Homemaking on the Homestead

A little over 2 weeks ago I got my tomato seeds started. I have a little box my hubby made me that has grow lights for my seed starts. They are growing so big!! I was hoping to get them transplanted yesterday.. but instead spent the day in town with hubby.. :) Best choice.. :) Today they are on my to do list! Do any of you start your own plants or buy them? I'd like to do more, but my grow space is limited so I just stick to tomatoes. I mentioned to hubby expanding so I could do more.. he thought that was a possibility.. so maybe next year I'll do some more.

Hope your menu planning is going well this week! I was busy this weekend and almost forgot to sit down and write out a menu.. :) But I need to feed my family so I put it together before bedtime... I need the organization in my life.. Ha, ha! Monday Marinated chicken, rice, salad Tuesday Pulled pork (crockpot) sandwiches, coleslaw Wednesday Cheeseburger soup, crackers, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Chicken noodle soup, dinner rolls, salad Saturday Lasagna, french bread, salad Sunday Leftovers  

One of the things that has always been an important part of character training for my children over the years has been kindness. I've stressed the value of being kind. At first it was simply to each other. I never allowed mean teasing or making fun of each other. I stressed how this would make them feel and do they like that feeling? There are simple ways in life to be kind. One that I practice is to smile. Sounds small, but I smile at people when I'm out and about. I've seen grumpy faces light up with just a simple smile. I've seen smiles come back to me that made my so-so day brighter. I have one daughter who is a cashier at a grocery store. It's amazing the amount of grumpy, grouchy, and sometimes just unkind people she comes across in a day at work. I know we don't think much about how we interact with the person checking out our groceries or items at a department store. But, they deal with a lot of people and it would be easy to get cal...

I love salads. I make them almost daily. I think fresh veggies are great source of vitamins and nutrition so I try more nights than not to serve a fresh salad with our meals. But they are often the same ol', same ol'... My daughter Sierra came home the other day with some fresh strawberries and the idea for a super delish spring salad. I had some mixed spring greens that I had bought (in a bag).. and we added chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes and then sliced strawberries over the top... oh my!! What a treat. She made a quick red wine vinaigrette. I don't have and exact recipe but basically she used a 2 to 1 ration of olive oil and red wine vinegar (twice as much olive oil as red wine vinegar). She added chopped up fresh garlic and a little salt and pepper. The tangy taste of the salad dressing mixed with the sweet taste of the strawberries was divine!! If you're looking for a little change of pace with your salad.. try this! It was so go...

Some weeks the menu ideas just flow from my brain, and other weeks it's an effort! This was one of those “other weeks”. I felt very uninspired. But I took an inventory of my pantry and freezers and pulled together the weeks meals. Only thing I should have to buy this week is fresh veggies and fruit. Monday Hamburger cheese enchiladas, tortilla chips & salsa, salad Tuesday Hamburgers w/all the trimmings Wednesday Tuna noodle casserole, biscuits, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Easy shepherds pie, salad Saturday Baked chicken, mac & cheese, green beans

Last year, for several reasons, I decided not to plant a garden. It was a good choice for me. But one thing is for sure, I missed it!! So this year I'm ready for a garden again. Actually my daughter Hannah and I are planting the garden together. She does not have enough sunshine in her back yard for a garden so we thought, why don't we do it together? So that is the plan. I ordered my seeds a few weeks ago. Nothing like an order of seeds to get a person excited at the possibilities!!  Over the weekend I got my tomato seeds planted. They are now warm and germinating. Should be an exciting garden season!!   

Finally this week (tonight actually) the chicken pot pie will get made. I've had it on my menu for a couple weeks. Seems like there are either more leftovers than planned or my kids have other dinner plans. Such is the way it goes with planning. :) Hope your menu planning is going well this week! Monday Chicken pot pie, salad Tuesday Clam chowder, dinner rolls, salad Wednesday Creamy burrito casserole, chips & salsa, salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Cabbage & hamburger skillet, broccoli Saturday Chili, cornbread, salad Sunday Leftovers    

I'm continuing to walk as often as possible. The weather here has been a mixture of sun and nice days and strings of rainy days. I'm not great at being motivated to walk in the rain. Ok.. the truth.. I'm terrible at it!! I dislike the rain and somehow going out for a 2 or 3 mile walk in the rain has zero appeal to me. When the weather can be rainy for several days in a row I really start to feel my lack of exercise time. My solution? Leslie Sansone Walk at Home dvd's. I love them. My preference is being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, but when that is not possible I use her dvd's. She's inspiring and the dvd's make walking in your living room fun. I have several of her videos and below I have links to a couple of my favorite ones. (these are affiliate links and I thank you for any support to my little blog)     So all my walking had me thinking about how much in a day do I actually walk? Not just my official walk times. The...

I've posted about this over the years, so it's not anything new or revolutionary.. but it is economical and I'm still doing it. Several years back (like 15+ years) I was looking at several pieces of material that I wanted to use up. I decided making cloth napkins from it would be worth a try (the fabric was 100% cotton). So I pulled out my serger and figured out measurements and whipped up a few dozen. Over the years they have worn out, gotten lost (who knows where, I suspect with all the lost socks from years past!! Ha, ha!) and a few have found their way into the pockets of my kids and taken home as many have said to me.. oh yeah, I found a couple at my house! LOL.. So every now and again I need to make more. I have saved so much money with my humble little cloth napkins. Washing them and reusing them saves on garbage as well. Not too long ago I decided it was time to make more. I had fabric needing to be used and made another 3 dozen.     ...

When I wrote out my menu last week I totally forgot that Sunday was Easter! Probably because we did not have any big plans. My hubby had to work, my son, Jacob, was having dinner with his girlfriends family so that just left my youngest son at home. I did make a ham, potato salad and green salad. So this week is all about using up the ham leftovers! Hope you all had a joyous Easter! Monday Leftovers: ham, potato salad, green salad Tuesday Navy bean soup w/ham, dinner rolls, green salad Wednesday Tater tot casserole (made with ham instead of hamburger), salad Thursday Leftovers Friday Creamy burrito casserole, chips & salsa, salad Saturday Chicken pot pie, salad Sunday Leftovers    

I've made this soup a few times now. It is easy and so good. It's a lot like potato soup but with a twist... sweet potatoes or yams. I've done it with both. And it is good no matter what. In the pic below I did add few red pepper pieces when I cooked the onion.  I had some to use up in the fridge.  The soup is versatile.  Sweet Potato Bacon Soup 4#'s sweet potatoes, peeled, and cubed 1# bacon 1 onion, chopped 1 cup whole cream (approx.. could have been a bit more as I just dumped it in) 1t granulated garlic Salt and pepper to taste Put the sweet potatoes in a soup pot, cover with water, let cook until they are soft. While that is cooking.. cut up the bacon and onion and fry them until the bacon is crisp. When the sweet potatoes are done cooking, pour off the almost all of the water (save it!). Add the bacon and onions, the cream and garlic. Add enough of the reserved cooking water to make it a nice soup consistency. It does thicken up by...