Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Lima Bean Hummus (my recipe) 1 can of lima beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves of garlic, minced (we used home grown)* 1/3 cup tahini (dry roasted seeds, but any tahini will work) 2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. real lemon juice (from a fresh lemon) 1/4 cup water 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1/4 tsp. salt Mix everything in a food processor until smooth.  Adjust salt and garlic if needed.  If you do not grow your own garlic, you may need to add more to adjust flavor. Our homegrown garlic is loaded with flavor. Lima Bean Hummus    ©  March 2026 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  We've been making spiced nuts for the last 18 years.  Crazy, how much time has passed while writing this blog.   Christmas time brought us recipes that used mixed nuts, and other ingredients, that never got used up (or used at all).  There was a lot going on this past holiday, so I'm slowly using up the unused ingredients.  I had about a cup of cashews (should have been cashew brittle at Christmas), a bit of walnuts, and I had some mixed nuts (I buy these non-gmo, with zero bad oils, but it contains way too many almonds), we also had some pumpkin seeds, and..... ....we had some of these non-gmo chocolate type candies (healthier option to M & M's in Christmas cookies).  By the way, we bought both to test out for holiday baking.  We did not really like either one, and both are very expensive options. I tossed all of the nuts and pumpkin seeds into a bowl, and roasted our favorite spiced nuts.  Let it cool completely, and then tossed in th...

  Here is how I make our red lentil hummus.  It makes a good amount, but you can slather it on a cracker and top it with a sliced boiled egg, dip fresh veggies in it, enjoy it on a sandwich (of any sort) and so many other ways.  You can use hummus as your "sauce" for dishes. First, measure 1 cup of organic red lentils, and rinse them.  Add them to a pot and 3 cups of water.  Cook them until there  is no water left (they will be a mushy consistency).  You will need to watch the pot at the end so it does not burn to the pan. Take off the heat and allow to cool.  Go clean something, read a book, fold laundry or enjoy the outdoors for a bit. Place the cooked and cooled lentils in a food processor and add: 1 can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup Tahini 3 Tbsp. Lemon juice (I use fresh squeezed and often use one lemon, and don't measure) 3-4 Cloves of garlic, minced (to your taste) 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. cumin Mix in the food processor, chil...

Do you freeze your home grown blueberries, or freeze locally picked ones?  We are unable to grow the plants, due to the limestone here, so I hunt down produce stands that sell blueberries grown in the area or in MI. I've been looking for more creative ways to add nutrition, protein (not protein powders), fiber and whatnot into our breakfast. I look for more ways to utilize what we have in the freezer, like blueberries.  My husband was intrigued at this idea for the blueberries.  It looks like blueberry jam, but it is not. I used a slice of sourdough (or use what you like), topped with the freshly ground peanut butter (peanuts only) we purchased, organic hemp hearts sprinkled (to get 1 full Tbsp. I need to sprinkle some on the peanut butter and then on top of everything), and finally topped with frozen blueberries heated with organic cinnamon mixed into it . I used about 1/3 cup of blueberries.  Yum!  Healthy.  Fills us up. I just heated the blueberries, sma...

  The sun finally made an appearance!  Boy it was nice.  I got out of the house and got a few smallish errands done.  The library was first, but I also made a visit to the local orchard.  The only thing we needed was local honey, but I picked up some locally made apple cider and some red delicious apples that were on sale.  I'm thinking apple oatmeal breakfast bake, pork chops and apples, and more. I also made a trip to a Dollar General, but for specific things, and to price check (to see if digital coupons were worth it).  I did notice that they have kitchen sponge/scrubbers and cleaning brushes in two different locations in the store. One had them at $1.00 each, and the other area had them more expensive.   I stocked up on kitchen sponges, cleaning brushes (they come in handy for cleaning chicken watering units, the bathtub, and other things), and some very inexpensive toothbrushes for cleaning purposes.  I keep a few toothbrushes...

  Tuesday was our "Monday" this week.  We both took Monday "off" and spent the day enjoying it.  Tuesday was the day for thunderstorms to roll in late afternoon, so laundry went out on the line early. I am working my way through my garden freezer goodies, and made us some flourless pumpkin bread with frozen garden pumpkin puree.  It is a very dense, thicker bread, and with less sweetness and flavor, but by adding some extra cinnamon and nutmeg it's pretty good. The bread is also about half the height of other baked pumpkin breads.  I test the bread about 30 minutes into the cooking time, and let it cool almost completely in the pan.  I finish the cooling on a wire rack before slicing. Flourless Pumpkin Bread In a blender mix all of the ingredients: 2 cups organic old-fashioned oats 15 oz. of frozen, thawed garden pumpkin puree (I measure it, as it will weigh differently depending on the thickness of your pumpkin puree).  You can use 1 can of pure pumpk...

