The Homesteader Kitchen

Happy Monday everyone!

This morning you get to meet one of my new darlings.

Homemade Almond Joy Bars.

But not just any old almond joy bars… these ones don’t hardly have any added sugar… just a smidge of honey.

What’s more, they are Paleo, Primal, Gluten-free, and even GAPS-legal if you use honey-sweetened chocolate. Continue reading “Homemade Almond Joy Bars” »

Why Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil

Enter the coconut oil debate. 

In recent years people have considered tropical oils to be so unhealthy because they are (gasp!) saturated.

Except they forget that our brains actually require saturated fats in order to function properly.

And we’re not talking tiny amounts here, people.

I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t want to limit anything my brain needs to function properly.  I have enough problems in that area as it is!

Continue reading “Review: Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil” »

Okay so it’s a little late… yesterday got busy.  So… it’s Mailbag Tuesday instead of Monday.  Anyway – had a couple really good questions this week, so here they are!

Q: Are nitrates necessary in corned beef?  What about all the salt?

A: No, nitrates are not necessary but salt is.  Traditionally, corned beef was cured in salt and they found that adding nitrates extends the shelf life quite a bit.  You could probably marinate meat in a pickling spice marinade and cook it that way and have a similar flavor, but it would not be a long-lasting meat.  As far as the nitrates are concerned, well they are a great preservative.  The problem comes in when we are now finding in modern days that they can be carcinogenic.

Having said that, I try to keep a balanced view with it.  Continue reading “Mailbag Tuesday (Q&A) – Nitrates in Corned Beef, Excalibur Dehydrator Doors & More” »

Honeyville Almond Flour Reviewed

I’ve been meaning to make this post for a while, but seeing as it’s on sale I am now sitting down to write this.

I just recently discovered something super awesome.

At least, super awesome to someone who has had to quit eating wheat but has a sweet tooth like I do. Continue reading “The Ultimate Secret to Gluten-Free Baking – Honeyville Almond Flour” »

Today’s post is a guest post by our reader Karen – she has offered us 11 great tips on using your foodsaver for long-term food storage.

1. Make your bags long enough to reuse.

When I make the bags, I put 3 lbs. of rice in 5 marks long using the roll material, which is plenty to enable reuse.

In the odd chance that the seal is no good for some reason [sometimes the seals get too hot and melt a bit, which is usually user error and not the machine] and I lose vacuum, I can then re-seal the offending end because I still have enough to work with.

I also made a little chart to remind me of the sizes of roll material to use for various foodstuffs I regularly vac-pack and taped it to the top of my FoodSaver to make it easier and faster to make up bags from roll material. Continue reading “11 Tips on Using Your Foodsaver for Long Term Food Storage” »

This week we just had one reader question, but it was a really good one.

Q: Can I use a regular pressure cooker to do pressure canning?

A: No, unfortunately not, and here’s why. 

Pressure canners are designed to maintain an exact level of pressure as per what is safe to process foods at.  For instance, my All American canner has a pressure regulator to keep it at exactly 5, 10, or 15 lbs of pressure.  Those settings are a must when it comes to safe canning – if the pressure is slightly too low, it may not be able to get the canned goods to the required temperature for the required amount of time to prevent botulism spores. Continue reading “Mailbag Monday #5 – Pressure Canners vs. Cookers” »