Delicious Made from Scratch Recipes at Common Sense Homesteading

5 Ways to Preserve Peaches – Plus the Easiest Way to Peel Peaches

July 13, 2019 By Laurie Neverman 33 Comments

Each year I preserve peaches in a variety of ways, stashing some for us to enjoy and some to use as gifts. (I have yet to find someone who does not appreciate homemade peach jam.) In this post I'll cover the easiest way to peel peaches, as well as canning, dehydrating, freezing, peach jam and freeze drying peaches.

My youngest loves peaches, so we stock up every year. We're still working on trying to get peach trees to survive as part of our permaculture food forest. We're right at the edge of peach friendly territory, but our place gets a lot of wind, which the trees don't like very much.

Easy German Potato Salad (Plus 5 Tips to Pick the Best Potatoes)

July 13, 2019 By Laurie Neverman 3 Comments

This hot German potato salad recipe gives a healthy twist to a classic side dish. We also give tips to help you pick the best potatoes for potato salad to maximize flavor and nutrition.

Mead – 5 Things You Need to Know (And a Recipe)

July 4, 2019 By Laurie Neverman Leave a Comment

Mead may be the world's oldest alcoholic beverage. Many modern versions are just for enjoyment, but we'll show you why (and how) to brew old school (naturally fermented) mead.

Why naturally fermented? Beyond the unique flavor possibilities of wild ferments, they also have probiotic and potential medicinal qualities. In a world where antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming a growing problem, our old ally and “drink of the gods” may come to our rescue again.

Tigernut Chocolate Chip Cookies – Grain Free, Nut Free, Paleo

May 25, 2019 By Laurie Neverman Leave a Comment

These tigernut chocolate chip cookies are a uniquely delicious take on America's favorite homemade cookie. We first gave these a try for New Year's Eve, when we had friends with food allergies visiting. Since then we've made them a number of times using different sugars and different fats. The texture changes a bit, but all variations are tasty.

Broccoli, Bacon and Cheese Salad Recipe – Ready in Minutes

May 24, 2019 By Laurie Neverman 7 Comments

Broccoli, bacon and cheese salad is one of the few salads I'd occasionally pick up at the deli, but it's amazing how much better it tastes when you make it at home with really fresh ingredients. I served some of this up for my extended family at Easter, and my brother said it was so good he wanted to eat the whole batch.