by Texas Homesteader ~
I’ve found a way to shorten cooking times while keeping my slow cooker set to a tiny energy-sipping ‘Low’ power. Check out this simple Homestead Hack.
Kitchen Hack To Make Your Slow Cooker More Efficient
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Category Archives: Recipes & Cooking
A Trick I’ve Learned…
by Texas Homesteader ~
RancherMan & I have been burning the candle at both ends lately it seems. We’ve had business commitments, familial commitments and community commitments. Truth be told we’ve been running a LOT! So half of my gallon of milk sat in the fridge & got a little too close to it’s use-by date and ended up lightly soured. I didn’t throw it away – I made cottage cheese with it! It was very quick & so easy.
Homogenized Milk vs Raw Milk
Now I must say there are some very strong opinions out there on whether or not soured pasteurized milk is the same as soured raw milk. I’ve tried raw milk before but I don’t much care for it so I buy my milk. I haven’t done massive research on all the nuances into safety vs purity of raw vs homogenized milk. I think there are valid points on both sides. But in this post I’m sharing what I’ve personally done.
No Arguments!
I’ve made this cottage cheese from lightly-soured commercially-purchased milk several times. My experience is that my homemade cottage cheese is absolutely delicious and tastes no different to me than commercially-purchased cottage cheese. I’m happy to share this easy procedure with you. But I won’t get into a soured raw milk vs soured commercial milk discussion, m’kay? We’re all friends here & you have the right to your opinion and to nourish your body as you like, just as we all do! I’m just sharing my personal experience here. So we’re all good?? Alrighty then!
Making Low-Carb Veggie Noodles, ZOODLES!
by Texas Homesteader ~
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I’ve heard about it for years, using squash in the place of high-carb pasta noodles. Some people eat spaghetti squash as a low-carb noodle substitute.
But I’ve found for us it’s best to eat spaghetti squash just as a fun-shaped squash. To me the taste is nothing like pasta. (I do have a delicious Cheesy Spaghetti-Squash dish we enjoy.)
Other people swear by making spiral-type noodles using fresh vegetables. Supposedly it’s a more realistic way to enjoy a noodle-shaped vegetable in the place of pasta. My garden produced so much zucchini I really wanted to give the spiral-noodle thingee a try.
There are various contraptions made to cut your squash into noodles and I decided on the Veggetti.
Homestead Hack: Free Vegetable Broth!
by Texas Homesteader ~
I like to use broth for my cooking. Let’s face it – no matter what you’re cooking it’s just more flavorful when it’s made with broth instead of water.
Want to know how I get vegetable broth for FREE? Check out this ridiculously-easy Homestead Hack…
Double-Chocolate Banana Chunk Cookies
by Texas Homesteader ~
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These double chocolate banana-chunk cookies are primarily sweetened with the natural sugars of banana and honey. Fluffy, soft & chewy cookies that are bursting with chocolate flavor. 
Cantaloupe Bread with Pecan Praline Glaze
by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link
I had extra cantaloupe in my garden. So I made cantaloupe bread with a praline glaze. It’s similar to zucchini bread, but made with cantaloupe. And it was delicious!
Vinegar Made With Pineapple Scraps
by Texas Homesteader ~
*affiliate link
I’ve tried on numerous occasions to make apple cider vinegar. But each & every time it was a failure for me. I don’t know why but instead of turning into that ACV I desired, it turned into a sour mess.
But in contrast each time I’ve made vinegar with pineapple scraps it’s been successful! So recently I had a fresh pineapple & I decided to make pineapple vinegar – it’s SO EASY!
(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a small purchase. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)
And I used a *pineapple peeler/corer to peel and core that pineapple in less than ONE MINUTE! (have I mentioned how much I love that thing??!!)
After enjoying that sweet, juicy pineapple I set out to make my own homemade pineapple vinegar. It’s EASY, and I recently wrote an article for Mother Earth News Magazine about it. Check it out!
*affiliate – Amazon, Mother Earth News
How To Make Pear Sauce With Fresh Pears
by Texas Homesteader ~
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I’ve heard of people making something similar to applesauce but using pears instead – Pear Sauce! I love applesauce so I figured I should give it a try.
Using my slow cooker it was super easy too, the procedure is the same as when I made homemade applesauce. Check it out!
