Category Archives: Recipes & Cooking

Favorite simple yet delicious recipes in my Texas Homestead kitchen.

Homemade Dehydrated Veggie Granules

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Last season I was trying to preserve as much garden excess as I could. I hated for any of it to go to waste. So we ate fresh from the garden every day, then I shared with family, friends & community. Then I preserved as much as I could either by freezing, canning or dehydrating.

You could say I was bitten by the dehydrating bug because the more I dehydrated those veggies the more enamored I became with the whole process. I was amazed at the small amount of space my dehydrated shredded potatoes took up in the pantry. I loved my dehydrated jujubes sprinkled in my homemade granola. I really enjoyed tossing dehydrated garden veggies into my never-ending soup. But now I’m experimenting with yet another way to use them. Salt-free veggie granules. OH YEAH!

Dehydrated Vegetable Granules made into bouillon utilize garden produce & provide a delicious, nutritious product for my family. #TexasHomesteader

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How Homemade Is It?

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by  Texas Homesteader 

I like to cook from scratch whenever possible, and sometimes I have a little game I play that I’ll call “How Homemade IS It??” Is it homemade in that I assembled the ingredients myself? That I grew the ingredients myself? That I even made the condiments myself?

Now let me make myself perfectly clear here lest some of you get the very mistaken idea that I’m a Kitchen Wonder Woman who only uses her own home-churned butter & homemade bread. Although I enjoy growing or making from scratch as much of our food as I can, it’s not like I always prepare a completely from-scratch meal. And there are certainly convenience foods that play a part in my kitchen because for me it’s all about moderation. But every now & then it’s fun to play this game.

So pull up a chair & let’s play the latest edition of the Texas Homesteader game: HOW HOMEMADE IS IT??

Join me in this fun game I play in my kitchen to lower my grocery budget: 'Homemade Cooking: How Homemade *IS* It??' #TexasHomesteader
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MYO Nutritious Turkey Broth Inexpensively

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

After the turkey has been roasted and enjoyed, there’s still lots of food waiting to be enjoyed just by using the bones. I’ll make cheap, delicious and healthy broth with them. A money saver for sure. 

My method takes the leftovers after you enjoy your meal (the bones) and turns them into inexpensive nutritious turkey broth. Win/Win! #TexasHomesteader

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Quick No-Cook Chocolate Glaze To Drizzle

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Last week I shared with you a very quick & easy single serve 60-second microwave brownie  recipe. I mentioned that sometimes to add a gooeyness that I crave I like to top the hot brownie with this pourable chocolate frosting.

It turns this quick & easy treat into something more like a molten chocolate cake.  

(Hey don’t judge, sometimes a girl just can’t get enough chocolate!) 

I promised to share the recipe with you and here it is, my friends. Get ready to be amazed!

It's so easy to make this quick no-cook drizzle chocolate & I always have these ingredients in my pantry - no more frosting in a plastic tub for me! #TexasHomesteader
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60-Second Single-Serve Microwave Mug Brownie

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Although we don’t eat lots of sweets, I love chocolate & RancherMan has a sweet tooth.

But with only two of us in the house these days I know better than to whip up a chocolate cake or the like when we’re in the mood for something sweet (and CHOCOLATE!) So what’s a girl to do?

Here’s how the conversation went recently about an hour after supper: 

RancherMan – “It sure would be nice to have something sweet.” 

Me – “OK, how about I make a hot homemade brownie just for you?” 

Really, that’s all the preplanning it took! 

After mixing a few ingredients and 60-seconds in the microwave I presented him with a hot homemade brownie.

Yes I smeared a little flour on my cheek & came out of the kitchen looking like I had worked hard over his brownie treat…  LOL 

Here’s how I made it:

With a few simple ingredients & 60 seconds in the microwave I can have a delicious, hot, single-serve brownie. See my recipe! #TexasHomesteader

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Good Eats From Crappy Bread

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by Texas Homesteader ~
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I don’t know why I have such a drive against food waste. Of course no one likes to WASTE food, but it’s almost an obsession for me to make sure no food goes to waste. I never ever remember going hungry a day in my life so I don’t think it’s an emotional scar of any kind.

I know it’s good for the budget to use all the food you’ve already purchased, And I know that not buying more food to replace what you’ve had to throw away is good from an environmental standpoint too. So maybe there’s where the secret to my obsession lies.

In any case, my wheels were turning on what to do with this stale, rock-hard yet expensive artisan french bread.  I KNOW – I’ll make crostini crackers!

CROSTINI CRACKERS MADE FROM STALE BREAD - Fast & Easy with no waste! Good with hummus, dip, chili - almost anything! #TexasHomesteader Continue reading →

Easy Ways To Dehydrate Celery To Reduce Food Waste

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I use celery from time to time when I’m cooking. But it’s always just an ingredient and never the main event in my kitchen.

So here’s what I do to make sure it’s all used up or preserved before it goes bad.

I've learned how to preserve celery so it's always available when I want to use it in a recipe. #TexasHomesteaderPhoto by: Ashley
(because heaven knows *I* can’t make a photograph of a bunch of celery look like it belongs in an art studio!)

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