Homemaking on the Homestead

Friday’s here on the Homestead Blogger is the Homestead Kitchen Day.   So I like to share any new recipes I have made during the week.     Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa over Brown Rice   Admittedly, kielbasas are not the healthiest foods to eat.   But every now and again I get a desire for some.   I buy mine at Costco because they are the best tasting, at leas in my opinion.     This recipe can be simmered on the stove or it can be put in the crockpot.   Either way it is yummy.     2 lbs. kielbasa or so, I never really measure them out 1 cup Sucanat 4 to 6 T spicy mustard, I use Grey Poupon 2 or 3 green onions, sliced   Begin by slicing all the kielbasa into small pieces.   Sometimes I will cut them in half the long way and then slice them.     In your pot or crockpot combine the Sucanat, mustard and green onions.   If you are doing this on the stove, I turn the heat to medium low and stir until the Sucanat ...

Today was a very busy day for me, but before my day got to far advanced I was able to mix up my first batch of sourdough bread.   I followed Sally Fallon’s recipe (from her book Nourishing Traditions..   a really wonderful book if you are interested in improving your health!)   Her recipe called for the sourdough starter, wheat flour (I used hard white wheat and a little spelt), salt and water.   Pretty plain and simple!!   I mixed it and kneaded it and formed it into 3 loaves.   The recipe says to let it rise 4 to 12 hours.   I left and went to town to go to the eye doctor for my daughter and then into the big city to buy groceries and run a couple of errands.   I got home and the bread had risen beautifully!!   It had been 7 hours and I was very impressed.   I baked the bread for 1 hour as the recipe states.     After I had removed my starter for today’s bread I fed the starter again with 1 cup of rye flour and 1 cup of ...

This is a repost from my homeschoolblog site.  I thougth I would post it here for those that don't read both of my blogs! :)  Today, I make sourdough bread so I will be updating this shortly.  Crystal :)   *******************************************   About 5 days ago I started a batch of sourdough starter.   I am using Sally Fallon’s recipe from her book    Nourishing Traditions .      She uses equal parts freshly ground rye berries and water.      I started with 2 cups of each (per her instructions)  I ground the rye berries up in my mill...      and mixed with water in a bowl......     Then poured into a gallon size glass jar.   I put a double layer of cheese cloth over the top and secured it with a rubber band.       After 24 hours I poured the whole mix into a clean bowl and fed my starter with 1 cup freshly ground rye berries and 1 cup water and poured it ...

Delicious Bagels         2 c warm water 1 T yeast 2 T honey 2 T molasses 1 t. coconut oil 2 t. salt 4 c whole wheat bread flour 1 to 1 ½ cups unbleached white flour 1 T Sucanat or cane juice crystals     I use my Bosch to make these in, but a Kitchen Aid will do the trick as well.   In the bowl of your mixer combine water and yeast.   Let sit a minute or two and add honey, molasses, coconut oil and salt.   Stir this up a little.   Now add 4 cups of the whole wheat bread flour and knead.   It will be sticky and you will need to add the unbleached white flour a little at a time while the mixer is kneading.   Knead and add flour until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.     At this point, knead for another 4 to 7 minutes (the longer time with the Kitchen Aid).   Cover the mixing bowl with a towel and let it rise for 30 minutes.     Turn on the mixer and punch it down.   Divide the dou...

  Sunday: Breakfast: Oatmeal Lunch: tortilla pizzas Dinner: chili , cornbread , salad   Monday: Breakfast: Oatmeal Lunch: hot dogs or corn dogs Dinner: pork chops, mac & cheese (homemade), peas & carrots   Tuesday: Breakfast: eggs & toast Lunch: grilled cheese sans Dinner: meatloaf , potato casserole, coleslaw   Wednesday: Breakfast: pancakes Lunch: wrap sandwiches Dinner: sweet&spicy keilbasa, buttered noodles, broccoli salad   Thursday: Breakfast: granola Lunch: corn chowder Dinner: oven fried chicken, brown rice , salad   Friday: Breakfast: waffles & bacon Lunch: turkey sandwiches Dinner: tacos w/trimmings   Saturday: Breakfast: scrambled eggs & bagels Lunch: taco salad Dinner: homemade pizza and party goodies for Emily  

Sierra and I finished her sewing project this afternoon!!   Yea!!   She made a skirt and top (with a little help from mom) from the book I listed a few blog posts back.     Here is her handy work!!  

