This sausage recipe has been moved to our new blog! Just click here and it will take you to the Homemade Seasoning for Breakfast Sausage recipe at Sufficient Acres.com.
Here are some of my other homemade spice and seasoning mixes you might like:
Ranch Seasoning Packets – Italian Sausage Seasoning – Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix – Homemade Seasoning Salt – Onion Soup Mix Packets –
Sorry for the inconvenience while we slowly move posts to our new blog.
This recipe has been moved to our new blog: SufficientAcres.com
Click here or on the pictures to take you to the recipe!
To make ranch dressing: Add 1 homemade ranch seasoning packet to 1 cup of buttermilk and 1 cup of mayo. Stir well with a whisk and refrigerate for a couple hours before serving. If you don’t have buttermilk , mix together 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes, use that instead of the buttermilk. (I have been meaning to try this with plain yogurt instead of mayo but haven’t yet. If you try, it let me know how it turns out!)
For ranch dip: Add 1 homemade ranch seasoning packet to a 16oz container of sour cream (2 cups) mix well and refrigerate for a couple hours before serving.
Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!! Have a Blessed Day 😀
Sunday night is popcorn night at our house! When we started our journey to a more frugal and healthier life style, microwave popcorn was one of the first things to go. I’d bought an air popper a while back (in a moment of nostalgia) but barely used it. My husband didn’t like the air popper popcorn, and I had to agree. For some reason it seemed soggy and wanted to melt between your teeth instead of having that nice crunch. I thought we were stuck with soggy popcorn because I refused to buy the bags of chemicals again. Then a friend told me that you can put popcorn in a paper bag and microwave it. How brilliant!
This is sooooo much cheaper and healthier than store bought microwave popcorn, it has that wonderful crunch and you can control the amount of butter and salt it has on it. I’m ditching my air popper, and freeing up some space in my cupboard!
All you need is a paper bag, 1/4 of a cup of popcorn kernels, butter, and salt or what ever seasonings you like.
Put 1/4 of a cup of popcorn kernels into a paper bag and fold down the top. Place the bag right side up in a microwave for ABOUT 2 minutes. I set the timer for 2 1/2 minutes and listen closely. When the popping slows down to 3 to 4 seconds between pops I stop the microwave. Microwaves are different so times will vary. Pour your popped corn into a bowl and season (we like Parmesan cheese on ours). You can use the same bag to pop more than one batch if you want more popcorn. So simple, yummy, healthy, and cheap. 😀
Happy Popcorn Night!
If you’re like us, you have a bunch of these in your fridge right now. 😀
They are absolutely beautiful, but they can’t stay in the fridge forever! Here are three delicious ways to use up those Easter eggs that are taking up space in your fridge.
If you don’t already have hard boiled eggs check out this post “How to Cook and EASILY Peel Farm Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs”. Even if you don’t have farm fresh eggs this is a great method for perfect hard boiled eggs.
#1 – “Creamy Egg Salad”
Start with 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and rinsed. Chop the eggs into little pieces. I use an egg slicer and slice the egg one way and then turn the egg and slice it the other way.
After you have all your eggs chopped up in a bowl add: mayo, mustard, horseradish, and sweet relish. Mix all together real good and give it a taste. Now you will know how much seasoning salt and pepper you want to add. Don’t over do the salt….you can always add more but you can’t take it out!
This is Creamy Egg Salad on Sour Dough Bread…..Yummm!
#2 – “Dill Egg Salad”
This one is my favorite! If you don’t like pickles then skip down to the last recipe ‘cuz this is happy pregnant lady with a pickle craving good!!
Chop your 12 hard boiled, peeled, and rinsed eggs into a bowl. Add: mayo, dijon mustard, dill, pickle juice, and chopped dill pickles (our favorite dill pickle is – Nalley’s Elites Garlic, Dill & Onion Petites – they are little, crunchy, and absolutely DELICIOUS!).
My mouth is watering just thinking about those pickles….anyway, mix everything up thoroughly and then take a bite….add salt and pepper if or as needed.
