Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I had a request to share the final wild violet jelly after it was processed and made, and I am finally getting the photos together to share that.   I apologize for the delay. 2 cups of wild violets with 2 cups of boiling water poured over them to infuse).  I was told to let it sit up to 24 hours, but I have let my infusion stay in the fridge after that for up to 3 days.  Strain the flowers from the liquid. Add juice of one organic lemon.  The mixture turns from a blue-ish color to a more pink color. Add the liquid to a pot on the stove, and add one box of powdered pectin.  Stir and bring to a boil. Don't forget to get canning pot ready and prepare jars and lids. Once it comes to a boil, add 4 cups of sugar and bring to a hard boil for 1 minute. Fill jars with 1/4 inch head space, wipe rims, add lids and I put my jars in a water bath for 15 minutes.  The recipe I was shared, did not have a water bath time, but most jelly recipes say 10 minutes. T...

It's been raining here since last Thursday, so that makes 7 days of rain straight in a row.  Some days, partial day rain, and others full out thunderstorms. Some days it's been so cold we need jackets, so there has been no good time to work on the gardens (any of them).  A few days the rain has let up, and we got to see a teensy bit of sunlight, but most days have been misty, foggy, rainy, and gray skies.  Oh and colder.  I'm getting a wee bit concerned about planting the garden.  They posted a flood advisory Monday night. The asparagus patch is about to the end of the harvest season for us.  Although the rain brought up a few more stragglers for us to enjoy.   May started out with another new "first" for me.  I dehydrated the woody ends, leftover from the asparagus we recently prepared.  You can simply save them in the freezer for soup, but those bags can get buried easily.  Does anyone actually remember they are in the freezer? I do no...

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

                  I've been spring cleaning so to speak.  Really, the entire house needs swept and mopped, so I'm tackling one room a day when I can.  I am moving furniture and washing any rugs.   I have also been washing bed covers/comforters.   The weather is up and down for using the clothesline. I pampered myself with a home hair treatment.  It saved me  $$ from going to the salon.  Well water is not my hair's best friend.  We all deserve to pamper ourselves. Another "finish" for April - set of cotton hot pads to donate.                               The deer have started to roam the homestead, and we are not happy.  We have not gotten the fencing up (deer jump fence if it's too short).  There has not been time to do it. Heck, we haven't even had time to buy the rest of the supplies to get the job done....

  Any foragers here?  I have a few reference books, but zero information in them in regards to if Purple Dead Nettle and Henbit both have the same nutrition/medicinal benefits to the body.  Anyone? I know, it's crazy question, and there are not many homesteading blogs still blogging anymore these days. Spring rain is great for a lot of things, but it is always the reason we get stuff planted so late.  The gardens are soaking wet, and this is what most of the vegetable gardens look like.  Not kidding.  They are too big to cover for winter.  We use a lot of space.  They are full of purple dead nettle and chickweed. The last few warmer days should start to dry up the gardens for us. I have added spring chickweed to salads and other meals in the past, but according to my blog (and other notes), we have not yet tasted purple dead nettle. Foraging was pretty easy (just look at the above photo, ha ha!). I did a lot of reading, and yes, I have a few forag...

  I've gotten off the path of sharing my "thrifty" or "frugal" anything on my blog.  Many of these are repeats, but each time I go the thrifty route, we save. Used my clothesline instead of the electric dryer.  Free solar dryer.  I use the clothesline year round, but from Spring to Fall it's used in place of the dryer.  I'm thankful to have a clothesline. Made breakfast with steel cut oats we bulk buy (cost is a lot less), and only a cup makes enough for us two for a few mornings. I brew my own teas, and tea infusions with bulk ingredients or free foraged ingredients. I use the library to look for new recipes, books, movies, etc.  Free.  Our library also provides free bookmarks. I try to go to the library during their book sales, because they give their magazines away free.  Yes, you can borrow them for free too, but I can read them at my own pace, and/or pass them on to someone who uses them for crafting. On my most recent visit to the library, I...

