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Fast Tomato Sauce Recipe

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I spent most of yesterday making tomato sauce.

There was washing, trimming, smashing into a food mill (I have this one and it’s a life saver- affiliate link), simmering, stirring, seasoning, and thennnnnn, finally at 6:39pm, I started ladling the gallons of sauce into quart jars and lowering them into the boiling water canner.

It was a long day.

And I had to ask myself, WHY ON EARTH am I doing this?

No really. I asked myself that.

It was hot, messy, and monotonous. All the components of a super fun day, right?

However, all inconveniences aside, I know it’ll be 100% worth it when I pull those shiny red jars of homegrown tomatoes out of my pantry on a blustery winter day. Not to mention, what else am I going to do with the 5,873 San Marzano tomatoes that are currently in my garden and needing to be canned ASAP?

(P.S. Apparently San Marzanos really like Wyoming.)

fast tomato sauce recipe

Making tomato sauce is a commitment. Long, slow simmering evaporates the water from the tomato puree and results in a thick sauce with an amazing depth of flavor and intensity you just can’t get any other way.

BUT…

Let’s just say you don’t have enough tomatoes to make gallons of sauce to can. And let’s also say that you don’t happen to have 12 hours to patiently watch sauce simmering on the stove.

Well, you still have options, my friends.

I started experimenting with this fast tomato sauce recipe several years ago, and I’ve been making it regularly ever since. It can be whipped up in 15 minutes or less, and only requires a handful of tomatoes, instead of bucketloads. Hallelujah.

The flavor of this quick tomato sauce is different than your traditional all-day tomato sauces (it’s a little brighter and fresher tasting), but it’s quickly becoming my go-to when I need pasta sauce or pizza sauce in a hurry.

I used to have this recipe as a tagalong in my How to Freeze Tomatoes post, but I found myself referencing it so much, I figured it deserved to have updated photos and a post of its very own.

So, here ya go!

How to Make FAST Tomato Sauce (VIDEO)

The FAST Tomato Sauce Recipe

Keep in mind the measurements here are very loose guidelines and definitely not set in stone. I never measure when I’m making tomato sauce, and it’s ALL about the flavor that develops as I put this sauce together. Taste frequently and adjust as needed.

fast tomato sauce recipeIngredients:

  • 4 cups halved or quartered ripe tomatoes (paste-type tomatoes are the best here, but any variety will do)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • Fresh basil and/or oregano (optional– dried will work too)

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, gently heat the garlic in the olive oil for several minutes. We’re not looking to brown it, or even saute it really– just to soften it and mellow out the flavor.

Add in the tomatoes and allow the tomatoes and garlic to mingle, stirring as you go. The tomatoes will release their juices, and you can season with salt/pepper accordingly.

Stir and simmer the tomatoes until softened, and now add in the herbs. You can use dried herbs if you wish, but if at all possible, use fresh basil and/or oregano. The flavor difference is amazing.

Puree the mixture with your hand blender. I like to leave my fresh sauce a little bit on the chunky side.

If you don’t have a hand blender, you can puree in a food processor or blender instead. But seriously– you NEED a hand blender (like this one- affiliate link). I use mine all the time.

Toss with fresh pasta (combining this with homemade pasta is out of this world) or use it as a topping for your favorite pizza recipe.

fast tomato sauce recipe

Remember– this sauce will have a much brighter, fresher flavor than a slow-simmered sauce, or a sauce made with canned tomatoes. Although there’s still a place for all-day-simmered sauce, I adore the brightness of this fresh version.

Tomato Sauce Recipe Notes

  • If you have tomatoes in your freezer, this fast tomato sauce recipe is a great place to use ’em! You don’t even have to thaw them first– you can simply pop them straight into the sauce pan after you heat the minced garlic. Allow the tomatoes to thaw out in the pan over medium low heat, and then proceed with the rest of the recipe. And in case you are curious how to freeze tomatoes, here’s my tutorial for that.
  • I suppose you could can this sauce if you wanted to, but considering it only makes a small amount, I’m not sure it’d be worth it. I’d recommend sticking to a tomato sauce recipe that’s scaled for water bath canning if you need to use up a lot of tomatoes
  • I like to keep this fresh tomato sauce pretty simple and crisp in flavor. However, you can go crazy adding spices and herbs if that’s your jam. Try parsley, crushed red peppers, or even a dash of brown sugar to cut the acidity, if needed.
  • This sauce can easily be poured into freezer-safe containers and frozen for several months.

