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~
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Homemade Garlic Powder
Monday, October 2, 2017
Fall Garlic Planting ~ Garlic Powder ~ Recipes that Use It
So, without photos of the barn clean up, I'll share my garlic. A frost is possible in a week or so, and I wanted this job done.
Last year I planted about 175 cloves of garlic.
Grand total so far: 226 cloves of garlic
Here are a few recipes (and links to recipes) I use my home ground garlic powder in:
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Garlic Scape Powder ~ Spiced Peanuts
Woke up to a brisk 49°F (feels like 47°F). Brrr! Not good for the garden. Sheesh. Yesterday the wind was blowing so hard I chose not to use the clothesline in fear my bloomers would end up in the next county.
Garlic scapes are part of the garlic plant that gets cut off to help the plant continue to grow. By the way, if you do not grow garlic, check your local Farmer's Markets for garlic scapes. Many gardeners sell them this time of year.
They are edible and we love to make garlic scape dip with radishes we grow as well.
They also last a long time in the refrigerator, but this year I tried something new with the remaining scapes. I dehydrated them into garlic scape powder.
Dice scapes and use the temperature on your dehydrator you use to dehydrate vegetables. Once they are dried, grind to a powder using a coffee mill and store as you would garlic powder. It's a milder flavor, but I'm excited to have it in my pantry this year. I've never dehydrated garlic scapes before.
I had a jar of dry roasted (unsalted) peanuts that needed dealt with before expiration, so I made spiced peanuts.
So good! It's just a 16 oz. container of peanuts, 2 Tbsp. organic canola oil, 2 Tbsp. of sugar (I used monk fruit), 1 1/2 tsp. organic cumin, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. organic cayenne, 1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder. Mix in a bowl, spread onto a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 20-25 minutes at 300°F. Cool on waxed paper. I bake mine on my pampered chef stoneware pan.Friday, August 30, 2013
Dehydrating Garlic ~ Making Garlic Powder
Dehydrating garlic was next on my list of "to-do's," and to make garlic powder from my home grown garlic. Some of my followers have probably already made homemade garlic powder, so forgive me if it's a boring post. This is a first time for me.
We were gifted garlic two years ago, and planted all of them in the garden in the fall. I dug them up the next season, and repeated that for one more year, expanding our harvest this year.
Friday, July 27, 2018
Finding my Mojo
After waking up with a bit of a sore throat (allergies), I decided to take Thursday off from the garden (avoiding the grass), and get some inside work done. I was up just before 5am and downed a cup of hot ginger tea before making good ol' organic coffee.
It started as a beautiful day, but I was praying for rain too. We need it badly. We got rain too. Twice during the day, but not enough. We could use more.
Even though I've been whooped by dinner time, dinner has still been getting made - homemade chicken alfredo and roasted rosemary asparagus. The alfredo sauce has been posted before, but not the entire recipe. We are just low on fruit. The red raspberries need rain. The blackberries are loaded, but not ripe to pick just yet.
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup organic butter (or homemade)
2 cups (1 pint) organic/non-gmo whipping cream
4 oz. organic cream cheese (or homemade)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic*
1 tsp. homemade garlic powder
1 tsp. homemade Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup grated organic Parmesan cheese.
Melt butter, cream cheese and whisk in the whipping cream. Continue to whisk until blended, then add the remaining ingredients.
Toss in diced and cooked organic chicken, and your favorite cooked pasta.
Note: I've used freshly minced garlic before, and you can also make your own homemade minced garlic. Simply dehydrate, but don't grind it into powder, just pulse in a coffee mill until it's "minced." You can also mince it fresh onto parchment paper and dehydrate. I linked on how I slice and dehydrate the garlic. To make the powder I grind it up in a small coffee mill and store it in a glass jar in the cupboard.
Roasted Rosemary Asparagus
Clean asparagus and lay on a baking tray with rim. Drizzle with organic olive oil and sprinkle with chopped, dried rosemary. Add salt and pepper. Roast at 400° for about 15-18 minutes.
As for finding my mojo, I took my handiwork to the porch to simply have some well deserved relaxation time. Although that was after I made a big batch of blueberry pancakes for the rest of the week and weekend.
I also started back on the book shelf. More remains on my kitchen table. I was able to sort out some to save, and a few more to give away. I have not purged my crafting books though. Those stay. And anything homesteading related.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Easy Peasy Cheddar Cheesy ~ Healthy Garlic Cheddar Biscuits ~ Tales of an Accidental Baker
The wind chill was a perfect time to bake a side dish to go with our big pot of chili. I typically make a buttermilk cornbread, but we have to keep an eye on my husband's diet.
