Cooking from Scratch

Our tiny garden can make soupSome people have little room for a garden but even in a small space we can grow enough to make soupHere the turnip roots are formingThese are collards.I started with a half a pound of ground pork but you can use beef or chicken or anything you have. You can also make it vegetarian. I browned the meat and drained the fat.Then I went out to the garden and picked a few things...Strung and snapped the beans then washed them..Added three quarts of water because I needed to make a large pot of soup this day.I went back out and gathered some greens.. Turnip greens, mustard greens and collards. Not a lot, just enough for soup.Washed them in salt water and vinegar rinse a ......

We have had a couple of family emergencies lately and my husband and I have found our resistance is very low due to fatigue. My husband caught a cold.We try to keep fresh ginger root in our refrigerator and we are growing it in a large planter in the back yard.We mostly buy our ginger at the grocery store and when we need some and don't have any store bought we go out and dig some up. We only started growing ginger a few years back so we are letting the root system grow. I started it by using a piece from the grocery store that sprouted. This has been kept in the bottom of the refrigerator wrapped in paper towel then a light produce bag.To make fresh ginger tea decide on how much you ar ......

This recipe is for a small pan of homemade cornbread. Many families are smaller now than they were many years ago but our recipes are still for large servings. If you need a larger serving just double the recipe.I am using a very small loaf pan. It is 8 inches by 4 inches, it holds one quart. This is not your normal size loaf pan, you can use a one quart baking dish such as pyrex or corning or most anything that is one quart. Here is the recipe. Preheat oven to 400 degreesGrease or butter your baking dishYou will need two bowls, one for liquid and one for dry and a very small pot for melting butter.1/2 cup Plain cornmeal (do not use self rising cornmeal)3 ounces of Plain Flour (I use a ......

We had a request by a family member to post how we cook our sweet potato fries and cubes.There really is not a recipe, just our way of making them. There is nothing fancy here at all because all you need is sweet potatoes and a small amount of oil and a couple of cloves of garlic. We use extra light olive oil. Pre heat the oven to 380 degrees.Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into fries or cubes. Then for the fries pour a bit of the extra light olive oil over the fries in a small bowl.Toss the fries in the oil.... Place on a baking pan with foil over it. We do not use a lot of foil at our house but sweet potato fries will stick to the pan.... Place them in a 380 degree oven and bake for abou ......

We try to eat basic food because it is better for our budget and better for us.The pictures I will be posting are just random shots I just grabbed my camera and took of some of our meals so they are not magazine ready. The photo above is cooked pork, carrots and mashed potatoes. We rarely have steak and when we do we cut it up and stretch it as far as we can. This was lunch for my husband for a day trip. The small jar has sliced leftover steak and the jar to the left of that is lettuce, cucumber and onion. Apple and a banana for a morning and afternoon snack. I packed this nice size bowl so he would have room for the full salad. Oil and vinegar was in the jar sitting in the bowl. ......

I thought this title would get your attention and I am posting a pie recipe but first I wanted to talk about something very important.This is for young and old and I ask you to read it through.Recently a friend passed away and before he passed and was still in the hospital his wife was very worried and said that he always took care of everything, meaning finances, bills and such. She did not know what she was going to do because she did not know where everything was and he kept some things in files on the computer and she did not know how to get into the files. She knew nothing about the bank account and she had reason to be concerned. It was too late to ask. There are many families that one ......

If we are going to eat something sweet it seems to me much better to make it from scratch.These Fried Sweet Buns are a cross between a Honey Bun and a Doughnut so if you like either a honey bun or a doughnut you will surely like these. Many years ago my Aunt Leona sent my mother a recipe for her sweet bread and she used it to make many different types of sweet breads and rolls. Aunt Leona lived during a time when most people made homemade bread. I combined her sweet bread recipe with my dough recipe and finally came up with a honey bun type bun for my daughter. My Grandson has severe food allergies and going to the store to buy store bought sweets in not an option. &nbs ......

This is an excellent stew. Simple, healthy and the favor is wonderful.This stew can be made with ground or cubed Beef or Pork or ChickenThe great flavor comes from the turnip rootsRecipeHere I am using Ground PorkTurnip roots peeled and dicedCarrots Peeled and diced3/4 diced onionSalt and Pepper to tasteI am using 4 turnip roots and 4 carrots adjust for the size of your family. I am making enough for our dinner and then leftover for lunch tomorrow.This is ground pork and I cannot tell you how much because we buy our pork from the butcher and divide it into portions for our cooking.It came out of a zip lock bag that I had in the freezer and thawed. I could guess somewhere 1/2 pound and ......

Homemade egg noodles are delicious and they are not hard to make, there is a first for everything and with practice you can make fresh egg noodles as often as you like.RecipeSmall batch 1/2 cup all purpose flour1 eggpinch of salt1 tablespoon waterIf you want more, double this recipe or triple. It is just however much you need to make. Try a small batch and start from there.Toss the salt in with the flour and then make a well in the center. Add egg and water to the center.slightly beat the egg with a forkWork the dough with a spatula until together. It will be sticky at this point.Place flour on a cleaned counter or a pastry board and put the dough on top and sprinkle m ......

Life takes us down many roads and away from our home. It is important to plan what we will eat when away from home.In the past there were few places to eat so people mostly pulled off the side of the road and ate a packed lunch or meal.I feel that people are too busy and truly need to get back to basics where they have time to make home cooked meals. Stress mixed with fast foods is very unhealthy.My husband is not retired so I pack his meals every morning. I get up at 4:15 AM and start breakfast and lunch. He has to go in very early three days a week so I pack his breakfast and lunch. He is not ready to eat early so I send it with him. The other days of the week he eats breakfast ......