Print Fast Tomato Sauce Recipe Author: The Prairie Homestead Recipe type: Pantry Staples Cuisine: Italian Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Serves: 2-3 cups Ingredients

  • 4 cups halved or quartered ripe tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • Fresh basil and/or oregano (optional– dried will work too)

Instructions

  1. In a medium saucepan, gently heat the garlic in the olive oil for several minutes. We're not looking to brown it, or even saute it really– just to soften it and mellow out the flavor.
  2. Add in the tomatoes and allow the tomatoes and garlic to mingle, stirring as you go. The tomatoes will release their juices, and you can season with salt/pepper accordingly.
  3. Stir and simmer the tomatoes until softened, and now add in the herbs. You can use dried herbs if you wish, but if at all possible, use fresh basil and/or oregano. The flavor difference is amazing.
  4. Puree the mixture with your hand blender. I like to leave my fresh sauce a little bit on the chunky side.
  5. If you don't have a hand blender, you can puree in a food process or blender instead. But seriously– you NEED a hand blender (like this one). I use mine all the time.
  6. Toss with fresh pasta (combining this with homemade pasta is out of this world) or use it as a topping for your favorite pizza recipe.

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Other Tomato Recipes You’ll Love

fast tomato sauce recipefast tomato sauce recipe

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This Article Was Originally Posted at theprairiehomestead.com Read The Original Article Here

Roasted Poblano Salsa

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I’m feeling decidedly uncreative this year…

…as far as food preservation goes.

Am I allowed to say that?

There I go, losing my homesteader status points again…

I’m going to blame the cookbook and the shall-not-yet-be-named undisclosed project for eating up all of my allotted creativity for the year.

I got nuthin’.

I guess I did do some fermented pickled green beans, although that was more in the name of laziness and not wanting to pull out the pressure canner, rather than a stroke of creative genius.

Dang you, cookbook.

roasted poblano salsa recipe

However, even in a complete creative slump, it’s kinda hard to ignore the garden when it’s giving you ripe tomatoes, happy poblano peppers, and plump onions all at the same time.

Okay, okay, fine. I’ll make some salsa. Geez.

If I had to choose, fresh salsa or pico de gallo is usually the salsa I’ll make. However, the thing with fresh/uncooked salsa is that you’ll need to consume it all within a couple days, and when you have BUCKETS of tomatoes on your counter, a couple cups of pico don’t really make a dent in the chaos.

Right now it’s all about processing the boatloads of produce coming into my house and less about flavor profiles, although if I happen to get both, that’s awesome.

canning peppers hot and sweet

I Heart Poblanos

I’ve been growing poblano peppers like a crazy person for the last two years. For some reason unbeknownst to me, they seem to adore Wyoming (not many veggies do…) and survive much better than bell peppers (which absolutely despise me). I grow them from seed I get from Baker Creek and always end up with far more poblanos than one person really needs (which is why I finally canned some last year).

Poblanos are the only pepper I care to use in either my cooked or fresh salsas. However, if you can’t get or grow poblanos where you are, you can substitute Anaheim peppers or any other mild chili pepper. (Heck, you can use hot ones if you like– but that doesn’t really fly at my house…)

roasted poblano salsa recipe

This roasted poblano salsa recipe is perfect for using up a portion of your tomato and pepper bounty at the same time. You may can it if you like, although it’ll also freeze like a champ. Or you can just eat it fresh (it does make a decent-sized batch, so feel free to halve or quarter the recipe if you’re not feeding an army.)