By the way, this morning we woke up to 23°F outside! Wind chill is 14°F. Feels like a heat wave after that sub zero weather we've had.
I resurrected this draft (while looking for something else), that I have had for a few years now. I have no idea who gave me the recipe, but there are so many variations of them.
I can't make this stuff up, ha ha!
First, my "whoopsie" below happened from using my recipe in my recipes, not off of this blog draft (thankfully).
It wasn't until I made them again, that I realized my blog draft said "baking soda" and my home recipe stated "baking powder." Had I not even found this draft, messed them up again, and looked at both recipes, I would have never noticed until someone else baked them.
I made them again, but this time used the correct ingredients. They are taller, but I still want to make them again, and swap the sour cream with greek yogurt (just to try).
Here is the recipe for the "Low Carb" Garlic Cheddar Biscuits I made the other day:
1 1/2 Cups Organic almond flour (superfine)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder (non-gmo)
1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder (organic)
1/2 tsp. homemade onion powder (organic)
2 large farm fresh eggs
1/2 cup organic sour cream (or homemade)
4 Tbsp. organic butter, melted
1/2 cup organic shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside. Mix wet ingredients, then add we to dry and mix well.
I lined my muffin pan with parchment cups for easier removal (which worked great), otherwise use a non-stick spray.
Makes 12 muffins. Batter is slightly thick, but bakes up so nice.
Bake at 450°F for 10-11 minutes.
Note: I sometimes freeze organic sour cream, and had thawed it, stirred it and used it in this recipe. It will be a thinner texture of sour cream, but worked great for baking.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Bald Eagles ~ Homemade Seasoned Salt
We've been watching a family of 4 bald eagles out in a field by our homestead. As long as the leave my barn cats and chickens alone, we are enjoying watching them.
I made homemade seasoned salt for a recipe I needed it for yesterday. It was better than store bought seasoned salt.
I used my homemade onion powder and garlic powder to make it too.
Homemade Seasoned Salt
2 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. organic paprika
1/4 tsp. organic turmeric
1/4 tsp. homemade organic onion powder
1/4 tsp. homemade organic garlic powder
1/4 tsp. organic non-gmo corn starch
Mix and use in any recipe.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Homemade Sausage ~ Biscuits and Gravy Oh My!
Clean up before the end of the day. But oh, so much more to weed (like about 60-70 feet of flower/herb beds).
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Homemade Smoked Almonds
I love smoked almonds. However, the ingredients in them are typically bad for good health. Usually, they include bad oils and a form of soy. In my opinion, all soy, unless it's organic/non-gmo, is bad for good health. Very bad. If you saw how many times they spray the soybean field in my state, you'd never eat anything with it again. Anyway....
I decided to make my own.
First, I made homemade celery salt using dehydrated organic celery leaves and salt. I had about 1/4 cup of dehydrated celery leaves, so I ground them up with a small amount of salt. I didn't measure. I just "eye-balled" it.
Tip: When you purchase organic celery with leaves, to freeze celery for winter, dehydrate your leaves for celery salt or to simply use in soups/stews, pastas, and other dishes too.
Then I made the almonds with the celery salt and other ingredients. How did they taste?
Delicious! I used all organic ingredients and the egg white from one of our layers.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Homemade Croutons ~ Homemade Dry Italian Seasoning ~ Tidbits
It seemed as soon as we stocked some firewood by the house, the weather turned dreary, cold and then rain arrived.
Our grocery store is now selling an organic whole wheat (labeled non-gmo) bread. I was lucky to get a loaf at a good price, which I made homemade croutons with. Next batch I will try using homemade bread of some sort.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Fascinating Tidbits ~ Garlic Butter
Gladys were all pulled for winter. The bulbs have grown bigger over the years, and have outgrown their box. They won't survive the winter here outside.
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Finishing up homemade garlic powder ~ Growing Rhubarb Question
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Best Way to Dehydrate Chives ~ Homemade Dry Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix
Spring herbs are here!
Store bought chives are expensive. The cost for the above bottle of dried chives was $4.58! I freeze my chives, but for the dry Ranch mix recipe, I need dehydrated/dried chives. The bottle above is .12 oz and when ground makes 7 1/2 teaspoons. It is horribly expensive, and I have managed to kill the indoor chive plant I brought inside.
So....on a mission I went...
I dehydrated chives many years ago, but did not do my research before hand. I had snipped them, and placed them on parchment paper in the dehydrator, and they the fan blew them all over the inside.
