The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

72 Comments | |    Last Updated: December 4, 2020

How to Make Beeswax Candles

*Flicker flicker flicker* When I'm sitting by the blazing wood stove on a cold winter's night, I gotta have a candle. No ifs, ands, or buts, the moment is simply not complete without the dancing light of a burning wick. Even though I'm dumped most of my candles in favor of my essential diffusers (because not only do my essential oils make my house smell good naturally, but they also can provide health benefits), I still crave the ...Continue Reading

153 Comments | |    Last Updated: January 8, 2026

Best Fresh Homemade Pasta Recipe

Rocket science has no place in my kitchen. As much as I love to cook, I sometimes run across certain techniques that make my no-fuss brain want to explode. Take fresh pasta for example. Many of the "basic" fresh homemade pasta recipes you find floating around Google make homemade pasta seem all but attainable with their complicated formulas, detailed instructions, and mind-numbing array of ingredient options. No thanks. But ...Continue Reading

38 Comments | |    Last Updated: September 25, 2018

Supplemental Lighting in the Chicken Coop

Your frying pan is crying out for scrambled eggs and omelets... The egg cartons are empty, and the only place you see those brown-shelled eggs is in your dreams... Winter is a rough time of year for a chicken owner. Shorter days equals fewer eggs, and you watch the dollar bills fly out of your wallet to pay the feed bills, with little to show for it. So what's an egg loving homesteader to do? Why Chickens Stop Laying in ...Continue Reading

16 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 13, 2023

Double Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe (GF, DF)

A little black dress, a string of pearls, and a romantic candlelit supper... While those might be the elements that comprise the typical Valentine's Day celebration, our homestead Valentine's Days look slightly different. OK, a lot different. I don't even own a little black dress, let alone a string of pearls (I'm more of a chunky rustic jewelry sort of gal...), and any candles I have are of the homemade ...Continue Reading

31 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 13, 2023

Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup Recipe

You crunch through the snow... ...hiking your legs to your chest as you plod back to the house. The copious layers of outerwear you're sporting cause you to mildly resemble a marshmallow, yet you feel the wind cutting through the fabric anyway. Your fingers are stiff in your gloves from the frigid water that splashed up as you chopped ice and filled water tanks. Not a moment too soon, you reach the front door and ...Continue Reading

| |    Last Updated: October 26, 2021

How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar from Scraps

Learn how to make a from-scratch apple scrap vinegar. Let's take a look at the difference between real apple cider vinegar and the apple vinegar you can make at home, as well as a recipe for apple scrap vinegar and my best answers to common questions on making vinegar at home. They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch… But there is homemade apple cider vinegar. And I’m going to venture to say it’s about as close to a free ...Continue Reading

Nice to Meet You

I’m Jill. I’ve never been very good at following prescribed paths.

For the last 15 years, that instinct has led me through homesteading, entrepreneurship, and creating a life my younger self could have only dreamed of.

These days, I’m less interested in living the perfect "old-fashioned life" and more interested in knowing which ideas are worth carrying forward. The first half of this story was about building a homestead. The next part is about building a life that actually fits.
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