Tips and Advice on all things Homestead related

One of my favorite things to make and eat are soups. I particularly enjoy a hearty beef soup on a cold winter day. Here's how I make mine: Saute your stew meat, beef chunks in a pan with about a tablespoon or so of olive oil till brown. Amount depends on how much you want to make. I usually use about a pound or less. After your meat is browned and cooked add veggies: I like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions as staples and again, the amount depends on size of pot and size of family. Add water enough to barely cover the meat and veggies. Add spices: salt, black pepper to taste and here are my special ingredients I like to add: garlic (lots of garlic) about a teaspoon of cumin powder, a few sprinkles of oregano, more garlic, a beef bullion sometimes, a dash of paprika, whatever else inspires me that day. Taste it and make sure you added enough of everything. Now for the part that makes it nice and warm, add about a handful of spaghetti noodles, broken in half. Also at this poi...

It's winter here and although I live in Texas I still very much miss my home town/farm where I lived for most of my life as a missionary kid. The tropical rainforest of Brazil. This picture was taken on one of my trips home for a visit. It is one of my favorite views of a palm tree, specifically known as a Tucuma tree, right before a thunder storm. I can still feel in my imagination the humidity that weighs so heavy you can almost cut it. The warm air surrounds you like a passionate embrace. The monkeys howl early in the morning or at dusk and the big giant butterflies slowly drift and flutter, looking for their next flower to rest on. The birds fly and call and if you're lucky you might get to glimpse a band of macaws or toucans. These are all things that I grew up with and miss almost desperately especially in the wintertime!

Cooking from scratch is an almost lost art for a lot of folks now days, especially the younger generation.  However, it is very rewarding and satisfying for the maker and the eater. I'm going to share with you one of my favorite recipes that is a big comfort food for me, quick and easy to make. Also want to note that no recipe is set in stone! I don't like to measure or make things exactly the same every time I make them so when I do make this recipe it is generally just a hint. I like to study cookbooks to see what other people like to add together and create my own dishes that way. Most of them turn out great! Here's my version of: Homemade Tomato Soup: Melt 2 Tablespoons of Butter (or olive oil if you don't have butter) in a saucepan. Chop some onion and garlic real fine. How much depends on your taste. I like lots so I'll use a half an onion and several cloves of garlic. (you can also use dried onion or garlic) Saute it in the butter. When it's lightly...

Here at our farm we have a lot of animals and we keep some Great Pyrenees to help protect everyone against the abundant coyote population.  By day the dogs sleep and by night they are barking, patrolling and keeping the general population here at the ranch safe. One morning, the day after the triplet baby goats were born, and the smell of birthing blood was strong, as I was waking up I heard the gate rattle like when the dog jumps over the fence. Then the sound of growling dogs and fighting. In my half asleep groggy state of mind, I remembered that all the inside dogs were still in and there was no logical explanation for growling dogs and gate rattling except for strange dogs to be in the area. I leaped out of bed with a start and threw open the door. Right there practically on my front porch was a smallish coyote, and the Great Pyrenees had his teeth baring down on the coyote's back trying to get him. I'm not sure if the coyote was actually in the yard or just trying to get...