Oh– since this salsa recipe contains added acid in the form of vinegar, you can use a water bath canner for it if you wish. (Here’s my full water bath canning tutorial if you’re a newbie to the world of canning.)

roasted poblano salsa recipe

Roasted Poblano Salsa Recipe

Print Roasted Poblano Salsa Author: The Prairie Homestead Recipe type: Sides/Preservation Cuisine: Mexican Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Serves: 7 pints Ingredients

  • 10 cups chopped and seeded tomatoes
  • 5 cups roasted poblano peppers or other mild chili pepper (see instructions below)
  • 5 cups chopped red or yellow onions
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
  • 3 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like to taste and adjust the salt and seasonings as needed. If you like less chunky salsa, you can use an immersion blender in the pot to blend it up.
  2. To Can This Salsa: Ladle the salsa in to hot, sterilized jars, leaving ¼" headspace. Affix the lids and rings and process for 15 minutes in a water bath canner. (Adjust times accordingly if you live at higher altitudes.)

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How to Roast Chili Peppers

Select only fresh, firm peppers for canning, as limp ones will yield less than desirable results. Wash the peppers, then place in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes to blister the skins. Flip over once to ensure they char on both sides. (It’s important to blister them as evenly as you can, otherwise it’s very difficult to get the skins to come off.)

Remove the charred peppers and place into a Ziploc bag and seal tightly. Allow them to sit for 10 minutes, then remove the peppers from the bag and rub off as much of the peel/skin as possible.

roasted poblano salsa reciperoasted poblano salsa recipe

Roasted Poblano Salsa Notes

roasted poblano salsa recipe

More Tomato Goodness

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This Article Was Originally Posted at theprairiehomestead.com Read The Original Article Here

Pickled Green Beans Recipe (lacto-fermented)

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It happens every stinkin’ time.

I innocently check my green bean plants one day and don’t see much, and then 24 hours later, BAM. They are loaded down with ALL THE BEANS that need to be picked like yesterday.

Come to think of it, the cucumbers do the same thing. They must be in cahoots.

(Also. I picking green beans feels so tedious to me. They’re probably my least favorite thing in the garden to harvest just because it takes forever. But I’ll stop whining now.)

organic garden harvest basket

Anyway, here I am with mountains of green beans sitting on my countertop… I’m not a huge fan of pressure canned beans, as they are a bit mushy for my preference. I will freeze a bunch of them (using my lazy, no-blanch method of freezing green beans, of course) and then make pickled green beans with the rest.

Sometimes these are called dilly beans, because, well, they usually include dill. However, let me assure you if you have some sort of extreme hatred for dill, you most certainly do NOT have to use it with your beans. Therefore, I prefer to just call these pickled beans, since dill is very optional.

pickled green beans recipeAnd when it comes to pickled green beans, you’ve got lots o’ options, my friends.

1: You could add vinegar and spices to your beans and can them in a water bath canner for green bean pickles that’ll last a good long while in your pantry.

2: You could stuff the green beans and whatever spices you like in a jar, make a vinegar/water mixture, pour it over the top, and pop it in the fridge for refrigerator pickled green beans that will keep for several months, if not longer.

3: Or, you can stuff the green beans and spices in a jar, but add a salt water brine on top to make pickled beans the old-fashioned way (sans vinegar).

pickled green beans recipe

There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but today we’re talking ’bout option numero tres: fermented pickled green beans. I love facto-fermented green beans as not only are they ridiculously easy to throw together, they also pack an extra punch of probiotic goodness, just like sauerkraut or brined fermented pickles. (aka, your gut will love you forever)

Now if you’re new to the world of home fermentation and are a little wary that you won’t like the taste, I’m here to reassure you that these fermented pickled green beans are probably one of the mildest ferments I’ve made. They have just the right amount of tang without being too “funky,” know what I mean?

Are you sold yet? Good. Here’s how to make pickled green beans of your very own:

pickled green beans recipe

Fermented Pickled Green Beans Recipe

Print Pickled Green Beans Recipe Author: The Prairie Homestead Recipe type: Sides/Preservation Prep time: Total time: Serves: 1 quart Ingredients

  • 1-2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 heads fresh dill OR 1 tablespoon dill seed
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cups (about one pound) fresh green beans, washed with ends snapped off
  • BRINE: 1 tablespoon kosher salt + 2 cups water (double or triple this as needed)