Here is what I have researched.
-if you wash your chives, be sure to let they dry or dry them with a towel, or use a vegetable drying pad to let them dry off any water from washing them. Otherwise, your dehydrator time will be a lot longer.
-do not snip them, keep the the chives whole, and place in the dehydrator.
-do not use a heat higher than 95°F, and dry them for 12-16 hours (mine took closer to the 16 hour mark, and this can vary). Check your dehydrator for the temperture setting. My chives are very long and thick, so I used every tray in my dehydrator to avoid cutting them at all. Also, rotate your trays during they drying time.
Keeping the chives whole, prevents them from moving around too much, and the temperature keeps the flavor retained.
I stored mine in a canning jar, and use a vaccuum seal to remove any extra air. I also kept them as long as I could, and will grind them only when I need them, to retain flavor.
Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2 cup Cultured Buttermilk Powder
1 Tbsp. homemade garlic powder
1 Tbsp. homemade onion powder
1 tsp. parsley* (see note below for this and next two ingredients)
1 tsp. dill*
1 tsp. chives *
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Store in the refrigerator, or if you prefer to store it on a shelf, replace the buttermilk powder with powdered milk. If stored dry with buttermilk in the fridge, you'll want to use it up in about 2 months.
It will fit in a half pint jar. I used my canning funnel to fill the jar with ingredients.
*parsley, dill and chives are all dehydrated from the herb garden.
I first used this on chicken for a chicken, wild rice and broccoli casserole. Years ago, I would just put the bone in chicken in the pan, but this time I cooked the chicken on the stove top, cubed with this ranch dry mix. It turned out wonderful.
We also used it for a dressing (add what you like), and it's pretty good, and uses less ingredients to make. It makes a very good dip recipe for vegetables. We like to blend cottage cheese (vs. sour cream) and add the dry Ranch mix. So good!
On a side note, I freeze chives as well, for other dishes . I simply snip, store in freezer bags (flat), or fill freezer containers. I just take it out, use what I need and put it back into the freezer. We can enjoy chives in the colder months of winter. I also freeze some of our green onions with the same process.
Best Way to Dehydrate Chives ~ Homemade Dry Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix© Apr 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Honey Roasted Cashews ~ Oven Baked Frozen Garden Green Beans ~ Gingersnap Pear Pie (old post link)
I had just enough cashews to use up, and the oven was already on, so.....
Monday, September 28, 2020
Happy Homemaker Monday
I had a very relaxing island getaway weekend with my husband.
We came back fully recharged mentally and physically. I've got my to-do list written out and ready to take on the day.
Grab a cup of your favorite java. Sorry, but this post is a bit of a long one. Taking a few days off gives me some things to talk about today.
Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.
The weather outside is . . .
The rain has now shifted from Tue/Wed to today. So....with help of a daughter, and my husband, we picked all my black beans and we fall planted 52 cloves of garlic. Although, I do need to plant more, but will need to buy it if I can find it so I have enough for next year's homemade garlic powder, minced garlic and so forth. I use a lot of it with my canning recipes. I also picked 3 more green bell peppers and one lonely cucumber.Anyway, back to the weather, rain is 90% today, 78°F/48°F.
How I am feeling this morning . . .
Well, ready to take on the day, but a certain cat thought I needed to start my day at 3:30am. He's not even my cat. Sigh.
On my mind . . .
My to-do list. I already checked off two for today that we did yesterday, so that makes my mind rest a bit. I'm not looking forward to the shift my husband is working, as that puts all the garden work on me alone this week (one day at a time).
On the breakfast plate . . .
Bacon, Egg and Potato Casserole, Coffee
On my reading pile . . .
Seed catalogs.
On my TV . . .
We signed up for beast TV, so now with a box we can get all sorts of channels. Hubby watched his favorite football team play last night and he's a happy man.
On the menu . . .
-beef stew, homemade biscuits
-homemade biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes
-roast, potatoes, onions and carrots
-possibly a cake or sweet item on the menu this week.
On the camera. . .
Picture of the moon I took last Friday night. Strangest shape I have ever seen, but neat to see.
Looking around the house . . .
Well, the tomatoes are dwindling down, but at least the dishes were washed before I got home after our weekend away. Romeo needs his toys restocked so one of these day I'll get that done. He's acting up lately.
New recipe I tried last week or one I want to try . . .
Kahlua Krisipe Treats using homemade Kahlua. I'll be test tasting these at dinner.
To relax this week I will . . .
Crochet. Maybe work on Christmas tree ornaments.
Something to share . . .