  We had the most gorgeous 60°F day Wednesday.  It was also one of my most busiest days of the week for me as well.  Sheesh.  There were lots of dishes, more laundry, cleaning, cooking and so on.  I also started on the stairway clean up project.  It may take a month to finish, as I am fitting it in my cleaning schedule, as I have time for it. I finished dusting and cleaning all of the kitchen blinds and windows, and the valances were washed and put out on the line. It was so nice to open windows and let the fresh air flow for a day.  So intoxicating for the soul.  Winter can seem so long sometimes, and this day was welcomed by all. To focus on what's in the freezer and pantry. . . I made a batch of Einkorn pumpkin pancakes for us for breakfast, and more egg cups, as I had one more cup of cooked sage sausage to use.  I used thawed frozen pumpkin puree from last year's garden, for the pancakes.  Einkorn flour pancakes are the best.  ...

  I have had homemade granola bars on my to-do list for months, and have not gotten around to making a batch.  A daughter had requested the recipe, but I have made a few different ones over the years. My Mom gave me a recipe for peanut butter granola bars.  They require a cereal, but when I made them, I found an organic non-gmo cereal variety that worked with with them.  I have no idea if the cereal even exists anymore, but the recipe for those can be found HERE .  I do roast the nuts and oats in the oven, but it's not necessary. I use one of my measuring cup bottoms to press the mixture down into the pan, and fold the parchment over a bit to press down the edges.  Otherwise, it will stick your spatula or hands. Another variety of homemade granola bars, uses a bit of butter, and we do love this one too (more of a fruit/nut bar).  The recipe is posted HERE on my blog, but it does contain sugar (brown sugar).  I have not tried making them with monkf...

I make this smaller batch recipe of homemade everything bagel seasoning,  but you can increase it for larger spice jars. There are many recipes online for this seasoning.   I use 1 tsp of each of the following: -kosher salt -dried minced garlic (I make mine homemade) -dried minced onion (again you can make this in a dehydrator) -sesame seeds -poppy seeds (all organic) I like to spread cream cheese on snack sized bell peppers, sprinkle the seasoning and sometimes add a few pieces of turkey pepperoni/cooked bacon or other choice of meat on top.  I gave my husband one the other day, and he is in love with this snack idea.  He put his nose up when I mentioned organic cream cheese, but he loves it.  The seasoning is the ticket for flavor.  So good.  I cannot wait for a fresh garden bell pepper this summer. My husband loves it so much, that he asked for his own seasoning shaker to take to work. You could top these with cooked bacon pieces, turkey pepper...

As hard as I try to put balance in my day, I find myself in the kitchen for hours.  First, breakfast prep, then dinner prep, then snack prep, then dishes...just seems endless.  Some days I love it, other days not so much. I sliced up some carrots and bell peppers for my husband's lunch/snack, and realized he may want a dip.  Then I found myself making hummus, and more dishes to wash. During our weekend shopping trip, we could not find borax.  We had to go to two stores to find ground pork.  It's beginning to look like more shortages or lack of product (or lack of employees to get the product on the shelf?). While we were at Wal-mart to get supplies, I walked down the yarn aisle to look for Caron Simply Soft yarn.  They have completely taken all name brand yarn out (other than some redheart), and replaced it with generic brands.  Frustrating.  It seems the only place to get a good selection is JoAnn Fabrics anymore (higher prices though). We called...

There was no problem staying busy with my routine back to just me, other than the girls are home.  I had a lot on my to-do list, and 3 of us were fighting over the washing machine. There is much stress here.  The car was worked on last night, but continues to not start.  On top of that my husband has to work with someone exposed to a person who tested positive (it's been 2 weeks, but this is more stress to worry about).  Hubby said his boss looks like he aged 20 years since he saw him last.  Also, our daughter who works had a co-worker show up for work who claimed she was tested due to being around a positive case (she was sent home).  So much to worry about, and there is too many false negative and false positive testing right now.  What can we believe to be true?  You are lucky if you have no one working in your house.   On top of that, the girls are fighting but it's mostly because of one of them, and I'm about to lose my mind....