#3 – “Bacon and Egg Salad”
Begin by slicing your 12 hard boiled, peeled, and rinsed eggs into small pieces. Add mayo, sour cream, green onions, bacon bits, (here is how I easily cook bacon in the oven) salt, and onion powder to the egg pieces. Stir together well and give it a taste. Add more salt if needed and pepper to taste.
This post has been moved to our new blog. Sufficient Acres.com
Click here or on the picture for the recipe!
I attempted making hash browns several times after I got married, but they didn’t turn out so good. Gray, mushy, and gross would describe them very well. I gave up and started buying frozen hash browns. Then I read that you should bake the potatoes first and then grate them up and fry them. Why didn’t I think of that??
So now when we have baked potatoes for dinner I bake way more than we need and put the left overs in the fridge over night. In the morning I peel them, grate them, and fry them in olive oil or butter. Yummm! no more grey, mushy, hash browns!!
Last week I bought a 50 pound box of huge baker potatoes for 10 dollars. 🙂
I don’t think we can eat all these before they go bad so I decided to freeze my own hash browns. I figured this would be good practice for this fall when my garden gives me tons and tons of potatoes!! (hopefully)
After a little trial and error (and some potato therapy) I ended up with perfect frozen hash browns. 🙂
Here’s what to do:
Start with potatoes that are roughly the same size so they take the same amount of time to cook.
Wash them, poke them with a knife a couple times, (to avoid explosions) then place them directly on the rack in an oven that is preheated to 350 degrees.
These HUGE baker potatoes took 1 hour and 20 minutes to cook completely. Regular size potatoes will take from 45 to 60 minutes to cook. I found out by my third batch that if you under cook them a little they will grate MUCH easier, and ultimately found that cooking these big guys 55 minutes was about right.
When they are done, set them on the counter to cool. When they’re cool enough to handle put them in the refrigerator until cold. (over night works well) We tried to grate the first batch when they were still a little warm and ended up with mush. 🙁
Now that you have cold, slightly under cooked baked potatoes, it’s time to peel.
We grate them with a cheese grater.
Now take your nicely grated potatoes and sprinkle them on a greased cookie sheet.
If you skip this step and put them directly into freezer bags you will end up with a solid brick of smashed potatoes. Don’t put to many on the tray or they will stick together as they freeze, and you want to be able to easily break them apart.
Note: If you’re having a bad day or feeling a little frustrated, then go ahead and pack them on the cookie sheet. When they’re frozen solid take them out of the freezer, get a big metal spatula, (hammer, pickaxe, or splitting maul are all acceptable) and goggles, then start hacking and hacking at the potatoes to break them up. After the hash browns are evenly dispersed in your hair and around the kitchen, take a deep breath…..potato therapy! (Disclosure – I am not a doctor or a therapist of any kind, I only share tips that work for me.)
Place them in the freezer until frozen through. This takes about an hour and a half.
Break them apart, scoop them into a labeled freezer bag, and store in the freezer.
There you have it! Homemade frozen hash browns ready for breakfast or any recipe that calls for frozen hash browns! It sounds time consuming, but it’s mostly time spent doing other things (there’s always plenty to do) while the spuds are cooking/cooling/freezing etc…
This recipe is very versatile…you can make healthy breakfast muffins, or not quite so healthy dessert muffins. But either way they are nummy, nummy, nummy! Of course I made both kinds, (several times) just to make sure I got the recipe exactly right. Then a few more times to be absolutely sure I wasn’t sharing a recipe that was no good. Then I found myself digging through the bananas at the store to find more over ripe bananas, cause waiting for bananas to get a little over ripe just takes to long!! Did I mention these muffins are good?….really good!
Start by mixing together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and set it aside.
In a separate bowl smash the bananas then add honey, butter, egg, and milk. Stir well and then pour into dry ingredients and stir until moist, then fold in chocolate chips.
Fill sprayed cupcake tins or you can use cupcake liners about 1/2 full and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
I made these this morning with whole wheat, coconut oil, rice milk and didn’t add any chocolate chips. They were a wonderful HEALTHY breakfast!
They taste even better warm from the oven with “Honey Whipped Cream Cheese” smeared all over them!
We have been making lots of muffins and quick breads lately. What goes better with a nice warm muffin than cream cheese? Honey whipped cream cheese of course!!
