by Texas Homesteader ~
We love feeding the beautiful wild birds. So we used to buy the large expensive bags of bird seed at the big-box store. But those wild birds can really go through a lot of feed!
We discovered there’s an oh-so-much-cheaper way to fill the feeder, y’all. Check out today’s Homestead Hack.
What a year! RancherMan & I have enjoyed a wonderful year filled with fun projects and new endeavors. Here’s hoping your year has been wonderful as well. To celebrate this year coming to a close, today I’m sharing with you the TOP 10 Homesteading Posts of the Year! Curious to see the most popular posts on the blog this year? Read on, dear friends.
by Texas Homesteader ~
RancherMan & I like our morning coffee. A lot.
Each morning before we begin our outside homestead chores we complete our computer work inside while enjoying those hot steamin’ cups o joe.
When we’ve had our fill for the morning (Ok, after SEVERAL cups. OK TWO POTS – don’t judge me!) we rinse out our coffee mugs and place them on a shelf to await our morning coffee routine the following day.
But after a couple of days the coffee-bean oils begin to coat and stain the cup.
Never fear, there’s an easy and natural way to bring that coffee mug back to its previous sparkling perfection. And I use a natural ingredient that in all probability you have sitting in your kitchen right now! Check out today’s Homestead Hack demonstration…
~by Texas Homesteader ~
As is our tradition, RancherMan & I are making many of our Christmas gifts ourselves. This year we’ve been busy making several different kinds of gifts. I’ve also been experimenting with making extracts – it’s all been so much fun!
I thought homemade mint extract might make great gifts. But I needed to purchase small jars to hold the extract.
But it just seems… I don’t know – not quite right to go to the craft store & buy small bottles. Thankfully I’ve found an alternative that works beautifully – check out today’s Homestead Hack.
by Texas Homesteader ~
RancherMan absolutely loves my homemade KitchenAid Sandwich Bread so I endeavor to keep him supplied in it as often as possible.
I like to make sure the crust of my bread is flavored in buttery goodness and we only use real butter, but of course I like to use it in moderation.
So recently I pulled my fresh loaves from the oven, went to butter the tops and I thought “Hey, there’s an even EASIER way and it uses less butter!”
This is certainly not a new idea but it’s one that I’ve adopted in the kitchen each & every time I’m buttering the tops of my fresh homemade loaves. Y’all know I’m a big fan of using it ALL.
by Texas Homesteader ~
*affiliate link
(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a small purchase. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)
OK by now y’all know I’m a dehydrating fool! I bought my dream appliance, an *Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator and I think I’m in love!
I’ve put that thing through the paces, dehydrating all kinds of fruits and veggies. And I’ve even made Italian-flavored tomato leather to just roll out and plop on my homemade French-Bread Pizza. No rehydration needed! I think it’s safe to say I’ve been bitten by the dehydrating bug.
I use many dehydrated veggies in my wintertime simmering Endless Soup. And I use most of my dehydrated fruits as replacement for raisins in my Homemade Pumpkin Granola.
But I’ve also been dehydrating veggies to grind and use for my own homemade powdered seasoning. I hate to pull out a large dehydrator to dehydrate such small portions, and it almost seems even my other small household model is a bit much.
Check out today’s Homestead Hack. I’ve found a way to quickly dehydrate small amounts of food for FREE!
by Texas Homesteader ~
I make rice often. It’s inexpensive and lends itself to many different flavors of almost any meal. But I’ve found a way to make rice even more flavorful and nutritious versus cooking it in plain water. And it’s FREE!
Use Whatcha Got is what I always say! Check out this Homestead Hack.
by Texas Homesteader
Recently RancherMan & I needed a spray bottle to fill with iodine for our cattle from time to time, such as newborn calves’ umbilical cords, etc.
I hated to spend the money on a small lightweight spray bottle. But I found a trick to getting better spray bottles for cheaper. Check out this clever Homestead Hack for saving a few bucks if you find yourself in the same position…