Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Showing posts with label Kids in the Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids in the Kitchen. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Tuesday Tidbits

Rest in peace Sparta.  You will forever be missed.  Sad day on the homestead. He broke a leg years ago, and last summer had trouble getting up and down the ramp, so we even had plans to build a longer one with more ease for him.  I also found him cuddled up under the heat lamp (which is over the water), and often found him there during cold, cold days.  I'm sure gonna miss him.

School ended up closing yesterday.  Roads were pretty slick.  Today they are delayed, but may cancel again.  We have freezing rain (again).






I spent most of the day in the kitchen.  I decided on a ham/swiss chard egg scramble for the next few days.  That left me with two eggs to spare.  I also baked the birthday cake, and cooked millet for another recipe.  Then dinner prep started.  I was tired by 1pm, after being up at 4:30am.





I taught Youngest Daughter how to decorate a cake, and she looked like she really enjoyed it.  She did her own design too.


We may be starting the garage clean up a bit early.  All vehicles now need repairs and we'll need the garage to do it.  Lovely.

Hubby's workplace promised bonuses this spring, but last week reneged on the promise.  Hubby is pretty upset, as we had plans to put it to use.  Pretty low of them to do this, considering he was out fixing things at -40 some degrees a week ago.

Next time I cook meatballs for dinner, we are going to try topping them with homemade condensed mushroom soup.  I was out of it yesterday, so it's on the to-do list now.

Shipping prices have gone up.  My cost to shift crafted items will also go up a bit.  Just FYI.


Tip:  I purchased these plastic shallow baskets 2 for $1.00.  I put them under the sinks to hold items, so next time I clean, it will be much easier taking it out and putting it back.


Monday, December 18, 2017

Sunday Work Day

Sunday was a work day for us.

First thing, I got up early and baked homemade fresh biscuits.  They look yellow because the lights were on an it was still dark outside.  It was foggy as well.  The weather is a teensy warmer, so hence the morning fog.

The recipe is on my blog:  Here


Coffee was brewed, and Hubby and I ate a "lumber jack" breakfast of home grown fried potatoes, gravy made with homemade organic sausage, and home raised eggs.  The kids slept in.  Then we got to work.  The girls were to do the dishes but later I found it they didn't.  It was Hubby who did them all.


We cut another load of wood from the barn beams and boards.  I donned my steel two boots and headed out to the rubble.  The nice part of cutting barn beams etc. is that it's just cut, haul and stack.  No splitting required.  Evidently, I removed enough nails to provide kindling for two more loads in the future. 

We brushed ourselves off, shook the gloves and what not.  Then I showered, and Hubby did the surprise for me in the kitchen.  I guess he went upstairs, and found one kiddo doing homework, so he just washed the dishes for me.

Then teamwork began again.  All of us started on some Christmas goodies.


We got a few cookies done, including our favorite cut-out recipe using organic butter and a butter frosting.  Speaking of butter, there is a shortage of organic butter in our area.  I went to two largest groceries that I could, and the largest store of all was completely sold out.  Then at the next store, only 3 pounds left.  So, cookies are limited this season, but we do have some stashed now for the up coming Christmas day.  I have no access to raw milk here, to make my own, and this shortage has brought up the topic of raising dairy goats again.

Needless to day, Hubby and Youngest, fell asleep at 7pm-ish.  I got about 11 hours of sleep and boy it felt good to get it.  

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Kids ~ Feeling Better ~ Determined to Put Up some Garden Bounty

I just had to pop in this morning, and let you know that our 15 year-old did a great job on dinner last night.  I failed at photographing the dinner, but she even insisted on some boiled green beans.  We ate dinner on the front porch.  First time since the onset of illness.

She has now learned how to boil noodles, prepare and boil potatoes, make stove top tuna and noodle etc.  I'm pretty proud that this blessing came out of this.

I can't wait to be sharing some beautiful and happy homesteading photos soon.

Today, the girls are checking my garden.  Even though my eye infection is not completely healed, I am able to assist in the kitchen.  I am told the tomatoes are in full force, so I told them to hold off a day or two (if they could).

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Happy New Year! ~ Random-ness and feeling chatty.....

I'm at that point in my life, when we stay home for the New Year celebration - with pets, kids and the coziness of pajamas.  The last thing I ate?  Apple slices and fruit dip.  Yum!

I myself, fell asleep at 8:30pm.  Normally that is not the case, but I'm still recovering, so I that's okay.  Hubby however, was still up, sort of scolding the TV.  The Buckeyes played, and well, they played terrible.  It was as if they never played football before. 

I woke up later to realize that the team never even scored one point.  I'm pretty sure he'll be in a sour mood this morning, but hopefully, we'll have a grand day today.

