Whether you have a 9 to 5 job in an office or youโre someone who works from home, your stomach will inevitably start to grumble around midday. As a freelancer, I usually start to get hungry around …
Grinding Your Own Flour
One of my favorite college coffeehouses was across the street from a milling company. I spent many hours sketching and sipping their various brews, the mood-lit ambiance of the cafe constantly …
17 Great Depression Era Recipes
Nowadays, with the never-ending supply of cookbooks online and in bookstores, and the family recipes your parents passed down, there's an exhaustive supply of meal ideas. And with modern technology …
Canning Peaches
After spending many memorable summers in the south, I am addicted to the smell and taste of peaches. Aunt Mildred and Uncle Elmer nurtured several different varieties in the peach orchard of their …
Canning Peppers
Whether you overplanted peppers in your garden this year -- or stockpiled a bunch that were on sale at the store -- don't let them go to waste! After you've made your red pepper soup and spicy …
10 Delectable Duck Egg Recipes
Duck eggs, a favored delicacy in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are quickly gaining popularity in the United States. If you've never tried them, duck eggs are richer, contain larger …
How To Make Irish Soda Bread
Irish soda bread traditionally contains only four ingredients: flour, salt, buttermilk, and baking soda. Purists would say that anything beyond these four essentials makes an entirely different …
Lard: What It Is And How To Use It
Lard is a type of animal fat specifically derived from a pig. Itโs available both rendered and as unrendered fat. When fatty cuts of pork are cooked, lard is the liquid left behind. Its primary use …
A Beginner’s Guide To Buying In Bulk
There are many reasons to shop in bulk. For one, bulk shopping can minimize your impact on the environment by reducing the use of plastic bags and single-use packaging. Shopping in bulk can also save …
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25 Delicious Sourdough Recipes For Your Home Starter
Sourdough starters used for baking have been around since the cultivation of edible grasses began thousands of years ago. People have been creating healthful and delicious breads of an astounding …
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13 Everyday Uses For Whey
Whey is the liquidy by-product of cheese and yogurt making. Instead of throwing away the by-product and wasting it, you can use this incredibly nutritious and complete protein. Whey contains all nine …
15 Of The Healthiest Meats You Should Add To Your Diet
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the intake of red meat and opting for poultry and fish. Red meat is higher in saturated fat, and a higher consumption may lead to high cholesterol …
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20 Dutch Oven Camping Recipes for Your Next Outdoor Adventure
Iโve always loved camping, and one of my favorite parts is the outdoor cooking experience. Food cooked over a campfire is something you just canโt replicate at home in your kitchen. A lot of times, …
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Take a Peek Inside the World’s Only Sourdough Library [Video]
Baking bread is an art form. Especially when you're making sourdough from scratch. You need the perfect temperature and humidity, you have to tend to your starter every day, and even if you do …
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Canning Green Beans
To reduce our reliance on commercially grown produce, we grow as much of our own food as possible and preserve it for the offseason. Preserving fruits and vegetables is a centuries-old homesteading …
20 Smoker Recipes
Heat, air, and smoke. Thereโs something almost primal about the satisfying taste experience of eating food infused with the flavor of wood smoke. As Chef Ben Vaughn says of smoking, โit only takes a …
How To Make Soothing Cherry Honey Cough Drops
It's cold and flu season and that means one of two things. It's either time to stock up on cough drops OR it's time to make your own at home! It seems like I never have cough drops on hand when I need …
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Caffeine-Free Coffee Substitutes That You Can Forage In The Backyard
Coffee is something I really used to enjoy. In my memories, that roasted, dark liquid is synonymous with warm cafes, good conversation, and air perfumed with delicious aromas. But now that I'm more …
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11 Healthy Grains You Should Add To Your Diet
As a chef and educator, I get asked all the time about healthy grains. Some of the healthiest grains are amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, kaniwa, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, teff, and …
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How To Make Homemade Coffee Creamer
If you're like me and can't imagine starting the day without a cup of morning joe, you'll be glad to know thatย health expertsย start their day the same way. What they don't do, however, is add …
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Homemade Vinegar
Vinegar: Making it is easier than you think. In its simplest form, vinegar is alcohol that has been diluted and fermented. You can use fruit juice, fruit scraps, wine, or beer. If given the chance to …
8 Low Sugar Fruits: A Safer Way To Snack
Fruits are nature's candy and offer an array of flavors, colors, and textures for us to enjoy. But these sweet treats are so appealing because of their high sugar content, and if you're on a low-sugar …
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How To Make Dandelion Wine
I wish I knew decades ago what I know now about the medicinal and nutritional benefits of dandelions: I remember my dad spending hours trying to get these sunny little "weeds" out of our suburban …
Stevia: A Sweet Perennial Herb
Stevia is a very cool plant: It's a little perennial herb that is beautiful to look at, easy to grow, and is a deliciously sweet herb to use in your teas and cooking. Stevia (official name Stevia …
Growing Ginger (With Helpful Tips For Indoor And Outdoor Growing)
Full disclosure: I may have more than a mild obsession with ginger. These days Iโm finding myself craving it regularly. I love it added to my favorite Asian or Indian-inspired dishes, drinking it in …
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How To Dry Herbs From Your Garden
Growing fresh herbs is a delightful task. Raising basil, dill, cilantro, oregano, mint, parsley, and other fragrant plants provide a fun distraction each day as you caretake your little greens. But …
Baker’s Racks
Once, cooks used them to cool down fresh pies. Now, baker's racks help keep kitchens clutter-free. Between pots and pans, small appliances and dishware, your kitchen can get unorganized quickly. …
How To Make Queso Fresco
There are so many reasons to skip the supermarket and stick to your kitchen these days. If you want to avoid the crazy crowds, save money, and make healthier choices, then youโll love this easy recipe …
How To Tell If A Watermelon Is Ripe
To say my daughter is a melon fan is a gross understatement. This child could live on melon alone, and left to her own devices, she probably would. Her favorite melon being the watermelon, we made it …
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Purslane: Weed Or Delicacy?
