I have lots of cookbooks, but many recipes are complicated and/or require prepared commercial foods or unusual foods that I don't normally keep in the pantry. I want "easy to fix" meals and snacks for one or two adults from ingredients that we usually have on hand fresh from our own homes. Things such as homegrown fruits and vegetables, herbs, farm fresh eggs, milk, homemade cheeses, home grown meats. Will you share your recipes for such please?

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), August 16, 2000

Answers

Great idea , just last night I was looking through my cook books and seen several recipes that looked good but didn't have the prepared foods on hand to make them .And seeing the nearist store is 30 min away we opted for leftovers .I look forward to the up coming recipes .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), August 16, 2000.

This recipe is one of my favorites. You put it together early then pop it in the oven for 4 or 5 hours. Perfect for those fall and winter days spent outside choring. When you come in it's like someone made dinner for you.

STEW IN THE OVEN

2 LBS Beef stew cubes 1 onion sliced l stalk celery sliced 3 or 4 carrots sliced 4 or 5 potatoes cubed put all above ingredients in covered casserole dish (I use an enamel roaster) in a small bowl, blend 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tblsp. sugar, 1 tblsp. cornstarch. Sprinkle evenly over meat and vegetables. Then pour over all 32 fl. oz tomato juice. Making sure to wash all the powdered ingredients down into the bottom of the casserole with the juice. Cover and put in oven at 250 degrees for 4 or more hours.

That's it. It makes the whole house smell so good. Just serve with bread and butter or biscuits or cornbread or saltine crackers.

-- Stephanie Masters (ajsd@gateway.net), August 16, 2000.

PEASANT'S OMELET (for any meal) Melt 2 TBSP butter in nonstick skillet. Cook 1/2 medium onion, chopped, in butter until transparent. Add about 2 cups sliced, cooked potatoes and cook until hot. Add 4 or 5 well beaten eggs to skillet, tipping to distribute all ingredients evenly. Cook until eggs are set. Top with a small amount of cheese, if you like.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), August 16, 2000.

I just found a recipe called Whole Meal Pancakes at KingArthurFlour.Com. Whole meal because it contains something from every food group. You make the batter up in the morning & put in the fridge, then when you come home from work you dice up veggies, or fruit or cooked meats, tofu etc. Fold in the diced goodies & make as you would any pancake. Viola a whole meal. Serve with cheese for the veggie and/or meat pancakes. Syrup, honey, custard sauce whatever for the fruit pancakes. I can't wait to try it. I would think you could make Waffles like that too.....I'm getting hungry! Jane

-- Jane Gauch (sewbears4u@hotmail.com), August 17, 2000.

Dandilion Jelly

Pick dandilion flowers put into cheese cloth place in water to make a tea. thicken with your choice of cooked pectin place in jars and enjoy. A mennonite friend gave me this recipe verbally just the other day I have'nt had a chance to make it myself but the jar she gave me tasted like mild honey.

-- ronda johnson (thejohnsons_doty@hotmail.com), August 20, 2000.

I dont want to sound snotty or elitist or whatever the homestead equivalent of talking down to people is...but why do you need a recipe?

Okay, so I grew up with a mother who started supper (dinner?) by putting the teakettle on the stove. Ask her what were going to eat, and shed say I dont know. But the waters boiling.

And I started my cooking career by watching and listening to my grandmother who wsas totally blind.

And maybe worst of all, I became a cook, going to school and all---in the USMC! Please pass the C-rations!

But seriously, cooking from scratch is one of the easiest, most enjoyable, most economical---and most delicious (and probably nutritious) aspects of homesteading.

What do you have on hand? Whats in season, whats in abundance, whats starting to spoil in the root cellar etc? Take a morning inventory. (Asking what's for dinner? at breakfast gives you time to prepare, when thats called for... and time for everyone to anticipate.And if youre going to soak homegrown beans and cook them in the solar oven, you have to make the menu even the day before.)

Then, what goes with (whatever you have decided the main ingredient will be)? This depends largely on what your family enjoys, and/or what you have on hand. But you can combine a lot of stuff in some amazing ways... and make your own recipes!

Last week (the day before school started) I found myself with three grandchildren here at lunch time. I boiled some new potatoes (to mush) in water with a little chicken broth. Went to the garden and got some carrots, green beans, celery, onions and parsley, which I chopped up and added to the soup. And then---on a dare, sort of, because Chris said he doesnt like tomatoes (and of course we have a plethora of them) I diced and added a few of those.

