Belle's New Son (Baby Goats on the Homestead)

    On April 26th, our "Belle" gave birth to a little boy was aptly named "Bambi".  He is so small and precious and we just love him.

Just an hour or two after birth. 

2 days old

2 days old

    Hope you enjoyed seeing him.  

Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube channel
Follow me on Instagram 

New Goat on the Homestead: Dainty Girl had a baby girl

    On April 24, 2020, our "Dainty Girl" had a little girl.  We let Ronny name her and he called her "Sunshine".  She is just the sweetest little thing.  

Such a pretty profile.

  
   Be sure to check out the short video we took too.  It's only 12 seconds but it is 12 seconds of cuteness.  Be sure to have your sound up so you can hear her call out for her momma.  Enjoy!

Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube channel
Follow me on Instagram 

Super Easy Chicken Quesadillas

     This is a super quick and easy recipe for chicken quesadillas.  Let me tell you, they are so good and addicting!  These are easily one of my favorite meals.  Try it tonight and let it become one of your favorites too.

Quesadillas on a platter.

     With a few simple shortcut ingredients, you can have warm and cheesy homemade quesadillas on the dinner table in less than half an hour.  If you need to master the basic steps of how to make chicken quesadillas, this is the place to start!

 

Super Easy Chicken Quesadillas

 12 flour tortillas

3 c. shredded chicken

1 c. salsa  

1/2 box of Velveeta cheese or other similar cheese

    I know it is just a few ingredients and may not sound like it would be super delicious but they are.  The absolute best part is dipping the quesadilla into the salsa con queso.  Yum!!! 

    Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

    Melt your Velveeta in a crock pot, double boiler or microwave.  I just used my crock pot.  

The melted Velveeta in the crock pot.

     

    Once it is melted, stir in the salsa.  You can add more or less salsa depending on your preference.

Salsa con queso in the crock pot.

     

     I like to boil my chicken and then shred it but any shredded chicken will work.  Now, in a large bowl, mix together your shredded chicken and about 2-3 cups of the salsa con queso. You don't want an abundance of the salsa con queso, just enough to just coat your chicken.  

     Spoon some of the chicken mixture into the middle of the tortilla and fold over in half. 

   

     Place each of the quesadillas onto a baking sheet and bake for about 9-11 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Remove and cut in half so that they are now wedges.  

    Be sure to get you a bowl of the salsa con queso you made up and dip the quesadillas into it as you eat it.  So good this way.

     Serve with some Spanish rice, Mexican street corn  and refried beans and you have a complete meal!

 

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Instagram

 

Recipes & Baking Help During the Quarantine

    Much of the U.S. is still on lockdown, quarantined or just practicing social distancing.  Grocery stores are open but grocery shelves are still pretty bare.  Covid-19 is affecting all of our lives but let's not let it impact our meals!

Don't these homemade biscuits look good?

    To help everyone alleviate some stress, I am sharing with you some recipes that you can make with basic pantry ingredients.  Some recipes are main meals, some bread recipes, and some desserts too because let's face it...desserts just make us feel better!  I hope my recipes are a blessing to you. 

Breakfast recipes because we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Extra light and fluffy pancakes.

•  Extra light and fluffy pancakes
• Soft & light homemade biscuits! 
• Breakfast rice
• Applesauce puffs
• Making your own instant oatmeal packets 

  Bread recipes.  There is nothing quite as good as homemade bread and if you have never made bread before, here is the perfect place to start.

A loaf of my artisan bread.

•  Homemade bread in an hour (start-to-finish)
• Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
• Whole Wheat bread in the crock pot
• Potato biscuits/rolls
• Baking mix (similar to Bisquick) 

Recipes with Beans.  Beans are a staple pantry item and most everyone has some dried beans, no matter the time of the year.  Now is the perfect time to use them up and have a meal full of delicious protein.

 

A bowl of 3 Bean Soup!

• 3 bean soup
• Refried beans
• Blue ribbon baked beans
• Homemade chili
• Southern Ham & Beans

Pasta & Rice.  Pasta is another item that most people have on hand and it's one of the easiest things to cook!

