Tag Archives: Homestead Hacks

You Can Peel A Whole Head Of Garlic In Seconds!

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

We love garlic. And thankfully it’s easy to grow garlic in our NE Texas garden. It adds a healthy yet powerful flavor to our food. We especially love it with Tex-Mex flavored dishes.

I recently harvested the garlic from our garden. I’ll allow it to cure for several weeks and then I typically hang whole garlic heads in my pantry. That garlic will be ready and waiting to be used at a moment’s notice.

But I grow & harvest lots of garlic every year. There’s no way I can use it all fresh before it goes bad. So to preserve some of the garlic further I also like to keep a jar filled with peeled garlic cloves in my freezer.

But ugh, peeling that many cloves is going to be a long, sticky chore, right?

Nope.

Come see how I can peel whole heads of garlic cloves in seconds.

We love garlic, how about you? I have a shortcut to peel garlic too. I can peel a whole head of garlic cloves in seconds. Come see how! #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack – FREE Repurposed Elastic Ponytail Holders

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~Texas Homesteader~ 

It’s just a fact that socks wear out. It doesn’t matter how well you take care of them, eventually they end up with holes in them. And when they do, they go on to their second purpose here on the Homestead.

I typically cut off the toe section & elastic top from the holey sock, then cut the sock along the back ankle/heel/foot to open it up flat. I then cut the resulting material into a square-ish shape. I’ll be using this material in different ways – Check it out.

Homestead Hack: Use band from repurposed elastic from a pair of old holey socks #TexasHomesteader
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Homestead Hack: Wear Your Shirt Inside Out When Painting

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

You say you’ve decided to pull out that can of paint you’ve had in the shed and go ahead & repaint the bathroom? Good for you! If you’re like me, painting always (aaaaaalways) involves paint being splattered on my clothes. No matter how careful I am!

I used to dig in my closet for the oldest shirt I could find and just realize it would be relinquished to the trash after I was through painting. But one time I was painting our bee boxes and hated to ruin a shirt – even an old one – just because I needed to paint. So I got to thinking…

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Homestead Hack: Disposing of Confidential Documents

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 
*affiliate link

This time of year after RancherMan & I gather documents needed for our income tax return, we always do a quick cleanup of the remaining 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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Homestead Hack: Sneak Healthy Vegetables Into Their Diet

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I’ve always tried to make sure my family ate a well-balanced diet. Of course I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with eating some less-healthy foods… as long as it’s in moderation.

Fried foods, sweets, salty snacks – all were ok as long as they were enjoyed in proper moderation.

My goal was to get them to eat more of the healthy stuff, go lighter on the less healthy stuff and just enjoy actual junk foods on rare occasions. Luckily I found a sneaky way to tip the balance toward the healthy food. Here’s how I got my family to willingly eat more healthy veggies.

I've found a super easy (almost sneaky) way to get my family to eat more veggies. Come see this oh-so-simple Homestead Hack. #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: No-Mess Way To Measure Honey

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by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link

I’m consuming a couple of tablespoons of honey containing ragweed pollen daily to help combat my allergies. But it takes so long using the honey dipper to drizzle 2 tablespoons worth each day. And I was making such a mess trying to spoon it from the jar instead. So I tried pouring it gently from the jar.

Ugh, MESSY!

Luckily I’ve found an awesome solution. Come check out this Homestead Hack.

I needed a way to measure small amounts of honey each day without making a mess. I decided a vintage syrup dispenser fit the bill nicely. #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: Leftover Great Northern Beans

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by Texas Homesteader~ 

I often make dried beans using my pressure cooker. I’m a ‘Cook-Once, Eat-Twice‘ cook. Meaning I like to cook lots of one item and use it either again later in the week, or as a completely different dish as part of my Planned Leftovers meals.

But recently I cooked some great northern beans. They were delicious & we enjoyed them as a side dish for that evening’s meal. I served them later in the week as a quick side dish also.

But then I wondered… Is there a more exciting way to serve these beans that will have RancherMan smacking his lips? Well yes, yes there is! Check out this Homestead Hack!

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Homestead Hack: Expanding Your Muffin Tin

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I was baking homemade blueberry muffins for a Sibling Vacation recently. I typically make jumbo-sized muffins for RancherMan. But this time I used my smaller muffin-sized tin because there would be several of us in attendance. It’s easier to eat two small muffins than to waste part of a larger one, ya know?

So I whipped up my Blueberry Muffin batter, placed my silicone muffin pan on a cookie sheet & filled the muffin cups. But there was still about 4 muffins worth of batter remaining.

Do I overfill the muffin cups? Do I bake this dozen and then refill 4 of the muffin cups and bake them separately? What a waste! Ugh, what’s a girl to do?

Need more muffin cup spaces? No worries! I used wide-mouth canning rings for those last 4 muffins. Everything baked up at the same time. #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: How To Easily Open Those Stubborn Jars

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by Texas Homesteader ~

Occasionally I have difficulty opening a stubborn stuck jar lid. If RancherMan is nearby I have a handy (and oh-so-handsome) jar opener right at my disposal.

But if not I still have an easy way to open those stubborn jars. And I do it using a common item in the ‘junk drawer’ right in my kitchen.

How to get that stubborn lid off of the jar? I've found an easy way using an ordinary household item. Check out this Homestead Hack! #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: Easy Reminder Tip

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by Texas Homesteader ~

Do you worry about forgetting something like unplugging a coffee pot or turning off the stove? Or do you hate when you go to someone’s house and just know you’re gonna forget to pick something up, and then you DO forget??

I’ve found a simple hack for remembering tasks like these. Intrigued? Check this out.

Do you need a simple way to remember to turn off the stove or to take something with you when you leave the house? Check out this Homestead Hack #TexasHomesteader

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