Possiable Newsletter -

I have always LOVED getting newsletters in the mail.  Something other than a bill just puts a smile on my face.

Yes I know its wonderful to have all the new devices with kindle, nook and so on.  I don't  have any of those.  I have bought e books but there is something about holding a book in your hands that just feels good to me.

I would rather have 1000 books than a mini computer that houses them all.  Call me old fashioned. 

We used to get a dairy news newsletter years ago.  We usually got one every other month.  It was a highlight for me.  To be able to sit down when I felt like it and read up on recipes, tips, different ways of doing things, toss it on the table and pick it back up again when I wanted. Or keep it on the shelf and be able to reference something later on.

We are wanting to take a step back and get away from the hustle and bustle (more so than we already are, if that's possible) I am still going to write on my blog and facebook page!  This will just be more in depth, be a place to help each other connect and have a more personal feel.

What I am thinking is either a monthly or simi-monthly publication.  We are still looking into pricing but it would be very reasonable.  All articles would pertain to the season or time of year.  We would have a small classifieds section and a Q&A section for your questions.  Recipes and a DIY....Articles on various farm and homestead subjects....

Whats your thoughts or ideas?  I really want to know!

Homestead Sunday Dinner Rolls

I cannot tell you where I found the base to this recipe.  I wish I could remember.  I have tweaked it some over this year or so and LOVE the way this turns out! This is my Sunday bread recipe.

 MAKE SURE you let it rise the full 2 hours the first time around. 

2 cups super warm tap water

1/3 cup honey (1/2 cup if you like it a lil' sweeter)

2 tablespoons yeast

2 large eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp salt

7 (+/-) cups bread flour

 

 

Add in water, yeast & honey.  Mix till blended and let stand 5-7 minutes till foamed

Add in eggs, oil and salt - again beat till well blended

Add in flour a cup at a time.  Each till well blended.  Stop adding flour when the dough is still a tad sticky and just starts coming off the sides of the bowl.

I use my Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook but I have totally done this by hand also.  If you are using your KA or other stand mixer turn it on low/med for 7-8 minutes or if you are kneeding  by hand about 12-15 minutes.  Should be soft and stretchy.

Put dough in greased bowl and cover with wax paper or plastic wrap.  LET RISE 2 FULL HOURS! (trust me its worth it!)

Punch down and let rest about 5 minutes

Divide out into 24 pieces and form into rolls.  This will fill 2- 9x13 greased pans (12 in each pan)

Cover again and allow to rise 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Pop in rolls and immediately reduce oven to 350 degrees

Cook for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!! 

White Bread Recipe!

I wrote this a week or so ago but was having issues with Blogger vs my laptop!!


So I had some time today.  Hubster is off pushing snow (again) and Im here holding down the fort.  I actually have 5 minutes to myself and in my goal to post more, here I am.

House Wife Homesteads Simple White bread~

2 Cups very warm water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil ( Canola, or Olive Oil)
5-6 cups flour

In large bowl pour in water, yeast, & sugar and let proof for 5 minutes.
Add in salt, & oil into the yeast along with 1 cup of flour at a time until no longer sticky.
Kneed dough by hand till smooth and has slight stretch about 12-15 minutes.  (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer for 7-10 minutes)
Oil a bowl and roll dough in it to cover all side with oil.  Cover bowl and let rise 1 hour or till doubled.
Punch down and let rest 5 minutes.
Divide in half and shape into loaves.
Place in well greased loaf pans and let rise again 30-45 minutes till around 1" or so above pan.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Use this for a base for just about anything.....pizza, rolls, calzones, cinnamon rolls, garlic bread.....

Goat kids are not ment to live in the house.

We had 4 beautiful kids born 2 weeks ago come Wednesday. 

(4 of my 7 - pay no attention to the mismatched chore clothes...or the ugly carpet tiles we still haven't changed out since moving 8 months ago!)

 

 

We bottle feed our kids.  I know some of you might not agree with that, doing it voluntarily and all but that's how we manage our milk and to keep them tame and easygoing around us.  I have had goat kids we've left on the Mommas and even though we are out there everyday and they are used to us, breaking in a year and a half+ old doe to milk and stand on a stanchion and not lose their ever lovin' minds is a pain.

 

SO Mr. Hubster decided he didn't want to fashion a kid pen for me till this next weekend.  Ok... So having 5 goat kids in the house for 3 weeks...

 

And yes I can do math.  I bought a new buckling four our new sire since I'm keeping my doelings this year! :)

 

They were HUGE when they were born and started jumping out of their pen in the living room within 2 days.  Usually it takes them a week at least! 

 

Do you have ANY idea what its like to wake up with goat kids jumping on the side of your bed...or seeing them jumping up and down repeatedly on your poor bulldog whose just trying to get some sleep...or slipping in pee on the kitchen floor while you are trying to fill bottles???? (thank GOODNESS I have tile floors!)

 

Of course Hubster is like a big kid and loves sitting with them after dinner.  And the kids have been in hog heaven playing with them all the time. While I get to put them back in the pen.  Over & Over.  And over.  While cleaning up their mess and mopping constantly.  Like I have nothing else to do.  All I can say its a good thing they are cute. They all didn't see a problem leaving them in the house for another week.  They don't have a rag in one hand, mop in the other and a bottle in your back pocket 24/7!