Instructions

  1. Start with a clean quart-sized mason jar. Place the garlic, dill, peppercorns, and bay leaf in the bottom of the jar.
  2. Add the green beans to the jar– I like to try to have them stand up on end, but if it doesn't work, don't drive yourself crazy. Just get them in there the best you can.
  3. Make your brine by stirring the kosher salt into the water until it's completely dissolved.
  4. Pour the brine over the top of the beans, making sure it covers the beans completely but leaves 1 to 2 inches of space at the top of the jar. You may need to weigh the beans down so they don't float to the top and poke out of the brine. I like using a glass fermenting weight for this, but you can use all sorts of things (jar lids, kitchen utensils, etc)
  5. Screw the lid on finger tight only.
  6. Place your jar of fermented green beans on the counter away from other ferments (or any sourdough starter) that you might have going at the same time.
  7. Allow the beans to ferment for 5 to 7 days, checking the jar each day and "burping it" (opening the lid to release any gases) to avoid it spilling out of the jar. If you don't want to be forced to remember to burp it, there are all sorts of fermenting airlock systems available to streamline the process. I talk about one of my favorite fermentation systems here.
  8. Taste the beans at the end of the fermentation period to make sure you like how tangy they are. If you prefer bolder fermented beans, you can let them sit on the counter for a few more days, otherwise, pop them in the fridge and consume within two to three months.

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pickled green beans recipe

Pickled Beans Recipe Notes:

  • You can easily multiple this recipe to make a large batch if you are dealing with lots of beans. And if you want to mix up a BIG batch of brine, it’ll keep indefinitely in your refrigerator.
  • Be sure to select firm, young beans for your ferments. The old, mushy ones that have the texture of an a cornstalk will not improve as they ferment!
  • As long as you keep your brine measurements the same, feel free to get creative with the flavors and spices to you add to your jar. More garlic, peppers, or other herbs are all fair game! Or you can go super simple with just beans, brine, and that’s it!

WATCH: How to Ferment Green Beans

pickled green beans recipe

Other Fermentation & Pickling Posts You’ll Love:

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This Article Was Originally Posted at theprairiehomestead.com Read The Original Article Here

Are Twin Cows Sterile?

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Well… Maybe, maybe not.

When it comes to the question of whether or not twin cows are sterile, there isn’t a simple, clear cut answer. At least, not without some testing.

Considering we’ve had several bouts (Batches? Sets?) of twins in our Brown Swiss cattle herd lately, I figured it was high-time to talk about TWINS.

Even if you have no desire whatsoever to ever own a cow, you might find this info interesting, regardless.

So What’s the Deal with Bovine Twins?

My long-time readers will remember that our herd matriarch, Oakley, had a lovely set of heifer twins back in 2015.

It was a welcome surprise– a heifer is always a welcome outcome, so two is even better.

We dubbed them Opal and Mabel and ended up breeding them via artificial insemination when they reached breeding age. They both easily became pregnant with zero fertility issues.

They were due to calve around the same time, so when I headed down to the barn one evening after supper to check on them, there was a bit of confusion when I found Mabel standing in a pen with not one, but TWO freshly born babies.

Did they both calve simultaneously? I checked Opal and confirmed that wasn’t the case.

There was only one explanation– TWINS, again.

(Twins are hereditary, so I suppose it shouldn’t have been a huge surprise– but honestly, it didn’t really cross my mind at the time…)

But this time, instead of two heifers (females), we had a mixed set: one boy and one girl.

Uh-oh.

Thanks to my time spent working at a local vet clinic pre-kids and pre-homestead, I knew that meant it was likely we had a freemartin heifer.

What is a Freemartin Heifer?

For my science-prone readers, here’s the official definition according to The Cattle Site

Freemartinism is recognized as one of the most severe forms of sexual abnormality among cattle. This condition causes infertility in the female cattle born twin to a male. When a heifer twin shares the uterus with a bull fetus, they also share the placental membranes connecting the fetuses with the dam.This causes exchange of blood and antigens carrying characteristics that are unique to each heifers and bulls. When these antigens mix, they affect each other in a way that causes each to develop with some characteristics of the other sex. Although the male twin in this case is only affected by reduced fertility, in over ninety percent of the cases, the female twin is completely infertile.

