Cooking - Farming My Backyard

Whether you grow your own food, buy locally, or buy what you can afford, preparing it yourself is one way to embrace the homesteading lifestyle. Here are some ideas on cooking from the garden or replacing purchased foods with homemade versions.

How To Dry Your Sourdough Starter To Use Later

If you need to take a break from your sourdough starter but don't want to completely lose it, you can ...

Did you know that lentils make a pretty decent pot pie? Lentil pot pie is a delicious recipe you can make with homegrown vegetables.

How To Make Lentil Pot Pie

Did you know that lentils make a pretty decent pot pie? If you want to eat less meat or just ...

Lemon Pie Is Super Easy To Make

I had no idea how easy lemon pie was to make. It's super yummy, super easy, and it's lemon, so ...

Sometimes your garden just has too many cucumbers! This cucumber soup is easy to make and is just as good cold for hot summer days.

Cucumber Soup For When The Garden Is Abundant

It seems to rain down produce in abundance sometimes. When that something is cucumbers, you need more options than just ...

This green jello recipe with pineapple and cottage cheese may sound strange at first, but it's actually a delicious family tradition!

Green Jello Recipe, It’s a Family Tradition!

So this is in no way a "from the garden" recipe, but this green jello recipe is a family classic ...

Banana Bread Recipe

Here is a quick and easy banana bread recipe that I use when our bananas are languishing uneaten in the ...

Herbs are a great way to up your nutritional intake. This pregnancy tea specifically adds nutrients that you need during pregnancy and birth.

Pregnancy Tea For Extra Vitamins

In April (2023) we recently welcomed our 7th child to the family, a little girl. I realized when cleaning up ...

One Bowl Applesauce Bread

Baking doesn't have to be hard. Some recipes require multiple bowls, complicated ingredients, and multiple steps. This one bowl applesauce ...

Super Easy Sourdough Bread

Making homemade bread isn't hard at all. You can even keep your own sourdough starter to give it more of ...

It's a great idea to soak and sprout beans before cooking to reduce phytic acid and increase their nutrition!

How To Sprout Beans

If you want to add more beans to your diet, it's a great idea to soak and sprout beans before ...

One of the most delicious treats to for breakfast or a snack are muffins. This chocolate muffin recipe could actually be a dessert in hiding.

Delicious Chocolate Muffin Recipe

One of the most delicious treats to have for breakfast or a snack are muffins. This chocolate muffin recipe could ...

If you need a milk free, refined sugar free cookie recipe, check this one out. It only requires a few swaps to make a tasty cookie.

Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies With Honey

Did you know that Costco has milk free chocolate chips? Well, they do! And they're fantastic for making dairy free ...

Super Easy Dairy Free Cherry Crumble

Do you need a super easy dessert to make? This dairy free cherry crumble is very versatile and quick to ...

Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe

Homemade playdough is a great way to spend time with your kids, or keep them happy while you work in ...

Here's how to make a rich and creamy dairy free peppermint hot chocolate! It only takes 4 ingredients and a few minutes to prepare.

How To Make Dairy Free Peppermint Hot Chocolate

When we had The Snowpocalypse of 2021 here in San Antonio, my family found ourselves in below freezing weather with ...

Have a ton of garden produce? Freezing vegetables is easy, effective, and doesn't require a bunch of expensive equipment!

Freezing Vegetables Is A Quick Way To Preserve Your Harvest

Some people are totally awesome at canning and put up loads of food every summer. Luckily for the rest of ...

One of the easiest way to save excess garden produce is by freezing. Here's what you need to know about blanching vegetables before freezing!

Blanching Vegetables Before Freezing Your Garden Excess

One of the easiest way to save excess garden produce is by freezing it. Some things can just be tossed ...

One of my favorite foods is a frozen fruit smoothie. They are delicious and a great way to sneak in some extra vegetables. What's your favorite?

What’s Your Favorite Frozen Fruit Smoothie?

One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is a frozen fruit smoothie. They are pretty popular and for ...

Having easy snacks that you can grab quickly can save your sanity when trying to get everything done. Here are 6 ideas for you.

6 Easy Snacks You Can Grab Quickly

Life gets crazy, and sometimes all you have time to do is feed the chickens and get the kids out ...

How To Dehydrate Food Without A Dehydrator

Being able to dehydrate food without a dehydrator is a highly useful homesteading skill. While having a fancy dehydrator can ...

List of Fruits and Vegetables with Storage Tips

Here is a list of fruits and vegetables with storage tips on how to extend the life of your produce ...

Homemade vaniila extract is an easy and delicious project. You can make some for gifts, or just to enjoy in your own baked goods!

How To Make Homemade Vanilla Extract

Homemade vanilla extract is super easy to make. Plus you can use different alcohols to create subtle differences in flavor ...

Make and easy and delicious chocolate cherry smoothie with this easy recipe! Who said green smoothies have to look green!

How To Make a Totally Delicious Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

It's not secret that I love green smoothies. I don't love vegetables so hiding them in a smoothie is my ...

