Homemaking on the Homestead

    I mentioned that I had made this for dinner one night a few days ago on a blot post and had a request to share the recipe.   Well like a lot of my recipe.. I don’t have a real recipe until I write it down!   LOL..   Here is how I made it..   I took several potatoes and peeled them and cut them up into bite size pieces. I put them in a pot and covered them with just enough water (it just came up to the level of the potatoes).   I added some salt and brought to a boil and then reduced the heat and let it simmer.   While the potatoes were simmering I cut up about ½ a pound of bacon and chopped up one onion.   I fried these up until the bacon was crispy and the onion nicely cooked.   By this time the potatoes were done cooking.   I drain out most of the water and added the bacon and onions.   I also added a couple cups of frozen organic corn.   I then added half n half till it looked nice and creamy. ...

  We buy a whole beef once a year from a local farmer.   This last Tuesday we went and picked up this years cow.   I still had 3 pieces of meat from last years cow.   I wanted to use it up before starting in on the new cow.   I had 2 t-bone steaks, 2 cube steaks and 1 small pot roast.      Well Wednesday was my birthday and we grilled steaks.. we used the up the 2 t-bones and 2 more packages of steak from the new cow to feed all of us.   It was so yummy..       Well yesterday I looked at my small pot roast and wondered what to do with it.   I had a few cups of cooked brown rice in the fridge to use up as well.   So I browned up the pot roast in a little olive oil and added an onion and then a little water and let this simmer for about 3 hours.   When it was done I cut up about half of the roast.   I mixed this up with about 4 cups of the brown rice I had plus 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (Amy...

. I am happy to say that both my soaked bagel recipe and my soaked oat dinner roll recipe turned out great!! So I will post the recipes. If you don’t want the soaked version you can find the original recipes on my website:  The bagel recipe: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/deliciousbagels.htm    and the dinner rolls: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/wwoatdinnerrolls.htm         Soaked Whole Wheat Bagels   Day 1 1 ½ cups warm water 2 T whey 4 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour   Using a bread mixer combine water, whey and flour until it forms a ball. Put in a bowl, cover and let sit on the counter for 12 to 24 hours.   Day 2 ½ cup warm water 1 T yeast 2 T honey 2 T molasses 1 t coconut oil 2 t salt ½ t baking soda 1 to 2 cups unbleached white flour 1 T sucanat   Combine warm water, yeast and 1 tablespoon honey in a small bowl and let sit until yeast foams. Put this mixture in bre...

  This last week was a whirlwind of busyness..   but so much got done that it makes it worth it.   The week consisted of a couple trips to the big city, one trip to Salem Oregon for testing with Emily , making soap, organizing and cleaning my house, baking bread, making sauerkraut and salsa, 35 cups of beef broth made, bagged up and in the freezer, Azure Standard pick up, an appt for one of my kids, and the regular stuff still there like school work, house work, feeding my family, laundry..   no wonder I never found time to blog! LOL..   I am so happy that spring is officially here!   The days are warming up a little.. mostly now it is just wet and windy which seems to be typical March weather around these parts.   I think I am ready for some vacation somewhere sunny and hot!!      I would be thinking about gardens more if the ground weren’t a soupy muddy mess currently..   soon the time will come to get it rototilled and read...

    Sunday: Sally Fallon’s Red Me at Chile (we love this recipe!) Homemade Salsa Salad   Monday: Leftovers from Sunday Tortilla chips and homemade salsa Salad and homemade ranch dressing   Tuesday (my “going to be gone all day” day): Crockpot chicken Coconut rice (I will put the chicken in the crockpot and the rice in the rice cooker before I leave) Homemade Sauerkraut (already made) Salad (Sierra will make this and the dressing while I am gone) ~ So I should come home to dinner all done!    Wednesday: Navy bean soup made with leftover ham bone Whole grain crackers Salad & hm sauerkraut   Thursday: Chicken noodle soup made with my chicken stock Tortilla chips and homemade salsa Salad   Friday: Lasagna Salad French bread (one of the bread recipes I hope to mess around with this week)   *************************************   Question Answered..   I received a question on my last blog post about sauerkraut and h...

