Category Archives: Blog Posts

Homemade Meals Daily – The EASY Way

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~Texas Homesteader~ 

Many are surprised to find that I serve homemade meals every day. There are actually several good reasons for that. And none involve the words “Because I love to cook“!

Firstly, living in the country means there’s a limit to close places to go out to eat. And home delivery is certainly not even an option!

Secondly I know eating at home is a healthier option than the high-fat, high-sugar & high sodium options that tempt you at a restaurant. I’m able to serve a delicious homemade meal while still having control over any unhealthy ingredients in recipes.

Thirdly, it’s significantly cheaper to cook from scratch than to eat out, or even to utilize packaged convenience items sold in the stores. Being self employed means I’m extremely mindful of our budget.

But still it’s a surprise for many people, who ask:

“How in the world do you serve homemade meals every day??!!”

Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret – I use several shortcuts. And they could help you too!

Serving homemade meals every day doesn't have to be hard or time consuming. There are lots of easy shortcuts. Come see! #TexasHomesteader

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Make Your Own Pinto Bean Seasoning Mix – It’s Easy!

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I’m always cooking dried beans. It’s a pantry staple in our home. Beans are cheap, healthy and easy to make. I wrote recently about how I often Cook 2-Lbs Of Beans At Once in my Instant Pot.

WHAT? 2 lbs??!! That’s crazy. There are only two of you in your home, right? Won’t you be tired of pintos by the time you eat them?

Go ahead & check out the article, I show how I easily served those pintos in different ways for several days. Our palates never got bored!

But most of the time when I’m cooking up a batch of dried pintos I’m cooking them as a main dish for supper or as a side. If that’s the case I just season them with my own Pinto Bean Seasoning. Since I’ve been asked to share my seasoning recipe, read on dear friends!

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A Day On The Homestead: Continued Stay-Home Edition

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 
*contains affiliate link

Texas is starting to loosen its shelter-in-place recommendations. But RancherMan & I are not comfortable mingling among the masses just yet. Not even using proper social distancing procedures. So we’re still tucked in at our Homestead.

Luckily since we live & work right here, that’s not too far from our typical day anyway. Come see what a day at the Homestead looks like even during these shelter-in-place times.

Come with me for a day on the homestead. This day is filled with planning for our cattle, gardening, chickens and harvesting honey #TexasHomesteader

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Veggie Garden Update: May

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by Texas Homesteader

It was with high hopes in late winter that I planted my indoor greenhouse with my heirloom seeds. Those seeds sprouted into tiny seedlings and I anxiously planted them in my garden immediately after Easter (as is recommended in our planting zone 8 here in NE Texas.)

But the strange spring weather battled with my tender seedlings.

Mother Nature has been fighting back this spring. Alas, I've had to start all over in May. Want to see how it's going? Read on. #TexasHomesteader

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Arrowhead Cross Collage In A Shadow Box Frame

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I wanted to make a very sentimental gift for my mother. Y’all know I always prefer to make my gifts homemade. But I’m not really the creative type. So I struggle mightily with being able to figure out the perfect gift.

But this time I think my gift was perfect. I took arrowheads that my brother had flint-knapped years ago and arranged them into a cross for her. Come see how I was able to fashion this gift using only supplies I had at home.

I made this sentimental gift for my mother using just what we had at the house. I designed an arrowhead cross to go into a frame that was painted & distressed #TexasHomesteader

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Throwback Thursday

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Grilling season is upon us, y’all! Last year RancherMan decided he wanted to smoke pork roasts on the grill. So he went looking for a good rub recipe and BOY did he come up with a good one!

This rub is delicious and it’s also part of the mop-sauce ingredients. (oh, and the mop sauce contains both beer and coffee -powerfully flavored & DELICIOUS!) I often use the rub for seasoning other food in my kitchen too. It’s pretty multi-purpose for us.

So if you’re hankerin’ to get out & do some grilling and you’re looking for the perfect seasoning rub and mop sauce, look no further! Today to celebrate Throwback Thursday I’m sharing RancherMan’s favored recipe with you. Check it out!

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What Is The Definition Of ‘Mother’? Lessons I’ve Learned

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by Texas Homesteader ~

Happy Mother’s Day, y’all! I’ve learned some important lessons about motherhood. I have an amazing mother whose wisdom and guidance gave me the tools to become a loving mom myself.

She was firm in her expectations of each of her children. We were to respect each other and always respect our parents. Honesty and integrity were important parts of our character. She taught us the love of God, the importance of family and the ability to see situations from the other’s perspective.

As important as those lessons are, mom is still teaching me today. You see, mom isn’t just needed to bandaid a boo-boo, make sure we’re properly fed or set guidelines. Mom is needed throughout life. They continue to guide us and teach us to be a better person – more loving, caring, accepting and wise as the years go by.

What I've learned about being a mom. You don't have to give birth to that child to be his mother. #TexasHomesteader

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Different Flavors Dress Up Plain Pinto Beans

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by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link – 

While being tucked in the house during our county’s shelter-in-place orders I began cooking from what we already had in our freezers and pantry. We were allowed to travel to the grocery store of course during this order, but I preferred not to drive to town and gather with the masses to grocery shop.

But we’re eating good, y’all! Recently I was looking through the pantry and I spied a large 2-lb bag of pintos. Aaaaah the lowly pinto bean. I wonder if I should cook a whole 2-lb bag of them? Will we get tired of them before they’re all eaten?

I decided to cook them up  and see how many different ways we could enjoy them before our palates got bored. Come see!

I cooked a whole 2-lb bag of dry pinto beans in my Instant Pot. But we enjoyed them several different ways so we never got bored. #TexasHomesteader

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5 Frugal Things – Shelter-In-Place Edition

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I’ve always had an environmental bend. Being gentle on Mother Earth has just been a part of me for as long as I can remember. But the beautiful thing is, oftentimes those same eco-friendly moves can save some cold, hard cash too.

And so many people right now are doing all they can to be mindful with their money in these uncertain times. So I thought it would be fun to share 5 frugal things we did this week to save money (and the environment!)

Come see 5 frugal things we did at our homestead to save the environment and some cold hard cash too during this self isolation period. #TexasHomesteader

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Veggie Garden Update: April Weather Challenge

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I’ve always heard in our area of NE Texas (planting zone 8) that you don’t dare plant until after Easter because a rogue frost can still swing through & kill your tender plants. Oh my goodness it was so hard for me to wait! So to pacify my need to garden I planted up my Indoor Greenhouse weeks ago. As I watched those tiny seedlings sprout I just got more excited.

Then I sat back & waited (im)patiently for Easter. Then the big day arrived, FINALLY I was able to plant – woo-hoo! Here is my April veggie garden update:

I waited (im)patiently for Easter so I could finally plant. The weather has been a challenge. Here is my April veggie garden update! #TexasHomesteader

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