Homemaking on the Homestead

In mid January we celebrated my son Jacob's 21st birthday! My 6th baby is growing up fast!! He is a great kid. Works a full time job faithfully and is incredibly responsible. I feel very blessed. His girlfriend, Julie (the sweetest girl in the world!! :), baked all the goodies. She made an eggnog cake with rum frosting, vodka soaked gummy bears and Kahlua balls. She went to a lot of effort to make the evening fun. I served all of Jacob's favorite foods... pizza, sushi, egg rolls.. and added some fruit in there.. LOL.. :) He had a few of his friends over as well. These boys have been friends with him since they were just little boys... I have many, many memories of all the boys hanging at my house. In fact one of his friends said to me.. This has always been the “fun” house to be at! Very sweet memories. Here are a few pics from our evening... Jacob and Julie This is a pic of Jacob (on the right) with his buddies...  and Isaac (back towards the pho...

A trip to town is on my to-do list today. Need to get a few groceries in the house and run some errands. The rest of the day will be busy at home. My barn really needs a bit of pick up and cleaning.. but that may be put off until tomorrow!! Always things that need to be done, which is why it's nice to have a menu all planned out... how's your menu planning coming along this week? Monday Chicken & broccoli casserole, rice, salad Tuesday Crockpot beef & peppers, french bread, salad Wednesday Cabbage & hamburger skillet, broccoli Thursday Leftovers Friday Chicken soup, biscuits, salad Saturday Burrito Casserole, tortilla chips, salad Sunday Leftovers  

I love garlic and add it to everything I can.. soups, stir-fries, veggies, casseroles, chopped & sprinkled over a salad, etc. I don't love to spend a lot of my cooking/kitchen time peeling it. So I purchase my garlic already peeled. In a BIG bag from Costco.... It's a 3# bag. That is a lot of garlic! I have frozen it, but it seems to be soft and loses some of the flavor when defrosted. I thought of roasting it to see if it might last longer. So far, it is doing great. I did this a little over a week ago and so far my garlic is still flavorful and is very easy to use. I roasted it and stored it in canning jars and covered it in olive oil. When I want to use it, I take a fork or spoon and take out what I need. Here is how I did it... I put about 4 cups of peeled garlic in a bowl. I drizzled and coated the garlic with olive oil. I don't have measurements, just drizzled and stirred until the garlic was nicely coated. Then I sprinkled salt over it all (...

  All my kids in 2002... I remember getting frustrated in the morning.. I just needed a little coffee before the kids all stared talking to me... just a little.. but no, as soon as they were up they were talking to me.. Sometimes I just needed a few moments of peace and quiet.. they went to bed, the house was quiet, finally.. but I was exhausted.. and went to bed.. no time to enjoy that peace and quiet. I just wanted a few moments to myself.. go to the bathroom.. they knock on the door.. and start talking to me.. I tell them to work on their school .. as soon as I walk out of the room... to put some laundry through.. they suddenly ALL need me.. my life and time was always in demand.. and I just wanted a few moments to myself.. Fast forward .. I now wake up, make my coffee, enjoy peace and quiet, kids gone to work, one still sleeping, I use the bathroom in peace and life is quiet and smooth. And you know what??? I miss those years. They were busy.. animals to...

I've been meaning to write a blog post for a bit now on the quilts I made my granddaughters for Christmas. I wanted so much to post about them while I was making them.. but I know my daughter reads my blog and I wanted them to be a surprise. These quilts were so fun to make!! If you are not familiar with jelly roll quilts I'll share. You begin making this quilt by buying a jelly roll. This is 40 strips of fabric that are 2 ½ inches wide and about 44 inches long. The fabric in each jelly roll typically comes from one line of fabric. This is a huge plus because it means that all the colors in the quilt will coordinate. Here is a pic of the jelly roll I bought for my granddaughters quilts (I bought 2 jelly rolls.. one for each quilt)... I wanted a bright fun girlie print. This is a link to the fabric I chose: https://www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/detail/20547/riley-blake/samantha-walker/girl-crazy-rolie-polie I also bought extra fabric so I could add a border...

Monday Tortilla Soup w/pork, salad Tuesday Chicken broccoli casserole, rice, salad Wednesday Tacos w/trimmings Thursday Leftovers Friday Chili, cornbread, salad Saturday Fried cabbage & meatballs, rice, salad Sunday Cheeseburger soup, biscuits, salad  

Blogs have become very interesting in the last 10 years. I started blogging almost 10 years ago. Back then blogs were all about the person and their life and sharing. Today blogs have mostly become 'professional'. Very “cookie cutter” like, not always as personal. Something (in my humble opinion) has been lost along the way.. but maybe that is just me .. reminiscing about how it use to be.. ~smile~ My goal in blogging has never been to be a professional blogger. That said, I occasionally do put affiliate links on my site. Besides this blog I have a very large website ( The Family Homestead )  that I've had for over 10 years. It costs me money to keep that going and to store my photos and such. Plus I spend a lot of my time working on my blog. Which is fine by me, I enjoy it.. and have enjoyed it for the last (almost) 10 years. When I post an affiliate link and then make a little money from it, I appreciate that. It helps me to pay for my website, storag...