Here are some pics of the newest kids on my homestead.   They are part Saanan and part Nubian. They are pretty playful because they are bottle babies.   That is one of the nice things about bottle fed kids.. they just love people!     Here they are running with Hannah:     Playing in the yard:     On the stairs:     And finally a front view (very hard to get!   They see me and run towards me!! So Sierra and Isaac are helping me out  )…        

I am a little late here in the day for Food Blogging Friday.   But I wanted to share a soup I just made this afternoon.   It was delicious!!   Creamy Broccoli Soup Crystal Miller   1 -2lb pkg. frozen broccoli, cooked and drained 2 or 3 green onions, sliced 4T butter 2 -8oz pkgs. cream cheese 2 c cream, half-n-half or whole milk (I use whole goats milk) 2 chicken bouillon cubes, optional (If you don’t use them, you may want to add extra salt) 2 cups water 1 t salt Pepper, to taste   Saute onion in butter.   When the onion is soft add cream cheese and cream.   Stir this over medium heat until the cream cheese melts and it is smooth.   Add bouillon cubes and water.   Stir and let this heat to almost simmering.   Then add the cooked and drained broccoli.   Add salt and pepper and taste.   Add more salt or pepper if you would like.         I made another batch of my pepperoni bread (there is instructions on ma...

  Lisa asked me what the name of the sewing book that I bought for my 10 year old daughter was.   The book is called   “Sew Kool 4 Kids”     Here is a list of what the book has in it (take from the front cover):   5 patterns for kids sizes 4 to 16 6 sewing machine craft projects 14 patterns for 18” dolls 7 hand embroidery projects with stitch instructions   I bought my copy of the book from Newark Dressmakers Supply .   It is only listed in the catalog, it is not in the online store.   I do recommend getting their catalog as they have a ton of really neat stuff!!     I found the pattern book on line here: http://www.castlemoyle.com/shopping/1book.asp?qidno=sewi33495  

I have granola on my to-do list this morning!!   I am completely out and the kids are clamoring for more..   it seems to be one of those items that is hard for me to keep up on!   I also have the monthly homeschool meeting this afternoon.   My girls do the child care for the meeting.     Jacob, Sierra and Isaac have swim lessons this morning and Hannah will take them and then pick up milk for my kid goats.   The lady who gave me the kids, is giving me the milk to feed them too..   what a deal!!   J   Starting today Emily will have a new go at her contacts.   She lost one over the weekend and I called the dr.’s office yesterday and they had an extra set.   So Hannah went and picked them up after her vet volunteer time.   Now if she can keep these until the next appt. everything will be great!!     I almost have the rest of my diapers for my daughter done.   I am now working on the flat fold ones. And I hop...

This weeks Menu: I wrote this Menu on Saturday as my weeks start on Sunday (my hubby goes back to work on Sunday)   Easter Sunday: (Main Meal Only) Lamb in honey/orange sauce (that was very yummy!) Steamed red potatoes Green beans Hot cross buns   Monday: breakfast: yogurt w/honey and flax seeds, toast Lunch: pb&j sandwiches Dinner: Split pea soup w/ham, salad, corn bread   Tuesday: Breakfast: Eggs, fruit Lunch: quesadillas Dinner: Spaghetti on whole wheat noodles, salad, garlic toast or French bread   Wednesday: Breakfast: granola lunch: Pepperoni Bread Dinner: Pork roast, baked beans , coleslaw   Thursday: Breakfast: breakfast burritos Lunch: creamy broccoli soup Dinner: black bean sloppy joes on toast, salad   Friday: Breakfast: Omelets and bacon Lunch: Tortilla Pizza’s Dinner: Hamburger noodle soup , muffins   Saturday: Breakfast: Waffles Lunch: leftovers Dinner: cajun baked chicken , brown rice pilaf , peas & carrots  

