bring in to level up your community. When Tag’s community wanted to learn animal harvesting, they called Shawn and he traveled out there to teach them butchery skills. And now Tag came to see us and teach us the process, tips and pitfalls that he learned along the way. And the last building block of a community is what Tag refers to as the Locals. These are like-minded businesses in your area that you want to put your money behind and support. They hold the same values that you do and you want to see them succeed. Locals also refers to working together with other local people to change the school system or a political laws or ordinances in your area.

All of these interlocking circles work together to intentionally create a strong community. Tag told Shawn and I that he watched the people at Tribe Day work together so beautifully. If something needed to be done, everyone pitched in. We even had something there community doesn’t have as much of - a large population of young children that we are pouring into.

But he made a good point. You don’t have to have land or even be in our area. You can start a community where you live - in the middle of a city, in the suburbs, in another part of the country. Be the hub and start your own community around your shared goals and nurture it with intentionality and purpose. ❤️

11/17/2025

So what really stood out this year at Tribe Day was that we made it bigger (about 100 people including kids), brought in speakers, extended it to 3 days instead of 1…and yet it was EASIER and LESS EXHAUSTING than in years past. What gives??

You know what gives…our community gives. We have shown people what our systems are and they jump in to solve the issue. I can’t tell you how many times I need chairs moved or the sound system transported or help figuring out the flow for the potluck or moving people to the next speaker. I literally looked around, found someone capable and asked them for help. Instantly taken care of, so I could move onto the next thing. Even the morning after, when it looked like a frat party had occurred, we had a crew show up to help us take apart and clean the Asado cross, take the trash to the dumpster, and clean up the butcher shop and campfire area. The kids even groggily woke up and all worked together to form a chain and pick up and trash in their path. What took a small team the time to do would have taken our family all day to complete by ourselves. 

We are so grateful for our Tribe. They give and they give generously…of their time, their resources, and their knowledge.

Our hearts and our bellies are full. ❤️

11/16/2025

More pictures and takeaways from this weekend coming soon, but I’m so thankful for my sweet friend Andrea Heath who stopped me for a second and pointed out the gorgeous sunset and suggested a group photo. 🥹😍 Sometimes we get so focused on getting the next thing done, that we forget to just stop and take a moment to capture the magic. I will always treasure this photo. 🩷

11/15/2025