News & Updates

Venison Meatballs with Chili-Cranberry Sauce
By Bobbie Jo Wasilko
He Hunts She Cooks
Cookin’ Wild
 
These meatballs can be frozen in batches and added to a variety of sauces, soups, and stews or serve all of them for a block party!  Baking them in the oven on foil lined sheets makes quick cleanup, and large batches can be cooked at the same time, and the meatballs don’t fall apart.
 
Makes: 2 pounds = approx.45 mini meatballs
 

BASE MEATBALL RECIPE:
 

• 2 lb. Ground Venison (or any wild game), keep the ground venison cold!
• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup crushed Corn Flakes (adjust based on how the mixture is looking, add if more binder is needed to shape meatballs, otherwise, stick to 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs (or plain + 2 tablespoons dried parsley and 1 tablespoon dried oregano)
• 1 tbs. Garlic Powder
• 1 tbs. Onion Powder
• 1/3 cup finely minced White or Yellow Onion
• 4 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper

 
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 
 
1. Lightly beat the eggs.
2. Crush corn flakes to medium ground in a sealed zip lock bag
3. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix. 
4. Using a small ice cream scoop, portion out about 48 meatballs, then roll in between palms to shape.
5. Line a baking sheets with foil and add meatballs. 
6. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and bake in the oven for 7 minutes then gently roll meatballs over with a fork and bake for an additional 7 minutes. 
7.  Remove and leave on the baking sheets to cool COMPLETELY. 
 
 *Freeze in batches in zip lock bags with as much air removed as possible or vacuum bags and use directly from the freezer and place in sauces, soups or stews. 
 
 
 SAUCE: CHILI-CRANBERRY SAUCE: 
 
**About 48 Pre-Cooked Frozen Meatballs 
 

• 1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce (14 ounce)
• 1 bottle Chili Sauce
• 1/3 cup Dried Onion Flakes
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup Ketchup
• A splash of Worcestershire Sauce

 
Preheat the oven to 350ºF
 
For Oven Baked:

• Add all the sauce ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Pour the sauce into a 9×13 glass baking dish.
• Add the frozen or fresh meatballs.
• Bake, covered for 35 minutes, then remove the covering and bake another 10 minutes.
• Serve with steamed rice.

 
For the Crockpot:

• Add all the ingredients and stir.
• Add the meatballs.
• Cover and cook on lowest setting for about 90 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice and sautéed green beans or as a pot luck for a large cocktail party.
 
**When hubby wants to go hunting, I mix all the ingredients, including the frozen meatballs and pour it into a foil pan, and place raw green beans on top. I seal it with aluminum foil.  When Hubby comes back to camp at the end of the hunting day, he places the pan in the Camp Chef oven at 300º and allows it to bake while he gets himself cleaned up. Forty-five minutes later, he serves them with 3 cups minute rice… his hunting buddies love it and there is little clean-up and cooking for him to do.

We welcome Dan Miller to FHFH as our newest chapter coordinator!  Dan is the coordinator for the Mon-Fayette FHFH chapter in West Virginia.
 
Inspired by a passion for the outdoors and compassion for the needy, Dan joins our other FHFH coordinators who are making a difference to the hungry in their communities.
 
You can find Dan and the rest of our local chapter coordinators by CLICKING HERE. We encourage you to reach out and support them!

FHFH Coordinators, Mike Amoss (Harford County FHFH, MD) and Venus Arbuckle (Cecil County FHFH, MD) met with Matt Wilson (FHFH Program Director) on Wednesday, March 30 to plan activities for their chapters for this coming fall. 

A great space to meet was generously provided by Cargill Salt of White Marsh, MD.

FHFH was pleased to be a part of the 2016 Washington County Gives Fundraising event on Tuesday, May 3. This was an online only funding event initiated through the Community Foundation of Washington County, MD where over 70 non-profits based in Washington County took part.  Washington County Gives was one of many local community fundraising events in honor of the national event – Give Local America. 

Together we raised over $4,000 for the cause!  THANK YOU to all who were able to support our mission with a gift during the Give Local America Campaign.

Pictured above, FHFH set up a booth along with other non-profits on May 4 in downtown Hagerstown, MD to help celebrate the success of the fundraising event.  Attendees could receive information about how FHFH works and take their shot at a 3-D deer with toy nerf equipment.

We welcome Christopher Gentry to FHFH as our newest chapter coordinator!  Chris is the coordinator for the Muscogee County FHFH Chapter in Georgia.
 
Inspired by a passion for the outdoors and compassion for the needy, Chris joins our other FHFH coordinators who are making a difference to the hungry in their communities.
 
You can find Chris and the rest of our local chapter coordinators by CLICKING HERE. We encourage you to reach out and support them!

In early March multiple FHFH chapter coordinators in North Carolina came together to represent FHFH at the annual Dixie Deer Classic held in Raleigh, NC.  This large outdoors exhibitor event brings in 15,000-20,000 people from the southeast area of the country each year.

Over the course of 3 days, FHFH coordinators were pleased to engage with the public and share the ministry of FHFH. New potential coordinators were sought out in needed areas of NC. Existing chapters and deer donation drop-off sites were made known to hunters. 

​A drawing was held for various FHFH logo gear items. FHFH was able to talk with new potential sponsors and partnering organizations to further strengthen the reach and impact of FHFH in NC. 

