Category Archives: Food

It’s like a cow but smaller! Backyard Meat Rabbits!

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Ok maybe not QUITE like a cow.. let me explain …
I am a firm believer that it doesn’t matter where you are in life, you CAN do SOMETHING to take some responsibility for where your food comes from, how it is raised, and how it gets to your plate. I remember living in Hawaii and seeing the locals with chickens, quail, and numerous planter pots growing food on their apartment lanais (that’s a balcony for all the Haoles out there). I thought if they can do all that in such a tiny space, these suburbanites don’t have any excuses! I see Pinterest post after Pinterest post about small scale homesteading with titles like “farming on 1/4 acre” etc.
If you live in a neighborhood or have a small lot of land, you may have considered chickens. That’s many peoples’ first step. They are excellent composters. They take care of your kitchen scraps and weeds and bugs from the garden. And of course they can provide meat and delicious and healthy eggs every day as well as lots of entertainment. Many people live in neighborhoods with an HOA that doesn’t allow chickens and… well.. keep fighting the good fight and do what you can to change those rules in your HOA! You can petition your neighbors ect. BUT in the mean time, rabbits and quail often slip under the HOA radar. They are small enough and their space requirements aren’t very much. They are also quiet enough that, even with a strict HOA, you could be raising your own livestock to feed your family. Yes, even in some of the smallest back yards!
I’ve had chickens for several years now and have even raised meat birds right here in my small back yard but the idea of rabbits kept creeping up in my mind as another source of meat for our family. I was nervous about them because I’d never raised rabbits before. They are so cute. Would I be able to dispatch one and eat it? Would my family be on board? And a thousand other questions. I of course did what we all do when we want to know something. I went to YouTube and to social media groups and read blogs and slowly got less nervous about the idea.

So starts the rabbit adventure! I was blown away by the math I was reading regarding how much meat you could put up with just a few rabbits!

The numbers will vary depending on breed and other factors but .. just some rough possible numbers. One rabbit can provide about 3-4lbs of meat (some a little more some a little less). They grow out in as little as 12 weeks. That’s not too bad. It’s basically dressing out to be about the same weight as a whole chicken.

Ok so how many rabbits do I need to make this a worth while project and provide a decent enough amount of meat to make this worth it!?

Alright so let’s run some numbers. A rabbits gestation period is 28-32 days or so depending on breed and depending on the rabbit. She will give birth to, let’s say 8 kits. (sometimes more sometimes less). If you have 2 does and 1 buck and breed them at the same time, let’s say you get 16 kits born at a time. Twelve weeks later, you will have 16 rabbits with about 48-64lbs of meat!

Rabbits can technically breed again the same day she gives birth however, I have given birth a few times myself and… I just can not get on board with that type of breeding program. Some folks breed them again when the kits are 2 weeks, some wait until 4 weeks. I suppose there are those who wait longer as well but that is personal preference. Let’s say you wait 2 weeks. The kits will wean at 5-6 weeks and that gives mom just a little bit of time to herself to get ready for the next litter. Then you start over again.
Depending on where you live and the way your rabbity is set up, you may be taking a break from breeding in the coldest months of the year and/or the hottest months of the year but for fun, just consider what you could come up with without taking a break!

In 12 months, with your 2 does and 1 buck, you could produce a BUNCH of meat! Here comes the punchline, “It’s like a cow, but smaller!” In your own small backyard, in one year, you could technically produce the same amount of meat as a whole COW! Now of course you will need just a few more rabbits than a breeding trio to make that happen and likely won’t be breeding your does every month of the year, but by adding a couple more breeders to your herd, breeding less months of the year, you could still achieve those numbers in a suburban backyard. That’s absolutely amazing to me!

With calculations like this I just HAD to build my rabbitry and begin a new adventure. I’m still learning a lot every day. Buckle up folks, it may be a “hoppy” ride.

Fig Jalapeno Jam

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My neighbor has a fig bush. This bush doesn’t look that big but let me tell you about how many figs this thing pumps out!! Whew! I can barely keep up. There is an elderly couple who lives there and they like to enjoy a few figs from it but tell me to pick all I can. They say they hate to just see the birds get to them all. One day while I was filling up buckets of them, the man came out and asked me what I do with all the figs. I told him I had grand plans of making all kinds of things with them but that I mostly just stand at the kitchen counter eating them by the handful until I feel sick. He laughed and said I sounded just like his wife!
Even after sharing with friends I still managed to freeze a lot of them in vacuum sealed bags and am using them here and there. In an attempt to figure out what in the world to do with ALL THESE JALAPENOS, I decided that fig jalapeño jam sounded like the perfect treat.
This stuff is delicious! If you resist just eating it will a spoon out of the jar, you can put them on a cracker with cream cheese, add it to a turkey sandwich, make a marinade out of it or pour it over pork chops or chicken. If you mixed some in some olive oil, you’d have a zippy salad dressing with a nice kick! I was thinking I might even add a table spoon of it to some cranberry sauce and see how that goes! Let me know if you come up with other creative ways to use it! 

