Hi! I’m Tracy and this is my husband Steven.
I want to help make feeding your family easier and enjoyable whilst keeping you sane!
On this blog you can find my easy meals plans, wholesome recipes and stress free cooking, all from the farmhouse kitchen.
Scotch Broth (cook low and slow)
This recipe is our favourite meal in a bowl soup. This recipe calls for 500g (1.1lb) of diced lamb. You can pick a half leg of lamb up from supermarkets at the moment for £8.50 per kilogram and dice your own if they don’t sell it diced. The long, slow cooking of this recipe means…
My sourdough journey – the very beginning
I’ve recently just posted the start of my sourdough journey on YouTube! It’s super exciting for me as I tried to create my own sourdough 5 years or so ago when we moved to our smallholding and I failed! We didn’t enjoy the taste and I don’t think I managed to make it particularly active,…
A Birthday week- Weekly Meal Plan – November 2nd
November sees my husband’s birthday and I can’t wait to taste the pork fillet he has requested. Below is the plan I had made, using up items we have available. However as is life, there was a curveball thrown in that one of our freezers has given up the ghost. Therefore the meals this week…
Delicious Amish white bread
My go to bread is normally a basic white loaf which does me well every time. However I recently discovered this Amish bread which I was really impressed with. Ingredients 1.5 tbsp dry yeast 2.5 cups warm water (warm is 110 – 120F or 43 to 49C) 2/3 cup sugar 8 tbsp butter (4 go…
Spooktacular – Weekly Meal Plan – October 26th
Halloween is fast approaching and as it falls on a weekend this year and given the kids won’t be out enjoying it, I thought we’d do a themed meal for the day and enjoy it in the farmhouse. Stay tuned for more on that. We have corned beef one pot this week and it was…
Time saving freezer packed lunches – Weekly Meal Plan – October 19th
This month has gone by so quickly. My month’s run from 25th until 24th around pay day, just how I’ve always done it. I did the fair size grocery haul last pay day and except for milk, yoghurts and a few fresh items we fancied (didn’t need, just wanted), we’ve not needed anything else. I…
Rain, rain go away – Weekly Meal Plan – October 12th
I do enjoy being in the kitchen, with the warmth of the Aga keeping the cold away and the dogs under my feet seeing who can get closest to the heat, whilst the wind and rain beats down outside. Then I have to go out in the elements to take care of the livestock and…
Rich beef and prune casserole
This is THE best Autumn dish! I look forward to cooking it each year. Delicious, tender beef, tasty rich sauce all served over creamy mashed potatoes and garden vegetables. Who wouldn’t want this? I cook this on the Aga top and then in the simmering oven however you can use whatever you have to hand.…
Slow cooker recipe – Taco Tuesday’s
I didn’t even know about Taco Tuesday until I started expanding our meals. We are very rebellious though and have tacos on other days of the week too! I made extra of this recipe and froze it in zip lock bags in the freezer. It defrosted great and lends itself to many varieties. I add…
Instant Pot recipe – honey and mustard chicken thighs
I don’t know about you but chicken thighs are marmite in my house. My husband would choose them over any other part of the bird, my daughter would prefer to be vegetarian and it’s too much effort for my son to have an opinion some days 😉 All that said, every week we are blessed…
Cosy days – Weekly Meal Plan – October 5th
I’m getting a little bit obsessed with meal plans and what other people are doing with theirs. I’m even watching YouTube videos showing what people ate in a week for ideas and inspiration. This is all building up to our 2021 challenge of spending as little as possible on groceries and other expenses to allow…
Shopping for the month’s groceries and stretching chicken.
