Homemaking on the Homestead

Happy Friday! This weeks grocery haul is pretty simple. I didn't need to go to Costco for anything so it was a quick trip to Winco to get us stocked up for the week.    I picked up the regular fruit (oranges, apples and bananas) and a few veggies. I still had lettuce and spinach at home so all I needed were some tomatoes, mushrooms and a cucumber. I also purchased half & half, a box of cashew milk (I love this brand! If you drink nut milks I highly recommend this one, So Delicious is the brand), 2 bottles of Gatorade, a package of cheddar cheese slices and a package of provolone slices, some pepperoni from the deli and a box of store brand pie crusts to make a chicken pot pie with. Total from Winco and my grand total for this week:   $28.00 *********** Broccoli Cheese Soup This recipe was quick to put together and tasted so good. I've mentioned before that we're having cooler weather and the feel of fa...

This weeks grocery haul was another small one. I have meat in my freezer that I'm working through and I worked hard to avoid the meat aisles at the store in case I saw a deal I couldn't pass up.. Ha, ha! I want to use up some of what I already have to keep a good rotation going, and to free up space in my freezer. This weeks haul was from WinCo. We did not need to go to Costco. I needed to restock my salad veggies. I bought baby spinach, romaine hearts and cabbage. I like the nutritional value from those greens and the fact they make a pretty colored salad. I guess I like my salads looking pretty and appealing to eat. :) It's so easy to make veggies an afterthought with meal planning. And as I've looked at a few other blogs and YouTube's I find it interesting, sometimes, at how few fresh veggies people eat. I also picked up tomatoes, mushrooms and a green pepper for the salads. I still had a cucumber and beets left in the ...

Oh this was good!! I just kind of put this together as I was going along. I had about 3# of potatoes that needed to be used up and about 3/4# bacon in my fridge. The measurements are simply based on what I had. The end result was eaten up in no time at all! I peeled and cut up my potatoes, fried up the bacon and then put everything in my IP...   I let this cook on "manual" for 10 minutes and did a natural pressure release for about 10 minutes and then did a quick release of the pressure after that.  I used a potato masher to mash up some of the potatoes to thicken the soup. Then added the cream and it was ready to serve... If the chowder is to thick for your preference, add more cream.  If it is to thin, mash up a few more of the potatoes.  Perfect meal for cold winter evening.   Potato, Corn & Bacon Chowder for the Instant Pot This recipe could easily be made on the stove top as well or the crockpot. The IP ...

Is it feeling like fall in your area? Are you ready for a hot bowl of yummy chowder? This is clam chowder might be the answer! This recipe makes a big pot of chowder. It does freeze pretty well. I often freeze portions of it for my hubby to take to work. I buy my clams from Costco. The cans are large and come two in a pack. The size of the can is 51 ounces. If you can't find this or something similar you can use small cans to get as close to the size as possible.    Open the can of clams and drain, saving the clam juice. The big can of clams gives me about 4 cups of reserved clam juice. To begin with I peel and chop 4#'s of potatoes into approximately 1 to 2 inch cubes. Then cover with water and add a couple teaspoons of salt and put them on the stove to cook.  While they are cooking melt a...

This turned out to be so good. What a delicious way to get a lot of vegetables into the diet. But be warned.. this makes a HUGE pot of soup. It ended up almost filling up my 8 quart stock pot. That is a lot of soup. The recipe can easily be cut in half (which is still a lot of soup) and it can be frozen as well. I still make big batches of food because I'm feeding guys, hungry guys that eat a lot! And I like to have my meals last for a couple of days and provide food for the working men in my home to take to work. The soup is full of yummy veggies. Here are the veggies all cup and the chicken waiting to be cooked... I did not use chicken stock in this recipe. I started by cooking my chicken meat in the water to give the soup flavor, and then removing the cooked chicken, adding the veggies and letting those cook for a bit. And of course adding salt to bring out the flavors. In the end the broth was perfect (and no MSG, which is a good thing because it bothers m...

Oh man.. sometimes you just wing it and it turns out amazing! Maybe we were all just really hungry! ~smile~ But this was really good. I served corn muffins with it. It makes a very big pot of soup. I'm sure it freezes just fine. I personally don't have enough leftover to freeze.. my family ate it up and gave it 2 thumbs up! Chicken Veggie Soup 2 quarts chicken broth 3#'s chicken (boneless, skinless) ½ a medium size cabbage, chopped 2 peppers, cut up (green, read, yellow.. your choice) 2 cups chopped broccoli pieces 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cups sliced celery 1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes 2t salt 1t pepper 1t garlic powder 1 ½ t Italian seasonings 2 or 3 shakes of your favorite hot sauce In a large 8 quart stock pot put in 1 quart chicken broth and the chicken. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to cool. In the stock pot add all the veggies and the other quart of chicken broth. Bring to a...

Not in the sense of “condensed cream of mushroom soup” used for cooking. But rather a soup.. for eating.. that is very yummy!! I had about 16oz of mushrooms that I did not use up as fast as I had thought I would. I could have given them to the goats or tossed them in the freezer to use in my next batch of veggie stock, but instead I wanted to make them into soup; which I did last night to go with our dinner. It was delish and my family ate it all up. I served it along with sautéed sausages & cabbage, cornbread and a salad. It would make a great simple lunch or an addition to your dinner meal.  Cream of Mushroom Soup 16oz fresh mushrooms, sliced 1 medium onion, sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 stick butter 6T flour 4 cups chicken broth 1 ½ to 2 cups half n half 1t salt dash of pepper In a large stock pot melt butter. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic. Sautee until all veggies are soft. Add flour and stir it in. Add chicken broth and stir to remove ...