I made homemade hair detangler last year, and used it all year long. I even bought a small spray bottle for traveling with (and it worked great).  I have added lemon essential oil to it now. I discovered a hair brush, after my hair dresser used one on my hair one visit.   It's called a detangler brush, and they do exist in your big box stores.  I bought one, and wow!  I can brush out my hair much more easily with this tool (it's a small brush, but hard to tell in the photo).  Not sure how they make the brush, but I use a lot less homemade detangler now, and it takes a lot less time to brush my wet hair out with the detangler brush.   Remember the homemade face toner? As well as the homemade face serum?  I am still using both, and love them both.  In fact, the serum (I made my own rosehip oil for it first), is said to reduce scar damage, and help the skin grow new skin cells.  I used it all year on a very small scar on my chin and it's ...

                        (old photo of picked plantain, but I used both broad leaf and narrow-leafed plantain for the salve)   I completely forgot to share our newest addition to the medicine cabinet  - plantain salve.  It's a homemade drawing salve.  Plantain  (a weed that grows wild) is what saved me when I had a very nasty spider bite years ago.  I asked my husband to go outside and pick it, macerate it, and make a poultice.  I used it until I found a decent doctor (which was hard to do at the time). I used 1/2 cup infused oil (used grapeseed oil to infuse it), and 2 Tbsp. of beeswax.  Heat together until the beeswax is melted, pour into jars and cool completely.  You can add essential oils too, but add them after you take the melted oil/beeswax off the heat. By the way, before this was made, and I needed a drawing salve, I used a mix of homemade calendula oil, some store purchased...

  Mashed potato squash was a new garden treasure to grow last summer.  There is very little information about it online, and very little information if it freezes well.   We do not have a root cellar, so as of now, freezing our roasted squash is are best option at preserving it for the winter months. I roasted the last of our mashed potato squash, and allowed it to cool.  I scooped out the flesh and froze it.  I know it will thaw somewhat watery, as it is that way after roasting it.   The plan will be to mix it with pureed squash, add it to tomato sauce, or other dishes.  I am not sure if it will not be solid enough to enjoy on it's own, after thawing. I'll update as we thaw and use it in our meals.  I purposely waited to roast them, thinking it would help heat up this house. Mashed Potato Squash ~ Roasting and Freezing Trial #1   © January 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

The newest tincture has been strained.  It's a "Sleep" tincture.  We have not tried it yet, not actually needed it (oddly). While our handy-man continued working on the rest of the drywall sanding, painting and trim work, I baked us up some delicious beef and bean breakfast burritos (minus the rice).  I actually found a new seasoning recipe on YouTube, and will be using that for any future beef/bean burritos.  We loved it.  She calls the seasoning "All Around Seasoning" and it is perfect for the breakfast. All Around Seasoning.  In case you are wondering, her burrito recipe is also on YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, it's a handy resource for just about everything.  From Fix-It videos to "Fix" your body videos. I found myself needing stretching exercises, and I am amazed at how well they are working out for me.  As we get older, health issues can sometimes catch us off radar. In light of how our bodies change (as we age), we have been looking for lin...

  Hot mess express checking in for a quick minute.  October has been, and still is a crammed month of commitments, projects and whatnot.  More so on the commitments (preventing other work to be done). I feel like the days are so out of control, but I dug out my new jars and recipes.  I realized I had not dehydrated comfrey or plantain, and needed it for one recipe.  Of course, we just mowed too. The kitchen is full of baskets of herbs and medicinal weeds, which are all waiting their moment in the dehydrator. Our weather changed rapidly, so I am working quickly.   Sticky notes to the rescue!  Without them, I would be a double hot mess express.  I finally made a phone call for a quote, that should have been done a year ago.  I was to complete that job today, but someone took the wrong vehicle to work this morning. Purging continues, but not as productive as it should be.  Garage clean out remains on the to-do list (did I mention too m...