Repurposing to Save Trash When Heather said she was doing a series of posts leading up to Earth Day, I got excited and was more than willing to contribute. While families of the homesteading variety tend to be pretty good stewards of the Earth 365 days a year, it is still nice to have one… [read more]
Homemade Auto Dishwasher Detergent
Detergent for the dishwasher has two components that I don’t like: the trash and the chemicals in the average dish detergent. Even the ones that are “natural” are chock full of things I don’t want my family possibly ingesting…Like what’s in this detergent: Pretty nasty stuff, right? I mean, if you can’t pronounce it, why… [read more]
How a Less Trash Lifestyle Keeps the Human Connection Alive
Most “greenies” like to coin their lifestyle a “trash free” lifestyle. For me, that is just waaay to hard. I think it’s a great goal, but I am not positive I can make it totally trash free in our household. Instead, I am going for a “less trash” lifestyle, where we reduce our overall garbage.… [read more]
Homemade Soy Sauce
Before I knew that soy wasn’t good for our family, I loved soy sauce! It’s really awesome for marinating chickens or turkey in to create moist and flavorful meat. I also love it on rice, and when we make homemade Chinese food. It’s perfect in nearly any meat or roast recipe as well. I have… [read more]
Sausage Frittata
Every so often, we have eggs for dinner. They are easy to make, cheap, and quite abundant for us this time of year, as a dozen eggs is just as close as our backyard. Having said that, I don’t like to make just scrambled or fried eggs all the time. I like to try and… [read more]
Beef Jerky-Make It At Home (dehydrator or oven)
How to make the world’s best homemade beef jerky! When I was growing up, my father would spend literally hours making the world’s best beef jerky. He would choose the finest beef roast, marinate it in his special blend of seasonings, slice it paper thin, and stick it a warm oven for 24-36 hours. The beef… [read more]
DIY Magnetic Knife Rack
Trying to find a knife rack that holds knives by the stove instead of in a block? I thought, “no problem…they are everywhere, right?” Wrong. I found this out as we were doing our kitchen makeover, and got really frustrated. NO ONE had a magnetic knife strip. NO ONE. I thought about ordering online,… [read more]
DIY Natural Facial Cleanser
The very idea of making homemade facial cleanser using the oil cleansing method was interesting to me. I just didn’t know where to start. I didn’t like the harshness of soaps, even homemade bars. When I found out about the oil cleansing method, I wasn’t sure about it. I mean, wash my already oily skin… [read more]
Sausage and Fennel Casserole
Fennel is an easy growing vegetable, or herb, depending on the variety you grow. It has a light, licorice flavor that blends well with chicken, beef or turkey. Crunchy and even slightly sweet, fennel is commonly associated with Italian cuisine, but can also be found all over Mediterranean cuisines as well. When choosing fennel at… [read more]
Swedish Meatballs
My mother was Swedish. My grandmother was Swedish. So, of course that means that I’m Swedish as well. Well, part Swedish, anyway. It should be no surprise then that Swedish Meatballs is a staple in this family. It’s a hearty dish served with ground beef or lamb, a beefy gravy over a bed of rice.… [read more]