by Texas Homesteader ~
When we invite my folks to supper, RancherMan often tosses some meat on the grill and I’m left to make a couple of sides and a dessert. The sides can be as simple as opening up a couple of cans of veggies, or I sometimes I Roast Fresh Vegetables (mom’s fave). But buttered rice with fresh sage is an easy yet delicious side option too and it comes together so quickly.
by Texas Homesteader~
We were recently invited to a family gathering. Now in my family invitations to a shared meal happen often. Since it’s so common & also so that the burden doesn’t fall on the hosting family, each family in attendance brings something to contribute to the meal. There’s always lots of good food at our family gatherings!
This time I wanted to bring something snacky. So I offered to bring some homemade hummus. (If you haven’t seen my Stupid-Easy Hummus Recipe, you should totally check it out!) Of course I’ll need something for dipping but I hate how expensive that little bag of pita chips is! Hummm, I wonder… I decided to make my own pita-type chips. Let’s see how it goes.
by Texas Homesteader ~
The cold winter months typically mean we’re enjoying some pretty soup-heavy meals in our home. Although we eat soup all year long there’s nothing like a hot, nourishing bowl of soup when the weather’s blustery outside. But y’all know I don’t enjoy being in the kitchen. So my homemade soups need to be quick & easy, yet delicious & comforting.
Are you looking for a quick and super-easy soup idea for supper tonight? Well you’re in luck. Check it out, here are several different faves in our household. The links to each of these recipes are in the titles. Enjoy!
by Texas Homesteader ~
It took me a long time to jump into the Instant Pot scene. I mean, I already had slow cookers, and I had a high-end stainless steel stove-top pressure cooker too. Why would I spend more money to buy something else I had to store? Wanna know what the breaking point was for me to decide to jump in?
Well I’d borrowed my sisters IP to see if I’d *really* use it enough to justify the cost. One of the first things I tried was bone broth. I was hooked!
Y’all, making your own healthy broth has really never been this easy!
by Texas Homesteader ~
I know, I know – I’ve been posting lots of recipes lately. It’s almost hard to tell how much I hate to cook, huh? (oh yeah, true words y’all.) But I know there’s gonna be a function you’ll be attending and maybe you’ll need to bring a dessert like cookies.
Peanut butter is my favorite cookie. F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E!! But see the previous ‘hate to cook‘ statement above. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a recipe that’s been circling the internet for quite a while using only 3 ingredients. Yep, three. It’s so straightforward you don’t even need a recipe for it (although I’ll share it anyway). You’re NOT gonna believe this!
~Texas Homesteader~
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RancherMan & I love tamales. As a matter of fact, tamales are RancherMan’s favorite Tex-Mex food. And heck with his mad hunting skills, we always have pork in the freezer from the Wild Hogs that cause so much damage to our property.
It’s pretty common for me to cook up all those pork roasts at one time and quickly Shred The Roast with my KitchenAid mixer. That way I have cooked, shredded roast in the freezer at any given time for all manner of our favorite Mexican-themed meals, whether Pulled Pork Enchiladas, even easier Enchilada Casserole or maybe Carnitas Tacos.
But now we were in the mood to make tamales, although we hadn’t made them in about 15 years or so. Time to dust off those skills and put a few tamales in the freezer!
by Texas Homesteader ~
Aaaah the holidays. A special time of the year when friends and family gather to bask in the warmth of their relationships and enjoy some really good food. So much food in fact that oftentimes the day afterward can leave you scratching your head. Wow, there’s so much food leftover! What do I do with it all??
Well when you’re tired of eating the same leftovers over & over again, the freezer can be your friend. Or my favorite: planned leftovers. That’s where you make a whole new meal from those delicious leftovers.
Take that turkey & dressing for instance. RancherMan loves when I make Turkey & Dressing Patties from them. It’s like Potato Cakes, but with turkey & dressing instead. Come see.
by Texas Homesteader ~
RancherMan & I were planning a day trip to visit my dad. When we go for a visit I like to take any meal-planning pressure off him. I’ll typically whip up something super easy & portable to bring with us so he doesn’t feel he needs to put on a spread for us. On this cold day I decided a big pot of soup would fit the bill quite nicely.
We typically leave early in the morning so we can drive the 3 hours for our visit. We’ll stay all day and plan to be back home around 10 that evening. Since I’ll be whipping up this soup early in the morning I need a lazy-cook’s recipe. You know, a recipe where I can just brown some ground meat, open a bunch of cans, dump it all in a slow cooker’s crock and GO!
Enter this Lazy-Cook’s Italian Soup…
by Texas Homesteader ~
I try to invite my parents to supper as often as I can. There’s just something about breaking bread together that bonds us. Plus it’s much less expensive to invite them to a simple meal at home than to meet them at a restaurant. And it’s much nicer to visit in a home setting too. So recently I invited them over.
I made a plan to cook a simple Instant Pot Roast as the main entree. A side of green beans and breaded Potato Cakes was planned for sides. But dad loves that I serve dessert when I invite them over. So I also planned a very simple dessert. Fried apples… with a twist.
by Texas Homesteader ~
I love cheesecake, y’all. I mean really, really love cheesecake. But I’ve always been intimidated to try to make it myself. I mean – water bath in the oven? The top cracking if you didn’t cook it just right? The 2-part pan leaking in the water? It just sounded so… finicky.
So instead I always enjoyed my cheesecake at a restaurant table, #thankyouverymuch.
Then I read someone saying that the reason you bake it in a water bath in the oven is because it must have that moisture. Without that moisture you’re doomed to have a dry, cracked cheesecake. This person said that’s why a pressure cooker is the perfect way to make cheesecake. There’s naturally lots of moisture.
Wow, now that makes sense.
