Preserving Tomatoes

 The past two days, it has gone down in my kitchen. Tomatoes are a staple in our home. I turn them into so many things. Pasta sauce, marinara sauce, salsa, enchilada sauce, tomato soup, roasted tomatoes, whole tomatoes for soups and stews, etc. 

Tomatoes are one of those crops that you have to really take care of. I mean baby it from growing the plants, to planting, maintaing, and then harvesting. Did I mention baby them. Yes, it is laborous but the rewards are so worth it. They take alot of extra love, care and a watchful eye. Waiting for those green ones to finally turn red is exciting. Seeing all the red is breath taking. Sweating like a pig 🐖  in this intense heat is exhausting but once again, it is rewarding. The taste makes you think you are in Italy. The smell is divine. 

It took two days but I was rewarded 29 jars today. 

I have some on ready to start a second batch in a few days. 

I hope you're enjoying your summer bounty as well. 

There will be a written tutorial on my blogs and a video of course. Stay tuned. 

#preserving #tomatoes #garden #farmlife #canning #farm #homestead #fyp

Tracy

Keeper of the Home 

Homemade Bread and Baguettes

 My 5 Minute No Knead Bread Dough turned into homemade bread and baguettes today. 

Now I'm ready for a week of Bread for sandwiches, toast or anything. The loaves of baguettes will be served with some spaghetti one night and then I will make some bruschetta using some of our fresh tomatoes. 

Another batch of dough is sitting in the refrigerator to be used for anything I want at any time. I see a few pizzas and breadsticks one night or rolls for another meal. 

Here is the pizza:

Here is bruschetta I made one night:

If you want to know more about this bread and how versatile it is and nutritious,  check out these videos

Tracy

Keeper of the Home 

Ways To Use Left Over Breads

 DON'T THROW THAT BREAD OUT!!!!!

Well, unless it's getting moldy. 

If you find yourself not eating bread, rolls, buns, bagels, biscuits, etc., fast enough before they get moldy, repurpose them. 

Even if bread is getting stale, it can be turned into other staple things or delicious things. 

I repurpose some by taking left over or odds and end breads, cutting them into cubes and toasting in the oven. These make great homemade salad croutons. You can go one step further and take the croutons and run them through the food processor until you get crumbs. Season these crumbs and you have bread crumbs for coating meats to fry, binder for meatloaf,  mock Stove Top Stuffing, or a topping for casseroles.  

You can turn left over bread into other things too like French toast, bread pudding etc. 

In today's economy, we can't afford to waste money or groceries. 

I hope you find this post helpful and resourceful. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. Make sure to subscribe to my mailing list so you will never miss a post. You will receive them right in your inbox. 

Tracy

Keeper of the Home 

#selfsufficient #repurposeleftovers #resourceful #Homesteading #bread 

LATEST VIDEOS

 We have several new videos on our channel. I hope you take the time to enjoy them. 

Tracy

Keeper of the Home 

#newvideos #latestvideos #viral #WordPress #blogger #Google #YouTube #Instagram #Facebook #Pinterest #TikTok #homemaking #momlife #Homesteading #farmlife 

I Did A Thing

 

So, I have been sitting on an idea and creation for almost 2 yrs now. I have prayed about it long and hard and finally decided to jump in with both feet. I was afraid of how people would react to it, but as a child of God my love for him came first. As a child of his, I am blessed to claim his promise he made to me and I hope you will too. I put a twist on the Bible verse and made it more personal.

I partnered up with my bestie Daughter in law and we opened up an online store. This is a collection called God's Promise and this is a tshirt from that collection.

In this collection you will find Apparrel, Accessories, and Drinkware. These will all make awesome gifts or you can join in and wear these with pride.

You can find our store HERE

Happy exploring.

We are working on a men's design. At this time there are no children's sizes available.

Tracy

Keeper of the Home

I Am Procrastinating

 

I am either procrastinating or protesting. 

I DO NOT WANT SUMMER BREAK TO BE OVER. 

There, I said it. In our neck of the woods, school starts the first of August. EVERY YEAR. 