If you are new to canning, please consult a trusted source for safe canning procedures. 

This is a water bath canning recipe.

Fig Jalapeno Pepper Jam

Delicious on cracker with cream cheese, make into a marinade, spoon over pork chops, add to salad dressings.
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Equipment

  • water bath canner
  • food processor

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 2 cups figs
  • 2 cups bell peppers red, green, yellow, or orange will do
  • 1 cup jalapeños diced seeded if you want them less spicy
  • 1 pkg Sure-Jell
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 7 cups sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor add the figs, bell peppers, and jalapeño peppers and pulse until desired consistency. I like to leave mine kind of chunky.
  • Pour the mixture to a large pot and add the vinegar, Sure-Jell and butter.
  • Bring to a boil for a couple of minutes
  • Add the sugar, stir, and bring back to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
  • Remove from heat and ladle into sterilized jars.
  • Wipe rim of jar, add lids and rings, and place in water bath canner.
  • Process 10 minutes for 1/2 pints and 15 min for pints.
  • Remove from canner and allow to cool.
  • Once the lids are sealed, occasionally gently shake jars to make sure your the pieces are distributed throughout the jar instead of all staying at the top.
    If you miss this step that isn't a problem. Just mix the jar with a spoon when you open it.
Keyword condiment, fig, jalapeno, jam, marinade, salad dressing

Happy Homesteading!

Mayo from scratch

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As someone who ALWAYS makes EVERYTHING from scratch….. HAHA just kidding! I do NOT do this. I do, however, think it’s important to know how cook from scratch. I believe having skills is imperative. I believe knowing what goes into your food and how to do it yourself is essential. You probably can’t do everything from scratch. You may not even want to but it is always a good idea to learn. How DO you make mayonnaise from scratch? Learn these skills now so when and if you need them, you already know, even if it isn’t something you exclusively do all the time. Do I buy store bought mayo sometimes? Yes. Can I whip up some delicious home made mayo on the fly when I need to? Absolutely. Does it taste better than store bought? Is this a real question? OF COURSE!

It is convenient to be able to just go to the store and buy things. It’s easy to grab a cheap bottle of ketchup and mustard for a weekend cookout. No one thinks twice about grabbing prepackaged items (especially condiments) from the shelf at the store. Until you run out. Until the store runs out. Until someone is sick and you can’t get to the store. OR until you realize that those prepackaged convenience foods are full of artificial flavors, colors, unhealthy oils and preservatives! Until you realize that you can do it yourself with better ingredients and it will taste better too!

When we got our chickens, there quickly became a problem in our house. What in the world do I do with all these eggs? We do like eggs for breakfast. I do use them for baking but the fact is, other than the winter time and when they are molting, you typically end up with a lot of eggs. Everything seems fine then all of a sudden you realize your counter is overflowing with them. So off to figure out some creative ways to use these fresh delicious eggs. Yes, of course it’s a good idea to preserve some for the times the chickens aren’t laying but there’s still plenty to get creative with during the year. Mayonnaise was something I had put off learning because I had heard that traditionally it can be a little tricky. Then someone assured me that with a couple simple tricks, it was super easy and I will kick myself for not doing it sooner. They were right.

Mayonnaise is just simply an emulsion. The traditional method of making mayonnaise involves slowly pouring while whisking and saying prayers that you don’t mess it up.. which you might. Then you start over. No. Nope. I’m not even going to bother. I am already frustrated hearing this and I’m not going to do it. *Crosses arms, looks the other way* Ok. I will take a moment to say here that even this is a skill I’d like to master. I just haven’t yet.

Both eggs and mustard contain substances that act as an emulsifier. Oil and water typically don’t mix. Emulsifiers are attracted to fat on one end and oil on the other end. This allows for everything to dance happily in one creamy delicious condiment for your sandwich. But it isn’t simply as easy as just stirring it all together though. Your technique matters. The traditional method of pouring slowly while whisking can very well turn into a curdled, greasy, gross mess.

Blenders work ok but it is difficult to make a small batch of anything in a blender. The solution is one of my favorite modern day appliances! The Emersion Blender! I love this thing. I use it for all sorts of things!

