The kitchen is where simple living comes to life. It’s where home cooking meets food preservation—where you turn garden harvests and pantry staples into nourishing meals for your family. In this space, you’ll find from-scratch recipes made with whole ingredients, along with trusted techniques for preserving food through canning, fermenting, dehydrating, and freezing. Whether you’re making soup from fresh vegetables, putting up jam, or planning a pantry that supports your values, these resources will help you slow down, cook with purpose, and make the most of every ingredient. Because feeding your people well doesn’t have to be complicated—it just has to be real.
Fermentation is an old way of preserving food – really old, as in before refrigeration and before canning. Back in the day, you either dehydrated or fermented food to keep it from spoiling. Fermented foods include common items such as yogurt, cheese, and sauerkraut plus less common items such as kefir, kvass, and kimchi. Years …
With the holidays approaching you might be wondering if you can freeze cookie dough and bake the cookies later? Yes, you can! There are several ways to freeze cookie dough so that you can quickly have fresh baked cookies whenever you want them. Let’s chat about the different ways, what cookie dough freezes best, and …
One of the important things for me as a parent, is to raise children who have some life skills under their belt. Now, whether they chose to use those skills as adults is their decision but at least I know my kids can cook when they leave our home {One of our new favorites is …
I did not grow up in a family that hunted, gathered or even had a garden. In fact, I was an adult before I had ever tasted wild game. My dad loved to fish and shrimp and since we grew up on the beach, I never thought twice about eating fish or sea food. But …
One of our favorite dinners is pancit bihon, which is a Filipino stir fried rice noodle dish. {By the way, if anyone knows why Filipino is spelled with an “f” and only one “p” and Philippine is spelled with a “ph” and a double “p”, we would like to know. So far we’ve made up …
{Warning:: In this post I’m sharing the similarities of baking with three different flours, gluten free flour being one of them. If you are making a gluten free dish to serve to people who are on gluten free diets, please use proper protocol. Everyone reacts differently to gluten and some people have a very severe reaction, …
Oh, have I got a treat for you today. The first time I had chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookies was at a baby shower our church had for me when I had Phoebe – yep, 14 years ago and I still remember how amazed I was by them. {don’t laugh, this was before pinterest and blogs when …
For me, cookie making isn’t about the cookies, it’s about spending time with my children making memories. I learned a long time ago that I would need to have a relaxed view of cooking making if this was going to be an enjoyable experience for all. Keep it simple, let the children come and go as …
Fall has come to some areas of the country, I hear. We’ve had a few mornings that the temperature has just barely dipped into the 60’s and you should hear all the clamoring for hot chocolate for breakfast. We have a couple of favorite ways to make hot chocolate but we also have a favorite …
Did you know that October is National Cookie Month? Well, it is and we are celebrating. But we’re not celebrating with hard, dry cookies from a package. Oh, no, we’re making all kinds of family favorite cookies this month. Like Sunbutter cookies dipped in chocolate….yummm… When I make cookies I mix the wet ingredients first and …
Sometimes it really is the little things that can make all the difference in our schedules and in our budget. A couple of months ago I shared 5 things I regularly do that help me save time and money in the kitchen. I’ve been doing these things for a long time and don’t necessarily think …
My absolute favorite thing to grow is tomatoes. I love that there are literally thousands of varieties to try. I love the flavor of homegrown tomatoes – store bought tomatoes just cannot compare. I even love the smell of tomato plants – which don’t really smell very good, but I love them anyway. So, for canning …
My family loves salsa; we eat it on everything from eggs to tacos. My boys can polish off a quart of salsa and a couple of bags of tortilla chips in no time flat. Sometimes I like to serve a salsa that has a little extra nutrition, you know, to counter the bags of tortilla …
There are many ways to save money at the grocery store, but I truly believe this is the budget category we have the most control over. Unlike fixed expenses like housing or insurance, grocery spending can be adjusted week by week with small, intentional choices. Most people already know the basics — buying items on …
I love keeping home canned corn on hand. Although canning corn takes a little bit longer than canning other vegetables does, it’s totally worth it. There’s nothing like the flavor of locally grown sweet corn during summer, and when you can your own corn you can enjoy that bit of summer all year long. This …
During this time of the year (harvesting and preparing) I often wonder if my kitchen will ever be tidy again. I know it will and yet, sometimes, I get so frustrated by it. I would love to say that I don’t but that would be a lie. {This post contains affiliate links. You can learn …
Every spring one of the first herb seeds I sow are basil seeds. I liberally scatter them in several places in the garden. I do this for one reason…pesto! We love pesto so very much and I refuse to pay $5 for a small jar of basil pesto. So each summer you’ll find me making …
Canning beef stew is a great way to have meals-in-a-jar for lunches, quick dinners, and even emergencies. You can even use venison, lamb, pork, or other wild game in this home canned beef stew recipe. Every summer I find myself spending a few days canning beef stew, I make other canned soups and stews also …
“The art of giving food gifts expresses love in a way that something expensive picked up at the store simply cannot do. Homemade gifts are not cheap, but rather priceless and full of that which cannot be bought, love. Homemade food includes a bit of ourselves, our energies, our spirits, and yes, our love. It’s …
Zucchini fritters are a popular summer treat that turns grated zucchini into a delicious, crispy side dish. Whether you’re an experienced home cook or a beginner, this easy recipe will have you creating delicious homestyle fritters in no time. Zucchini Fritters Recipe If you grow zucchini in your garden, you know how wonderfully prolific it can be. …