Where does the summer go? Just yesterday I was picking up grandkids from school on their last day. We were singing "Shool's Out For Summer" by Alice Cooper. (Boy, you should have heard my generation back in the day singing this while spinning tires in the parking lot. ) 

We started planning,  and then embarking on those journeys, making memories, laughing, playing, sleeping in, sleep overs, snacking, watching movies,  working hard, just the best summer ever. 

Now it all has to end. I am so sad. Not to mention, my last little buddy starts Kindergarten which means I will be home all alone during the day again. The time goes by so fast. 

For the past 6 years, I have had one to two people here with me, every day, all day. It will be quiet again around here. 

However, I am excited for her. I know I'm just the grandmother but I am an active grandmother which means I don't babysit. I have play dates and I teach as we play and work. I pour my energy, heart and soul into what I do. 

She is a little apprehensive but she will do great. Our school had Open House last night and I was able to take them because parents were still at work. They got to take their school supplies to their rooms and meet their teachers. They even got to meet some of their Daddy and Uncle Dallas' teachers. 

Things will still keep going even though school will be starting. Farm work never ends. We will still have evenings and weekends to squeeze in fun. G-Maw and Poppies house is always fun. 

We will be bringing in the rest of the garden,  taking care of pregnant cows, weaning last years calves, taking care of the yard, and unfinished projects to wrap up summer. 

We are entering the hottest part of our summer here. We are in some very high heat indexes. 🥵 

There are some projects that will be waiting until winter to finish due to the heat indexes. This winter we will work on flower beds and porches. 

If you are entering the Back To School Season for your family, I pray your transition will be a smooth one, and you find ways to make your mornings and evenings easier. 

If you would like some ideas on how to make this transaction go smoother, I have some great tips and tricks that I use to use when our boys were home and in school, and I still implement them now with grandchildren now that I help. You can read that post   here on the blog 

If you enjoy watching video versions, you can watch this video for tips and tricks 

Either one has great ideas that sure helped me as a mom and grandma. 

If you are a college student heading Off To College, and you are going to be cooking for yourself, I have a playlist of videos on dorm room or small space cooking just using a microwave,  air fryer and instant pot. Hey, you gotta eat and mom can't follow you off to college to do it for you, so you might as well start learning. I have plenty of whole meals I cook in these three staple appliances. 

You can check out that whole playlist here on YouTube 

Well, Here's Looking At You August. 

For those whose schools do not start back until September, YOU LUCKY DOGS.  Enjoy the rest of your summer. 

📚🗒🖍🖌

Tracy

Keeper of the Home

Rewarding Hard Work

 It's important to teach kids responsibility.  I also think it is encouraging when you reward. What? Don't you get a paycheck for hard work that you do? 

I had a reward system for our boys growing up. They had chores they did. We rewarded hard work. This created work ethics. 

Things are no different with the girls. I teach them the same thing. 

They help with cows, garden, mowing, cleaning or anything we are doing. They are not afraid of hard work. 

I remember taking the boys to spend their chore money when they were younger. Walking down every isle, looking at EVERY SINGLE toy, helping them make economical decisions, telling them if they had enough money or not. 

I took the girls out today to spend their money. We made it a girls day out. I had to do the same thing with them too. 

Atleigh said this was the hardest decision of her life. I believe it. Do you see how long that isle is? I needed a lawn chair or something.  We finally narrowed it down. They were so proud of their decisions. 

On another note, it's pure luck that outfits fit that you sew when they are not around you to try them on. Phew!!!!!!

It's ok to teach responsibility at young ages. There are age appropriate chores that can be taught. 

It is easy to create chore charts and have a reward system. This teaches hard work ethics which will follow them throughout their adult life. You can't follow them out into the real world and do things for them. They will grow up and move out someday and they need to know how to do basic life skills and make good decisions.  

As a parent and grandparent it is our responsibility to teach the younger generations. This is plainly stated in the Bible. 

May we all do our best to carry out our special calling. 

Tracy

Keeper of the Home