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~

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Day 3 of Bread Making

I did it!  I used a recipe from Oklahoma Pastry Cloth, and the dough was perfect.

Other than an annoying air bubble in the center, and that it should have baked a few more minutes, it was the best bread yet.  I can't wait to have a pastry cloth to make this baking easier and less messy. 

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Herbal Hair Care

I decided to start utilizing my herb garden for uses other than culinary.  We love to add them to our food, but I wanted to start making our own hair care products from scratch.  I also want to see if it will save us money on buying manufactured shampoo and other items.


Yesterday, I made a hair rinse using my sage.  I decided to also make a leave-in conditioner for dry hair, using sage.  Once my lavender starts producing more, I can utilize that as well.





This morning my youngest daughter and myself, tried the conditioner.  I myself, used the rinse also.  Wow!  My hair is so soft too.  With 4 girls in the house, and dry hair, I will save so much money on conditioner.  Now, the next venture is to make shampoo.  Hopefully, I can locate an inexpensive, and homemade recipe to try.

Wake Up Call

It's not what you'd expect for a wake up call, but I woke up from a wet willy.  An 80 pound hairy blob sitting on me, wagging her tail so hard the bed was shaking.  The wet willy was her tongue of course.  Blech.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Excerpts from a Journal Junkie

From the garden journal . . .

Weeded out the tomatoes, replanted 2 rows of corn, planted basil and cumin, started weeding around the strawberry plants, and tilled up most of the garden.  Marigolds reseeded themselves in one large pot – yea for that.  Sunflowers are peeking over the top of the water trough now.  Started foraging the farm for anything wild and edible.  Planted swiss chard seeds.

Dried 6 bunches of thyme.

From the homesteading journal . . .

Orion got loose again – twice.  Found him ramming his head into the utility pole with electrical boxes – not good.


Bugs are starting to come inside, due to all the rain.  A wolf spider tried to take a shower with me yesterday – not cool!

Named our scarecrow and the dogs still bark at her.

Started to experiment with homemade bread recipes and ran out of flour.  I need to make a trip to the Mill very soon.

Added a hand crank ice cream maker to the “wish list.”

Barred rocks and Lola are learning to come out when called to free range.  They still don't mingle with the hens yet.
From the gratitude journal . . .

I am thankful for:
~this wonderful cool weather
~lettuce from the garden
~books to help us with our homesteading
~friends
~our very small grill to cook out on
~coffee
~for my kid’s jobs
~for my front porch
~the early butterflies we have already
~God’s mercy

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Foraging ~ Is it Edible?

From what we can tell, this is dogbane, which is often mistaken for milkweed. I found a recipe for using milkweed and plan to try it soon. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Corn Bread

Finally. 

We just found a delicious corn bread recipe that we can utilize home grown vegetables (onion, corn), milk from the goats (I cannot wait until we do have one in milk too), and eggs from the chickens.  I can even utilize home grown herbs – chives.  I can also use my home canned salsa in this recipe.

I found the recipe in a magazine I got from another farmgirl, and here is it on-line:  Appalachian Corn Bread.  


I wonder if I could simply leave the sugar out, and not change the taste too much?  I did use creamed corn, and it turned out to be a moist bread, and delicious.  We will make it again once the corn is in, and try it with whole kernel corn too.  I used olive oil, and also oiled the baking dish with olive oil (we are doing away with non-stick spray). 

My goal is to be able to add the cheese from my very own dairy source.  Either a jersey cow or maybe the goats.  I better put a bug in my husband's ear about getting a jersey cow.  I can see so many ways we can reduce our processed, store bought foods, and make them healthier.

And of course, the corn meal and flour is from an area stone mill that is still in business.  Maybe some day we can grow our own wheat and grind it ourselves.  Anything is possible.

This will taste so delicious with our homemade taco soup, which also uses fresh or frozen garden goodies. 

Our first Scarecrow ~ It's a girl