For us non-sciency folk, basically it means things get mixed up between the bull and heifer fetuses in utero and cause the heifer’s reproductive organs to develop abnormally.

cows in wyoming prairie

It also means in these instances, the heifer calf will be sterile.

Now, not all sets of bull/heifer twins will result in a freemartin, however it is the case 92% of the time. So our odds weren’t great.

We decided to just keep the twins until they were a bit older and then we would likely just sell the heifer at the sale barn as if she was a steer. It was a fabulous plan until…

The Great Mix Up

Ever tell yourself that you’ll remember what you put in the plastic container as you jam it into the freezer, and then 2 months later, you find yourself staring at a frozen chunk of food with ZERO recollection of ever even making it.

Apparently this syndrome also applies to cattle.

We had another Brown Swiss heifer calf born the same time as our set of boy/girl twins. This other heifer was larger in size and lighter colored and seemed different enough at first…

I told myself I didn’t need to tag her, as SURELY I’d remember which heifer was the single, and which one was the twin.

BWAHAHAHAHA. HA. HA.

You know what happened next, right?

There was I was, staring at two perfectly identical heifer calves with zero idea of which was which.

Brilliant, Jill. Brilliant.

how to draw blood from cattle

Initially we considered drawing some blood and testing for freemartinism that way. It’s only $25 and seems fairly reliable.

Sometimes a freemartin heifer will have some external characteristics such an abnormal appearance under her tail, or more masculine characteristics. However, the most sure way to tell what you have is to palpate her to see if her ovaries are developed properly.

Considering Christian just graduated from cattle artificial insemination school this spring (yes, it’s a very real thing), we decided to skip the test and check the old-fashioned way.

You know, the method that requires a long, blue sleeve…

And the good news? You get to come along for the whole process in one of our latest Youtube videos!

Other Cattle Posts You’ll Find Helpful:

are twin calves sterile? What you need to know about freemartin heifers

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YOUTUBE + A Mad Mama Hen!

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Somebody stop me, please…

… next time I attempt to pack so many things into May-September… Please? Anyone? Just smack me and say STOP. 😉

Summertime + gardening + finishing up cookbook edits + getting the new blog design ready (pssst! Do ya like it?) + launching a YouTube channel = Jill might have bit off more than she can chew.

Thank goodness that we’re finally wrapping up most of these (well, except the garden, of course). The tricky part is none of it feels like drudgery to me. I love the challenge of creating and building so very much. It pumps me up better than coffee. But what’s that saying about too much of a good thing though? Yeah…

Anyway.

Did you catch that?

WE LAUNCHED A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

I have to yell because YES, I’m about 2 years behind everyone else, but who cares… it’s up and running and we’re posting new videos every Tuesday.

I’ve had many requests for videos over the years, but I just didn’t feel like it was a fit at the time.

But things have shifted. I’m craving more of candid connection with you all. I’ll still write and photograph (I love both of those mediums), but I felt strongly that it was time for y’all to see what life is REALLY like here on The Prairie Homestead: messes, loud kids, weeds, chores, and all.

So here we go, ready or not.

Our channel will be a mix of practical tutorials (kinda like the ones you’ve come to expect here on the blog), but with plenty of candid, everyday glimpses thrown in there too.

I’m already having WAY more fun with video than I thought I would, and I would be forever grateful if you’d hope over and subscribe (that is, if homesteading videos are your thing!)

So far we’ve posted videos on Homemade Fly Spray and also a tour of our unique Raised Bed Garden Boxes. And the latest video? Well, it got a little wild.

One MAD Mama Hen

We were surprised with 3 chicks! I have no idea where this broody hen was sitting, but she made it through 21 days of sitting on her nest and one day showed up in the barnyard with three little babies following her around.

The problem?

She isn’t very nice.

I mean, all mamas tend to get a little grouchy when you mess with their babies and I can appreciate that.

But this hen pretty much hates us and will flat out attack anyone that gets too close.

Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s mean enough to take on our GIANT mastiff puppy who likes to eat chicks for snacks, so we needed to move her to a safe space.

Spoiler Alert: She didn’t appreciate our efforts.

