Hand Made: The Modern Guide To Made From Scratch Living by Melissa K. Norris

• ISBN-10: 0736969675
• ISBN-13: 978-0736969673
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2017)

What it's all about ... 

Homemade Shouldn't Be Hectic

Do you wish you could slow down and create a home you and your family love and enjoy spending time in? Melissa K. Norris, author of The Made-from-Scratch Life and voice of the Pioneering Today podcast, offers down-to-earth tips and guidance to help you learn how to...

• bake old-fashioned recipes (everything from biscuits to shepherd's pie) with quick, stress-free steps
• grow, harvest, and preserve culinary and medicinal herbs (with DIY tutorials for soaps, salves, and balms)
• make your own cultured and fermented foods at home following simple instructions for buttermilk, sour cream, sourdough, and more
• simplify your routine and declutter your home with room-by-room guides and Depression-era wisdom

Open your heart to God-given rest and discover practical and tangible ways you can craft your home into a refuge for yourself and the ones you love.

Home Made is chock full of practical advise that has something for every lifestyle  be it living in the country, the city, apartment living or Tiny Home living. This truly is one of the most practical, informative and delightful books I have read in a long time!

The author's focus on finding balance in all areas of life (home, work, family, faith in God) is inspirational. She's a regular Mom, wife, woman trying to juggle a family, full time work while providing a home that lovingly supports herself, family and nurtures her faith in God. 

My favorite Things about this book? 

Ms. Norris' writing style ~ it wasn't preachy ... she shared her triumphs and failures, the lessons she learned on the way and her faith in God so openly that I honestly felt like I was at my kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and chatting with a friend!

I love her stories and references  to the Great Depression era. That generation sure knew how to improvise, make do, go without the extras and make things stretch as far as they could possibly go.  Each tip  from that era and the stories that go with it touched my heart and inspired me.  Here's an example of one tip that I would  never have dreamed of ...       

Starchy potato water can be substituted for milk when making bread. Who knew? You'll find so MANY more of these wonderful tips and "how to's" throughout this book! 

Home Made is one of the BEST books I've read on going back to the basics and blending "the old fashioned ways" with today's life.  The tips are fantastic and there is such a wealth of knowledge with in his book that I  know I will be using it for a lifetime. I plan on gifting this book to some of my friends who have wanted to get more back to the basics. I know they're going to love it! 

5 Stars!

I received this book for free. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own. Thank you to Ms. Norris and as well as Harvest House Publishers and Netgalley  for the opportunity to read and review this book. 

Summer's Bounty and Stocking the Freezer

I love all the fresh fruit and vegetables that are available throughout the Summer. I like to get them at this time of year in bulk when they are on sale and then freeze them as veggie packets.  

It does take some prep time up front to make it happen but the result is a freezer stash of fresh, quality veggie packets that make meal time prep SO easy!   

Zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, onions.

When I make the veggie packets in bulk, I treat myself and put on an audio book and get to chopping! I store the veggies in a quart zip big bags and put them in the freezer and they stay good in there for quite  a while. 

What do I do with them? I use them for soups, chunky veggie spaghetti sauce, quiches, casseroles, veggie burritos, etc.   

Veggie Freezer Packet Combos:

Summertime Blend

Zucchini

Summer Squash

Onions

Bell peppers
Corn

Wintertime Blend

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Carrots

Red Onions*

Celery

* any kind of onions or mix of onions is great. I just like to add a splash of red into the winter time mix. 

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions ~ Easy and so delicious!

I had an over abundance of  onions that I needed to use rather quickly so I decided to  try out a recipe that I've had in my collection for some time but hadn't made yet ...   

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

I'm not sure where I got this recipe and was unable to pull it up on the internet, though I found a lot of similar recipes. If any of you recognize this recipe and know the author, please send me an email or leave me a comment so I can give them credit).

Ingredients

12 small to medium sized yellow onions

3 medium sized red onions

6 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions: 

Halve, peel, and thinly slice all of the onions. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the bottom of the slow-cooker's crock.

Add about half of the onions, sprinkle about half of the salt over the onions, drizzle another 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and repeat with the remaining onions, salt, and olive oil.

Sprinkle the thyme over everything and then use tongs to toss the contents so the onions are evenly coated with oil.

Place the lid on the crock, turn the heat to HIGH, and let it cook for 9-10 hours, stirring and flipping the contents from bottom to top after 1 hour and again after 3 hours.  