I was up early.  I got the wood stove going, coffee brewing, and accidentally woke up the dogs.  The cats were meowing for their very early breakfast, and I took care of that too.  Everyone is still in bed, but one kiddo has to get up to go to work today.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Moving Day ~ Grilling Out

It was bound to happen. 

Especially since the barn will be torn down (and hopefully soon).  We have a barn salvage company looking at it now.


It was moving day for Orion.  He's too close to the big barn, and he's eaten all his grass in that area.  See all those tall weeds in the back?  That is where we moved his shed.  He was so happy to have more to eat, I had a terrible time getting him to allow me to re-stake him.  I was laughing, because he was in heaven with all that goodness to eat.  He's not a little goat either.  He was acting like a kid in a candy store.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

An apple in my pocket ~ The iPod eating box ~ Floor Rug

School closed today, so watch out.  This post will be a doozy.  I've got a pot of coffee all to myself, and all the kids are still in bed.

I guess, although we are to warm up to the 38°F, they are predicting ice covered roads until noon today.
 
Aside from animal feed, which I may run out before the end of the week, I'm declaring this week a no-spend week.  Toilet paper is stocked up so we are good in that department.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Birthday Dinner ~ Sorghum Candy Making


Youngest asked for me (for her 13th birthday dinner) to make a few new recipes - Pumpkin and Sage Baked Macaroni, and Italian Oven Roasted Cauliflower. 


(Cauliflower dish)


(Pumpkin Macaroni Dish)

Both were super easy to make,

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

A bit of baking ~ Dog Pile

Our 18 year-old was not agreeing with my cookie "cut back" and is busy baking in the kitchen.  She made the dough yesterday, and is already baking them.  At least she is agreeing to a select few, as I suggested.



She insisted on a few of our favorites.  One is a recipe called "Angel Cookies" but we use it for our "cut out" recipe every year (butter frosting).  

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Mashed Rutabagas and Green Peas ~ Leftover Mashed Potatoes


In my recent organizing days, I located a recipe that uses leftover mashed potatoes.  Not very often do we have them leftover, but this recipe is a good way to use them to create another healthy dish.

Start by peeling and cutting a large rutabaga into 1/2 inch pieces.  Add them to a pan of water and a bit of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover until rutabagas are tender (30-40 minutes).  Drain.  Mash them.



Combine your

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

What my kids do to me ~ Sunset and other Tidbits


The other day my younger three girls were raving about muffins I made last year.   I had been discussing making pumpkin pancakes or waffles, so the topic of pumpkin was wafting through their busy brains.

"They were HUGE!"

"They were so good!"

"They were really moist and big!"

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Catching Up ~ More Repairs


This week is jam packed with work.  In the process I completely forgot I had library books here.  All is good though.  My fine is only $.60 (this time).

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Snowed In (again)

As you can see, the weather forecast was correct.  This is the "U" in our horseshoe drive.  The rest is drifted over too - some 3 feet high.

I was greeted with a 1 foot drift smack dab in front of one door too.  You can see where the dogs went out.  Jesse wasn't too happy about that.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Oven Overtime

( mugs that were a gift from my 19 year-old)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I knew I was in trouble, when I heard the coffee cup hit my nightstand at 6:00am, and the curtains where carelessly tossed open (despite it was pitch dark outside, ha ha!).

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Dehydrating Cucumbers

(partially dehydrated)
Considering I have enough pickles stocked up, I decided to dehydrate the last of the cucumbers.  My cucumber plants are already turning brown.  I have not dehydrated cucumbers before.

I tossed the cucumber slices in chili powder, salt and paprika, to dry for chips.  I will also grind some into powder, for soups, stews, sauces, and dips.

My super chili peppers are being dehydrated today.  They are the only pepper that produced this season, out of all of our 50-some pepper plants.  I have a few habanero peppers on a few plants, but I'm not sure they will amount to much.  The chili peppers were sliced for drying, and then later I will be ground into chili pepper. 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Homemade Root Beer and Ice Cream

 A few days ago, two of the girls (my 16 year-old and 11 year-old) made a batch of homemade root beer, while I was canning jam.  


Yesterday, we cooled off with delicious homemade root beer floats. I used our goat's milk (and homemade vanilla extract) for the hand churned ice cream too.  Yum!  However, the humidity was so thick I had to take a photo from inside the house (lens was steaming up again).  We ended up bringing our ice cream maker inside, and attaching the electric motor.  At least we had the hand crank, just in case the power went out.  We are still having thunderstorms here. 

I just checked today's forecast - no rain!  Yay!  Let's hope it's correct.  Everything needs to dry up, so a good wind would be nice, and I need to get laundry out today.  I am so thankful for a break in the weather.  I just hope the humidity has let up too.

Garden goodies are still coming in, despite the weather.  I brought in more green beans, sugar snap peas, and a good handful of strawberries.