You can watch how it all went down here:

If you liked that video and don’t want to miss future ones, you can subscribe right here.

Chick Links:

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This Article Was Originally Posted at theprairiehomestead.com Read The Original Article Here

How Two City Kids Became Homesteaders (and never looked back)

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Nostalgia runs thick around here this time of year.

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of us purchasing our sad little Wyoming property and transforming it into the homestead life of our dreams.

It’s also 10th anniversary of two twenty-something city kids pushing back against the typical suburban existence we were supposed to fall into, and instead setting out on a wild adventure of renovation, homegrown food, and life lessons.

Not that we had the slightest clue that would end up happening, of course.

As the days grow hotter and the grass grows high like it was the day we signed the papers on this land, the memories suddenly feel more tangible. The emotions and excitement are easier to recall as I traipse across this land that ignited some of our biggest dreams ten years ago, and continues to drive us forward today.

July 2008
July 2018

The Day We Closed On Our House

This homestead life started off as a faint whisper in my mind. A whisper that was triggered by us buying a dejected, forgotten little house on 67 acres of neglected pastureland.

Ten years ago.

Oftentimes, old farmsteads are rich with “good bones” and old-fashioned charm.

This wasn’t one of them.

The house was ridiculously small, the outbuildings were trashed and painted the WORST shade of yellow, and the property was at least 35 minutes from our jobs and grocery stores. And we were head-over-heels for the place.

I remember quickly walking through the 100-year old house during our first visit with the realtor and offhandedly asking where the living room was. He pointed to a front room smaller than most modern master bedrooms. I glanced at it for a moment, and then headed back outside. “It’ll do,” I thought.

The land was the only thing we cared about. We were bound and determined to end up with more than just a handful of acres, even with our small budget, and this property fit the bill. (Mostly because no one in their right mind would want to live so far from town and jobs in that ugly, shoebox-sized house.)

I guess it was a good thing I was so clueless back then.

We closed on the property on July 15th, 2008. The keys burned hot in my hand as we made the first drive to our house. Our land. Our barn.

It was surreal.

I’ll never forget the first few weeks after we moved in. By all outward appearances, the place was a depressing hodgepodge of damaged outbuildings, broken fence, dead trees, and piles of trash, but I felt electrified by the possibilities. I spend hours gathering up the the junk that littered the buildings and seemed to grow from the soil, and my heart would pound with excitement as I imagined what the place would become.

I knew it would be something special, someday.

And ten years later? It is.

“The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get”

Then: The south side of the house
Now: The south side of the house

Every once in a while, someone says something to us along the lines of “Oh man, you guys are so lucky!”

I get what they are saying, but I still can’t help but laugh hysterically.

Hahahahahahahaaaaaa.

We had every reason in the book this shouldn’t have worked. And the excuses were always there under the surface waiting to be pulled out, especially those first few years.

We both worked in town and didn’t have enough time.

We had good jobs, but not super high-paying ones. Money was tight, especially with a new mortgage.

We had zero clue what we were doing (hello, city kids!)

And yet, we plowed ahead. One step, one project, one obstacle at a time.

We guarded our time like crazy and worked from sun up til sundown on the weekends when we were both home from our jobs. (Christian was an electrician, I was a Vet Tech.)

Butchering chickens: one of our trial-by-fire learning experiences

We took on all sorts of random jobs (even casting bullets!) so we could afford fencing supplies and rent skid loaders and other equipment for our projects. I picked tens of thousands of tiny staples out of some log fencing that was left on the property so we could save money by re-using the logs for other fence. And then once I quit my job to stay home with our first baby, I trudged along into the world blogging and working my doTERRA business, even though I had no babysitters, no business experience, and very minimal results at first.

We assumed the role of beginners (which is really humbling sometimes…) and learned from everyone we could in order to master the skills we needed: knowledgeable neighbors, library books, videos, Google, you name it.

As I really think back to our transition from clueless city kids to sorta-kinda savvy homesteaders, it strikes me that we never went into it screaming, “WE SHALL BE HOMESTEADERS!”

(Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that– I adore people who have a clear purpose.)