After those two stirs, you should not need to keep agitating the contents of the slow cooker unless your cooker runs hot. If you know it runs hot, it wouldn't hurt to move the onions around every couple of hours to prevent scorching.

When the onions are deep golden brown to medium brown, turn the slow-cooker off and portion out the onions into freezer safe containers.  

Tip: I had to use two 5 quart crock pots  for the above recipe to

 start out with till the onions cooked down some.  

Some recipes say to drain the liquid off the onions and then freeze them but I let them cool down, bagged them with just some of the liquid and then put them in the freezer.    

These  caramelized onions will be great in casseroles, quiches, sandwiches, soups, hamburgers ... the possibilities are endless! 

Pasta Arrabbiata ~ Quick and Easy!

This recipe is quick, fast (less than 15 minutes) and it's a family keeper!  

I prefer this veggie pasta version but my husband and kids love the Beef Pasta Arrabbiata version which I will be posting in the future.     

Pasta Arrabbiata

Source: Adapted from  Hunt's Recipes 
Serves: 4

Ingredients

12 ounces dry rigatoni pasta or any kind of pasta you like, uncooked (I used linguine as it's what I had on hand)

PAM® Olive Oil No-Stick Cooking Spray

1 cup bell pepper strips or diced (red, green and/or yellow)

1/2 cup sliced yellow onion

2 cans (14.5 oz each) Hunt’s® Diced Tomatoes with spicy red pepper, undrained  

2 cans (8 oz each) Tomato Sauce

1/3 cup grated Parmesan (optional)

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt.

Meanwhile, spray large skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and onion; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add undrained tomatoes and tomato sauce; reduce heat and simmer 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in cooked pasta. 

Sprinkle with cheese (optional) and serve!

Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers ~ Cooking Thursday

This slow cooker version of stuffed peppers is super easy to make and they are absolutely delicious! 

As we usually don't have any left overs when I serve this meal, I often will double or triple the recipe to make some freezer meals too! 

Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

Source: M.J .PuzzleMom at What a Crock!

1 package (about 7 ounces) Beef rice a roni mix
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup diced celery
1 small onion, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
4 medium-size green bell peppers, halved lengthwise, cored and seeded
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 cup water

~

Set aside the seasoning packet from the rice. Combine the beef, rice mix, celery, onion and egg in a large bowl. Divide the meat mixture evenly among the pepper halves.

Pour the tomatoes with their juice into a slow cooker. Arrange the filled pepper halves on top of the tomatoes. 

Combine the tomato soup, water and contents of the reserved seasoning packet in a medium bowl. Pour over the peppers. 

Cover and cook on the low setting for 8-10 hours. 

When ready to serve,  scoop  up all the wonderful diced tomatoes and sauce and pour over the peppers. Enjoy!

This also makes a wonderful freezer meal!

Ravioli and Spinach Soup - Easy Pantry Meal

I've been trying to expand my collection of  quick pantry recipes for busy nights. I found this recipe below and it's delicious!   

Ravioli and Spinach Soup

Recipe adapted from a Taste of  Home  Recipe - Dec. 2012/Jan. 2013  Magazine 

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of beef  or vegetable broth (14.5  oz each)
• 1  pkg (9 oz.) frozen/refrigerated mini - cheese ravioli or  mini tortellini (follow cooking time on the package)
• 1 can (15 oz)  great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of rotel, undrained
•  ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• 1 bag of frozen chopped spinach or greens (14-16 oz)
• ¾ cup of shredded cheese of your choice (optional)

Directions: 

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add ravioli, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. 

Stir in beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper and frozen spinach (or greens). Return soup to a  simmer for 4-5 minutes or until ravioli are tender. 

 Top with shredded cheese (optional) and enjoy!

Tomato, Cucumber and Feta Salad

Tomato Cucumber Salad

This salad is light, refreshing and tasty!

Recipe from Kroger

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients: 

· 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved 

· 2 medium cucumbers, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes 

· ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled 

· 2 tablespoons fresh basil, coarsley chopped (or 2 teaspoons of dried basil) 

· 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice 

· 1 tablespoon olive oil 

· Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

In a large bowl, gently toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, feta and basil. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad; toss gently to coat. Enjoy!

 Note: I recommend eating the salad fresh. It doesn't keep well overnight - it gets too soft and loses most of it's flavor. 

Visit Sandra to see what everyone else is cooking up.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

We had a lot of rainy weather this past week/weekend so it gave me an opportunity to make a family favorite - Slow Cooker Beef Stew.  

