Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The photo is my husband's breakfast packed up the day prior.  I have to say, it would be absolutely fantastic with eggs over easy made fresh, but I do have to send breakfast on-the-go for him during the work week days. Oh my goodness, it was delicious!  Time consuming to make, but healthy and very good.  It's a keeper recipe, with some tips to make it easier. First, remember I ground up some of our dehydrated sage a while back?  I put it in a spice jar for easy use for making homemade chicken or turkey sausage?  Well, I'm not doing that anymore. I discovered that the delicious sage flavor goes stale after weeks of sitting in a spice jar.  It's just not the same as crushing the full leaves dehydrated.  I'll just have to take the time to crush them for really good flavor.   Tips:  Most butternut squash is about 3 pounds or so.  Unless I grow it myself, and have a dry year, I have never seen a "small" or 1 1/2 pound butternut sq...

  First time to cook with organic split green peas.  If I have, it's been a very long time, and we cannot find these (organic) in our area stores.  I re-stocked while out restocking, where bulk foods are so much less expensive. Of course seasonings are dried herbs from the garden (other than the bay leaf). I can say, that we loved the soup, but I adjusted a soup recipe from stove top to crock pot (again).  The split peas do break down in a crock pot soup, but I will be buying more of them, especially over winter months.  I will be using a different meat next time too I think.  We did not have "Farmers Sausage" so I adapted, but still good. The recipe is from Mennonites Girls can Cook - Anderson's Pea Soup. It will be 14 degrees warmer today, but the bitter cold plans to return again.  I am so busy making up for the 6 weeks of not being able to clean like I normally clean/upkeep, but it's getting done.  I completely forgot to get a photo of the cu...

  Black-eyed Pea and Cabbage Soup - The Southern Lady Cooks ( recipe free online ). My take on this soup.  I made it as a crock pot soup.  I used a can of organic black-eye peas vs. dried.  It was delicious.  I will be making this again.  I also used my homemade jalapeno salt to season the meat in it. Hearty 3-Bean Soup - Clean Food Crush ( free recipe online ) My take on this soup - I made it as a crock pot soup, and did not cook any of the veggies in tallow on the stove first.  I used a can of organic fire roasted tomatoes vs the sun dried tomatoes.  I would use home canned tomatoes if we had them. I've made this 3 different times, and each time used up some leftover broth (vegetable, chicken and beef) from various recipes, and we have loved it! I have a new biscuit recipe to try, that I have had sitting around for a few months now.  I thought it would be nice for the soup meals.  If I ever get around to making it, I will be sharing th...

  I found it very difficult to find a selection of any lima bean recipes.  I asked around, and only one person I know ate them as a kid, and not ever as an adult.   I purchased canned lima beans in the Amish area we visit this year.  They are very hard to find around our area for some reason.  I have had them sitting around waiting to try.   I used them to make hummus.   Delicious!! (source:  Google images) I did not cook the lima beans, as I do not when I use chickpeas, but I may try cooking them next time (to see if it would be creamier, and/or cook from dried beans).  I do not mind the texture regardless, and it tastes just like chickpeas in my own hummus recipe.  Of course, I used home grown garlic, and it makes it the absolute best flavor. I just swapped out the chickpeas for the canned lima beans (rinsed and drained), and it was fantastic. My traditional hummus RECIPE . Red Lentil Hummus In the past we have tried bee...

  I tried another new crockpot recipe, and we loved it.   The only thing I discovered, is my crockpot "low" setting is pretty hot, and I can lower the cook time on this, and it lacks "color" due to the homemade basil pesto.  We think adding some red bell pepper next time would be nice.   Also, it did not make a lot.  It's about a 3-4 serving dish, but it ended up a 3 serving for us, ha ha.  I would double this for leftovers. What is it? Chicken with Zucchini Noodles and Basil Pesto Where is the recipe from?                           I prefer to cook my raw chicken separately, and not with other vegetables, when it comes to crockpot cooking.  It's just me.  I cooked the chicken the day before (in the crockpot), shredded it and cooled it (recipe called for chicken breast sliced). I simply added the chicken at the end of cooking, as well as grated parmesan cheese, because I fr...