But for us, it was more of a gradual unwrapping of the various layers of “conventional” we had allowed ourselves to be encased in over the years.

It was less of a battle cry, and more of an awakening. A blossoming. A falling in love with the notion of a hybrid lifestyle that combined the best of the old ways with a sprinkle of modern convenience.

It felt like coming home. Like it was what we were meant to be doing from the very beginning.

Hard, but Good

Let me assure you there was no magic bullet. No secret streamlined path to success. No 1-2-3 system we used to make it work.

God simply gave us a deep desire, and we have followed it. Hard.

Even when it took us out of our comfort zone. Even when the path wasn’t clear. Even when we had to get REALLY creative with finances. Even when people thought we were stupid. Even when the whole thing felt horribly uncomfortable, and sweaty, and stressful. Even when we had EVERY REASON POSSIBLE to just stop and find something easier to do with our lives.

We didn’t quit. Moving to town wasn’t an option. We knew this was our path and we would see it til the end, come hell or high water.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, because when people ask me about the “secret” to success in homesteading, blogging, or building a doTERRA business, all I can say is: don’t quit, don’t quit, don’t quit. Everyone around you will quit, but not you. YOU must not quit.

I suppose if there is secret sauce, that’d be it.

But We’re Not Done Yet

Homesteading has taught me to dream big and to hunt the hard things; the things that stir my soul.

Will I ever feel like we’ve ever completely arrived in this homesteading journey?

No. And I don’t want to. As one of my mentors used to say, “If you’re done learning, you might as well be dead.”

And we have lots of learning left to do. LOTS.

But you know what I love so very much? Homesteading has continually shown me how to pursue the unknown (and sometimes scary) and how to push the boundaries of what we are “supposed” to do.

Because of this, Christian and I continue to lean into our most audacious dreams. Dreams like having a real herd of cattle and a legit ranch someday. And because homesteading has taught us sometimes you have to start before you’re fully ready, we purchased a starter herd of Hereford heifers last fall. It felt like jumping off a cliff, but here we are.

Do we know what we are doing? Not really. But we’re leaning on some good friends of ours who are showing us the ropes, and we’re following the same path we did for homesteading– one step at a time and learning a little more each day.

hereford heifers in the snow
Some of our girls

It’s the only way I know how to tackle something new, but that method has yet to let me down.

Here’s the thing about busting through comfort zones– once you break out of one, it becomes easier to break out of the next. And pretty soon, you’ll doing things you never thought possible. And therein lies the magic of a life well lived. At least in my humble opinion.

Avoiding the Path of Least Resistance

There have been LOTS of lessons along this path, but the one that has stuck out to me time and time again is that easy isn’t always better.

Our culture is obsessed with easy.

Push the button. Zap the food. Stay in the job you hate because it’s safe. Don’t chase that dream, it’ll take too much effort. Don’t start the business, you might fail.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times I do choose easy. (P.S. I heart my washing machine.)

BUT.

Easy isn’t *always* better.

These ten years of homesteading have taught me to lean into the hard things. To seek out what scares you. To jump in headfirst sometimes just to see what happens. Sometimes you fall flat on your face, but other times, well, life-changing stuff happens.

Only ever choosing easy leaves us as a a shell of who we are suppose to be. Society’s obsession with the path of least resistance has left so many people depressed, aimless, and purposeless. It’s almost as if we think we’ll be getting another shot. Another try. Another life. Or that someone, someday, will magically step into our path and give us permission to start living our dreams and finding our purpose.

Photo: Liz Osban

But it doesn’t work like that. We’re the only ones who can give ourselves permission and we’re the only ones who know the talents, and dreams, and passions that lay dormant inside us. It’s up to us to let them all out.

We only get one life, my friends. Don’t wait. It’s time to awaken. You have far more choices in life than you think. Take the risk. Chase the dream. Develop your God-given purpose. Squash the excuses. Start the business. Begin the homestead (if that’s indeed your thing). What are we waiting for?

The time will pass anyway, and how good will it feel to be able to say, “I did it!” instead of, “What if I had?”

city kids turned homesteader

The post How Two City Kids Became Homesteaders (and never looked back) appeared first on The Prairie Homestead.

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