 

(Hubster with the baby and Puddin - Yes I know I need to vacuum my floor.  Can you see my Mother Earth News peaking up from next to the play yard/ playpen or whatever you call it??)

 

What takes the cake though is waking up at 3am to feed the puppy and seeing them all out playing in the kitchen.  Except 1.  Hampton is missing. Hes the biggest one of the bunch.  I looked everywhere then I saw him... PEEING on my husbands recliner.  That did it.  So I went out to the barn at 4AM to make a kid pen. Easter Morning.  Did I mention it was at 4am!?

 

Needless to say they are happy as clams in the barn now and I somewhat have it easier in the house.  Still had breakfast done by 6am which is a little late for me but no one starved to death. 

 

Over the years we have pretty much had just about every farm animal in the house at one point or another.  Usually it only last a few days to a week.  I have found that 2 weeks is my limit with goat kids.

 

After 2 weeks its either them or me.

 

 

Dinner Rolls that are AWESOME

I bake bread - a lot.     Usually 3-4+ times a week.  Yes, I love it & Yes its a stress relief for me!  

I made a 4- 9x13 pans tonight... This was all that was left to take a picture!

By far the BEST rolls I have EVER made!!  So light and fluffy!  So, so , SO good!!! 

These took a little longer to rise but are SO WORTH IT!!!


Check back in tomorrow for the recipe!!

Babies, Babies Everywhere

     I sit here looking at my laptop.  Poor old thing.  Its totally on its last leg and SLOW.  I swore this year I would make my blog great.  ...   ... .......  Herm,  ugh,  Well I haven't taken the time to hone my photoshop skills either to make everything look nice and pretty, but on the other hand I kind of like the real snap shots. I just need to make myself write more!

We are small potatoes, but over the last x amount of years have dabbled in just about anything and everything.  I used to call is flailing now I call it dabbling.  I want to be able to say we have done it all on a small scale and on pennies.  And we are!
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I do better under pressure and when I am super busy.  Its odd but true. 

Well I am busy.


 On Wednesday I took on taking care of a tiny puppy for a friend,

 my prize Nubain gave me quads and shes giving me over 90 ounces a milking!!!! 

 & our barn cat decided my house was a good place to have her kittens...

 I have about 1700 seedlings in my living room, Milk cow needing milking 2x a day, Milk goats, chickens, babies, babies, & babies.  All while Homeschooling and dealing with a teething baby, and my 6 other kids.... chicks in the incubator (review and posts coming soon!)

 Which is all fine and well but Mr Homestead (Hubster) has been gone several nights pushing snow...and is again tonight. It goes from busy to shear madness when hes not here.  But its always fun and interesting.

Oh and did I mention we are about to start feeding sprouts and fodder!!  Have all the supplies and will be blogging our set up and progress!!

One last thing - I also have a STACK of recipes I have been making and need to start posting four you all so check back in often!

Have a recipe you don't want to try- to complicated, to many ingredients, just odd?  More than likely Ill try it- just send it my way and Ill post about it :)

Back In the Saddle again!

I'm Baaaaack!  Can you hear the music....Aerosmith.....

Ok anyway....

Now that we've gotten thru the first of the year I can refocus on my kitchen, garden, and blogging!
Yea! 

Oh and did I happen to mention that I have lost 85 pounds since my last blog post.......  All on my own thank you very much.

Well I had planned this whole baking bread posts but the heating element went out on the oven-- SO
I'll just give you a run down.

We are putting a fairly large garden this year.  I wanted my herb bed to be ridiculously huge but decided to scale back since I'll be doing my soaps this year and have a couple festivals planned.

I have a membership to a seed savers club and get sent 5 packs of random seeds mailed each month.  I also had a $200 order in to Bakers Creek again this year.  They may be a tad higher on the packs but they are in my state and you cannot beat their shipping.

We have always been very happy with Bakerscreek and they are all open pollinated and GMO free.

We got the garden plowed a few times before our snow hit-  between 11 & 12 inches last week. Hubster works for MoDOT so we hardly saw him for nearly a week.  One of the nights he was gone I caught 2 guys seeking around the old farm house on the place - SCARED me to death.  grabbed my gun and hit the back door on a vengeance - scared the pee out of them I think.

 To put it pleasantly I had a very no nonsense approach with an extremely stern tone.......

 

Hubster headed out to get some wood

 

Big things planned - Milk cow calved today!  One of my Nubians should be kidding ANYtime - garden all planned out and seeds sprouting as we speak, Got a new camera and forked out the bucks for Photoshop 11 and 2 books to try and explain it all (we will see how that goes) If I could get my oven fixed this week it may actually be organized around here.

HAHAHA - who am I kidding I SCRUBBBBBED the house down Saturday and you cannot hardly tell today. Between home school, cooking, cleaning, and other everyday tasks its a mad house.  But its my mad house and I run the asylum - wouldn't have it any other way.


Oh and remember Seed giveaway is right around the corner!  Make sure you keep an eye out on our facebook page!