Some of you that have been to my website before may know that I dehydrate foods and preserve food to put in our pantry. To me lemons do not dehydrate well and there other ways to preserve lemons so I am posting how I preserve lemons. We have had good results preserving lemons the way I will describe.One morning my husband and I realized this was the last lemon in the last jar of preserved lemons and we both sighed and knew we better get some more packed up right away because we really enjoy these lemons diced up over our food.When you get as old as I am one thing you will most likely have is a good assortment of reference books and cookbooks. Most of the preserved lemon recipes include ......

In this recipe you will find three made from scratch recipes. Vanilla cookies, Vanilla Pudding and Whip Cream topping.Grandma Donna's style is completely homemade and from scratch. This is my mother's trifle dish and she made many banana puddings in her day. I inherited her dish and so I must keep up the tradition. I am sharing my recipe for homemade banana pudding to fill a trifle bowl.This recipe may be halved for a smaller bowl We start with vanilla cookiesHomemade Vanilla cookies1/3 cup sugar1/2 cup powdered sugar4 Tablespoons real butter1 egg2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 & ½ cups all purpose flourPinch of salt1 & ½ teaspoons baking powder2 Tablespoons honey2 Tablespoon milkPlace pa ......

This is the only photo I took when I made this pound cake because I was making three other cakes at the time but I wanted to share this recipe that I have used for many years. I have good memories of my mother baking pound cakes and taking them to friends. I have continued that tradition and here is the recipe for you all that visit my website. I will take photos when I make the next one.Grandma Donna's Cream Cheese Pound CakeNotes;This cake will be placed in a cold oven, do not pre-heat the ovenSoften your sticks of butter and cream cheese by setting out to get it room temperature before using. If your kitchen is cold place somewhere warmer.The batter will be slightly on the thick sid ......

Making whole wheat bread from wheat berries is not a hard thing to do. Acquiring a taste might be for some because it is a more earthy taste. If you want to make bread the way our generations before us did then we really need to start with wheat berries. You can find wheat berries in some store or order them online. This is hard white spring wheat berries and I used them because that is what I can get. There is also Hard red winter wheat berries.This is what they look like before grinding.This is what it looks like after grinding.We have two mills. An electric mill and a hand mill in case the power is out. This has been a good electric mill and the only thing I would want t ......

Need a helping hand?My index finger digit from the first bend to the tip of my finger is one inch. I can use this as a measurement when I am trying to measure things.My hand is about 7 inches from the bend of my wrist to the tip of my index finger. Why would this be important? If you are rolling out dough and you need to roll it to a certain size you can use your hand for a quick measurement. Knowing your own measurements can be a quick guide for you in the kitchen.This is 1/4 teaspoon of salt.1 half Teaspoon of salt1 teaspoon of salt, notice my hand is having to slightly cup to hold 1 teaspoon.One Tablespoon and my hand must be in a cupped position.When you are cooki ......

Peach Cobbler just seems right. It all starts with fresh peaches. Peach cobbler can be made with canned peaches but if it is peach season and you want fresh peach cobbler with fresh peaches this is a good recipe.There are a lot of recipes for peach cobbler but if you want a simple cobbler that does not have all the spices to cover up the taste of the peaches this is the recipe.This is our family recipe that has been around since I can remember. I have changed it just a bit and reduced the sugar and I found a long time ago that self rising flour makes this just a bit lighter but if you only have plain flour then just add the baking powder.I will type both ways, this pho ......

On my website I have several pages on bread making but I have decided to do a more simple page on making white bread by hand.My daughter makes bread using the dough cycle of a bread machine and I normally make it by hand. Recently she has been having issues with her bread machines and has asked for a refresher page on making bread by hand.Recipe for two loavesThis recipe is using honey instead of sugar because it seems that honey may help the bread to not dry out as fast. There will be six ingredients: honey, water, active dry yeast, olive oil, bread flour, salt.1/3 cup of honey1 & 1/3 cups of warm water about 105 degrees2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast4 Tablespoons of olive oil ......

One of my readers messaged me to visit a website and so I did and I found a pumpkin pie cupcake recipe. I changed it up just a bit to be able to cook it in ramekins. I wanted to use a cream cheese frosting so I am including the frosting recipe. This made 8 ramekins and we eat these directly out of the ramekins with a spoon.This is what they look like on the insideI am calling these Cream cheese pumpkin pie cakesIngredients for pie1- 15 ounce canned pumpkin 3/4 cup sugar, I use organic sugar2 large eggs, I use organic eggs1 & 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract3/4 cup evaporated milk2/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour1/2 scant under teaspoon ginger1/4 scant under teaspoon ground cl ......

Grandma Donna's Lemon Bread Lemon Bread is somewhere between a bread and a cake. It is best eaten as a semi sweet dessert with a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of milk. (I am working on a gluten free lemon bread and will post when I have it all figured out.) 1 & ½ cups all purpose flour 1 cup organic sugar or white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 eggs 2/3 cup half and half 1/3 cup real butter soft melted ¼ teaspoon vanilla Lemon zest of one lemon, zest the entire lemon Lemon syrup 1/3 cup organic sugar ¼ cup fresh squeezed and strained lemon See instructions for lemon syrup after baking directions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter ......

Our little KitchenHelp for those with food allergiesWe are a family that has food allergies, some are food intolerances and some anaphylaxis. So we Get It”. That It” covers many issues from what can I feed my child? To how can I modify this recipe? I do NOT give medical advice at any time. All medical questions should go to your Doctor. My goal here is to help simplify an overwhelming job of feeding a child or cooking for yourself or someone with food allergies. Maybe something here can help get you passed through the mental block a bit easier because it is not easy. Between my husband and myself being able to modify recipes to my Daughters 24/7 diligent ......