Ok so you will notice that mayonnaise uses raw egg.. *GASP* If this makes you nervous, you can purchase pasteurized eggs. If you want to dance in danger like me, grab those fresh eggs from the counter and get crackin.’

Put immersion blender at the bottom of the jar for about 20 seconds and then move it up and down until all of the oil is incorporated and the mayo is smooth and creamy.

Mayonnaise from scratch

Simple immersion blender recipe
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Equipment

  • immersion blender
  • wide mouth mason jar

Ingredients
  

  • 1 egg (pasturized if you're concerned about raw eggs)
  • 1 cup mild tasting oil (vegetable oil, avocado oil, light olive oil)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)

Instructions
 

  • Add all the ingredients to a wide mouth mason jar
  • Put the immersion blender all the way to the bottom of the jar and blend on high
  • After about 20 seconds of blending when the bottom of the mixture is white, lift up on the immersion blender to incorporate the rest of the oil.
  • You may have to go up and down a few times with the immersion blender until it is all blended
  • The whole process will take just a minute or two.
  • Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if desired

Notes

Store your mayonnaise in a mason jar in the fridge for up to about 2 weeks. 
Keyword condiment, Mayo, mayonnaise

Happy Homesteading!

Pumpkin Fry Bread

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This is that time of year when everyone is all about all things pumpkin. And I’m here for it all (except pumpkin spice latte.. not my thing). Pumpkins are basically a superfood. They are packed with antioxidants, Beta Carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Iron, and Folate. This means they can be a super booster for your immune system. I don’t need to get into why THAT’S a good idea this time of year. They also have a lot of fiber and are great for your skin. Pumpkin seeds are a whole other powerhouse of nutrition and can also be used as a dewormer for your livestock. 

Most varieties of pumpkins store reasonably well (a few months) if you have cool dry place to store them. Lucky for you if you have a root cellar. I’ve had some varieties of pumpkins store for a year or longer just in my pantry so fall is a good time to stock up on them.  Jarrahdale pumpkins may be the best storage pumpkins you can get but there are others that also keep well. 

Head to your local farm market and see if they have any marked down after Halloween. Often they are trying to clear things out so they can get set up for Christmas. This is also a good place to ask for “gone bad pumpkins” to bring to your livestock. The farm market likely just throws them away. Your pigs and chickens do not care about a little mushy spot on a pumpkin! 

Pumpkins do keep fairly well but to make it easier on yourself, you may want to go ahead and roast and puree your pumpkin ahead of time. You can store these in the freezer to use throughout the year. Pureed pumpkin is said to be too dense to safely can but you can pressure can them in chunks according to the sciencey people who give us our “safe canning” guidelines. 

The internet has thousands of recipes for pumpkins. Soups, deserts, drinks, biscuits, waffles and pancakes. Pumpkin this, pumpkin that. One of the recipes that my family loves any time of year is Pumpkin Fry bread. I always make it when there’s a crowd for breakfast because it makes a lot. They freeze well so they are nice to pull out on a busy morning. 

Pumpkin Fry Bread

This is a delicious easy way to make a big breakfast using up some of those fall pumpkins.
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin or 1 15oz can of pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 4 cups flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • A stand mixer is the easiest way to make it but don’t let that stop you. Use your elbow grease and you can still make this yummy treat!
  • Blend together the pumpkin, water, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. 
  • Slowly mix in the flour and baking powder.
  • Mix until dough forms and mix for 2 minutes until the dough is slightly sticky.
  • Heat oil in pan around 350 degrees F about an inch deep. 
  • Here's the messy part. Flour your hands and pull of pieces of dough and flatten with your hands into a patty the size of your palm about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
  • Drop each patty into the oil and fry until brown and flip to brown the other side. 
  • Let your fluffy brown fry bread drain onto a paper towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 
  • Eat! Enjoy!

Homemade Crackers

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If you have children, your pantry likely has in it some snack food items you wouldn’t be proud of. Mine sure does. Fortunately they do love fruit and veggies but they very much enjoy munching on some crunchy carbs. Goldfish, pretzels, chips, popcorn, and crackers are regularly requested. The convenience of packaged junky snack food easily creeps into our lives over and over. When the prepackaged food is so easy to just buy, open, and eat, it’s easy to eat a little too much and a little too often. There is something special about participating in the preparation of your food. The love and work that go into something is important. The appreciation for the effort involved in food preparation helps you to take a moment and be present instead of just gobbling up the convenience food around you. Making things from scratch isn’t just frugal. Going through the process of start to finish, from-scratch cooking, connects you to your food, allows you to savor every bite, and can help to be mindful of portion control. 