  What is was supposed to be?  A new recipe - flank steak tacos (recipe is in the first cookbook below).  what it ended up as?  Round steak fajitas.  First, I've only cooked a flank steak once in my lifetime (no kidding there), and two, we couldn't find flank steak, so we used a round steak.   The seasonings were exactly as the recipe called for however, and it shredded up very nicely.  Although, I would cut back on the seasoning, it was very good, and mostly very, very easy to prepare for the crockpot. We got 4 servings (2 meals for 2 people), plus we had more leftover after that. Super easy, many possibilities, and a good bang for the buck. The above cookbook was probably my favorite of all the cookbooks I have borrowed this month.  You don't have to be diabetic to enjoy any of these either.  They are very healthy recipes.  I have many more to try yet. I found this one to have a lot of recipes with very little ingredients, but mos...

  A chilly 36°F outside this morning, so it will be touch and go, if I am able to dehydrate more herbs or not.   Speaking of herbs, I just learned that Thyme is an herb that promotes sleep.  I had no idea.  I know it's great as a medicinal tea for coughs and other ailments, but this was interesting information. The cold weather has me doing much winter prep work, but there is much more to get done. New recipe tried - Homemade Cherry Pie Energy Bars.  Recipe is free online by Mommypotamus.   I had to add a few extra medjool dates to get the mixture into a mixture that would press into bars.  Note:  I lined an 8 x 8 pan and pressed it in, then flipped it out and cut into 8 bars.  These were very good, easy to make and I may even cut them smaller next time.  Simply 4 ingredients to make them.  They contain organic dried cherries, organic medjool dates, organic almonds, and organic cinnamon. Chilly ~ New Healthy Recipe Tried ~...

We tried a new white bean salad, using fresh herb garden parsley and rosemary from my herb garden.  The recipe is a winner for several reasons.  One, it is a small salad, so it's perfect for two people, and perfect for summer fresh herbs.  Two, for the small amount of ingredients, it packs a good flavor.  A few reviews stated to add some diced celery.  I may do that next time.  A keeper recipe. Recipe is White Bean Salad ( online ). You can read the recipe, but to print it, the site requires you to sign up to "unlock" the print option. It's easy enough to simply write it on a recipe card. Second bean salad to try using different beans. . . Bean Salad I got this recipe from my Dad years ago (he was into super foods and bought many recipe books pertaining to that focus).  I found it while cleaning out old recipe books and such in my kitchen.  I forgot all about it.  I doubt my Dad ever made this salad, but anyway..... The salad requires a fres...

Last fall, I roasted the last of the mashed potato squash we grew in the garden, and froze them.  I thawed a container for a dinner, and it thawed very nicely.  Hardly any water in it, and I just gave it a good stir before reheating. Reheated with some salt and butter, and it tasted as good as freshly roasted mashed potato squash.  Yum!  I'm happy to report it worked out very nicely to roast, freeze, thaw and reheat.   We will be growing mashed potato squash again this year.  I'm so glad we discovered this squash. Mashed Potato Squash ~ Does it Freeze Well?   ©  May 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  We have been having some beautiful weather here lately.  I however, have not put laundry out on the line, as we call this "bird" season.  Flocks of them are in the area, so as soon as they move on out, I will be able to enjoy the clothesline once again. We purchased a "blind date" with a puzzle back on January 31st, from an area local store, while out on a getaway.  However, we paid $18.00 for this puzzle, and when we got it home, it was a used puzzle (box was falling apart).  I never saw any signage that stated the puzzles were used, so my husband insisted we purchase a 1,000 piece one.   Well, we finished the puzzle finally.  (puzzle is a portrait by a famous artist) There were two puzzle pieces in the box that did not even go to the puzzle. As we predicted, there were pieces missing from the puzzle.  We plan to donate the puzzle pieces to a place that recycles them with art/crafts.  Very disappointed.  We won't make this mistak...

