Homemaking on the Homestead

I love iced coffee in the summer. I’ve been looking for a way to have it that is simple. I think I found it. I made the mix up, stored it in the fridge and enjoyed it over the next few days poured over ice. I like my iced coffee a little sweet, but not overly sweet. The following recipe would be considered to me to be “lightly sweetened”. If you like sweeter coffee you can taste and adjust the sweetness to your own tastes. You will need coffee (I grind my coffee and the pic shows beans, you can use any type of coffee you regularly enjoy), white sugar, brown sugar, half in half and vanilla. Make a full pot of very strong coffee. When it is done mix with the remaining ingredients. Pour into canning jars, allow to cool and store in the fridge.. To use pour desired amount over ice and enjoy! Easy Iced Coffee 1 pot very strong coffee 2T white sugar 2T brown sugar ½ cup half n half 2t vanilla Combine hot coffee with remaining ingredients. Pour ...

With a lot of my basic spring cleaning behind me I’ve decided it is time for me to tackle another area of chaos in my home and this is my challenge for May! This month’s challenge is the kitchen pantry! It does not matter if you have cupboards in your kitchen or a separate pantry area, every now and again it needs to be gone through and organized. So that is my plan for May. Right now my pantry shares space in my laundry room. And it is a mess. So that is my plan.. clean it off, clear it off, organize it better… Let me know if you are joining me for May’s Challenge!! We Can Do This Girls!!  

Monday Roasted chicken, potato salad, veggie platter Tuesday Hamburgers w/trimmings, chips, veggie platter Wednesday Lasagna, french bread, salad Thursday Chili, cornbread, coleslaw Friday Fish sticks, mac & cheese , salad Saturday Leftovers Sunday Sub sandwiches, tomato soup , carrot sticks

I’ve made my own ranch dressing for years. Every now and again I buy it but we are never big fans of store bought. It can be a bit of a hassle to make it, especially as quick as we consume it. I decided to try and take my recipe and turn it into a dry seasoning mix that can easily be added to the rest of the ingredients. I did and it is great and so easy to make! Here is the recipe I came up with… Bulk Ranch Dressing Mix ¼ cup onion powder 2T garlic powder 6T parsley 1T dill weed 2 ¼ t salt 2 ¼ t seasoning salt ¾ t pepper Combine all ingredients in a bowl… Add 1 (full) Tablespoon to… 1 cup mayonnaise ½ cup sour cream ½ cup milk The mix will fill a half pint canning jar.  One batch of salad dressing will make approximately 2 cups of salad dressing.. This mix will make about 10 batches of ranch dressing. If you would like to make this into ranch dip, just add only enough milk to make it a dip consistency. Print Recipe: ...

Monday Baked chicken legs , garlic roasted potatoes , salad Tuesday Bbq chicken pizza w/white sauce , salad Wednesday Bean & bacon soup, cheesy biscuits, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Crockpot cheesy cowboy casserole , veggie platter w/ranch dressing Saturday Chili , cornbread, salad Sunday Pepperoni bread , split pea soup , salad

My daughter Hannah is getting ready to start a little formal homeschooling with my oldest granddaughter. So we had a talk recently about this. I gave her my thoughts and advice. I thought I would share what I told her, perhaps it would be a help to someone…. 1. You’ve already been homeschooling, just by living everyday life. Don’t sweat it… 2. When all of you (referring to my children) were 5 I focused on only a few things. Reading every day to you, teaching you to read, math…. because in the end.. knowing how to read and how to think logically (What I feel math is all about), will give them the keys to ANYTHING they want to pursue in life. 3. I taught all of my children to read using “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”… maybe it’s not for everyone, but I used it for 8 children, with various learning styles and they all learned to read. It is simple and not stressful for the mother or the child. 4. If she gets to a point in the book that it becomes...

I saw the first hummingbird of the season the other day come to my feeder hoping for something. Unfortunately there was nothing there for him/her. So I quickly brought the feeder inside and cleaned it up and made some hummingbird nectar, filled the feeder and hung it back outside. Hummingbird nectar is easy to make. 1 part sugar, 4 parts water. I put the sugar in a canning jar.. and added enough hot water to dissolve the sugar… Then filled the jar up. I added some red food coloring to my mix.. for one reason.. when my kids look in the fridge they will know what the heck it is! LOL… BUT after I did this I researched a little more on this… some say it is NOT the thing you want to do, some say it is not a problem.. One thing I do know is that it is not necessary to add it. Is it bad or good for the birds? I have no idea. I probably won’t do it next time. I’ll just put some note on the jar so my family knows what it is… In any case.. I’m looking forward to ...