Everybody thought it was delicious. Even Chris had three bowls!

Okay, so soup is easy. So is stew. But its the same thing for anything else. Go with what you have. Use your imagination. Use your tastes. Use your cooking experience... and build on it without relying on recipes and certainly not on prepared commercial foods!

I DO check cookbooks when Im stumped, or need inspiration. Usually a few minutes with an old Joy of Cooking (forget any newer editions) or Pat Katz The Craft of the Country Cook (I see she still has copies for sale in the classifieds of the last Countryside) will get me going. But I dont usually follow these recipes: I use them for IDEAS, based on what we have and etc.

It does take a little experience. But you only get experience by DOING. Maybe others will share some homestead recipes here (as they do in the mag), but I firmly believe the key factor is your ATTITUDE toward food, and cooking, and recipes.

PS. Id be glad to share some recipes, but I never write anything down, and we never have the same thing twice! Depends on whats available, and etc. There have been a few disasters in the past 40+ years, but we seldom go out to eat without coming home and saying We could have eaten a lot better at home, and for a lot less money!

Tonight we had lasagna (had to use up the tomato sauce that didnt fit in the canner the other day) made with ground chevon (goat meat, for those who arent familiar with the term), green beans, cucumbers in a mayo sauce (homemade mayo uses up extra eggs), fresh tomatoes, and a dessert Di made from windfall apples she picked up yesterday.

-- Jd (belanger@tds.net), August 22, 2000.

Jd,

Mostly what I have is a dearth of ideas. Ideas are mostly what I was looking for when I asked the question.

I do have the Joy of Cooking, but I never heard of The Craft of the Country Cook. What is that book's approach to cooking? Perhaps it is something I could use.

Basically I want to stick with home grown foods as much as possible, whether mine or the local farmer's market.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), August 23, 2000.

Jd's answer was good -- I just look around at what I've got, and go from there. But here are some ideas that are standard fare at our house.

Oven omelet: Preheat a large glass pie pan or a cast iron skillet in the oven (425 degrees) with some butter in it. Mix together four to six eggs, (more if you are feeding a crowd, but you will need a large pan!), 1/2 to 2 cups yogurt, grated sheese, cottage or ricotta cheese, or even sour cream, (one of these or smaller amounts of more than one), salt and pepper to taste. Then add whatever you have on hand of steamed (not quite done) veggies, precooked chopped meat, sauted onions or mushrooms, sliced olives -- use your imagination! And vary the seasonings. Pour the batter into the preheated pan and bake for about 25 minutes -- you can sprinkle some grated cheese on top. And baking time will vary depending on the size of the omelet.

Stir fry -- you need a very hot pan, some cooked chopped meat, and some chopped veggies. I usually saute chopped onion and garlic forst, then start adding things depending on how long they will take to cook. For instance, carrots will go in first, spinach or other greens last. Add a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce and serve on rice.

Spaghetti -- I put all kinds of veggies and meats into my spaghetti sauces!

Stews and soups -- the secret to a really tasty soup is the broth -- you need to cook down a chicken carcass or a ham bone or something, or use bouilon cubes. Then just add whatever you have on hand, allowing for cooking times again so some of it doesn't turn to mush while something else is still crunchy!

There's more, but I've got to get ready for work -- hope you are able to get some good out of this!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), August 23, 2000.

By the way, the oven omelet can easily be converted to a dessert by adding sugar and vanilla to the egg batter, possibly with cottage cheese or yogurt, and then filling with chopped fruit or berries. Top with clotted cream -- yum -- guess what we are going to have for dessert on my next night off!!! :-)

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), August 23, 2000.

Don't let the "prepared foods" that the recipes in the books worry you. Years ago, I adopted the "mother earth philosophy" it says "When you are missing no more than seven of the basic ingredients, - substitute, and go for it!"

When baking desserts, remember to make things "better" - slightly increase the shortening, the sugar, and the vanilla - and, add vanilla when it is not even called for. I don't have "sweetened, condensed milk" which is called for in so many recipes. I just cut back the milk a little and use more sugar and cook it longer to get the the thickness desires (like with fondants, caramels, and fudge).

Anything that calls for something I don't have, I just look on the shelf and see what I have that is close. We keep cooking fun and a constant learning experience.

-- homestead2 (homestead@monroecty.net), August 23, 2000.