  Happy New Year!   I'm excited about a new crochet project, and it is a sort of a motivation tool for something else.  I'll be posting later about it.  Overall, it will reduce my time wasting internet scrolling, pointless social media scrolling (looking for recipes, patterns, exercises are all good scrolling minutes, he he!), procrastination station, and endless him-hawing.  Not to change the subject, but I mean some scrolling is needed to avoid endless days of shopping in stores looking for something my husband suggested we buy. I found one close to what he feels we need at Harbor Freight, but it's wall mounted, and runs on batteries. Does it even exist?  I'll be searching for it, but we may have to buy battery charged or a rechargeable light.  He wants a solar chargeable, motion sensor, small table light (sort of the brightness of a nightlight) for the bathrooms.  We lack outlets by the toilet, and do not want to put in a floor strip light...

  Got leftover quinoa? The recipe actually made 8 fritters, but we finally got around to trying them, and we love them!  They are called quinoa-feta fritters with labneh sauce.  You only use 2 Tbsp. of avocado oil to "fry" them.  They also re-heat nicely in an air fryer.  I have not yet tried reheating them on the stove top, but I am guessing it would work as well. Here is where I used some of that "creamy cheese" (called labneh) with organic greek yogurt.  I made a sauce using the recipe in the same cookbook, with juice from a lemon, dried dill and salt/pepper. I will be making them again, and they are a great way to use leftover quinoa. I typically use leftover broth to make the quinoa too. Leftovers are part of the weekly meal plan around here. I did not find the recipe online, but in a cook book I borrowed from the library.  One draw back in making the fritters?  It's messy.  A lot stuck to my hands, so next time, I will lightly grease my...

  We are still enjoying our home canned herbed tomato sauce (Ball Recipe).  Our newest, and favorite way to use our frozen (previously roasted) spaghetti squash is with the sauce and homemade meatballs (also previously frozen, with oats, not bread crumbs).  It's delicious and easy.    To make this in the crock pot I thaw the spaghetti squash and squeeze out any water first.  I layer that in the crock pot, with sauce, then the cooked meatballs (cooked from frozen), then more sauce.  I set it on low all day to enjoy later. We are also using the freshly snipped green onions from the herb garden.   I have a few items in the freezer we are highlighting on our menus right now, so we make sure they are eaten.  Those items are the ones we grew a lot of last garden season.   Green beans top the list.  I'm planning on a few sides with those.  We have plenty of diced and sliced bell peppers, more spaghetti squash, shredded zucch...

  I tired another new salad recipe, but we really liked this as a meal itself to be honest.  We love the summer orzo salad we found last year, but this one is a keeper too.  It contains kidney, cannellini, and garbanzo beans.  I do suggest you make it ahead of time, so the beans have time to absorb delish dressing flavors.  I added the fresh herbs upon serving time to avoid them wilting.  I used about  a slightly less cup of about 1/4th, of red onion, but will add more next time.  Red onion is so potent, it's easy to over due it in a salad. To minimize standing time on my feet (for now anyway), I broke out my new box chopper (bought over a month ago).  I can see why there is a mixed review on these gadgets.  I mean, if you love to cook, slicing and dicing is very thearaputic, but this gadget really sped up the time prepering the salad. The orignial recipe calls for one red and one green bell pepper.  My husband did the shopping, so ...

Today I am sharing how I made these delicious breakfast "bowls" by starting with sweet potatoes. The first time I made these, I used organic hannah sweet potatoes, and this second time I used locally grown sweet potatoes (which both were very good). Prepare fresh spinach, by cleaning it, and then slicing it.  Set aside.  I used two bundles of fresh spinach.  Set aside Prepare homemade cilantro-lime sauce. In a food processer, mix 2 full cups of cleaned organic (or home grown) cilantro and: -1/2 cup organic plain Greek yogurt (I have yet to use homemade for this), plus more to thicken to your taste -juice from one lime (not the bottled kind) -1 small can of organic salsa verde (or homemade), or about 14 Tbsp.  (cut the recipe in half to reduce the amount, but we really like the sauce on this breakfast dish) -2 cloves of garlic, minced -about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper Process until smooth, and like I mentioned above, add extra yogurt to make your sauce as thick ...