Category: Recipes

Free Download! 100 pages of tried and true Thanksgiving recipes to add to your table!

Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time or you have been hosting for many years. These recipes will help guide you to create a table full of yummy food, everyone will enjoy!

I know when I hosted for the first few years, I was so overwhelmed by all the yummy options. What should I include? What if I forget about a must have recipe, like stuffing? Although I’m not a huge stuffing fan. Bring on the green bean casserole and don’t forget to triple the recipe!

I have now hosted Thanksgiving for years. I tend to stick to the same ol’ recipes that I know my family enjoys, but this year I wanted to add in new to us recipes. You know the ones that your friends bring to gatherings. Grandma’s jello pudding, aunties broccoli casserole or your uncles dry rub? Yes those are the recipes I want to include on our table this year. Not only do they come with many good stories, but you’ll never find another recipe quite like it.

I decide to reach out to some of my homestead living friends and ask them for their families tried and true recipes. Some of these recipes have been passed down for generations and enjoyed with lots of laughter.

My hope is that these recipes will help you create a beautiful and nourishing Thanksgiving dinner. There are so many wonderful options, so that you can choose the right cranberry dish for your families liking. Everything from turkey brine, appetizers, teas, bunch ideas and left over soup.

Included are paleo and gluten free options. This 100 page PDF includes 40 recipes ranging from breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert, appetizers and drinks. Download your free copy!

At the bottom of each recipe you can find the source of these recipes. Be sure to follow them on Instagram for all there homesteading shenanigans and visit their websites for more amazing recipes!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Today I am sharing why I stopped giving my chickens kitchen scraps and what I give them instead.

Unfortunately chickens aren’t pigs and they can’t/won’t eat everything.

I loved when we added chickens to the family because I was excited to not throw away so much scrap food. Instead we would feed our scraps to our hens. I thought surely they will be the happiest and healthiest chickens around. Unfortunately chickens aren’t pigs and they can’t/won’t eat everything.

One day a friend suggested instead of throwing out all of my vegetable scraps..

I would dump a large bowl of scraps out every few days from the kitchen, only to find that they didn’t eat them all. Onion tops, carrots, asparagus and celery were all common scraps my hens weren’t eating, along with many others. One day a friend suggested instead of throwing out all of my vegetable scraps, saving them to make vegetable stock instead.

I was even shocked at how much I could save and reuse.

After thinking it over a few days, I decided to start a brown paper bag vegetable scrap pile. It became quite addicting, I found myself saving so many scraps that otherwise would have been wasted. I was even shocked at how much I could save and reuse.

Now it really feels like we aren’t wasting food.

The best part is after cooking all the vegetable scraps down, the chickens are much more likely to eat them. Now it really feels like we aren’t wasting food. For more information on how to make vegetable stock, click here.

PIN IT FOR LATER!!!

A super simple and no waste recipe for making your own vegetable stock.

It’s sad really, how much is throw away or even offered to our hens, only to find that they didn’t eat it.

The more our family works hard to cultivate a homestead and moves towards an organic lifestyle, the more I learn about how much we waste. It’s sad really, how much is throw away or even offered to our hens, only to find that they didn’t eat it.

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My only excuse was that we eat chicken and beef stock. I hardly buy vegetable stock.

I’ve realized owning chickens is not like owning a pig, they don’t eat everything. Our old mini pig Ella would eat anything, including banana peels. A friend suggested instead of throwing out our vegetable scraps, simply freezing them in a paper bag for vegetable stock. My only excuse was that we eat chicken and beef stock. I hardly buy vegetable stock.

Pretty soon I was pulling it out of the freezer to add more and more scraps.

One day I noticed we hadn’t eaten a full bag of carrots or celery and I was bummed to throw them out. Knowing that the chickens wouldn’t eat them. So I threw them in the freezer and then started a vegetable scrap brown paper bag. Pretty soon I was pulling it out of the freezer to add more and more scraps.

Now I just have to find more ways to use vegetable stock in our home.

Onion tops, bell pepper heads and seeds, cauliflower and cabbage leaves. Broccoli stocks, carrots, celery, sweet pepper and jalapeño tops. It quickly turned into an obsession and a full freezer. Now I just have to find more ways to use vegetable stock in our home.

Once you have enough vegetable scraps, place them in a large soup pan and fill with water.

To make your own vegetable stock, start freezing all of your vegetable scraps or fresh veggies that will go bad before you have the chance to eat them. Once you have enough vegetable scraps, place them in a large soup or stock pan and fill with water.

Stir regularly and enjoy!

You may add salt and pepper, garlic, bay leaves, or other herbs and spices. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low heat for approximately 2 hours. I like the color and flavor of the stock the longer it simmers on the stove. For a more flavorful stock, try to use a variety of vegetables not all of one kind. Stir regularly and enjoy!

I absolutely love our large stainless steel set of pots and pans because of the large stock pot it came with! Making it so easy to remove all of the vegetable scraps without waiting for the stock to cool or worrying about burning myself as I strain the vegetables out.

PIN FOR LATER!!!