Tag Archives: do it yourself

All Things Cranberry

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There are some pretty standard Thanksgiving side dishes that are just required to be on the table and cranberry sauce is one of them. Many people I talk to claim to not really like cranberry sauce for me to later find out they are referring to the jellied store bought canned sauce they grew up with sitting on a plate that was still in the shape of the can, ridges and all. Well yeah… that ISN’T very good! If you haven’t had home made cranberry sauce, then you really are missing out! The internet is overflowing with amazing cranberry sauce recipes and each and every one of them are super easy to make!

Fresh Cranberries are cheap this time of year and even freeze really well! I always stock up on them around now. I don’t live somewhere that I can grow them myself or I absolutely would! Grab some extra bags of fresh cranberries and have them handy for after the Thanksgiving rush of baking so you can pull that canner out again! Cranberries are naturally acidic and are very easy and safe to can! You can even try fermenting them! I have some in the pantry now fermenting in honey.

Canning cranberry sauce is a very easy project and you can have home made cranberry sauce ready for whenever the urge strikes you. Simply make your cranberry sauce and can it using the same processing time as mentioned for the juice. Most cranberry sauces consist of only acidic ingredients (other than the seasonings) so safety isn’t really a concern here. Just don’t add any nuts before canning if you like nuts in your cranberry sauce.

Ok so why do you want to can all this cranberry sauce if you only eat it on Thanksgiving and Christmas!? Well that’s easy! Eat it on more than just Thanksgiving and Christmas!

There are tons of ways to enjoy cranberry sauce other than the obligatory spoonful of cranberry sauce on your plate 2 days a year!

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Spoon a little over your cheesecake or pound cake.

Put some on a sandwich (of course I also mean those left over turkey sandwiches).

Try stirring some mayo or cream cheese into the cranberry sauce for an amazing sandwich spread.

Use as a filling for small single serving pies.

Add some to your yogurt and granola for breakfast.

Make your own pop tarts with that left over pie crust.

Add a spoonful to your oatmeal.

Whip up some cranberry butter for toast or muffins.

Use as an ice cream topping.

Make a glaze for meats or create your own BBQ sauce recipe.

Add some to the top of your cream cheese covered bagel.

Create your own cranberry vinaigrette salad dressing by adding a spoon full of cranberry sauce to some oil and vinegar.

Use cranberry sauce in muffins, cakes, and bread recipes.

Cranberry Bars and cheesecake bars .

Mix in with apples or other fruit to make a cobbler, crisp, or pie.

Cranberry cookies.

Add to some roasted root vegetables.

Add to smoothies.

Serve with brie and crackers.

Make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to stock up on cranberries and hit up those after holiday sales in the grocery stores!

Happy Homesteading!

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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Jump to Recipe

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
Print Recipe

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!

Fall Leaves are Free Garden Gifts

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Every fall I see neighborhood streets lined with clear trash bags filled with garden GOLD (raked up leaves). They are just sitting there waiting to be picked up and hauled to a landfill. Organic material like leaves (and all those things you ought to be composting) do not break down in the landfill like they would in nature. Instead it decomposes without oxygen, which releases icky methane into the atmosphere.. So if you aren’t composting, START!
Anyway, that was a small tangent. Leaves. That’s what we are talking about. They are free gifts for your garden. The “browns” of the composting world. Don’t send them off to the landfill! Don’t leaf blow them back into the woods. USE THEM!
Have you seen the price of compost these days? (Or the price of ANYTHING?!) Make your own leaf compost with all those leaves in your yard and in your neighbors yard. Drive around and snag all those bags on the curb! 

When I first started researching compost I thought, “well this is too complicated for me! I would need a chemistry degree to understand all this!” The truth is, the basics aren’t all that hard to understand but there are definitely people out there who have WAY more knowledge than I do about the magic of compost. That being said, you got this. Nature does it all the time and Nature doesn’t have a chemistry degree either. If you search the internet for the perfect ratio of “browns” (carbon) and “greens” (nitrogen) for your compost and read more than one source, you will likely get confused pretty quickly. No one can agree. Really you just take those suggestions as a launching point and just jump in. No one is out there weighing and measuring their compost ingredients anyway. We basically eyeball it and keep on truckin. You learn what to look for and how to trouble shoot. What to do if it smells, what to do if it’s too dry, etc.