Note: I purchased a root beer kit (paying under $15.00) for our homemade rootbeer.  We found the kits on sale at our Tractor Supply Company.  You can find the same kit on Amazon also.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Lost Art of Letter Writing


I've been sick for the last week, and while resting all day, waiting for my appointment to see the doctor, the younger two girls decided they wanted to write letters.

I have been joking with them that when school starts, the only thing they will be able to share is, "I sat around on my bum and playing around on my tablet."

They came up with writing letters on their own.  So, a few of my family members may be getting some hand written letters from either of the younger two.  We actually ran out of stamps and I had to ask my son to bail me out.  He did.

Stocked with stamps again, who knows who they will write next.

Oh, and to share something interesting about this letter writing, one of them had to look on the internet on how to address the envelope.  One also didn't know where to place the stamp.  Even though they both write thank you notes, they lost their memory on all of this.  One said to me, "well they don't teach you this in school."  It looks like they will be getting more practice with their penmanship too.

I guess they will be doing some more letter writing, so their technology won't be "dumbing" them down this summer.  

As for an update on my doctor appointment.  I have a sinus infection and my right inner ear is very swollen.  Hence, why I have not been able to hear very well.  If you've ever had a sinus infection, you know how tired it makes you feel.  Thankfully it is continuing to rain, so I can rest up more, before returning to weed the garden.  Honestly, it doesn't feel like "rest."  It feels more like forced, uncontrollable sleeping.

I have not done anything in my garden besides pick peas, strawberries and squash. Oh, and I picked some more broccoli.

I think tonight will be a good time to sit on my bum, knit, and give cooking instructions to my 14 year-old.  She's been wanting to learn to cook one of her favorite dinners.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Got Tea?



My kids (and I) love to drink tea and coffee both.  But lately, they have gotten funky with both.  Mom sent over some vanilla chocolate truffle teabags, and guess what my 16 year-old did?


She put that very same teabag into the coffee maker, along with the coffee grounds, and brewed it.  Not bad too.


I wonder what else they will come up with, now that most of my tea is restocked.

What would you call that anyway (brewing coffee with tea)? Coff-tea?  Tea-Fee?  Ha ha ha!  

Thursday, November 15, 2012

What I am Reading ~ My Morning Coffee


This Way of Life
 Reflections of 800 country women who express a speical philosophy that comes from down-to-earth living.

A Countryside Living Book

Complied and Edited by Maude Longwell 

One person writes about the school bus being a "monster."  That one really made me laugh.



I was surprised to see my 10 year-old making coffee this morning.  She not only set the pot to brew, but poured me a a special cup, in my special cup.

The cup was bought at a village, where the school took a field trip.  They have demonstrations for glass blowing, basket weaving etc.

She added peppermint mocha creamer and topped it with whipped cream!  Mmmmm!  I just may have to make a second pot of coffee after they are off to school (tee hee!).  Don't worry, we switched to half-caff coffee recently.  So that means I can have twice the amount, right? (ha ha ha!)

There were a few requests to see more of my key chain collection, so I'll try to dig a few out next week. 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Birth of a Baker and the Cookie Takers


My youngest daughter (10 years old) has been bitten by the baking bug.  She's been wanting to bake easy cookie recipes all the sudden.

Yesterday, I allowed her to bake some, with the assistance of her older sister.

As soon as these cookies were cooled, they dissappeared.  I asked her what she did with them.

"I'm hiding them so they won't eat them all."

Later in the afternoon, I saw her eating one.  Then later, another.   I asked her, "Did you hide those so you could eat them all?"

"No."

Just about dinner time, she was walking around the house trying to sell them to her sisters for $1.00 a piece.  Her brother was at work.  I got a giggle out of this.

Her sister's were not paying for cookies, tackled her, and stole them from her.

(giggles)

In the end, everyone did get a few cookies.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

School's Out

The last day of school was May 25th. Yesterday I had to keep telling the kids to spend less time on the computer.  We took a trip to the library and my youngest daughter brought home this book:

She has already gotten out the air-dry clay, and made herself a Golden Amulet.  

There is a "T" for Tiger her cat.  Real amulets typically had animals such as lions, elephants and crocodiles - warding off bad spirits.  

She's having more fun today, and building an African Savanna.  Meanwhile, my 12 year-old daughter is baking a cake and making homemade butter cream frosting.  The deal was that she had to wash her dishes and put them away.

As for the rest, one is caring for her goats and upkeeping the barn, while her brother sleeps on the sofa.  He's been sick the last few days and is scheduled for work.  

The two younger girls also set up a "hair salon" in the living room.  They are giving me "do's" as part of their "spa" day.  They don't like it when I say, "washer is done I need to hang the clothes out" etc. etc.  

We may just have to set our Glamper Tent back up.  Although I just read that we are expecting more rain in the next day or so.  Good thing I weeded in the vegetable garden this morning.