Tag Archives: Environment

How I Make A Healthy, Creamy Salad Dressing In 1 Minute!

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Aaaaah, spring! The trees are turning green & the daffodils are blooming. And there’s all those fresh greens in the garden for a healthy salad.

I LOVE salads! The freshness, the crispness and the healthy aspect of it. To me, it’s like welcoming spring after the long winter season of eating more comfort-foody types of meals.

But ya know, although a healthy food may start out healthy, the health aspect can be changed drastically based on what you add to it.

I mean, heck – an apple is about as healthy as it gets. But add flour, sugar, seasonings, butter and a thick buttery crust and it’s an apple pie dessert instead!

So I really (really) wanted to make my own healthier yet creamy salad dressing. After doinking around a bit I made a delightful, creamy, healthy and tasty salad dressing that I can just mix together in a minute.

And you can’t get a more worthy topping for those fresh greens than that, #amiright??

I wanted a creamy salad dressing, but I wanted it to be healthy. And fresh. And CHEAP. This is the zero-waste recipe I came up with. #TexasHomesteader

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How A Bidet Can Be An Eco Win

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by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link 

What with all the toilet paper shortages & such, I’m reading about quite a bit of shopping/stockpiling anxiety for folks out there. But not me. I’d wanted to get a bidet (pronounced bid-day) for a long time. It can replace toilet tissue, and cleans with a gentle stream of water instead.

But it wasn’t toilet paper shortages that made me consider this purchase. Out here we’re on a septic system, so keeping toilet paper out of the system just keeps it healthier and allows us to go longer between times that it must be pumped out. So it can be a cost savings too.

We went paper-towel, paper napkin & paper plate free over a decade ago. Disposables in any of their forms are always shunned here. So a bidet can be an eco win as well.

Plus I’ve heard folks singing the praises of the cleanliness difference between using toilet paper vs. a bidet. So I asked RancherMan if he would research and find the best model for us.

I've wanted a bidet for years. We decided on a model that has dual nozzles and adjustable settings. Installation was fast too. But there's an issue with some toilet seats #TexasHomesteader

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Building A Cheap, Temporary Cold Frame With Hay Bales

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by Texas Homesteader ~       

I typically have an ‘indoor greenhouse‘ that I use when I plant heirloom seeds in the late winter months. This means I’ll be able to actually put seedlings in my garden come spring instead of planting the seeds directly into the soil later in the season.

But this year I wondered if I should attempt to set up a cold frame to take my plants from tiny seedling to ready to plant. So to experiment I started looking around for a good southern-exposure location & items I could use to build a temporary cold frame. Why not use hay bales?

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Homestead Hack: Disposing of Confidential Documents

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 
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This time of year after RancherMan & I gather documents needed for our income tax return, we always do a quick cleanup of the remaining confidential documents that we no longer need.

We utilize electronic bill-pay for almost all of our bills. And we enroll in paperless billing whenever possible. But there are still some cases where paper receipts are received such as packing slips, receipts, etc. So even though we fight against extraneous paper coming into our home, come it does!

Many people shred these documents for security’s sake. But we don’t have a shredder and I don’t fancy ripping all the paper by hand. So here’s what I do to actually USE that ‘trash’ instead. Check out this Homestead Hack:

Come see how we easily dispose of confidential documents without using a shredder. And that 'trash' actually serves a purpose! #TexasHomesteader

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EcoBricks. What Are They? How I Use Them In The Garden.

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by Texas Homesteader~ 

Several months ago I found a very used 100-gallon galvanized trough at our metal recycling place. It had interior rust, a few small holes & was missing the plug. So it obviously wasn’t being used to water livestock anymore.

But it would be perfect for my vegetable garden. I’d love to fill it with soil and garden plants. I love the look – seems I’m obsessed with galvanized metal, y’all!

And it should also certainly ease harvest in this section of my vegetable garden. I’m not getting any younger, ya know! I’m constantly looking for ways to simplify my garden tasks. 

So I asked if they’d sell it to me. For $10 it was mine! But to plant this huge 100-gallon trough, I first needed to put something at the bottom to allow for drainage.

In a potted plant you can add broken pieces of pottery and such. But I needed something much larger & chunkier for this much space. I decided to make up a few ‘ecobricks’.

EcoBricks are plastic bottles packed tightly with non-recyclable trash. They can be used for lots of things, but come see how I use them in the garden. #TexasHomesteader

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Low-Waste Storage Idea To Neatly Store Boots

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by Texas Homesteader ~

In my closet are several different styles of women’s boots. I have mid-calf boots & higher-calf boots. There are boots that go with leggings and boots that go with blue jeans.

I’m not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination. But c’mon, a girl’s still gotta have fashionable footwear!

Recently I did a heavy Decluttering of my closet. I removed tons of items that I no longer wear and sent them off to a Thrift Store. Then everything that remained was returned neatly to my closet.

But oh those boots…

My boots slouched over and fell from the shelf, I needed a low-waste to keep them neat and organized. I used cardboard and it works great #TexasHomesteader

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12 Easy Ways To Repurpose Empty Coffee Canisters

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by Texas Homesteader ~

RancherMan & I love our coffee. We enjoy that hot cup-o-joe each morning.

Although I hate plastic, our favorite coffee comes in a plastic canister. Of course when they’re empty I offer those handy containers to others around me who I feel could use them.

But when I could no longer give them away I started looking for various ways to repurpose them myself. If you’re looking for inspiration too, come see what I’ve been able to make with them. Links to details are in the titles.

Come see different ways I've been able to repurpose those empty coffee canisters. They're handy for so many things. #TexasHomesteader

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Planting A Blueberry Bush In An Old Galvanized Tub

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I love blueberries. And I’d love to grow my own. But I’ve planted blueberry bushes repeatedly only to have them succumb. I guess I’m not paying enough attention to the acidity. I’d given up on growing blueberries.

But recently at a plant fair I looked longingly at the blueberry bushes. RancherMan said “Look! You love blueberries”.

Well, yes, but…

The woman at the booth overheard & said this blueberry was a miniature so it works well in a large pot. And she mentioned that if you have it in a pot, it’s easier to moderate and correct the PH levels. Hummmm…. SOLD!

I was able to repurpose an old, rustic, rusted, mishapen galvanized tub to add beauty to our porch landscape. I planted a blueberry in it. #TexasHomesteader

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