There are a few ways to make your own leaf compost and I will cover some of them. You just do what works for you.

I’ve seen people simply bag up chopped up leaves (maybe hit them with the mower first) in black trash bags and poke a bunch of holes in the bag to allow moisture to get in. Then store them behind a shed over the winter. The sun heats up the bag and the moisture gets to working to make you some yummy leaf compost for your garden. I personally don’t want a ton of plastic waste so I don’t use this method. 

You can also make a what I like to call a “leaf corral.” You can use some leftover fencing to make an enclosure for the leaves. Now you have a choice to make. You can simply let the leaves sit and they will break down over time. It may be a long time before you have compost to harvest. This may be ok with you. If you are in a hurry and you want to speed things up, you can add nitrogen and turn your compost. This is that “greens and browns” concept of composting. Greens can be veggie scraps, grass clipping etc. Now I’ll tell ya, I keep my composting with veggie scraps to an enclosed compost bin so I don’t attract rodents or other animals. One way you can add “greens” to your leaf compost without attracting rodents is to use coffee grinds. I know it’s not actually green but it counts as a “green” in the composting world. You can ask local coffee shops for their grinds. Turning your compost will speed things up. Compost will become hot. That’s how you know it’s working! 

Like I said before, I have an enclosed compost bin that I use for my veggie scraps. Throughout the year I always have tons of scraps to add but leaves only fall once a year. I like to keep my leaves stored in a “leaf corral” so that they are available when I need them to add to my enclosed compost bin. I also keep this “leaf corral” available so I can use them as mulch here and there. I don’t mulch the whole garden with it but I do use it around my onions and garlic over the winter. Some people use them in Lasagna Gardening which is just a no till method where you create layers on top of the ground. Leaves would be one of these layers. These layers will break down, composting in place, to create lovely soil for you to grow in.

So instead of being annoyed at the fall chore of raking leaves, be happy that these little gifts are just falling from the sky!

Get Composting and …

Happy Homesteading! 

Cowboy Candy

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Jalapeños are still in abundance this fall in the garden! One of the ways we preserve the harvest is making Cowboy Candy. Cowboy Candy is something my family, friends, and extended family just simply can’t get enough of. I make well over 2 dozen jars of it every year and still run out. That’s a LOT of jalapeños by the way! They cook down quite a bit so a ton of jalapeños doesn’t actually make that many jars. Cowboy Candy on EVERYTHING! Put it on baked potatoes, chili, sandwiches, or just eat it out of the jar!

I am often asked for the recipe and I like to act like it’s some kind of secret. It’s not though. It’s just a basic recipe that has never let me down. It does make extra brine. Go ahead and put that in another jar and get that canned up too! You can make a marinade out of it or a glaze. I’ve seen people suggest adding some to Bloody Marys. You could give a kick to a homemade salad dressing. Get creative!

I do recommend wearing gloves because when you cut up a bunch of jalapeños, it can be tough to wash the juices off. You do NOT want to be the one who rubs your eye later and have regrets (speaking from personal experience here)!

I personally prefer to cut the slices by hand. My husband loves to help. Okay, I’m joking but he helps anyway.


*If you are not experienced with canning, I recommend you reach out to your local extension or other trusted source for instruction on safe canning procedures.

Cowboy Candy

Water Bath canning recipe. Delicious on a cracker with some cream cheese, in a sandwich or sub, on a baked potato or chili.
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Equipment

  • water bath canner
  • canning accessories (jar lifter, etc)
  • pint or half pint jars
  • new canning lids
  • canning rings
  • knife or food processor with slicer
  • gloves

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 lb jalapeños
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp celery seed

Instructions
 

  • Wear gloves to protect your hands
  • Remove the stems of the jalapeños
  • Slice in 1/4 inch slices with knife of food processor slicer
  • Put all ingredients except jalapeños into a big pot
  • Bring to a boil
  • Add jalapeños, bring to a boil and cook down for 5 minutes
  • Prepare your canning jars
  • Fill each jar and add juice leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Make sure you get out any air bubbles, pack peppers in tightly.
  • wipe rim with damp cloth, apply lid and ring, screw on fingers tight and into the water bath canner it goes.
  • Process 1/2 pints for 10 minutes or pints for 15 minutes.
  • Take jars out of canner and let cool completely on a towel.
  • Check seals, clean jar and store (I always store my canned items without ring)

Happy Homesteading!

