I like to keep the table decorated with something fresh and different. Here are some tiny glasses with cranberries, and some fresh herbs form the herb garden; simple and festive! Tonight Olivia served us up Jacques Pépin's Dijon Crusted Split Chicken Breast from his Fast Food My Way cook
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We recently bought some free range chickens from a local family. I love being able to feed my family food that is organic as much as possible. After eating the roasted chicken I saved the bones to make a broth. Today it was cold and rainy here, having the broth on most of the day simmering made it
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A couple pie crust hints: Use a deep dish pie plate (as seen on the left). Roll your dough out thin. Use a little sugar in your dough recipe. Before placing in the oven, use your finger tips to rub some milk on the top, just enough to moisten it, then sprinkle a little sugar. This will hel
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Last Saturday night we and about 400 other folks went to the Bailey's Annual Barn Dance. The Bailey's farm is just a few miles from where the April 27th Tornado ripped through Shoal Creek Valley destroying many homes and taking the life of one of our friends, and a dozen other people. Although
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Marinades usually consist of an acidic ingredient like vinegar, lemon juice, wine, oil and spices. The acidic ingredient softens the meat causing the meat to act like a sponge and absorb the flavors of the sauce. Marinating is not only for meat, but also fish and vegetables. Marinading Tips M
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So yeah... Olivia is doing a juice fast for 60 days (boy that's a long time!) and I am doing juice and raw foods. I've lost 45 pound over the past year but I'm stuck at this point, so I know I need to do something a little more radical. We go to the gym 4-5 times a week, but I guess that's not enoug
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Got fuzzy corn? hahahaa If you have a lot of corn to shuck, put the right music on to get you in the mood...lol... Corn and bluegrass, they just go together! Right? If all else fails, train your dog to husk corn:
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Just let Emma do it... Emma volunteered to cut them up ... she had her swim goggles with her! "Is that enough yet Mom?" It was actually all her commentary that made it fun, not her silly goggles. :) Adult children that are well skilled, FUN and dedicated are a HUGE blessing! Our f
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This morning I flavored the butter with sorghum. Flavoring your butter with something sweet like sorghum, honey or brown sugar makes muffins, toast or biscuits taste super good! I like sorghum the best (some of our neighbors made this last year) because it is a natural sweetener and the taste
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Tonight we had pork chops (which I got at a marked down price...yesssssssss!) I topped the chops with applesauce we canned. I also bought sweet potatoes at the low price of 18 cents a pound! So I bought a bunch of them!!! Cheap sweet potatoes, slowly cooking in the oven on a cold winter's day
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Let sit in the refrigerator 1 day for every 4 pounds.
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Download the Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Cookbook for FREE!
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Personally I do not like using foil, I use a large roasting pan that has a lid. A baking bag is great too. Why not let one of your older children handle making the turkey this year? Start your own herb garden next spring and you can use fresh herbs from your own garden for next year's tu
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Dana (one of my favorite readers/Facebook Friends), commented on last week's post about cast iron pans: A local store carries the cast iron cookware--all of it--but I have no idea how you'd use a dutch oven with FEET unless you did use it outdoors....and then I'd have no idea how to do that! On o
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If your cast iron pan is new it needs to be seasoned. If it has been neglected and is rusty, it also needs to be seasoned. Seasoning it means that you will cover it with a thin coat of shortening, vegetable oil or coconut oil. The oil will fill the pores of the pan forming a nonstick surface. If
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Not only is venison healthy because deer are not pumped full of hormones but the meat is very lean. Jeff comes from a family of deer hunters so he grew up on venison and loves it! Although he himself does not hunt (no time!) he always has 2-3 deer given to him every winter by friends who do hunt.
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We have a big campfire circle that my amazing husband built about 20 years ago. The circle has hosted many, many cookouts and birthday parties! I love our fall cookouts when we have to pull our chairs up close to get warm. Although hot dogs are really bad for you, is there anything better than
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Hop on over to my favorite food blog, The Pioneer Woman and read the tutorial! EXCELLENT pictures!
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Use eggs that are about 1 and 1/2 to 2 weeks old. Fill pot with enough water to cover eggs and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Bring eggs to a full boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water. Let cool completely before peeling. Rinse with cold water. Pa
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... Emma has been working through the Pioneer Woman cookbook and doing very well! This cookbook really is a great starting place for beginners; it has wonderful pictures and instructions! Emma has recently started to help a military wife with her 4 little ones while the husband is
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Planning is the key to everything running smoothly. Not only does it save time, but it saves money. I've tried many different ways to plan our menus and shopping. This is what I have come up with for the time being. I used a piece of cardstock; printed 20 of our most common meals along with
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The girls and I watched the movie Julie and Julia this weekend. It was a pretty good movie with the exception of some bad language and a couple suggestive scenes; I would not recommend it for young children unless you have Clear Play or some kind of filter like that. Overall we liked the movie, it w
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I love having breakfast for supper! These are so good they don't even need any syrup on them! Use any pancake recipe. Mine is a whole wheat recipe that I have no exact measurements for, I just throw it in until it looks right. So just choose a recipe. &nbs
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These are plastic Maxwell House coffee containers. When I buy large bags of dry beans these are good to store them in. I just label them with a piece of paper and tape. They stack easily. A good place to store long shelf-life foods is in the far corners under the kitchen counters.
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Amy from Joyfully Home ask: This is awesome. I didn’t know that you could use a vitamix to grind wheat…would you be willing to elaborate on how to do it? The pictures are all wonderful…helps w/ a visual learner. Many blessings, Amy B. In orde
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Yesterday's post brought some good questions from our readers. Jean asks: On your blog you said you cut up and cook your potatoes for potato salad ahead of time. I could save a lot of time by doing this, but I am not sure how to store them. How do you store yours? I am just now l
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When cooking, SUPER SIZE IT! Another way to save time and money in the kitchen is to grill a bunch of meat at one time. This way you are not heating up the kitchen and making a pile of dirty pans. Once it is grilled and cooled I package it in freezer bags and freeze, leavin
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I think part of the problem as to why so many women dread cooking is the time it takes each day. There is the planning, the shopping, the prep work, the actual cooking and then the daunting task of cleaning up, only to do it again in a few hours. There are a several ways to sa
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Hop on over to my homemaking blog for my tutorial on how to make Sausage Stuffing! YUM!!! .
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In a sauce pan, heat up some sauce, at least 4 cups worth. These will be cooked in the sauce. I save some aside when I make a big batch for spaghetti. Add bread crumbs or cracker crumbs. I used whole wheat bread crumbs...slipping in extra nutrition. Add a coupl
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Our family's choice:
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
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