You can make your own ice cream with homemade sour cream for a delicious treat that contains healthy probiotics! Here's how to make sour cream ice cream!

How To Make Sour Cream Ice Cream

Making your own sour cream is a fun way to get more beneficial probiotics into your diet. The best part ...

Here are 20 healthy snack ideas that will help you survive harried days. If you're like me, it can sometimes get busy around the homestead!

Healthy Snack Ideas For a Boost on Harried Days

I think even the most devout homesteaders among us fall prey sometimes to the harried pace of modern life. Despite ...

Crockpot breakfast casserole is an easy way to make sure you squeeze in time for breakfast on busy mornings. And it uses up extra eggs too!

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole For When You Are Limited On Time

Everybody’s busy. Throw in some animals that have to be fed every. single. morning. and things can get really crazy, ...

I don't really like cabbage. I've never cooked cabbage before. I don't know what to DO with cabbage! So, here are some tasty looking cabbage recipes to try!

What To Do With Random Cabbages In Your Fridge (AKA Cabbage Recipes)

I've had this cabbage in my fridge for almost a month now, and we really, really need to eat it ...

How To Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs -With Fresh Eggs

Sometimes fresh eggs can be difficult to peel. Thankfully, there are a few ways to easily hard boil fresh eggs ...

Riced cauliflower may not be the most spectacular food out there, but it certainly is versatile. Here are seven ways you can prepare cauliflower rice.

7 Ways To Eat Riced Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of those amazingly versatile foods that can be prepared in so many different ways. One of the ...

Freezing broccoli is pretty easy. The only downside is that broccoli does need to be blanched before you can freeze it. Fortunately, blanching is easy!

How To Freeze Broccoli

Produce seems to come in waves. Sometimes you have a bumper crop of one item and it needs to be ...

Roasted vegetable recipes are a great way to cook healthy, homegrown food, and not have to sit and watch a pot all day or spend all evening prepping.

24 Colorful Roasted Vegetable Recipes For Insanely Easy Meals

It's a bit of an oxymoron, but I'm a homesteader who hates cooking. Home grown, home cooked food is supposed ...

Cauliflower truly is a versatile vegetable. Whether you are vegan, gluten-free, low carb, or just love some fried cauliflower patties, it's a winner.

48 MORE Cauliflower Recipes That You’ll Want To Eat

Just in case you didn't get enough recipes for cauliflower in our post 53 Tantalizing Cauliflower Recipes For When you ...

Here are some cauliflower recipes that will help you use up any extra harvest from your garden. Cauliflower can be one of the more difficult vegetables to grow, but it's very versatile to cook with. So try buying in bulk if you need to and start cooking!

53 Tantalizing Cauliflower Recipes For When You Have Extra

It's an amazing feeling when you grow enough of a food in your garden. It's even more amazing when you ...

Preserving garlic is one of the easiest ways to learn how to store your garden's harvest for later. Here are three different methods you can use to store your garlic crop and enjoy your delicious homegrown garlic all year!

3 Popular Ways of Preserving Garlic From Your Garden

Garlic is one of my all time favorite plants to grow. It's pretty much foolproof, which is very important for ...

Did you know that cleaning a cast iron skillet is one of the easiest kitchen clean up jobs there is? Once you get a hang of using and cleaning cast iron you will love it!

Cleaning a Cast Iron Skillet Is Astoundingly Quick and Easy

My all time favorite type of pan is cast iron. It's sturdy, can cook anything, anywhere, and it's super duper ...

Here’s How To Make Creamy Rabbit Gravy

If you have just started raising rabbits you may be wondering what sorts of foods you can cook with rabbit ...

We're all supposed to eat more fruits and vegetables but what we really want are brownies! Have the best of both worlds, and make beet brownies.

Healthy Beet Brownies Good Enough To Share

We're all supposed to eat more fruits and vegetables, right? But what we really want to eat are brownies. Have ...

How To Make Super Easy Rabbit Stock

Homemade rabbit stock is super easy to make! Making it is a great way to utilize each animal fully and ...

You can make a fantastic and easy peanut butter fudge with only three common ingredients! This is great for sharing or just because!

How To Make Fantastic Peanut Butter Fudge

Chocolate is awesome. I mean just about everyone can agree that it's just amazing. Except my husband. Because he is ...

Just How Easy Is It To Make Raspberry Jam?

Yay! Books! I love books! If you've been around for awhile you might have noticed that. It's because books are ...

A green smoothie is a great way to get more leafy greens into your diet without choking down a salad. It's even better when the greens are garden fresh!

A Green Smoothie Is The Perfect Way To Hide Vegetables

I can't stand eating vegetables. It's a funny thing, considering I'm trying to grow as much of my own food ...

Using leftovers can be tricky if you don't have a fridge or use a small one. Here are some ideas to save space.

What To Do With Leftovers When You Have No Fridge

If you are living without a fridge, or with a very small fridge the number one easiest strategy for having ...

Rabbit pot pie is an easy and yummy recipe to introduce your family to eating rabbit meat. If you want to take preschool literature unit studies to a whole other level, or are just looking for another way to cook rabbit, here's a great rabbit pot pie recipe!