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
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
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

Gift Ideas From the Homestead

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Every year I tell myself this year will be the year that I do not procrastinate. This year I will start my Christmas gift preps early. I will make a plan and get things done long before Thanksgiving. Well.. it IS before Thanksgiving but I wouldn’t say its “long before” Thanksgiving. Maybe I’m writing this to inspire myself to get on the ball and perhaps to help you to get on the ball if you haven’t made your plans yet.
This is the time of year that the big box stores have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decor out all at once. It is a big fat reminder that the last three months of the year just zip by in a blur. From costume parties, Thanksgiving dinners, and all the holiday parties that get crammed in December, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed trying to plan Christmas gifts especially if you’re trying to make homemade goodies for the people you love.
I find the best thing to do is to make a list of all the people you give gifts to and fill in with ideas for what kinds of home made goods you could make for them. Pinterest boards with gift ideas are a great way to help you sort through all your ideas. 

Homesteaders tend to come with an array of different skills from sewing and crocheting/knitting to wood working, soap making, home brewing and so much more.  Use the skills you already have! This might be a fun time to step outside the box and learn a new skill! Look around and see what kinds of things you can do with what you’ve got. If you have bees, obviously honey and beeswax products are a good place to start. Getting the kids involved is the best especially if the gift is for the grandparents!


Below is a list, in no particular order to help inspire some gift ideas. A launching point, if you will. Quite a few of these require some advanced planning times. You may have to add some of these to next years list. Thats ok! Get a head start on next year’s planning! There are so many more things that can be added to this list. Please feel free to comment on this post to help expand the list!

-DIY flower press (or gifts made with flowers you pressed) This is a fun gift for a child or adult so they can make their own pressed flowers. Out of the pressed flowers you can make all sorts of things from jewelry to stationary, magnets, sun catchers etc. 

-Rag rug. This may be one of those “learn a new skill” kinds of things.

-Homemade basket (wooden, rope, fabric, crocheted) 

-Woodworking and wood burning. The options here are endless. (Porch sign, wooden tray, noodle board, bird house or feeder)

-Grape vine wreath. If you have grape vines or access to wild vines, making wreaths are a fun way to use them.

-Gourd bird house or other gourd crafts. Put part of the garden to use in growing your own gifts! 

-Herbal tea blends

-Soaps 

-Crocheted or knitted items 

-Candles 

-Canned goodies (pickled items, jams etc)

-Baked goods 

-Baking mixes. Put together a baking mix into a jar with a cute label with instructions. Everything is better when it comes in a mason jar.  

-Soup mixes. Use your home grown beans and dehydrated veggies to put together soup mixes.

-Home made vanilla extract. This takes a little time to be ready but is super easy to make. 

-Infused vodkas. This one also takes a while before they are ready but its fun and easy to put together. I like to make a bunch of small ones so there’s a variety.

-Bath bombs

-Dehydrated food. Get creative with your dehydrated goods for the year. Veggies, fruits, herbs, you name it.

-Wood carved items (such as bowls or spoons) This may be another “learn a new skill” gift. It’s always fun to learn a new skill.  

-Grow Job’s tears to make jewelry (from these are a plant that produces “beads”). 

https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/grains-and-cover-crops/job-s-tears

-Body butter

-Lip balms 

-Luffa items packaged for bath or cleaning. Growing luffa has been super popular in recent years. Find ways to make them into gifts.  

-Home made beer

-Home made wine or mead

-Pottery 

-Homemade room sprays with essential oils 

-Seeds form your garden

-Propagated plants 

–Meat rubs 

-Herbed salts 

-Herbed or flavored sugar



Every year I try to make a few home made gifts for the people on my list. Here are a few I’ve remembered to take pictures of! 

What kind of home made gifts are on your to do list this year ?

Happy Homesteading!