 When you or your children really just want crunchy carbs, try making some homemade goodies with real ingredients and no chemical preservatives!
Homemade crackers are easy to make and fun to do with the children. Who doesn’t love using a cookie cutter?! A few simple ingredients you already have and you can whip some up. 

The spices you can use for this recipe are endless. You can make them sweeter and add cinnamon, you can go savory with garlic and onion. Really whatever makes you happy here! Get creative!

Homemade Crackers

Easy to make with ingredients you already have.
Fun for kids.
Great with soup, jam or a stand-alone snack
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Course Snack

Equipment

  • mixing bowl
  • rolling pin
  • cookie cutter
  • toothpick
  • pastry brush
  • lined cookie sheet

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2-3 tsp spices of your choosing
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cracked pepper
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 cup water
  • course salt
  • more oil for brushing

Instructions
 

  • Mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt/pepper, and spices of your choosing in your mixing bowl.
  • Make a well in the center of your flour and add oil and water.
  • Incorportate the oil and water into the flour mixture until it forms a ball of dough.
    If the dough is too wet, add small amounts of flour until you are able to make a dough ball.
    You want the dough to still be somewhat tacky.
  • Onto a floured surface, roll out your dough evenly and very thin, no more than 1/4 inch thick.
  • Use cookie cutter (or pizza cutter or knife) to cut out your crackers.
  • Transfer crackers to a lined cookie sheet.
  • Use a toothpick to "prick" each cracker 3-5 times each.
  • Using pastry brush, brush oil onto each cracker.
  • Sprinkle the crackers with course salt.
  • Bake in oven at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes.
  • Allow crackers to cool and store on counter in sealed container.
    These crackers do not have preservatives in them and the humidity in your home could affect how long they can be kept. Store in fridge if you need to store them for more than a few days.
Keyword crackers

Planting a Gift to the Future

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  • My mother on the tractor and my great grandfather
  • My grandmother and great grandfather
  • My grandmother with her pigs

My great grandfather was a hunter, fisherman, and a farmer and lived in a time where people raised and grew their own food. At least some of it and you were better off if you could grow and raise most of it. They had chickens and a garden of course. There were pigs too. As time went on, those things faded away. They got older and could no longer farm and keep up with chickens and pigs etc. Modern ways snuck into their lives bit by bit.  Now when you walk that property there’s no evidence of many of those things. I couldn’t tell you where the chicken coop was kept or where their garden was. I don’t know where they kept the pigs. (When I was a young child, there were pigs managed my him and my grandfather in a separate location. That I do remember)  What IS left though is the gift he planted for the future. 

When my great grandfather buried 3 pecans in the dirt and nurtured 3 small pecan trees into full grown producing trees, I wonder if he was imagining his great great grandchildren running around in the fall and picking them up off the ground. Could he fathom how special it would be one day when his great great granddaughter would help pick all the pecans out of the shells so her 9 year old brother could make a pecan pie from scratch for Thanksgiving with his family by himself?  When he planted all the blueberry bushes, the apple trees, and the figs, did he picture his great granddaughter in her kitchen furiously canning, and freezing and dehydrating those very fruits he planted? He planted other fruit trees as well but some didn’t make it through various hurricanes etc.

My son with with homemade pecan pie and my daughter with her pumpkin pie from our pumpkins we grew.

This is the time of year, we go up and see how many pecans we can pick up. It normally takes several trips to gather them.  My grandfathers “pecan picker upper” (that’s the technical name isn’t it?) was left in his garage and I just think using it is kind of special. His apple picker was in there too and I grabbed both so nothing would happen to them! 

As a kid I remember the extra freezer in my great grandmothers house was full of blueberries and pecans. My grandfather would sit on the back porch and crack pecans all winter. He would sometimes do it in the kitchen when it was too cold and my grandmother would get frustrated by the mess he’d leave. I’m certain that he would be proud of us and our evolving little homestead. I’m sure that it would touch his heart to know that generations later, his hard work is appreciated.

The one thing I have really dropped the ball on at this property is planting fruit trees, nut trees, and bushes. I just haven’t committed to the spaces to put them. I need to just pull the trigger and do it. “They say” the best time to plant a fruit tree is 5 years ago. As we come up on 4 years here I think, “Man!! How big our trees would already be if I had just done it then!” And then I think about my kids growing up and picking fruit from our trees and bushes that I plant and possibly their children and so on and I know I need to just get them in the ground! You don’t always know who the gift is for down the line but go ahead and plant that tree. It will bring joy on another day.. to you, to your family, and to the unknown. It is said that a planting a garden is faith that tomorrow will come. Planting a tree is putting faith in the long term future.


