Pioneer Woman at Heart

I woke up Monday to a warm 63°F and later a high of 87°.  And guess what?   We started the "resurrection" of the flower beds/rose bed/herb garden on Sunday (no chance in convincing Hubby to break out the chainsaw for wood chores in the heat either), and now we are to get 4 days of possible rain.  I guess the Good Lord thought I needed softer soil to rip those weeds out, ha ha!   Clean up before the end of the day.  But oh, so much more to weed (like about 60-70 feet of flower/herb beds). Monday, we labored (again).  Hubby mowed some more, we weeded, and prepped the garlic bed.  Oh that was a joy - windy as heck, and try putting plastic down in the wind.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours or more to pull up old plastic, till, and put the new plastic down.  Now it will sit for a week or so to kill off more weeds/grass before I fall plant. Laundry was put out.  Dried in seconds with the wind, heat and sun we had....

                        I am on a biscuit mission, to enhance side options for breakfast sandwiches, soup dinners and even get togethers.  These were Cheddar and Chive Biscuits. We once, on our adventures this year, tasted the most delicious breakfast sandwiches, there were served on a cheddar and chive biscuit (made in the restaurant from scratch). Results:  Delicious! I used all organic ingredients, and cut the chives fresh from our herb garden.   The recipe uses a different method to incorporate the butter and makes a very light and fluffy dough (a tip from Cooks Illustrated?). Note:  The above biscuit recipe is online if you are interested:  Ridiculously Easy Cheddar Chive Biscuits (The Café Sucre Farine) Note 2:  Be sure to flour your biscuit cutter (or it will stick a bit). Homemade Biscuits   ©  April 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  Do you ever buy a used cookbook from a thrift store, because of something "shiny" you see inside?  Then do you go home, put the book down, and completely and utterly forget what you wanted to try? Well, I did just that with a thrift store cookbook purchase.  I bought it early a year ago (or longer, ha ha!).  I have had it out on the table, then counter, then table, then counter, then the kitchen island, and then back and forth.  I finally.....finally (screaming from the rooftop), made a recipe I decided on. First, let me tell you, the cookbook is all about high carbs (the good kind).  I do plan on reading the forward in the cookbook another day.  Much of the recipes are not for our liking, but I did try a biscuit recipe (that I had been wanting to try for months!!).  On a side note, this cookbook, has a lot of reading sections in it, as well as recipes.  I'll be taking a closer look at it soon. The recipe called for lowfat cottage cheese an...

We've been using this recipe for years.  I like the  fact that it's basic, similar to what the Pioneers used.  I can use milk from my goats or future cow, and I can make my own butter from cream.  These are delicious with buttermilk also. 

  I had a very relaxing island getaway weekend with my husband. We came back fully recharged mentally and physically.  I've got my to-do list written out and ready to take on the day. The island has a huge wild flower area and you can't see from the photo, but it is loaded with mullein.  I could not believe how much was in this area. Grab a cup of your favorite java.  Sorry, but this post is a bit of a long one.  Taking a few days off gives me some things to talk about today. Before we left I got 3# of tomatoes in the freezer, and I'm drying all the skins for tomato powder. We are still getting a few nice sized green bell peppers from the garden.  I haven't yanked the plants yet, and with rain coming, I'm leaving them in for now.  It's been a blessing to get so many this year. I finally got the garlic harvest down from hanging and will be planting the larger ones today for my fall planting.  These will be planted in grow pots. We won't run ou...

I am joining Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I had a very busy Sunday (just flip back one more post to read about it), and I am very happy to see it raining this morning (or it may be snow, not sure, could be snow showers again). On the breakfast plate. . .  Coffee and a piece of toast with Ginger-Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Butter. Right now I am. . . Taking a break, sipping more coffee The weather outside . . . Cold, rainy, and dark, so it's a much slower "work" day for me. Looking around the house . . . I sigh as I look at my large kitchen table, still covered with sweet potatoes, white potatoes and red potatoes.  I need to get the bin cleaned out and get the potatoes put in storage. Today's to-do list . . . ~Wash bathrobe, I got it dirty somehow.  Most likely from taking the dogs out early morning ~wash and bleach bath towels ~scrub master bath toilet ~vacuum ~bake biscuits ~write ~crochet mug sets fo...

I had a request for the link to my homemade biscuits:  Click "Here" to get the recipe.

The wind chill was a perfect time to bake a side dish to go with our big pot of chili.  I typically make a buttermilk cornbread, but we have to keep an eye on my husband's diet. By the way, this morning we woke up to 23°F outside!  Wind chill is 14°F.  Feels like a heat wave after that sub zero weather we've had. I resurrected this draft (while looking for something else), that I have had for a few years now. I have no idea who gave me the recipe, but there are so many variations of them. I can't make this stuff up, ha ha!   First, my "whoopsie" below happened from using my recipe in my recipes, not off of this blog draft (thankfully). It wasn't until I made them again, that I realized my blog draft said "baking soda" and my home recipe stated "baking powder."  Had I not even found this draft, messed them up again, and looked at both recipes, I would have never noticed until someone else baked them.  Photo is when I forgot to add the baking...

I have to admit, that when we are low on pantry supplies, low on food in the freezer, accompanied by low finances, I can get depressed.  However, I love to be creative in the kitchen, and make new recipes with whatever we have on hand.  I also find inspiration from other sources. Our family loves to watch Little House episodes, and it often reminds me to get creative.  We recently watched the episode where they are in an abandoned house in a snow storm, and are about to shoot their horse for food.  Thankfully, an Indian comes to their rescue. This week we are out of canola oil, about out of flour, sugar, brown sugar and milk.  I decided to put some of the remaining flour into homemade biscuits, and make homemade gravy with the marked down sausage I had in the freezer.  Thanks to the chickens we'll enjoy eggs too.  Because I am aiming to get away from processed foods, I chose to make an cake from scratch, using canned fruit.  I can't wait to ca...

I woke up to checking the weather yesterday, and saw rain was 60% at 10am and 90% at 1pm.  So, I adjusted my day.  I started by making 3 "cans" of homemade condensed mushroom soup.  Smelled so good too.  I love the smell of shallots cooking in butter.  Mmm.  The "cans" went into the freezer.  By the way, this soup on top of turkey breast, in the crock pot, tastes amazing. At 11am the rain had not arrived. At noon, no rain.  At 1:30pm?  No rain.  I chopped up a head of cauliflower to prep for dinner early.  Put that in the fridge and checked the weather again. 

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  Sunday we got "Big Red" fired up.  Here's hoping she'll keep starting now.  It (the truck) could need a few parts yet. We drove "Big Red" to the "Big City" and delivered a gift and Christmas cookies, picked up load of straw and headed back home.  I forgot to renew my library books, but it looks like only a few are late (this time). On the breakfast plate . . .  Homemade breakfast burrito and coffee The weather outside is . . . Rain is on the way, with a high of 56°F, but will quickly go back to the low 20's at night for the next week. As I look out my window . . . It's still dark out. On the to-do list . . . -take care of the chickens -feed barn cats (Leo still comes once every often) -put away clean dishes -vacuum -empty ash pan (depends on the rain today) -start another tincture -knock down some cobwebs -put a few Christmas decorations away -put a Ch...