Homemaking on the Homestead

Well today was one of those perfect afternoons to spend cooking up some yummy foods for my family. The weather outside was cool and rainy and the house was quiet. Here is how my afternoon in the kitchen went... First I decided on my menu: Potato Chicken Chowder Garlic Cheese Dinner Rolls Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing So I began by peeling my potatoes and chopping them into small pieces. I covered them with water and set them on the stove to boil. I added a little salt too.. While they were coming to a boil I cut the chicken and an onion and got that cooking in my cast iron frying pan with a little olive oil and some minced garlic… After the potatoes were simmering and the chicken was done cooking I made up a batch of ranch dressing. We make A LOT of this dressing. It is my family’s favorite dressing. In fact my daughter Sierra was babysitting one day and had a salad with some store bought ranch dressing and she came home and said.. mom! That was ju...

I really enjoyed blogging with Homestead Blogger. They recently moved their whole operation to Word Press. It looked promising at first, but after trying to make a few changes I realized it was not very easy to work with. So I made the choice to switch to a new blogger. I am very happy so far with this one! I hope it will continue to work well. I was able to import all my blog pages from my pervious blog over here, so I did not lose any of my posts! I hope now to be able to get back to the business of blogging.. which I enjoy more than the setting up and learning my way around new programs! LOL.. Updates from the Homestead… I got back from my vacation and felt nicely rested and refreshed and ready to tackle life again. I am encouraged because my favorite season is just around the corner.. Summer!! I love summer.. I love long hot days, swimming in my pond, working in my garden, getting tanned, making ice cream, easy freezer meals to make kitchen time at a minimum, and so on.. aww.. yes....

Hi Everyone!! Never fear.. my blog did not disappear! We were just moved to a new server.. Thankfully I did not lose my posts in the process.. had me worried for a bit! It will take a bit of time to figure out how this new blog works.. but so far it looks like it will be a great change. Be back very soon!! I have new recipes and updates to share with you all!! :) Crystal

  Crystal ’s Country Store is going to be on vacation!   Any orders placed by May 2nd will be shipped out May 3rd.   Any orders placed after May 3rd will be shipped out on May 17th.   This does not include eBooks ..   all ebooks are automatic downloads.   After purchasing an ebook you will receive an email with a link to download your ebook.   If you don’t see it right away, check your spam filter as they can occasionally get caught up in there.  

After my last blog post I got a comment from Michelle asking about zucchini…   How do you freeze zucchini? Do you grate it or keep it whole? Do you have any recipes on your website on using Zucchini?   I freeze my zucchini by grating it first and then putting it into zip type baggies, label, date and freeze.   I put two cups of grated zucchini in each bag because that is typically how much is called for in most recipes.   If a recipe calls for more (like 3 cups) I will often just do the two cups and have not had a problem with that.      You could also cube it up and freeze it and use it in soups.   It gets mushy and watery after freezing so you can’t eat it like you do when it is fresh.   But it works great in baked goods and soups.    Here are some recipes that can use frozen zucchini:   Zucchini Muffins: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/zucchinimuffins.htm     Zucchini Bread: http://www.thefamilyhomes...

  Sunday Dinner    I typically stick with soups and casseroles for most nights.   I save meals like pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches for the nights my hubby is home from work.   Today however I was in the mood for an old fashioned Sunday dinner.   I made oven roasted herbed chicken, red potatoes, salad and baked a zucchini cake for dessert.   I had the zucchini in my freezer from my garden last summer.   The meal was yummy.   My kids had all been gone for the day doing their own things and were so pleased to come home in the evening to this meal.   Plus having the house to myself (childless that is as hubby was home) I was basking in the peace and quiet as I worked in the kitchen!       Here is the recipe and picture for the chicken:   Oven Roasted Herbed Chicken   1 whole chicken 4 to 5 lbs 2 T olive oil 1t sea salt ½ t season salt 1t dried minced onion ½ t oregano ½ t basil ½ t tar...

He is risen!! May you all have a blessed day!!    ********************************* I wanted to leave you with a picture I took this evening..   I colored Easter eggs using natural type dyes and my daughter Sierra saw them and called them vintage eggs.. I was calling them antique eggs.. but they looked different and I like it!   I used blackberries for the purple eggs, tea for the green ones and carrots and onion skins for the yellow ones.. the brown ones are ala natural from the chicken!