September 6, 2012

Grain Free Granola: Super Easy, Use What You Have

Grain Free Granola blog image

Homemade granola and yogurt with fresh berries is almost perfection-in-a-bowl for me. During a grain-free stint we did earlier this summer, I quickly realized that I needed an alternative to eggs or breakfast meat or plain yogurt (without grains, breakfast can get boring fast). Could granola still be filling and tasty without the ever-present oat? To my delight, I realized it could indeed. In fact, I appreciate this granola more in a sense. It's a bit heartier than a regular granola because it packs such [...]

Filed Under: Real, whole food, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 36 Comments
June 20, 2012

It’s Not Too Late to Start a Garden

lettuce

Written by Diana, Contributing Writer By now, many people have their gardens well underway. Lettuces and spinach have been growing in abundance while plump roots of carrots and beets are being un-earthed. The rising heat is nudging us that Spring has passed and we're just about to dip into Summer. With the changing seasons, many people may be wondering if it's too late to start a garden. I've got great news.  There are many varieties of vegetables that you can still put into the garden [...]

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December 15, 2011

11 Alternative Uses For a Coffee Grinder

closeup-oatstraw

As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months. As I've been learning that less is more and working hard to purge and pare down the things that we own, I've been reminded of the beauty of having multi-purpose appliances. Today's post is a feature of the handy, inexpensive little gadget that we know as a [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, In the kitchen, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 23 Comments
June 17, 2011

Dry to Preserve: A Quick Guide to Dehydration

Image by norwichnuts

Written by Stacey T, Contributing Writer So you’ve started your garden, and other than a few minor hiccups (which always seem to happen regardless of skill or experience), things are probably going pretty well, right? Are you preparing to preserve the fruits of your labors (pun intended)?  Preserving your own food is an inexpensive and healthful way to feed your family, prepare for emergencies and practice self-sufficiency. There are many options available to those wanting to preserve their own foods.  Some experienced in food preservation [...]

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March 14, 2011

How to Plant a Garden That Works for Where You Live

cabbage in garden

When I first began, I suppose I had this idea that gardening was the same everywhere... you dug up some dirt, put in seeds, fertilized and pulled some weeds, then enjoyed a harvest. A little naive (or maybe just hopeful), I now know that there is more to making a garden work in your specific neck of the woods. This is part of our Gardening 101 series, where we're covering a lot of basics, and I certainly don't want to complicate things. But I do [...]

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March 7, 2011

Selecting Seeds for Garden Success

65-day-tomato

Shelves stuffed full of beautiful envelopes that seem about to burst with potential. Page after glossy page of glorious looking, boldly colored vegetables. No wonder it's so hard to choose seeds for your garden with all the options out there! Beyond the sheer variety, what about the practical issues like will these tomatoes get blight like the ones I grew last year? How should those mysterious "days to maturity" numbers like 65 or 90 impact my decision making? What on earth does open-pollinated or F1 mean? And how many seeds [...]

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March 3, 2011

Gardening 101 Series and Heirloom Seeds

heirloom tomatoes

Spring is fast approaching (are you as giddy as I am?) and our themes this month at Keeper of the Home are right on topic. We'll be sharing about non-toxic cleaning including lots of cleaner recipes, just in time for spring cleaning although the house does tend to request being clean throughout the year (demanding, isn't it?). Our other theme is one near and dear to my own heart... gardening! We'll be covering a wide range of topics in our Gardening 101 series. Emily kicked [...]

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March 11, 2010

Gardening Season Has Officially Begun!

spring-garden-seedlings-just-planted

Just a couple of weeks behind schedule, all of my garden seedlings have been planted! It doesn't look like much, but yesterday morning I planted 7 heirloom tomato varieties, Purple Beauty peppers, 3 winter squashes (Sugar Pie Pumpkin, Butternut, Delicata) Sugar Baby watermelons, Far North melons, Couer de Boeuf des Vertus cabbag, Green Sprouting broccoli, Purple of Sicily cauliflower and too many herbs to name. Spring snuck up on us all this year and my outdoor garden is actually ready for planting my frost-hardy and [...]

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 8 Comments