  Our week has been busy, as usual.   Tobin has taken a few extra days off in the last few weeks in order to take care of other projects (like working to get a rental of ours ready to be rented).     The children and I are working to keep the home fires burning and keep everything in our life moving forward!     I was just given 2 new goat kids..   so I will need to get a pic of them soon.   A friend of mine used my buck for service last fall and did not want the kids; she just wants milk and does not want to mess with the bottle feeding.   So we are bottle feeding these little cuties.   They are half Nubian and half Saanen.   One doe, one buck and I plan on keeping the doe.   However right now I just did a count of goats and I am at 16!   So something has to be done as that is more than I want to feed through the winter.   I think I have a couple of them that are destined for the freezer, and a couple does I could se...

Homestead Kitchen:   Well it is Friday again and it is Homestead Kitchen Day here at Homestead Blogger so I thought I would share a couple of recipes that I tried this week.   *************************************************************** The first recipe was for homemade corndogs.    I know that hotdogs are not a good food for you, but occasionally I sucuumb to my children’s pressure and buy a few.   I was reading a friend, Casondra’s, blog and she had a link to a recipe for corndogs (thanks Casondra for the great recipe links!).   I took that basic recipe and made healthier choices on the ingredients.   My kids loved them!!   Here is the recipe (this is the healthy version):   Corn Dogs   1 c corn meal, freshly ground 1 ¾ c whole wheat pastry flour 2 t. baking powder 2 t. salt 1 egg (farm fresh, if possible J ) 1/3 cup cane juice crystals milk, enough to make batter a pancake like consistency   hot dogs, amount desired ...

  My daughters have been doing a lot of sewing lately.   I mentioned in another blog posting about the skirt pattern they were using ( the Cute Skirt Pattern from Favorite Things Pattern Design.   I bought my pattern from: Newark Dressmakers Supply ).   This skirt has 3 different options and Hannah on the left has made it with one of those options, and Leanne’s was the basic pattern, and Emily’s skirt was one she made from a pair of blue jeans.   I have info on my website on turning a pair of jeans into a skirt: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/denimskirts.htm  

  Since Friday is the Homestead Kitchen Day here on the Homestead Blogger, I thought I would share a little from my kitchen.   Here are some recipes and pictures from yesterday’s baking and cooking at my house.      I baked 6 loaves of whole wheat bread.   I or one of my “Homemakers in Training” (read teenage daughters) bakes all of our bread.   We don’t have a regular day to bake bread, we just do it when we run out.. which with 6 hungry kids at home can be quite often!   Here is the recipe and a picture of yesterday’s efforts.   If you want to make the 6 loaf recipe, here is the link to that: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/wwbreadbosch.htm   If you only need a couple loaves, here is the same recipe scaled down a bit: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/deliciouswwbread.htm         Also one of our favorite desserts is brownies and vanilla ice cream.   Emily made brownies for our dessert last night. ...

I have lots to do today but thought I would first update my blog.   I took some pics this morning in the barn.   I had new kids born late on Saturday night.   And like I mentioned earlier they look just like the 2 that were born a few weeks ago!   Here are their pics:       They are cuties!   Here are pics of all my goats (except for my bucks and 2 kids) eating hay this morning..     Here is also the picture of the Lamancha (in the blue collar) and her buckling kid that I got about a month ago.   She is a very mellow goat, I really like her.   We named her Milkshake.. which was not our original name but the daughter of the friend who delivered her to me called her that and it stuck!!       Finally here is Hannah milking Josie.   Right now she is the only goat we are milking, we will start milking Pepper in a couple of weeks.       More updates about my day can be found on my other blog: h...