Homemaking on the Homestead

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic.. BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week I'm pleased to report that the fire which caused us so much concern is now contained. They were able to get a fire line around it. It is currently at 250 acres and have a large crew and helicopter working on it daily. The fire on the other side of the river continues to burn and threaten more homes. We are praying for rain. It may be the only thing that stops the fires. We have been getting back to normal here, or at least trying. It's dif...

Hope you all are doing ok this Monday morning. So many things happening all over our country, fires, hurricanes, flooding. My heart is heavy with it all especially as I've dealt with a bit of the disasters as well. It seemed to take me longer then usual to get my menu organized this week. My mind is on so many things, but I did put together my plans for the week. I did not get chili made that I had on my menu last week. I'm going to make that today. When I made the black bean & spaghetti squash meal last week I cooked extra black beans for the chili. I have about 4oz of cream cheese in the fridge that needs to be used. So my plan is black bean chicken chili . I'll cook the chicken in my IP and shred it, add the black beans that I have and the cream cheese and then salsa and chili powder and cumin. I don't have a recipe, I'll just wing it. :) I'll serve this with chips & salsa and slic...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic.. BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week I'm still in a bit of shock over the events of this last week. As I watched the natural disaster happening in Texas I never dreamed that we would be in the midst of one just a few short days later. On Sunday the little town across the river from us and a few miles east had a fire start. The town sits on the edge of the forest. The town was put on level 3 evacuation notice, which means it's time to leave.. NOW! A red ...

We're in for another few scorching hot days and my goal this week was to plan my menu to not heat up the kitchen anymore then necessary. Tonight we are going to have burgers on the grill with corn on the cob and maybe a potato salad . I'll see how the day goes and if I feel like making one. I don't heat up my kitchen when I make potato salad due to the fact that I cook the potatoes and eggs in my Instant Pot. The rest of the week is looking like this: Grilled Chicken I did this last week too. Very yummy. I marinaded chicken thighs (breasts would work as well) in Italian dressing all day. Took less then 15 minutes to grill them. I'll serve it with either leftover potato salad or french bread and big delish green salad filled with lots of fresh veggies. Chili I'll use my Instant Pot to make this. I don't mind eating hot foods on hot days as long as I can keep my kitchen coo...

 Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic.. BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week On Sunday I was in the house and started hearing planes flying over my house. It's not unusual to hear planes but these sounded like fairly good size planes and they were coming one right after the other. Then there would be a 15 to 20 minute break and they would start coming again. I went out on my deck to see them. They were water tankers. They were flying over my house, heading to the Columbia River to fill up with water and fly over a fire that was ...

Hard to believe it's the last week of August. The month seemed to just fly by. The temps are going back up this week into the high 90's, at least for a few days. So I think I'll do some easy meals. Tonight is lasagna . I have one in the freezer so it won't take long to cook up. I'll serve it with French bread, salad and watermelon. The rest of the week is looking like this: Brats on the Grill I'll bbq brats and serve them with coleslaw, macaroni salad and watermelon. Grilled Chicken I plan to marinate chicken thighs in Italian dressing overnight and cook them on the BBQ. I'll serve them with Ranch Beans (the link is to my recipe, and I'll be cutting the size down considerably and making them in my IP :), a big green salad, and fresh summer fruit (I'll figure out what fruit when I'm out grocery shopping). Sweet and Sour Pork Chops I'...

This week in " Friday in the Kitchen " I'll be sharing a yummy recipe that can be made in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot.  Instant Pot or Crockpot Cuban Sandwiches This recipe is very good. I've made it a few times. The original recipe is a crockpot recipe. If you don't have an Instant Pot you can follow the crockpot instructions to make it. You can find the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jeff-mauro/slow-cooked-cuban-sandwich-recipe-2109413   I made just a couple easy changes to turn it into a pressure cooker recipe. Basically converting recipes is not difficult. You need to make sure there is at least a cup and a half of liquid in the recipe. Pressure cookers need liquid to come up to pressure. Here is my IP (pressure cooker) version of the recipe: I took about 3lbs of pork roast and put it in the IP. I sprinkled all the spices on top... ...