Category Archives: Recipes & Cooking

Favorite simple yet delicious recipes in my Texas Homestead kitchen.

Preserving The Harvest: Pressure-Canning Corn

by Texas Homesteader~
* contains affiliate link

I recently received quite a few ears of sweet corn but it was WAY more than we could eat fresh. I wanted to preserve it so none would be wasted.

Our freezer is already pretty full so I was only able to toss in a couple of the whole ears for freezing, and then I went to researching pressure-canning options.

I was able to can the corn in little time. And since I was using my reusable canning lids I also created no waste.

The cobs went to the hog traps, the shucks went to the goats and the sweet corn goodness goes to us!

Continue reading →

French-Bread Pizza!

24 Replies

by Texas Homesteader

RancherMan loves bread in all forms and we always have plenty of bread in the house. But sometimes it’s hard to plan the purchases where the bread will be completely consumed while it’s at its freshest. Sometimes even with careful planning the bread will get hard & stale.

There are many things I like to do with the bread to make sure it’s all put to good use, but RancherMan’s absolute F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E thing for me to do with it is make French-Bread Pizza. It’s quick, it’s delicious, and it utilizes bread that would have otherwise been wasted. What’s not to love??

Continue reading →

Solar Cooking: Baked Potatoes

13 Replies

by Texas Homesteader~
*contains affiliate link

I came across a great deal on a huge back of potatoes recently. So I figured I’d use my solar oven to cook up baked potatoes.

Well folks it’s still hot in Texas. And that’s not exactly the best time to throw on your heat-producing electric oven in your kitchen and bake potatoes.

Aaaaaanyway, here’s how I baked my potatoes.

Continue reading →

Easier Homemade Dill Pickles From Garden Cucumbers

9 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

We love dill pickles but I struggle making my own brine. I’ve found the secret weapon – a SUPER EASY brine. Making homemade pickles has never been THIS easy! Check it out.

Continue reading →

RECIPE: Homemade Jalapeno Cornbread Baked In Cast Iron Skillet

26 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

This simple, moist and zesty jalapeno cornbread recipe is on tight rotation in my Homestead kitchen. It’s lightly sweet and bakes up fast in a cast-iron skillet. You can leave out the jalapenos if you don’t like spicy food and it’s still delicious.

Continue reading →

Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrate Jalapenos

35 Replies

by Texas Homesteader
*this post contains an affiliate link

I’ve been using my solar oven pretty heavily this year and I’ve finally dehydrated all my excess garden tomatoes for the summer.

(again for those of you asking, I have a *Sun Oven and I love it!)

I’ll use the dehydrated tomatoes in numerous ways. To make tomato paste for homemade pizza and to thicken my homemade blender salsa, among other ways.

This late into summer is usually so very hot and dry that the garden stops producing and I just try to keep the garden watered enough to struggle it along in hopes of getting some kind of tiny fall garden production.

This time of year 99% of my garden is out of production. But we do have one last veggie going strong – FIERY-RED JALAPENOS!

Continue reading →

Solar Cooking: Homemade Marinara Sauce

28 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link

Is there much better than homemade fresh tomato marinara sauce?? It offers that taste that you just can’t get from the store shelves. But it’s true that you have to simmer it a bit to thicken it up and intensify all those delightful flavors.

It’s hot & humid here in NE Texas and simmering a pan on the stove for that length of time just didn’t appeal to me at all. Luckily I didn’t have to, the solar oven did a fantastic job and all the cooking heat was left outside where it belongs!

Continue reading →