I served it up with some biscuits and a side salad. This was so easy to make and tasted absolutely delicious.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Serves 8 – 10

Adapted from a Taste of Home Recipe – Favorite Irish Stew

Ingredients

· 1/3 cup flour
· 1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
· 3 tablespoons of oil
· 3 medium onions, diced
· 3 garlic cloves, minced
· 4 cups beef broth
· 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
· 4 medium carrots, sliced into ½ inch half moons (cut carrots length wise in half , then slice width wise  into half moons)
· 1 cup frozen green beans
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon dried thyme
· ½ teaspoon pepper
· ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Music to your taste buds!

Directions:

1. Place 1/3 cup flour in a large resealable plastic bag. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, shake to coat.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Saute beef cubes in batches, setting beef aside until all is browned.

3. In the same skillet, add one more tablespoon of oil and when heated, saute onions and carrots until they are tender. Add garlic; cook one minute longer. Remove and set aside.

4. Pour about ¼ cup of beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and seasonings into the skillet. Bring to slow boil working to loosen all the browned bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan.

5. Place potatoes into the bottom of a 4 quart slow cooker. Layer beef over the potatoes, then vegetables, frozen green beans and broth from skillet.

6. Pour the rest of the beef broth over the meat and vegetables gently mixing all ingredients. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Unstuffed Green Pepper Soup - Slow cooker

It's already spring in my part of the world but I love soup anytime of the year! 

Unstuffed Green Pepper Soup 

Source: Lorie 

Servings: 12 (1 Cup Each)

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb. 96% Lean Ground Beef, cooked
• 2 (14.5 oz.) Cans Diced Tomatoes seasoned with basil, garlic and oregano (*)

• 2 (10.5 oz.) Cans Chicken Broth

• 1 Large Onion, chopped

• 3 Bell Peppers, chopped

• 2 (10 3/4 oz.) Cans Condensed Tomato Soup

• 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Long Grain Rice

(*If you only have plain diced tomatoes, add in 2 teaspoons of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of garlic and 1 teaspoon of oregano)

Directions:

1. Spray crock-pot with non-stick cooking spray. Inside the crock-pot, combine the cooked beef, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, onion, bell peppers and tomato soup.
   
   
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Warm up the rice, stir it into the soup and serve.

French Onion Soup - Slow cooker

I love soups and stews. There's just something about a bowl of hot soup on a cold fall or winter night. This one is one of our family's favorites.

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
Source: Unkown

Ingredients:

• 6 large onions, thinly sliced (try mixing different types of onions for great flavor!)


• 2 sticks of butter/margarine


• 8 – 10 cups beef broth (4-5 cans)


• 4-5 Bay Leaves


• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire


• ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt


• 8-10 slices French bread, toasted


• Mozzarella cheese for bread

Directions:

1. In slow cooker, combine onions and butter, broth, bay leaves and salt, and worchestershire.

2. The onions need room to cook thoroughly so if you're using a 6 quart slow cooker the cooking time will be on low for 8-10 hours. If you are using a 4 quart slow cooker - cook on low for 10-12 hours.

3. Scoop out the bay leaves if possible and pour hot soup into bowls. Top with a slice of bread and sprinkle with cheese.

Bacon Bites - Another Pantry Favorite!

Bacon Bites
Source: Adapted from Pillsbury recipes

Ingredients:

2 pkgs crescent rolls

1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, melted

1 small onion, diced (or substitute 2 teaspoons of onion powder.)

6-7 strips of cooked bacon made into bacon bits (add as much or as little as you like!)

Directions:

Roll out the crescent roll triangles and separate each triangle.  

Mix the filling ingredients together and spread across the crescent rolls.

Roll up the crescent rolls and pinch the ends.

Bake in 350 degrees until lightly browned; about 10 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Crumb Topping and Fruit Crisp

Quick and Easy Crumb Topping

(Fruit Crisp recipe at the bottom of this post)

Source: Robin Miller

Crumb Topping:

1 stick butter or margarine

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

pinch of salt

Directions: Use fork to combine ingredients together. Store in freezer bag up to six months in the freezer.

For Fruit Crisp:

Place fresh or frozen fruit of choice into a square glass dish. Sprinkle generous amount of crumb topping over fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Homemade Chicken Stock

While my neck of the woods was being pelted with freezing ice, rain and snow last week, I finally found the time to make a huge batch of homemade chicken stock.

I love cooking homemade stock in the slow cooker -it's so simple. Just chop and drop the ingredients into the cooker, add water and let it slow cook for 16-24 hours. It can't get any easier than that!

