Hi! I’m Amanda, and I’m so glad you’re here!

If you read every label, and care about what ingredients you put in AND, on your body, you’ve come to the right place. 

If you can’t tell by my hair color, I’m a bit crunchy.  I’ve been on a journey to reduce chemicals and synthetic ingredients I consume.  It’s been overwhelming to find out about how many conventional products are so toxic to our health.  I have been slowly swapping out chemically laden products with more organic, natural, and “clean” ones over time. Instead of approaching from a fear-based perspective, I am coming at it from a creation based one.  What did God create for us, and what is His design for healthy eating?

 I discovered the Weston A. Price Foundation, and their recommendation to consume more animal fats (verses the ever-prevalent seed oils) introduced me to tallow. It was a light bulb moment.  Of course, what God provided for us is best.  Not only is grass-fed tallow amazing to cook with due to the high vitamin A, D, E and K content, but it’s also great for your skin too. Using animal fats for skin isn’t a new trendy idea, but something that many generations before used, as animal fats were readily available.  I treasure old fashioned ways and traditions – they are tried and true.  

I have always been a DIY kind of gal – from crafts, cooking, gardening, and everything in between - I have such an immense sense of fulfillment making things with my own two hands.  So naturally, I bought 20 lbs. of suet (the hard kidney fat) and rendered it down to make my own tallow, for both cooking and skin care products. The tallow balm I made was dreamy. The rich buttery consistency absorbed so quickly – I fell in love.   I made some balm for my mom, and she was instantly sold on day 1.  She raved about how soft it made her skin feel and could see a huge improvement.  The best part of making skincare products with tallow is that I know exactly what is going into them.  Simple, clean ingredients that nourish your skin.  

The more I thought about it, the more I was sold on starting a small business making tallow-based skin care products. I tried to find some locally and found there was none.  I have always wanted to own my own business but never knew doing what exactly.  I feel like God planted this dream in my heart that combines all my passions – supporting small regenerative family farms, creating products that improve your health, giving my kids an opportunity to learn firsthand about business and entrepreneurship and earning income that supports my homestead dreams. 

God gave me the name Green Pastures Tallow referencing Psalm 23. Every time I see my business name, I am reminded of the good Sheperd who is guiding and providing for me every step of the way. He gets all the credit for any success that comes from this.  After all – He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. 

I am married to my high school sweetheart, Jason.  We are a military family.  We have two girls, a rescue pup, and a flock of chickens who we can’t count because chicken math.  We homestead here in Southern Maryland. We love to learn new skills and have a long list of plants to add to our growing garden, animals to collect and projects to build.