So for now, this year, we will enjoy what we have and enjoy what was given to us. Appreciating what has been provided by the past. The gift to the future that my great grandfather gave us. These pecans are here because my great grandfather was providing food security to the future. 

What’s stopping you from planting that tree?

Happy Homesteading!

My great grandfather and me.

Canning Applesauce

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Did you know the only apple native to North America is the crab apple and they are actually members of the Rose family?

Apples go with fall as much as pumpkins and mums! We are still in full swing canning mode, furiously puttin’ up for winter and apples are in the queue!
I’ve yet to start growing apples here. I’m still looking for just the right variety for this area. Apple trees benefit from the cold and it simply doesn’t get that cold here but I will find it and I WILL grow some! Any one have any suggestions for a nice multipurpose apple that will grow well in northeastern North Carolina?

Applesauce, apple butter, dehydrated apples, apple cider vinegar, apple pie filling, apple jelly, apple scrap jelly, making homemade natural pectin, fermented apples, apple juice/cider, hard cider and freezing are a few ways people go about puttin’ up apples for the year.

Applesauce is an important “MUST HAVE” in our house. We often have it with dinner. We will put it in a pot on the stove to warm up while we eat and have it for dessert! The kids claim that I make the best applesauce in the world. It’s certainly the best they have ever had. It is definitely an up grade from store bought!

I remember a story my great grandmother would tell about how much she hated peeling and coring all of my great grandfathers apples from his trees to preserve. I was determined to NOT hate it. The first thing I looked up when I went to make applesauce the first time was whether or not I could make it without peeling. Well, good news folks! You can. I wonder what my great grandmother would say to how easy my applesauce processing is compared to what she used to do. 

I won’t get into all the specifics of safe canning procedures in this post. I will at another time write a detailed post concerning how to can safely and will later create a link from this post. Until then, if you are a beginner and unfamiliar with canning, I encourage you to reach out to your local extension office for instruction or other trusted source. 

So you have your pile of apples. Now what!?

Supplies Needed

Canning pot and canning accessories 

Steamer

Lids and rings

Canning jars (pint or quart)

Lemon juice (optional)

Cinnamon 

Ginger

Sugar (Only if you want. It’s not necessary to add sugar so feel free not to)

Apples (I used Gala apples)
(You will need about 21 pounds of apples for 7 quarts of applesauce, 13.5 pounds for 9 pints.)

Instructions 

Before you get busy cutting up these apples, you have to get them all washed up! 

Now remember, I said NO PEELING! 

Just core your apples and chop them in pretty big chunks. 

Fill up your steamer basket with apples and steam them for approx. 20 min. 

If it is easily pierced with a fork, you’re good to go.

Now you want to take the apples and put them in a good blender (oh how I love my Vitamix! We’ve had ours for over 15 years and use it almost every day for one thing or another)

Blend in some cinnamon and some ginger to taste (don’t overdo the ginger) Be careful when blending hot apple chunks.

Add a little lemon juice (lemon juice isn’t necessary when canning apples but I enjoy it in there)

Sugar, if you want but really apples are sweet enough!

After its blended well, pour into a big pot.
If you have a smaller steamer, you may have to do a few batches steamed, blend in batches,  and add them all together to a big pot as you go until you have the amount of applesauce desired to fill your jars.

At this point you will want to bring your applesauce to a boil in your big pot. 

Turn it down some and simmer it for 20 min.
Don’t skip this step. When you blend your apples, there will be a lot of air in the applesauce. If you don’t let that simmer out, you will end up with siphoning in the canning process (ask me how I know). As it is, applesauce has a reputation for siphoning so anything I can do to minimize that is worth it to me.

After simmering for 20 min, you can get to the canning process.

Water-bath Canning (As mentioned before, in this post I will not get into the specifics of safe canning procedures. Please refer to your local extension office or trusted source for guidance.) 

Ladle your applesauce into your sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 in. headspace.

Tap the jar on a potholder or towel a few good times to get air out of the applesauce. 

Wipe your rims and finger tighten your lid/ring.

Fill your canning pot with jars and process for 15 min for pints and 20 min for quarts. 

Carefully remove your jars and allow them to completely cool. 

Check for a good seal once cooled. 

I always store my home canned goods without the rings but you’re going to hear a ton of different answers depending on who you ask.  That is a topic for another post. 

Happy Homesteading!