Homestead Moments

-

In the midst of daily busyness I’ve found something that I think is valuable as a homemaker. Every now and again give yourself a little reward. Something that makes you smile when you see it. I’m not talking about anything huge. In fact small and simple sometimes brings me the most joy.

I love mums. I was in the grocery store a few weeks ago and saw a pretty pot of mums for $2.99. I bought it and it now sits on my back porch. I enjoy seeing it as I walk in and out of the house.




Another one: these pretty candles. My daughter Sierra made them for our table using items we already had in the house. Very simple: wine glasses, coffee beans, tea lights. 




Find joy in the small things in life!

 

Comments

  1. Laura of Harvest Lane CottageOctober 31, 2013 at 10:27 AM

    A very good reminder!
    Thank you for being part of my on-line life.
    Your blog has blessed me immeasurably over the years.
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalNovember 1, 2013 at 10:53 AM

      Thank you Laura!! Thank you for being such a faithful reader! I really love your blog! It's looking great!! :) Crystal :)

      Delete
  2. Mrs Domestic BlissNovember 3, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    I love the candles idea - how clever! I always buy a bunch of roses each week. It gives me enormous joy and I'm finding it's replacing the need I had to buy comfort food e.g. Chocolate to make me feel better.
    mrsdbliss.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 3, 2013 at 2:16 PM

    I have been reading your website for a few years now & just want to say a huge thank you. Mostly it's been for fun but our finances have changed a lot in the past year & it's been tight. I now find your recipes & help not only fun but extremely helpful at stretching our dollars. I have always know the simple things in life are what really matter but now it really has meaning for me. Thank you so much for all you share with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalNovember 3, 2013 at 6:16 PM

      Thank you so much for such a nice comment.. :) Crystal

      Delete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine...
Read more

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this ...
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my ...
Read more