  I had such a fun morning yesterday. I taught a group of Girl Scouts how to make soap! Yesterday morning Emily (my helper) and I packed up the soap making equipment and headed to my neighbors house. I had never taught a class like that before. But I laid out my supplies, talked about what was needed to make soap, answered lots of questions and together we made soap! Before I left one mom asked me if I would be willing to do it again?? LOL.. I told her it was the first time I had taught a soap making class and that I might be interested in doing it again.. so we will see if teaching soap making is in my future..    Today the weather here in the PNW is wet and wet and wet some more! But after the winter we have had I will have to say that is better than snow! We did have a beautiful spring like day yesterday with highs in the 50’s .. temps we have not seen in some time.    Yesterday when I got hom...

  My son Isaac is my 8th child and my baby..   yesterday he turned 11 years old!    He is a sweet, soft hearted and caring boy.   He opens car doors and doors at stores for me and his sisters, gladly is always there to help out, is a lover of all things camo (his pants, shirts, shorts, pajamas, shoes, bedding, even the light plate switch in his room is camo LOL...), always has a smile on his face and is a real source of joy to our household.   I can’t believe is 11 years old now!      The years since his birth have really flown by!   He is my miracle baby..   he had a prolapsed cord and I had to have a transfer (he was scheduled to be a home birth) and an emergency c-section to save his life.   He was oxygen deprived for about 5 to 6 minutes.   Thanks to the fast work of the hospital staff and the mercies of the Lord his life and mine were saved.   I had a ruptured uterus and it took 6 hours of life saving surge...

  Soaked Oatmeal Muffins Crystal Miller Day 1 1 ¼ cups kefir or cultured buttermilk 1 ½ cups freshly ground whole wheat pastry flour 1 cup quick oats   Combine kefir, flour and oats.   Cover and let sit for 12 to 24 hours.    Day 2 ¼ cup honey 1 egg 2 T butter, melted 1t baking soda 1t baking powder ½ t salt   In a small measuring cup or bowl combine honey, egg and melted butter.   Mix this with the flour, oat/kefir mixture until well combined.   Add baking soda, baking powder and salt.   Divide batter between 12 greased muffin cups.   Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 minutes.      Why soak your grains? All grains and beans have a substance called “phytic acid” that binds up many of the minerals and we can not absorb those minerals like we should.   Soaking neutralizes the phytic acid and allows us to be able to use those minerals.   Also soaking increases enzymes we need to proper...

    I recently had an email from a very nice lady sharing with me that she longed for country life and a homesteading type of lifestyle but was in the city.   She wanted to know what kind of book resources there were for learning about homesteading.   My answer was first a book resource for her and then some ideas on what she could do right in the city.      Her question inspired me with a few thoughts I wanted to share. I sometimes get the sense that some believe that homesteading looks a certain way..   nice little spot in the country, big garden growing, chickens all around, a few little goats in the pasture, etc...   But the one thing I learned from my years of living in the city is that homesteading has a different meaning today than it did back in the days where people homesteaded a piece of land.   Today we live in a very different world.   Homesteading to me is the means which I can help out my family’s budget and be a...

  Life has been busy as usual here on my homestead. Last weekend Leanne and Sierra participated in the 30 hour famine from World Vision with a local church.   Leanne does this twice a year.. once with a church near by and once with our own church.   They both said it was an awesome experience.      On Monday Emily , Isaac and I headed out early in the morning for a little road trip.   She was taking her first two Dante tests and the closest college that administered the Dante was in Salem Oregon .   The drive was over 2 hours but it was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the trip.   We found the college without a problem.   While she took her first test Isaac and I found the local Costco and I did my grocery shopping.    We went back to the college and brought Emily some lunch.   While she took her second test Isaac and I worked on school work.   She passed both tests with flying colors and had 6 more credits earn...