I had a house full of people one evening.. kids, a few friends.. etc... and was wanting something quick and easy to give them for a snack. Sliders were on my mind. I had some dinner rolls that I had bought from Costco to use. I had lunch meat and swiss cheese. To make this easy for a crowd here is what I did... I cut the rolls in half and laid the bottom half in a 9x13 pan (I lined it with parchment paper to make clean up easier).. I topped each piece with a little honey mustard... Then laid ham lunch meat slices and swiss cheese on top of the rolls...then topped with the top half of the rolls.. I put it in the oven and baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes .. long enough to warm them up and melt the cheese.. Then used a knife to cut and separate the sliders.. served them..  They were a HUGE hit.. and ea...

I love cabbage rolls, but they are time consuming to make. I wanted something similar that was a bit simpler. So I made this recipe up the other night. It turned out really good and the family enjoyed it. Cabbage Roll Casserole 1 medium head cabbage, chopped 2lbs hamburger 1 medium onion, chopped 4 or 5 cloves garlic, chopped 1T Italian seasonings 2 14oz cans diced tomatoes salt, pepper to taste 1 cup grated cheese (of your choice, I used cheddar but mozzarella would be great as well) Put chopped cabbage in a stock pot with a small amount of water. Heat to boiling, turn heat down, cover and simmer until the cabbage is soft. Drain. While the cabbage is simmering cook hamburger, onions and garlic in a large frying pan until hamburger is not longer pink and onions are soft. Add diced tomatoes, Italian seasonings along with salt and pepper (taste to adjust salt to your liking). After the cabbage has drained combine it with the hamburger mixture. Pour into a 9...

  It's Monday once again!!  Time for the weekly menu.  Today is grocery shopping day for me as well.  Hope your menu planning is going great!  Monday Cabbage roll casserole, rice, salad Tuesday Meatballs & peppers, buttered noodles, roasted veggies Wednesday Thai pork riblets, rice, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw Saturday Leftovers Sunday HM pizza, salad  

This was a super simple meal (seems to be my favorite type of meals at the moment.. ~smile~ ) and tasted oh so good. The family ate it up!! It was a great winter nights meal. It was a cut up the meat and veggies, put all the ingredients in a crockpot and let it cook all day. The best type of meals... I served it with cornbread and a salad. Crockpot Creamy Mexican Chicken over Rice 3#'s boneless, skinless chicken (breast or thighs), cut into bite size pieces 1 medium onion, chopped 1 large pepper (red, green, yellow.. your choice), chopped 2 cups sliced celery 1 can rotel tomatoes 8oz cream cheese 2T chili powder salt and pepper to taste Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally while cooking to distribute the cream cheese. Serve over rice, top with a bit of cheese and sour cream (add salsa it you want too) and enjoy!!  

If you need a pretty easy meal, this may be the one. I was going to be gone for the day and wanted to make sure I had dinner pretty much ready when I got home. I did not have a lot of time before I left to prepare. Meatball subs seemed like the perfect answer. I put 2#'s of meatballs in my crockpot. These can be homemade meatballs or store bought. I had a big bag of meatballs that I had purchased from Costco in my freezer. So used some of those. I poured a 24oz jar of spaghetti sauce over them, set the crockpot on low and headed out the door. When I got home, I stirred them up, and they were ready to go (they had been on low in the crockpot for about 6 hours) ... I used hoagie rolls and put the meatballs and a little sauce in each sandwich and sprinkled some cheese on the top. I served them with coleslaw that I had picked up from the deli while I was in town and potato chips. My guys gave this meal a big thumbs up!

After a great Christmas holiday... I came down with a cold. I'm still dealing with the congestion and sinus yuckiness... Not the best way to start a new year! But such is life. I'm still moving forward and making progress. Currently I'm looking at a very different life for a few months. My daughters Leanne and Sierra are house sitting in the city for a friend who will be gone for an extended amount of time. Over the weekend, it was quiet, it was different. I've never had a problem with the thoughts of being an empty nest. This is probably the closest I've been. My son Jacob lives at home, but works full time. For most of the week its going to be just me and Isaac (and hubby of course, but he also is working full time). It looks and feels different. I happen to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, I adore them. I have no problem with them living at home as they work to get their own lives started. But at the same time, I'm enjoy...

Our household has been dealing with a nasty cold this last week, but I think we are nearing the end! Appetites should be back to normal. :) How's your menu planning coming along for the week? Monday Meatball sub sandwiches, chips, coleslaw Tuesday Tacos w/all the trimmings, tortilla chips & salsa Wednesday Chicken noodle soup, crackers, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Creamy salsa chicken over rice, salad Saturday Tuna patties, roasted potatoes, salad Sunday Leftovers