I have to try really hard not to stutter and stare... ...when I'm at someone's house and I watch them throw celery tops, broccoli stems, or banana peels in the trash. That's valuable stuff! Our goats are rather picky, and they only like choice items such as watermelon rind or cornstalks. However, our chickens can be depended upon to eat pretty much everything--especially veggie trimmings or leftover dairy items (like whey or ...Continue Reading
Homemade Tootsie Rolls (Without the Junk!)
I'll be the first to admit-- I am not a purist when it comes to only eating "real" food. Yes, I'm completely devoted to raw milk, cooking from scratch, and sourcing quality ingredients. BUT, I still follow the 80/20 rule. (Eat healthy 80% of the time, and don't worry too much about the other 20%...) I think that stressing out *too* much about what you eat is probably just as unhealthy as eating junk in the first place... That being ...Continue Reading
8 Tips for Adding Farmhouse-Charm to a Builder-Grade Kitchen
Our little prairie farmhouse has quite the history... Originally built in 1918, its walls have seen many families come and go. Every once and a while, a former resident will pull into the driveway and want to reminisce. I absolutely love hearing the stories of the folks who loved this piece of land before I did. I've learned that the original family who built the house raised four girls in the tiny upstairs bedrooms. And how their ...Continue Reading
16 Possible Reasons for Off-Flavors in Milk
(This post contains affiliate links) Ever had raw milk that tastes, well... a little "off"? If you have your own dairy animals, or purchase fresh milk from local farmers, it's likely you've run into a gallon or two that tastes a little different than what you were expecting. There are many factors that may play a part in off flavors in raw milk. The Encyclopedia of Country Living (one of my most fav homesteading books E-VAH.) ...Continue Reading
How to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets
Ever get half-way through a project and wonder if you had to be half-crazy to have started it in the first place? Yeah... That was me about a month ago. My road to crazy was a gradual one... Thanks to too much time spent on Pinterest, I've had my eye on white kitchen cabinets for about a year... The problem was that I couldn't exactly justify ripping out my current cabinets and springing for brand new ones. Although I wasn't a fan of ...Continue Reading