Make “Peter” Rabbit Pot Pie For a Homegrown Dinner

I have to admit, I was a little nervous the first time we sat down to eat one our backyard ...

Crustless quiche is easy and a great way to use all those eggs from your backyard hens. Dress it up with cheese and spinach!

Simple Crustless Quiche Recipe For When You Have Too Many Eggs

When you have too many eggs it's time for quiche! It's a perfect spring time dinner that can be made ...

Make kefir cheese at home with only a few simple steps and minimal equipment. It's super easy and so delicious and can be used like cream cheese.

How To Make Easy Kefir Cheese

If you are ever faced with an excess of kefir (which happens all the time to me) make kefir cheese! ...

Stop refrigerating these 14 foods to free up room in your fridge! It's good to have the skills and knowledge to scale down in unusual circumstances.

14 Foods To Stop Refrigerating When You Have Limited Space

The mailbox lid clinked shut, and the dog started barking at the window as the mailman walked down the sidewalk ...

Potato chowder makes a simple and versatile meal that you can practically grow yourself. Homegrown potatoes, onion, and stock make it truly homemade.

Easy Potato Chowder You Can Make From Your Homestead

Growing your own food is fun, but the really special part comes when you sit down to the dinner table ...

Homemade chili powder is super easy to make, all you need are dried chilis and a blender!

How To Make Homemade Chili Powder

As I sprinkled the very last of my chili powder into my homemade ketchup I immediately thought I should try ...

Homemade apple cider vinegar is super easy and takes about two seconds to start. You can produce yet another food at home in your kitchen AND use something that is otherwise considered waste.

How To Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

I was so excited when I learned I could make my own homemade apple cider vinegar from bits of apple ...

Do you know how to make sour cream? I recently discovered that homemade sour cream is SO EASY! All you need is cream, and a culture.

How to Make Sour Cream With Yogurt

Did you know that you can make your own sour cream? It's actually SUPER EASY! All it takes is cream, ...

How to Render Fat And Make Your Own Lard

The other day I was getting ready to put a fatty roast into the crock pot when I realized I ...

If you are looking for a storage solution for meats try making dehydrated hamburger or hamburger rocks. They don't need a freezer or refrigerator!

How To Dehydrate Hamburger And Make Hamburger Rocks

If you are interested in becoming more self reliant and living off grid, you will want solutions for preserving meat ...

Oven jerky is a great way to preserve meat without relying on canning or freezing. Plus, you have more control over the ingredients than with prepackaged foods!

Preserving Meat Without Canning Or Freezing by Making Oven Jerky

Preserving food is always a good idea, but for meats conventional storage methods can be energy intensive, (such as pressure ...

It's important to have the ability to feed and protect your family from food borne illness if you ever find yourself with no refrigerator.

What To Do When You Have No Refrigerator

Uh-oh, sometimes emergency happen. Your fridge DIED and it's going to some time before you can replace it. Or it's ...

Dehydrating foods without electricity is a time honored, frugal, and easy way to preserve food. Here are some basic principles to help you succeed!

Here Are The Fundamentals Of Dehydrating Foods Without Electricity

Preserving food by drying is easy and you don't even need to purchase an electric dehydrator. There are several ways ...

With foraged food you can find healthy and free foods almost anywhere. Here's a yummy sweet chili thistle recipe for a delicious free meal.

Foraged Food: Sweet Chili Thistles Recipe

Ever looked outside and wondered just how much food is available for free? When you learn how to prepare foraged ...

Homemade tortillas take a little bit of practice, but are so yummy and much healthier than anything you can buy in a store. Here's a simple homemade tortilla recipe for you!

A Simple Homemade Tortilla Recipe For You

Have you ever read the ingredient list on a package of tortillas? Yikes! They can be super scary. And when ...

Ever thought about making your own homemade granola? Did you know that it's SUPER easy to do? It's especially easy when you make granola in the crockpot!

Did You Know You Can Make Homemade Granola In The Crockpot!

For a long time I thought making homemade granola was scary. All the recipes I saw had a ton of ...

Here's a basic gluten free brown rice bread that doesn't require a bunch of fancy ingredients. Anybody can make this easy bread!

Gluten Free Brown Rice Bread Anyone Can Easily Make

Whether you are gluten free, considering going gluten free, or want to make something for a friend who can't eat ...

Nourishing Traditions Is The Best Cookbook For Beginning Homesteaders

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon is the best cookbook for beginning homesteaders. It's a great way to jump into homesteading ...

Homemade applesauce is so super simple and delicious. Don't settle for a bland bottle from the store when you can make it exactly how you like it.

Homemade Applesauce Just The Way You Like It

Applesauce used to be one of those foods I always enjoyed eating but never ever made from scratch. I didn't ...

Pumpkin puree is an easy and healthy way to prepare pumpkin for use in pies, soups, breads, and cookies. It's one of the easiest foods from the garden!

How To Make Easy Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin puree is one of the easiest things to make from scratch. You can replace your canned pumpkin with pumpkins ...

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