A beautiful young woman named Miss Azsy donated what she had in her pocket to Indiana FHFH to help feed the hungry.  Azsy shared with us that she knows what it’s like to be hungry and her story brought us to tears. 

Thank you, Miss Azsy for your donation to help feed those who are hungry in Indiana!   People in need like Miss Azsy are why we do what we do.

The Oxford Walmart Superstore located at 5720 College Corner Pike, Oxford, Ohio, has teamed with the Southwest Ohio Chapter of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry to supply venison to local food banks and feeding ministries. The Oxford Walmart donated $1000 through the Hunger Relief Grant program.

They allowed us to join them in their morning meeting where we had the opportunity to present them with a certificate of appreciation, share about FHFH and how their donation will be used right here in the local area.

Pictured from left to right is Assistant Manager Teneen Hankins, Southwest Ohio FHFH Coordinator Don Distler, Assistant Manager Russell Martin and Human Resources Director Kara Brandenburg.

Thank you Walmart!

In “He Hunts She Cooks” Dan and Bobbie Jo Wasilko are a traditional husband-and-wife couple where Dan huntsfor wild game and Bobbie Jo cooks what he brings home. But unlike the stereotypical hand-off at the pot on the stove, Bobbie Jo will often go into the field with Dan and he will often help Bobbie Jo in the kitchen.

Their pilot show “He Hunts She Cooks” can be viewed here.

If you’re looking for inspiration to step out into the wild and to step up your wild game dishes, visit their website.

 Do you like shish-ka-bobs?  Here is another great recipe by Bobbie Jo. 

“Shish-Ka-Bobbie Jo
 
can be used with venison, antelope, wild boar or even domestic beef tenderloin
 
Marinade:
 
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup **low-sodium soy sauce
2/3 cup olive oil (up to 3/4 cup if needed) 
2 bay leaves (whole)
2 heaping Tbs. minced garlic
 
Venison Loin or Elk Tenderloin approx. 2-3 lbs. (use only trimmed TENDERLOIN OR LOIN (aka backstrap) meat, such as antelope, elk or even domestic beef) 
8 oz pkg. Whole Mushrooms
1 Large White Onion 
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper or Yellow Bell Pepper
 
24 Hours Ahead: 
 
1. Cut venison loin into large pieces (about 2 inches each)
2. Combine all marinade ingredients and set aside. 
3. Add meat and mushrooms into a glass or plastic bowl (or, if using a small amount of meat and mushrooms, place everything in a large sealable freezer bag). Pour marinade over meat and mushrooms and marinate for a FULL 24 HOURS.  
4. Next day, bring the meat to room temperature by removing it from the fridge 1 hour ahead of cooking. 
5. Cut onions and peppers into large chunks. 
6. Soak wooden skewers 1/2 hour in warm water. 
7. Skewer meat, mushrooms, onions and peppers, alternating between everything.
8. Pre-Heat the grill to about 375-400 degrees. 
9. Grill the shish kabob quickly, about 1-2 minutes per side is all you need, since they cook fast. 
 
If not using a grill:  Drain meat and mushrooms well from marinade and first sear meat in a very hot pan for 5 minutes. Remove meat and then add mushrooms, and saute for about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and then add onions and peppers and saute quickly.
 
**Make sure to use a low-sodium soy sauce, otherwise, it can be salty. 
Serve with any side dish, such as cumin flavored rice.

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) – By Mike Handrick

The use of donor advised funds is often overlooked as a smart source for your annual charitable contributions.  If you are like most families, you send a variety of annual contributions to a variety of charities that hold your passion.  You send then a check and take the deduction on your tax return.  A more tax efficient method could be to open a DAF account, or build one up with contributions over time, and then make your annual contributions out of the DAF each year to your favorite charities.  This method provides you with tax breaks as you build your fund, instead of each year you send a charity a check. 

The name donor advised fund comes from the process of the owner of the fund advises the fund to make charitable donations each year to their favorite charities.  This is an advisory notice only and the DAF sponsor does not have to do as you advise them to.  Most generally, they do exactly as you advise them to unless doing so would potentially create a regulatory issue like self dealing.  Your financial advisor can continue to manage the funds inside of your DAF.  The advisor just needs to be well versed in building a portfolio to achieve your long term family legacy goals.

Here are the most notable tax breaks for DAFs:

1.  The donor receives and immediate tax deduction in the year they contribute to their DAF.  Since donor advised funds must be administered by a public charity, contributions to a donor advised fund immediately qualify for maximum income tax benefits.  The IRS mandates annual limitations, depending upon the donor’s adjusted gross income (AGI):

• Deduction for cash – Up to 50% of AGI.

• Deduction for securities and other appreciated assets – Up to 30% of AGI.

• There is a five year carry forward for unused deductions.

2.  Capital Gains Avoidance – The donor will incur no capital gains on gifts of appreciated assets (like real estate, securities or other illiquid assets).

3.  AMT – Alternative Minimum Tax – If the donor’s income is subject to AMT, their contribution to their DAF will reduce their AMT impact.

4.  Estate Tax – Your DAF will not be subject to estate taxes.

5.  Tax – Free Investment Appreciation – The investments in the DAF appreciate tax free, providing the donor additional funds that they can use for charitable giving.

Always consult your tax advisor.

Mike Handrick
715-614-8200
mike@handrickplanning.com
www.handrickplanning.com
 
Securities and advisory services offered through Packerland Brokerage Services, Inc., an unaffiliated entity – Member FINRA & SIPC