Homemaking on the Homestead

Good morning! It's time for this weeks grocery haul for two. My desire in posting my weekly grocery haul is to give an idea of what we buy, eat and how much that costs for two people. When I went searching for this kind of info I had a hard time finding it so I thought it would make a nice addition to my blog.  Groceries are a big part of the budget and it also helps me to better focus on my spending as well. I found one of the most difficult thing about becoming an empty nest was trying to rethink how much food is required when you only need to cook for two people. It's a difficult transition to make and I found myself buying way more than my hubby and I could eat. Now that it's been almost a year of being an empty nest I'd like to think I'm getting a better handle on it all and sharing this with you helps. I hope you find it helpful too. My first stop this week was Costco.    I needed to restock my frozen chicken thighs ...

This year I set out to make some hot cocoa mix to give away as gifts for the holidays. I wanted to make something different then plain hot cocoa. I like plain hot cocoa, but thought it would be fun to try something new. I searched around the internet for ideas and found some ideas. I wrote down what I liked and skipped what I didn't want and continued to search. After a lot of scribbling notes and searching I came up with my own plan and created these recipes. I wanted a basic recipe that would allow me to make simple changes or additions to it and create different flavored mixes. And that is what I ended up making and will be sharing with you today. First thing to do is make the basic hot cocoa mix. I tried 2 different variations and liked them both. You can pick whichever one you'd like or try them both and see what you think. I got a few mixing bowls out and got busy. I found that the cocoa powder can sometimes be a bit lumpy ...

Good morning friends! How is your week going? How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was so nice. It was relaxing and fun. It was small in comparison to other years but we enjoyed it so much. I especially enjoyed not having to cook this year. My daughter Hannah really blessed me in this. She wanted me to enjoy the day and leave the cooking to her. Here are a few pics of our day. Other than Hannah and her family the only other child that was there was our youngest son, Isaac.  I was going to put my tree up over the weekend but my daughter asked if I could watch the kids so they could get some Christmas shopping done. Of course I said yes and hubby and I had a fun day with them. He likes to get them involved in whatever he's doing when they are here so they helped grandpa stack wood and the day was sunny and not to cold so they helped him wash his old VW Jetta so he could put it in the garage for the winter. They had a blast with that. I finally had ...

I hope you had a blessed and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Crazy how fast this holiday season is going by. I have a busy day ahead of me. I need to go and do some grocery shopping and pick up a few other things. In fact it seems like I have a busy week ahead of me, so I'm going to make this menu as stress free as possible and still enjoy homemade food. :) Monday: Tacos with all the trimmings. I'll be gone for a good part of the day today and this will be simple to make when I get home. Tuesday: BBQ pork, tater tots, and a salad. I'll make my pork in my Instant Pot like I would for pulled pork. We'll eat it on it's own, not in sandwiches. Wednesday: Split pea soup w/ sausage or ham, dinner rolls and salad. I make the split pea soup in my IP and you can find the recipe HERE . Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Tortellini alfredo, french bread, roasted butternut squash, salad. I'll make the tortellin...

Good morning! I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving yesterday. It was a blessing to me in so many ways. This weeks haul was not too big. I did end up purchasing more of the hamburger that was on sale for $1.98 a pound. I tried it and it was very good. Last time I had tried the pre packaged pounds it was not good quality. That was at a different store and a different brand and perhaps that is why it wasn't as good. In any case, the first stop was Winco.. I needed some whipping cream for the fruit salad I was bringing to our Thanksgiving dinner as well as other basic dairy, 5#'s hamburger, I restocked my pantry with beans, cream of mushroom soup, olives, evaporated milk, and canned fruit. The canned fruit was also for the salad. I remembered to buy my teriyaki sauce and picked a few chicken bouillon cubes. I occasionally use them, but sparingly due to my hubby's MSG sensitivities.  I also picked up some more ingredients f...

Good morning! I was up early this morning and the house was feeling very chilly. Hubby got the fire going and I made the coffee. Things have warmed up nicely and I'm currently enjoying my 2 nd cup of coffee. It's starting to get light out and it looks like an overcast day. I like that :). I've been working on so many different Christmas projects and having a cloudy day makes it all seem so cozy and festive. Over the weekend my youngest son came over and together we finished up the fort kits and he had some fun checking them out and building a couple forts. He's 20, but said to me.. I would have LOVED this as a kid! :D .. I was kind of thinking he was enjoying it as a 20 year old! I'm sure he'll have a great time helping his nieces and nephews when they get the gift on Christmas Eve.  a sneak peak picture.. don't want to give too much away to any family reading this..  ;)    I also began doing some crocheting for the ...

Years ago granola was a staple in our home.  I made gallons and gallons of it to keep 8 hungry tummies full for breakfast. It was much better, in my opinion, than commercial breakfast cereals.  Now that my kids are grown and gone it has been years since I made a batch of granola. This year I wanted to give it away as gifts. I pulled out my recipe and got busy! The ingredients for granola are very simple. You can make changes based on your own preferences.  The basic ingredients you will need are:  Oats Flour Powdered milk Coconut flakes Cinnamon Salt Oil Honey Vanilla To begin get a very large bowl and add the oats, flour, powdered milk, cinnamon and salt.  Stir it all up to combine everything. In a small saucepan combine the oil, vanilla and the honey.  I have always used olive oil for my recipe and never found the taste to be overwhelming.  You can use whatever type of oil you prefer.  Heat this up long enough for the ...