Pioneer Woman at Heart

I made the mistake of turning on my TV in the middle of the day about a week ago.  I am addicted to watching "The Chew."  Sigh.  I cannot, cannot do this....I thought I would just take my tea break a wee bit early.  Pretty soon my breaks will be on the porch with nature and no electronics. Anyway, I turned it on and immediately had to ma k e the pea pesto and pasta dish they mad e. I had one box of E ink orn whole wheat past a I wanted to taste, so that was my choice of past a for this dish. Ho nestly, I didn't me a sure.  Once you get the hang of pesto, you may not either.   What a brilliant idea.  So good too.  Parsley from the garden, garlic from the garden, peas from the garden (if I can ever get enough to freeze), etc.   Delicious!  My motto this year , in addition to our fami ly motto on my blog.    

I made another trip to the library.  I really need to stop bringing home cookbooks, but I'm always looking for a new food to try, or something new to can, or something new that would make a  nice gift.  I have yet to even open this one , or the food in jars book either. I'm not sure why I even brought this one home, other than we love to grill out.  However, do you see what it says under "Burgers?" 

Experiment #3:  I used 1 cup einkorn all purpose flour, and 2 cups einkorn whole grain wheat, my home canned applesauce (no other oil/butter), and my homemade yogurt.  The only difference I notice, is when my bananas are a bit too ripe.  Then the bread is super moist.  Overall, delicious and easy grab-n-go breakfast/snack for the family.  I think I'll add 1/2 cup more blueberries next time.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today - it's Happy Homemaker Monday. On the breakfast plate. . .

I have made apple cider vinegar hair rinses in the past, but this is my first time making a "hair tonic" for hair repair and growth. There are many recipes online, but I used nettle and peppermint essential oil to make mine.   The timing of my brittle hair (bangs breaking off first,

Miso is a new food to try this year.  I just happened to be watching the "Chew" one day (I think I was feeling poorly that day otherwise the TV would never be on).  Anyway, they had a guest on making chickpea burgers that used a miso in the sauce .  I was intrigued. I set out to find miso in our stores.  With no luck, sent an email to my sister-in-law and brother.  I got some tips, and placed my order.  It arrived, and I

It's been a "get-r-done" week for m e, which feels good. The weathe r w ent from warm to cold .  Even so, I let my ladies out a nd gave the ir coops a clean sweep.  Egg pro duction is s till a bit low, but as they get mor e sunsh ine I hope to see an increase.

I was fresh out of white and red potatoes, so this beauty donned the breakfast plate this week - cauliflower/pea and dandelion frittata.

There have been so many people asking me for tips on teas for bronchitis, coughing, and pneumonia lately.  By accident, I found this book (published in 2016). I just started reading through this book (l ike I have the time , ha ha!) . I borrowed it from the library.  There are tea recipes for antispasmodic bronchitis, cough, and more.  It's worth a look for those who make teas, tinctures, syrups etc.  I learned plantain can be used as an expectorant.

 The list is getting shorter.   I completed the green baby blanket.  I ran out of yarn at the end, but used some leftover white and pink to edge it.  I did not want to buy another skein to finish the edging.  I'm not really sure if I like the pink on it, but it's there now.

What's on the breakfast plate lately?  I should have jus t dumped the co wboy candy right on the dandelion scramble. Lots of vitamin C and other goodness, and loads of hot peppers to free up my nasal passages. Green peppers for more vitamin C, and dandelions for Vitamin A (i mmune system help ) , C , the B 's , and a lot more . I also added garlic and hot peppers to the scramble.   Instead of freezing rain on Friday , we go t snow.  And lots of it.

Last Thanksgiving was my first attempt at making homemade rolls by pre-freezing the dough.  It was somewhat of a fai l. I decided to experiment with other roll recipes.  I made Honey Oat Pan Rolls.  A recipe in my pile of "try its ."  This is a "Taste of Home" recipe that was in my 2014 Country Woman magazine and is available online.  The rolls are made with part all-pur pose flour, a bit of whole w heat, and o at meal. Oh, and there is a bit of butter too.   I did n o t use the E inkorn , only beca use I am wai ting on a nother delivery.

Ha!  This draft never even made it to the blog.  The first year ever to not post a "reflections" post on December 31st. I gave it a title and that was a s far as I got. That's okay.  I think we all need a break from my long posts.  I can get a bit "wind y."     Mama Pea had me hankering for a wild rice/chicken soup, so the first thing I did was pull out my crock pot.  I put in lots of garlic .  Thanks for that idea by the way. It's freezing cold here again.  Brr!  I wanted it to stay cold, and we got more than cold.  Everything is frozen stiff. It took me several minutes to don Hubby's old full body carhar t t, muck boots, thick glo ve s, hat , scarf and sunglasses.  It w as very bright out, but oh so cold.  I managed to do all the out door stuff at on ce, inclu ding get the mail, and tak e the dogs out .  Funny thing about the dogs.  Jesse, the oldest one , loves to eat s now, so getting him back insi...

