Category Archives: Recipes & Cooking

Favorite simple yet delicious recipes in my Texas Homestead kitchen.

Lemon Cookies Made w/Instant Potatoes

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

We were given a package of instant potato flakes. But I don’t cook with instant potatoes since we both much prefer the taste of real mashed potatoes to instant.

But y’all know how I hate to waste food, so I set out looking for ways to use them up. Thickening for soup? Sure. Topping for shepherd’s pie? Ok.

But it’s taking too long to use this bag of instant potatoes. So I set out to find a recipe to use ’em up a little faster.

Then I stumbled on a recipe to make COOKIES with them. Cookies? Really!??  Hummmm….

Cookies made with instant mashed potatoes?? YES! These cookies were surprisingly delicious, lemony & cake-like - check out my recipe. #TexasHomesteader

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MYO Thousand Island Dressing In Minutes

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

RancherMan’s not much of a salad guy. But he knows I’ll be pushing the fresh veggies on him every chance I get. LOL!

Recently I came by a larger quantity of carrots. So in an effort to make sure they didn’t go to waste I blanched & froze quite a few. I also steamed others for supper sides.

Oh, and I also sliced up some raw ones as well. In a sneaky sneak-in-more-veggies move I have a glass container that I keep in the fridge with these sliced carrots. While I’m preparing supper I’ll bring it out for him to snack on.

But he’s not one to snack on carrots without dipping them into a sauce of some kind. And his sauce of choice is Thousand Island dressing.

But then the unthinkable happened – we ran out of the dressing.

(In my best southern belle voice) “Oh gracious, what evah shall I do??”

In only 3 minutes time I can whip up homemade Thousand Island Dressing. Environmentally friendly, healthier and so inexpensive! #TexasHomesteader

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Save Time & Money With ‘Cook Once, Eat Twice’ Method Of Cooking

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

“COOK ONCE EAT TWICE” method of cooking means homemade meals are a snap to enjoy now & freeze some for later, and less cleanup too!

The idea is simple – cook LOTS of a specific main entrée and enjoy it at mealtime that day. Then portion out & freeze the rest for quick meals later.

It’s been a game-changer for me.

Cook-Once, Eat-Twice method of cooking is simple - cook many servings of a main entrée and freeze extras for ready-made meals later. #TexasHomesteader

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Wild Game Recipe: Wild Hog Pork Ribs On The Grill

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by Texas Homesteader 

Wild hogs are a problem here in NE Texas, their destruction is far-reaching and often severe.  These destructive creatures sweep across our fields in great quantities & root huge holes in our pastures overnight. This damage not only destroys the pasture grasses we rely on to feed our cattle, but can be damaging to our equipment as well.

But the good news is these wild hogs are just pork – escaped domestic hogs that have re-bred for years in the wild. RancherMan is an accomplished hunter. Since these wild hogs are so plentiful on our homestead it’s very common for us to have an abundance of wild pork in our freezer at any given time.

I’ve written before about some of the many ways I cook this meat such as Pulled Pork Sandwiches & Slow Cooker Pork Roast w/Red Wine, But today I’m writing about that sweet rite of Barbeque-Season passage – Pork Ribs on the grill!

RancherMan is an accomplished hunter and wild pork is plentiful here in NE Texas. Today he invited over dinner guests & grilled up some ribs! #TexasHomesteader

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