An added bonus is that while it's cooking your house will smell divine! :)

Homemade Chicken Stock

Adapted from a recipe in The Best Diabetes Slow Cooker Cookbook

(This is a wonderful cookbook. Every recipe I've made from this book just comes out fantastic!)

Ingredients:

4 pounds of chicken with skin and bones

3 onions, coarsely chopped ( I quarter the onions)

4 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped

4 stalks of celery, washed and coarsely chopped

6 sprigs of parsley ( I used one large bunch of cilantro as that is what I had on hand)

3 bay leaves

10 black peppercorns, whole

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

4 cloves of garlic, mashed but left whole

12 cups of water

Directions:

In a large (6 quart or greater) slow cooker combine all the ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 16-24 hours.

Check the slow cooker around the 12 -14 hour mark to see if you need to add another 2-4 cups of water to keep the liquid level high.

Once it is done cooking, strain it and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. 

In the morning, the fat will be ready to be skimmed off. 

The broth will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.

I skimmed as much of the fat off as I could, packaged it in quart zip lock bags then labeled and froze it.

I doubled the recipe and it yielded 21 cups of rich, wonderful tasting chicken stock. It's darker than standard chicken broth but that's because it has so much flavor.

I can't wait to make my next soup with this!

Italian Sub Stoup

Our whole family loves the soup I'm posting about today and we've dubbed it "Our Christmas Soup" as we traditionally have this on Christmas Eve. It's actually a soup recipe from Rachael Ray ~ Italian Sub Soup that we adapted a bit.

Italian Sub Soup

Adapted from recipe by Rachael Ray

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 3/4 pound, 3 links, hot or sweet Italian sausage, split and meat removed from casing (we use half hot and half sweet sausage)
• 1/4 pound piece stick pepperoni, diced
• 1 ham steak, diced (about 1/2 to 3/4 pound)
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled, quartered and sliced
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups chicken stock
• couple handfuls of vermicelli pasta
• 2 bunches spinach, trimmed and coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
• tomato paste, 6 0z

  Directions

1. Place a soup pot or deep sided skillet on the stove top and pre-heat to medium high heat. Add olive oil, 2 turns of the pan and the sausage.
2. Brown and crumble the sausage, drain off excess fat if necessary then add the ham and pepperoni.
3. Cook meats together 2 minutes then add peppers and onions and cook 2 or 3 minutes more.
4. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and bring soup to a boil.
5. Stir in pasta and cook for 8 minutes. Stir spinach into soup just before you serve it!

Homemade Butter

The boys and I decided to have a try at making our own butter. It's one of those projects that we have been meaning to get to for awhile but just never did. All I can say now is ... why did we ever wait?!

This turned out to be the best butter I have tasted! We had it on hot fresh biscuits and the boys slathered their pancakes with it. YUM!

All you need is 16 oz. of cold heavy whipping cream, a jar with a tight fitting lid and a bit of salt. Put 16 oz. of heavy whipping cream into a jar making sure the lid is on tight- very tight! Start shaking the jar and keep on shaking.  Get the kids involved - my boys had a blast helping to make this!

The butter will go through several stages. First it'll feel all sloshy like liquid and then you'll see the liquid coating the sides.

After that, you'll see it beginning to pull away from the sides and seperate into liquid and solid. Just keep on shaking!

About half way through, I just had to take a peak ~

Oh, my ~ it's looking GOOD!

We weren't sure exactly how long to keep shaking; the instructions said to shake until you see solid surrounded by liquid so we put the lid back on and continued to shake, shake, shake! After about an hour (total) of shaking the jar we had.... BUTTER! 

The next step is to place a cheese cloth inside a strainer and pour the butter into it. Strain the butter into a big bowl, using a spoon to gently press the butter to make sure all the liquid comes out.

Let all the liquid drain off and set that aside. Don't throw the liquid out ~  save it as it's butter milk! 

Rinse the butter under cold water until the water drains clear. Strain the butter again to get most of the liquid off. This liquid you can discard -it's just water.

Transfer the butter into a bowl and gently press the butter with the back of a spoon and drain off any excess liquid.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and mix well. Place butter into a mold or a bowl, cover and refrigerate or freeze it to harden the butter.

If you're freezing the butter, line your mold with a plastic wrap and then place butter into that mold. This makes it easier to remove the frozen butter from bowl.

After the butter is hard, you just lift the plastic wrap out of the bowl and completely seal the butter. Then pop each individual butter mound into one large freezer bag.

BUTTER!

I don't think we'll be going back to store bought butter any time soon!