 

My homemade rice-a-roni

•  Homemade Rice-a-roni
• Super, easy yellow rice

 Snacks & Desserts.  Kick back and watch some movies and enjoy all of these delicious desserts.

A piece of spice cake made from my homemade mix.

•  Homemade spice cake mix
• Wacky cake (no eggs, no milk, no butter needed)
• Cherry dump cake

    
    Stay safe and healthy everyone!

     I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of the doctors, nurses, health care workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers and everyone else who is still working to help the rest of us carry-on.  We know you are putting yourself (and your families) at risk and we definitely appreciate it.  Each of you are heroes!  God bless!

Follow us on Pinterest
Follow us on Twitter
Follow our Youtube Channel
Follow us on Instagram

 

 

Southern Fried Hand Pies Recipe

       

  Fried pies are so darned delicious.  They are easy to make and turn out perfectly every time if you follow my recipe.  Some people call these kinds of pies hand pies or fried pies...we just call them Southern Fried Hand Pies.  No matter what you call them, they are wonderful.  You can use homemade pie filling like we did or just open up a can of store bought.  They are truly delicious!

  Southern Fried Hand Pie Recipe

 5 c. flour

1 c. shortening

2 eggs

1 can evaporated milk (I make my own)

one pie filling

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

For the glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

milk  

 

     Mix all the ingredients together (except for the pie filling) until you have a nice dough.  Pinch off the dough about the size of a golf ball.  Roll out and fill with 1-2 tablespoons of your pie filling.  Or you can roll out the dough to about 1" thick and use a small bowl to cut the dough into circles (about 5" around) and then fill each circle with the pie filling.    Moisten the edges with a bit of water and fold over.  Press the edges with a fork dipped in flour to help seal each one.  It gives them a pretty edge too.

    Deep fry in hot oil.  We just used my cast iron skillet for this.  Glaze them with a glaze.

    To make the glaze, combine the ingredients with just enough milk to make a nice and thick glaze.  Drizzle over the top of hot pies and enjoy. 

    These go perfectly with some Homemade Ice Cream! 

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Instagram

Easy and Moist Blueberry Bread

    My family loves fruit bread!  I used to only make banana bread but then ventured away from my comfort zone and made Pineapple Bread,  Peach Bread Glazed Orange Juice Bread and my Glazed Strawberry Bread.  Both are so good but since I had a bunch of fresh blueberries, I decided to try my hand at Blueberry bread and I'm glad I did.  It is perfect to eat for breakfast with a cup of coffee or have it as a snack or even for dessert. 

For the bread:

2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil or butter
1/2 c. milk
1 lg. egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt


For the glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, cream together your oil (or butter, depending on which you use) and your sugar together.  Add in everything else for the bread but the blueberries.  Stir well and then fold in the blueberries. 

      Oil the inside of a large bread pan (9"x5") and then pour in the batter.  Fill the pan about two-thirds of the way up.  

     Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.  To check for doneness, stick a toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean it is done.  

      Mix up the glaze by stirring the ingredients together and then drizzle it over the top of the bread.

Slice and enjoy!

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Instagram

A Perfect White Sheet Cake Recipe

   

 

    Don't you just love sheet cake?  I know I do.  My Pumpkin Sheet Cake is always popular in the fall months and my Texas Sheet Cake is perfect anytime.    You might think a white sheet cake sounds boring compared to other flavors but you would be WRONG!  This cake is super moist and rich.  This cake would be perfect for brunch, a potluck or just for dessert at home!

 

For the Cake:

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 2 lg. eggs
• 2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

For the Frosting:

• 4 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

    Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil your sheet pan.  I used a 17" x 11" sheet pan. 

      In a medium sized pot, combine the butter with 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil.  

 

Just to show you how I cut up my butter before adding in the water to boil.

     

     Remove it from heat and allow it to sit for 5 minutes, to cool off a bit.  Pour into a large bowl, and whisk in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

 

      In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract.  Once they are blended together, add it into the large bowl with the other ingredients.  Stir well. 