This is a great recipe to let the kids help with, it’s very simple.
All you need is an eight ounce package of cream cheese, softened and 3 to 4 tablespoons of honey (depending on how sweet you want it). Whip the cream cheese in a mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid). When it’s nice and smooth gradually add the honey. Keep whipping until it’s light and fluffy.
This is honey whipped cream cheese on a Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin.
If you don’t want a sweet whipped cream cheese just substitute milk instead of honey.
This is Whipped Cream Cheese on Applesauce Raisin Quick Bread.
You can also use maple syrup instead of honey. Either way this spreadable cream cheese makes any breakfast bread even yummier! I was thinking of trying in on french toast next time?
This is a lot less expensive than a tub of whipped cream cheese at the store especially if you buy a generic brand package of cream cheese. 🙂
First of all I want to mention that this method is not just for farm fresh eggs. Store bought or strait from the coop, your end result will be beautiful hard boiled eggs!
Have you ever tried to peel a farm fresh hard boiled egg? I have, and it’s not a pretty sight. Unlike older, store bought eggs, no matter how hard you try the shell will not let go of the egg, leaving you with a lumpy, broken mess!! With my new egg laying machines and tons of fresh eggs the only thing I could think to do was hide a dozen eggs in the back of my fridge and wait for them to get old (the older the egg the easier it is to peel). This works as long as you know two weeks in advance when you are going to want a hard boiled egg. I don’t know about you, but when I want egg salad, I want it now, not two weeks from now!!
That was not my only problem with hard boiling eggs, I usually over boiled them and ended up with a green ring around the yolk….for some reason greenish colored, lumpy, deviled eggs are not very appetizing. So I started researching and experimenting, and experimenting, and experimenting…….and this method left me with sun colored yolks and EASILY peel-able eggs!
Start by placing a pot of water on the stove to boil. Make sure it’s enough water to cover the eggs. While your waiting for the water to boil take a (clean) thumb tack and poke a small hole in the fat end of each egg.
Be careful, you want to make a hole but not push the tack all the way in. The goal here is to put a tiny hole in the shell where the air sack is and not poke through the membrane inside. When the water is at a hard boil, and you have a tiny hole in each egg, gently (VERY gently) place the eggs in the boiling water and set the timer for 15 minutes.
Keep them at a low boil for the entire time. If you pushed the tack in to far you will see streams of egg white floating in the water. It’s no big deal, that egg will just not be as pretty as the rest. After you do this a few times you will get the hang of it.
While they are boiling prepare a bowl of ice water in your sink. When the timer goes off immediately remove the pan and drain the boiling water. Then place the hot eggs into the ice water.
Wait about 15-20 minutes and take them out one at a time to peel.
These are eggs that were laid this morning….see how nicely they peeled.
This is an egg that I poked the tack in to far and some of the the egg white escaped. Not a good look for deviled eggs, but will still taste great in egg salad. 🙂
See how nice and pretty the yolk is!!
I’m so glad I can make deviled eggs whenever I want instead of having to plan ahead and hide them in the back of the fridge to get old. I hope this works as well for you as it has for me. The tack trick takes a little practice, but if all you have is fresh eggs to peel it’s definitely worth the effort.
I found this method at: Paths of Wrighteousness
Bacon, bacon, bacon, I love bacon!!
Oven roasted bacon is the best. The bacon cooks evenly and clean up is super easy. But the best part is you don’t have to stand over a sizzling pan while splatters of hot grease hit you in the face. 😀
All you need is a baking sheet lined with foil and BACON.
First place as much bacon as you can possibly fit onto the foil lined baking sheet….well maybe just as much as you need. But I put as much as I can fit…cause I can never have to much bacon!!
Then put the pan in a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 375 degrees and set the timer to 20 minutes.
Now, instead of getting whacked in the eye ball with hot grease you get to do something fun….like the dishes, or fold the laundry that has been building up on the couch. Okay, maybe not so fun, but better than hot grease in the eye….right?
When the timer goes off, your kitchen will smell wonderful and the bacon should be done. If you like yours a little crispier leave it in for a couple more minutes.
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