Although the room is still in the "works" I have photos to share. The ki ds are already using it for doing th eir homework.    I l ove the saying on this tin y sign.  It also ties all the col ors of the room together.  There is a bit of that country red in the c urt ain and the matching r unner.

Many of my houseplants died while I was in the hospital.  Hubby and I picked up a few to bring a bit if life and beauty to homestead - Florida Beauty to the left and an Exotic Allusion Arrowhead in the upper right.

There always has to be that one chicken that can't behave.  Meet "Rita the Rebel."   Or as Hubby calls her, "Biker Chick."

I decided to use those extra granny squares and make a matching washcloth for the bathroom.  I only had to make a few to finish this.  The yarn is back in the closet until the other projects are done.  It saved me from having to make another hand towel (at least for now). What's on the breakfast plate?

Tiger just loves to act like a toddler.  The last few mornings, he's been making his walk in front of the computer to get my attention.  He's also been doing is paw under t he bedroom door rout ine , and me owing to be fed.  Bangity, bang-ity, ba ng.  Why oh why does he not go fetch his "mother" and wake her up ?  I have n o idea. We removed the gate from one of the entrance-ways in to th e kitchen.  We removed it to move furnit ure, and we decided to leave it out, and test the water so to speak.  The dogs are so used to it there, but then again, King jumps it every after noon when the bus pulls in.  We'll see how well they do with it down.  They too, have been a cting like toddlers lately.  It feels strange not to have to open and shut the gate 100 times a day now , but sort of n ice too.

I continue to play around with the einkorn whole grain wheat flour.  I used 2 cups to mix up this bundt bread.

  2010, our first year of cutting wood by hand.  I year I will never forget. I broke the sledge hammer once, and only once back then. Rain , (R ain's Garden Blogspot) asked me to share how we keep our firewood supply.  Back in 2010, the first year of collecting and cutting and splitting wood, we did not have a wood splitter.   I basically split the wood with an sledge hammer and wedge.  We had large rounds, so I rolled them out and worked them that way, every afternoon, just before the kids got home from school. 

We are already going through a second batch of homemade hot chocolate.  The chill was in the air. Bailey's too?  Don't mind if I do , ha ha! (that was Sunday morning ).  Today, there is very little chill.  I won't even need to fire up the wood stove today. It's a good day for hanging my laundry outside.

In the past, I have made homemade tortillas using white organic flour.   First, I made flour tortillas with organic/non-gmo canola oil.  You can read about it here . Downside of making them with the canola?  You use a lot more oil than in the einkorn tortillas I'm about to tell you about, and the smell of the oil stinks up the kitchen. Second, I made them with real lard.  You can re ad that post here .   A huge bonus in making these?  You make them on a griddle, and they use no oil on the griddle itself.  Just the lard in the tortilla.  Very easy to make and less mess (and no smell).

When we moved to this homestead, I had no idea that I would be changing in many ways.  I went from city girl, to farmstead girl.   I've come to find new ways to simplify our lives, live healthier, and in a much more self-sufficient manner.

My 17 year-old laughed as I sat at the computer and whined - nothing to blog about today.  Wh o wants to hear about my da y of painting (which contin ues today) ? Ha! I also spent yesterday with the dust bunnies.  Lots of them.  If you don't think you have too many books, just move a bookshelf.  Well, the bookshelf is not moved just yet, but the books are all off and dusted.   I found more books to donate to the "donation station" in my progress.  I was so happy to get that job done, but now boxes and a laundry basket fill my living room floor with dog temptations (books).  I must move quickly and move the shelf and re-shelf the books I am keeping.  Either way, I was thrilled to get this far, on this job.

If you are wondering how my "to-do" list is going ....slow.  I can't seem to get a jo b completely done.  I need more patience w hen it comes to pai nting.  The taping part is so much work .  I need to talk myself through it, and not roll my eyes so much.  Even the k ids are avoiding it like a plague.  If you are wondering if I've been able to take a tea break at 2pm, I have.  If you are wondering if I have been stealing away at 4pm for an hour to myself?  Ha, yeah.  That's not happening.  I think the change of weather, and long er, brighter nights are kee ping me from curling up with crochet.  T he 4 o'clo ck hid ey hole, was mainly to stock up for the Farmer's market, but that's been difficult to do. We just went f rom warm /rain y we ather back to snow and cold .  It's nothing but a few flur ries . I whipped up a bowl of slaw.  Organic cabbages went on sale.  This tasted so good since we haven't had c...

Upon learning from a few blo gger friends about eink o rn flour, and the health benefits (and less gluten), I had to try some. I first checked the library s ystem for the recipe book, but could only borrow this one: I wasn't able to borrow the other cookbook einkorn has.  In fact, there was only one copy of this particular book to borrow from our inter-loan system (from other area libraries).