 

   Pour the cake batter onto the sheet pan and bake for 18 minutes or until it is done.  To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.  

 

The baked cake.

     

    Allow the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting it.  

 

      To make the frosting, combine the butter and milk into a medium sized pot and bring it to a boil.  Remove the pan from heat and stir in the almond extract and the powdered sugar a cup at a time.  Stir in the nuts if you desire and then spread the frosting over the cake.  Cut, serve, and enjoy!  

 
     This cake freezes well and the longer the cake sits, the better it tastes so it is best to make this cake a day in advance. 

Serves 20 and each piece has 60 carbohydrates per slice. 

 

    Be sure to view her Carrot Sheet Cake too.  So good!

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Instagram

Great Depression Era Meals

      If you are like most of America, groceries are hard to come by right now.  Store shelves are pretty empty and items are limited.  People who lived through the Great Depression know what it is like.  People learned to make meals that required pantry items and frugal items and I am sharing some of them with you today.  They are tasty and may help you come up with some ideas for you and your family during these troubling times.

Great Depression Era Meals

  1.   Southern Ham & Beans.  This isn't just a great southern recipe, but one you can make and enjoy anytime.  I love serving this with Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread.  So good!

    2. Homemade Biscuits And Chocolate Gravy.  We love to eat this not only for breakfast but for supper too.  

     3. Old Fashioned Creamed Tuna On Toast.  It may sound gross but it is pretty good.  Very similar to chipped beef on toast or S.O.S.  It is a cheap meal that tastes good too.

    4. Breakfast Rice.  This is a breakfast meal but it is oddly satisfying and delicious.  Just a few simple ingredients but darn, it is good!

   5. Stew!  No matter how you make stew, it is a great meal that goes a long way!  We get 3-4 meals out of one pot of stew so it is a natural choice to make during hard times.

   6.  Potato soup.  It is another filling meal and you can just use the water you boiled the potatoes in if you are out of milk, or add in a bit of milk or a can of evaporated milk to make it more economical.

   7.  Goulash.  It's a meal that doesn't take a lot of ingredients and most of you probably already have on hand, so mix it up and enjoy it for supper tonight!

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Instagram

What We Are Doing to Stay Safe!

     I wanted to tell you what I am doing to try and not get Covid-19. Some people (even some relatives) think I am going overboard but I don't think so. We wear protective masks everywhere we go and carry hand sanitizer, triple antibiotic, Lysol spray, and Lysol wipes everywhere we go. On the face masks, we were told by a virologist and an immunologist that most people are wearing the masks improperly. He told ours to wear them inside out. If you are sick and do not want others sick, you wear the mask the "normal" way with the charcoal layers, etc. against your mouth BUT if you want to keep stuff out and you are well, wear them with the filters facing out. I know that many masks do not block a lot but the MAIN reason we wear masks is to keep us from touching our faces.  

     We rarely go to a store but if we do, we put a bit of triple antibiotic into our noses and then our masks and goggles.  We take in a Lysol wipe and hand sanitizer.  We wipe down the buggy and as we shop, we stop periodically and use the hand sanitizer.  When we get to our van, all bags are wiped down on the outside of the bag with Lysol wipes and then the bags are covered with a tarp.  When we get home, each item is removed outside and wiped down individually with Lysol wipes and then brought into the house.  The bags are trashed outside and the tarp is removed and sprayed down with Lysol spray and hung on the line for 2 days.

    If we go to the ATM, I use hand sanitizer immediately after getting the money and I hand someone in the vehicle the money.  That person takes a Lysol wipe and wipes down each bill thoroughly with a wipe before it goes into my purse.  We do this with change at a store too but I have been trying hard to pay with exact change or if it is only a little bit, I say “keep the change”.

    It might seem like “over kill” but I prefer people to think I’m crazy then bring something home to my family unwillingly.

     Are you doing the same or do you do anything that we do not?

Follow me on Pinterest

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow our Youtube channel
Follow me on Instagram