At the weekend I went to my local Aldi and spent £138.65 on groceries for the coming month. Before I went, I sat down and wrote out 31 main meals along with what I would need to purchase to make those meals based on what I had in the pantry and freezers. I am pretty…
Elderberry Winter Tonic recipe
In my neck of the woods, September and October are the months to be picking elderberries. Sometimes it’s earlier, others it’s later but there is an abundance right now and I’ve been out foraging and thoroughly enjoying myself. A great point to note is that elderberries freeze very well and even better, once they are…
September’s almost over – Weekly Meal Plan – September 28th, 2020
Well the children are well and truly back to school (how long for is anyone’s guess) and we have taken the time we need to get going again. I have been meal planning even though I haven’t had them on here, but you can find them in my Facebook group if you’d like to join.…
Bank Holiday fun – Weekly Meal Plan – August 31st, 2020
Well that week went quickly. We’ve have a mix of busy and quiet times here on our smallholding. Our little family has been fortunate enough to have a few day trips out, one of which was to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. I made a delicious rice pudding in the slow cooker as the weather…
September’s challenge (challenging?)
We have our last Bank Holiday for a while just around the corner and that always signals a shift in seasons, cooking and kitchen tasks for me. More stews and soups and the start of squash season. We have had a good amount of courgettes so far and they will continue to come for a…
A new challenge – Weekly Meal Plan – August 24th, 2020
Last week I mentioned that it felt more Autumn that Summer like, well it feels down right Winterish today. That’s ok though, our spirits aren’t dampened as we are off work for the week, yay! That said, our holiday weeks can be a little spontaneous food wise, so this wouldn’t be the best week to…
Seasonal Minestrone Soup
I make this soup in my Instant Pot purely because that’s how I did it the first time and it was SO nice that I didn’t want to risk doing it any other way. It is delicious and a very hearty meal for any time of the year as you can chop and change the…
Golden soup
This recipe is an adapted weight watchers one and great for Autumn. It is silky smooth and very healthy in my opinion. Add extra chilli for a little winter kick and serve with home made bread, yum. Ingredients 2 onions 2 garlic cloves 600g sweet potatoes 1 butternut squash or small pumpkin 100g red lentils…
Basic white loaf
This recipe is my go to for everyday white bread. It hasn’t failed me yet. Remember if it browns too quickly when cooking, you can cover with foil and to make the crust soft, if that is your preference, wrap it in a clean tea towel when it comes out for 10 minutes. The steam…
Slow Cooker – Thick ham and pea soup
This soup is my favourite, well I said that about minestrone too, but you get the idea. The kids love this one too – thank the Lord!! Perfect for cold, dark days and also for summer….and spring….and autumn 😉 Ingredients Small smoked gammon joint. 2 peeled potatoes. 2 large white onions. 3 cloves garlic. 1kg…
Summer to Autumn? – Weekly Meal Plan – August 17th, 2020
I don’t know about you but the weeks are flying by here. I have some much needed time off work next week and cannot wait! The best part is that Steven is off too, meaning we can have some quality family time. We’ll get lots done on the smallholding, have some lovely days out and…
Slow Cooker – BBQ Meatloaf
(adapted from largefamilytable.com) Ingredients 1 lbs minced (ground) beef 1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 large egg 1 cup chopped veggies (I used onions, courgette, and bell peppers) 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp parsley 1 tsp oregano BBQ sauce from a bottle for ease Instructions Mix all…
Can you meal plan your way to financial freedom?
As I’m sure is the same for you, we are always busy with something or other. For us, if we are not dashing around to school, work or days out with the kids, we are firmly planted on the smallholding (pun intended) raising our livestock and growing our own food. Oh not to mention doing…
Straight in to it – Weekly Meal Plan – August 3rd, 2020
How exciting! My first actual meal planning post on my new blog. Pull up a chair 😊, it’s great to have you here. I’ve been meal planning on and off for years. I have found certain things either drive you to meal plan or allow you to “ease off the accelerator” and wing it a…
Meals at my house – Weekly Meal Plan – August 10th, 2020
Welcome to the official second week of recording my meal plans! Can you sense my excitement. It’s the little things 😉 In the coming weeks meal plans will be posted on a Sunday night for the fresh new week on Monday. Although I want to share with you that I don’t wait until the Sunday…
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Our Farmhouse Kitchen Table 
Lovely recipes. I would really love more Instant Pot recipes if possible. Mine was a gift and sadly just sits in the kitchen gathering dust.
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