Our favorite granola bars, and freezer friendly.  Excellent for a snack, for car trips, camping, motorcycle rides (minus the chocolate since it can melt), school lunches and more. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper.  If you do not have parchment paper, you may be successful lining it with foil and lightly oiling it (I have only used parchment and it works great). In a rimmed sheet pan, place 2 1/2 cups organic oats and 1/2 cup chopped organic nuts of your choice. Heat oven to 350°F and toast oats and nuts for about 8 minutes.  If you chose to add seeds (read below for the additional 3/4 cup of your choice), I like to add them to the sheet pan and toast along with the oats and nuts.  I use hemp seeds often. While that is toasting in the oven, in a small pan heat: 1/4 c. organic butter 1/4 c. organic honey 1/3 c. organic brown sugar Heat on low until sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and add: 1/2 to 1 tsp. homemade vanilla ....

Wednesday I knew it was going to rain, but still did some laundry.  Hubby has been working overtime, and forgot to put his laundry in the utility room.  We have indoor racks so it was not a big deal. I had no produce to put up (feeling sort of odd about that too), so I whipped up some dog treats.  I now have them on hand for grand-pup visits here or their place.  I used my home grown pumpkin puree to make them.  All organic ingredients.  Normally, I'd bake these with our homegrown carrots, but we were force to plant late, and I have not even checked them yet.  I've used a few different recipes, but here is one of them: Homemade Organic Dog Treats 3/4 cup organic pumpkin puree (I grow my own pie pumpkins) 1/4 cup shredded organic carrots 1/3 cup organic (ingredients should say peanuts only) peanut butter 1/4 tsp. organic cinnamon 1 egg beaten (I use our organic fed hen eggs) 2 cups organic all purpose flour Preheat oven to 350°F, line b...

Sorry if this is a boring post about beans, but I have a few new recipes to share - from "pile to file" keepers.  I've found my voice this month, so watch out for long posts.  I think I have blog-i-tis this October.  I can't blame the weather either.  It's been hot out again. The only other news, is that while I was sitting on the porch with leg up sipping my hot herbal tea yesterday, a car hit a deer just yards from our north drive.  The driver pulled over (a young girl), and the deer flopped around on the road for a few seconds, then got up and ran off.  The same area a car hit one early morning not long ago.  There is a corn field adjacent and north of our property.    Before We also got some barn siding removed last night.  We are tired folks.  Simply tired. We've been eating more beans than meat lately.  It helps the budget as well as our health.  These meals were over a period of time. ...

I used the last of the sweet potatoes for dinner.  I'm thrilled they lasted this long.  Do you see that recipe?  Ha!  It's in my pile on the counter, but half of the recipe is missing.  It's for a beef barley soup, which is really not new to me.  However, I decided to use all the ingredients, but use my crock pot, and leave out the beef. Funny story about this.  I was on my knees, digging through the freezer looking for beef, when I found one last bag of frozen garden tomatoes.  I was so excited the girls laughed at me.

Here is what has been cookin' up this week (and last): Banana, strawberry, blueberry bread.  I used Giada's recipe for banana-blueberry bread, but left out one banana and added a cup of chopped frozen strawberries.  It turned out very moist, and delicious.  It was a much welcomed, "after school" snack.

Strawberry Chocolate chip muffins.  These were so delicious.  I sort of made it up.  To save on the organic milk budget, I used powdered milk, then tossed in some leftover mini-chocolate chips.  The family loved these for breakfast or snack.  It uses canola oil, so here is where my canned applesauce comes in handy to stretch that budget too.  Organic oil is not cheap either.

I'm very late in posting about the pe anuts, so it's being posted today. We grew heirloom peanuts last year.  A small "test" patch area of the garden, and although a few did not sprout leaves, many did. We planted Negrito Manduvi peanuts, and purchased the starter peanuts from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. We pulled the plants (or I should say "I" pulled them), and allowed the tops to dry before removing the peanuts.

Easy Layered Dip 1 - 8 oz. cream cheese 2 cloves of garlic minced 1-2 Roma tomatoes (or your choice) chopped Green onions, snipped Mozzarella cheese, finely shredded Set cream cheese out to soften.  Once soft, cream it with the minced garlic.  Spread it onto a serving plate (I use a regular dinner plate).  Top it with chopped tomatoes, and green onions.  Add shredded cheese to cover, to your taste. Refrigerate for several hours for the garlic and cream cheese to infuse flavors.  Serve with crackers of your choice, and set the dip out for a few minutes to soften again (or it will be difficult to "dip" your crackers).