Have you seen this plant in your garden? If you have, you probably have a lot of it. Itโs purslane, one of the most persistent weeds in North America. Have you seen this leafy green in your salad? …
How To Cure Meat
Most meat eaters have had salumi, ham, lox, pancetta, beef jerky, or bacon. All those foods fall into the same category of cured meats, but we donโt often stop to think about what curing means and how …
How To Smoke Meat
Nothing quite complements the savory flavor of meat as well as the tang of smoke. Smoking meat is a low and slow cooking method that gives delicious flavor to any type of meat or other foods like …
How To Make Butter
Thereโs nothing more delectable than a smear of creamy, fresh butter on warm bread. Whether youโre baking French pastries, sautรฉing green beans, or serving hot popcorn, youโll want butter within …
Homesteading Stories: Maple Sugaring
There are a lot of different types of maple trees โ at least 128 species. Some grow better than others. Some are a harder wood, making them ideal for use on bowling alley floors, while others are …
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How To Make Sausage
Do you love sausage but get tired of the limited options your grocery store sells? Making your own sausages gives you control over the quality of the ingredients, the spice mix, the link size, and any …
Bread Proofing
When youโre in the process of baking bread, proofing refers to the final rise after you shape your dough into loaves. Itโs an important rest period before baking, also known as …
Sharing A Cow: The Real Experience
Sunday morning at the grocery store can feel like running a marathon. You enter the race as you push your grocery cart, with a bum wheel, through the automatic doors, and onto the floor. You weave …
Growing Carrots
Carrots are an easy-to-grow, easy-to-store root crop. Valued for more than a thousand years, the humble carrot gives color, texture, substance, flavor, and life to a diverse array of dishes. Serve …
Everything Basil
Of all the herbs, basil is by far my favorite. The sweet, subtle aroma washes over me like velvet. And the taste? It certainly embellishes many of my savory dishes with flair. The benefits of this …
Amazing Health Benefits Of Eating Fish
Packed full of high-quality protein and low in saturated fats, fresh fish is an exceptional source of omega-3 fatty acids and essential vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, B2, calcium, zinc, …
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Cooking With Cast Iron
What is durable, reliable, endlessly useful, and ruggedly handsome? A cast iron fry pan! If you are looking to have a good sear on a piece of meat or add minerals to your food, this is the skillet …
Kitchen Islands
It often feels like the kitchen is one of those rooms within our homes where we really wish we could add just a few more drawers, some extra cabinets, and a bit more surface space. If youโre not …
40 Fermentation Recipes
Fermentation is a time-honored tradition that dates back to the mid-1800's when the study of yeast first began. Since then, we have created recipes that ferment everything from milk to pickles. And of …
Homestead Stories: Memories Of Carving Pumpkins
The shape isnโt perfect โ it never is. Itโs rather flat on one side since thatโs the way it laid on the ground while it grew. Its shape adds character. At least, one can imagine that it …
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Cabbage Vs. Lettuce: Important Differences You Need To Know
Ever wonder about the differences between cabbage vs. lettuce? Which is more nutritional? Tastier? Easier to grow? Easier to store? In this cabbage vs. lettuce debate, you no longer need to …
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Plantain Weed
Learning about Mother Natureโs edible and healing plants is a critical component of living a sustainable, self-sufficient, and prepared lifestyle. Broadleaf Plantain, commonly pronounced plan-tin, …
Planting Currant Bushes
Currants are a great addition to any homestead. Native to the United States, currants are a flavorful and versatile berry used in jellies, jams, wine, cordials, puddings, and pies. Currants, no matter …
Homemade Pet Food
One day, I realized that the pre-packaged food I was giving my pets wasn't healthy for them. I took the time to consider what they would be eating in the wild, and it definitely wasn't …
Raw Milk
There is nothing more bucolic and familiar in our imagination of a farm than the image of milking a cow by hand into a bucket, and then pouring a glowing glass of milk for two or three smiling …
How to Make Bone Broth
Bone broth has recently come into vogue, showing up in health food stores and gourmet restaurantsโfor a pretty penny. Making your own bone broth is a simple and rewarding practice for a fraction of …