by Texas Homesteader ~
My daughter & I were in my kitchen recently dreaming up a brand new recipe – a combination jalapeno popper and egg roll, all rolled into one! We didn’t want anything quite as cheese-heavy as traditional poppers. We wanted a savory filling of black beans and spices along with onions, garlic, cheese, etc. As we sat out to experiment to make a recipe we both agreed – the final result was delicious!
Photo Credit: Ashley Harris
by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link
Recently I was in the kitchen with our daughter whipping up a brand new concoction that we’d never heard of before. We were just making up the recipe on the fly, but our dish needed breadcrumbs. Thankfully they’re super easy to make and today I already had a jump start on them.
You see I often use a shortcut when making pizza and slice up thick rounds from bread to use as our pizza crust. As luck would have it I had a round loaf of bread that I had sliced up into thick pizza crusts for our homemade pizza the night before, but the rounded top didn’t make the cut (LOL – see what I did there??)
So I had chopped it up & sat it aside to begin drying. But now I’ll use that bread to whip up some homemade breadcrumbs in a flash.
Photo Credit: Ashley
by Texas Homesteader ~
For Valentine’s day a couple of years ago RancherMan made me homemade Mint/Chocolate Truffles. I’ve always loved a chocolate/mint combination.
Homemade truffles are my favorite gift he gives me. It’s something delicious of course, but I love that he makes them for me himself. A true gift from the heart.
Now he knows I’m a confirmed chocoholic. So this time he decided to make me Triple-Chocolate Truffles. (um, YES PLEASE!)
He’ll accomplish all that chocolaty goodness by using double-fudge-stuffed chocolate cookies because, well you know, a girl can NEVER have enough chocolate!
by Texas Homesteader~
*includes affiliate link
WHEW, what a month it’s been! Y’all know RancherMan & I embarked on an entire month-long Grocery No-Spend Challenge. It was a rigid challenge, allowing for no purchases whatsoever on anything grocery related which included dining out, beverages and herbs, etc.
Week One wasn’t bad at all. Our pantry & freezers were full so there really wasn’t much change to our routines.
Week Two had a few catches but it was still easily workable.
By the time we got to Week Three was a little more of a challenge and we had to make several compromises. But by then I’d pretty much hit my stride. Plus we had our eye on the end of the month, so our motivation was still pretty high which helped a lot.
But how about that last week? Read on, dear friends.
by Texas Homesteader ~
WHEW – things are getting interesting! RancherMan & I have embarked on a month-long grocery no-spend challenge.
Although we didn’t purposely stock up before this challenge (which to me would have defeated the purpose) we did start out with healthy & overflowing pantry & freezers.
Week One was a breeze, no real changes necessary except that I had to start making lots of homemade bread. Then Week Two was a little bit more of a challenge, but still doable.
But now the pantry is getting more & more bare & the freezers are emptying out nicely. How did we fare for week three? Read on, dear friends.
by Texas Homesteader
Ok y’all, we’re still trucking along with this grocery no-spend challenge where we’ve agreed not to spend any money on food of any type (except Valentine’s Day) for the entire month of February.
That includes fresh foods such as milk, fruits & veggies. (although we may tweak this as the challenge goes on) It also includes soft drinks & juices, spices, eating out, etc.
Week one went without a hitch since our freezers and pantry were well-stocked with food to start with. But what about week 2? Were there any hitches? How much discomfort? What have we learned? Read on…
by Texas Homesteader ~
What is a grocery no-spend challenge? It’s where you eat only the food you already have in your home. No buying cans of shelf stable foods, or even fresh foods like milk and bread.
I’d embarked upon a grocery no-spend challenge for a whole month. Come see how week 1 went.
by Texas Homesteader ~
I bake LOTS of homemade bread whether in the oven or using a bread maker.
But I’ve incorporated many bread-making shortcuts so I’m not starting over every day. This speeds along my bread baking day with less effort. Come see my shortcut tips!
