Homestead Blessings Recipe Review: Part 2

Have I said that this is one of my favorite cook books? It is! And it's not even because of how the recipes turn out. It's because everything is made from scratch. Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe book like that now a days? Every time I see a picture of food, with a recipe following it and think, "Ooh, that looks good" I'm only disappointed to read the recipe and find that it calls for something like 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, or 1 package Crescent Rolls, or 1 box cake mix, or 1 box vanilla pudding mix, etc. The list could go on and on.
It makes me want to scream, "DOES NO ONE COOK FROM SCRATCH ANYMORE???" Food isn't about what's the fastest to prepare! It's about the ingredients that go into it. And since we're a no MSG, GMO, BHT, Red #40 (and all the other colors too) eating family that pretty much eliminates all pre-packaged foods (with the exception of some organic ones.)

Here's what we've tried recently from the cookbook:

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies: WOW. And WOW again. I don't think that my family will ever ask me to just make regular chocolate chip cookies again. They all LOVED this. I have to admit, it is pretty good and much easier to make since you just put all of the dough into 1 skillet! Certainly a time saver.
Georgia Peach Pie: I really liked this and have made it 3 times already in the past couple of weeks. After all, I did need to start using up all those quarts of canned peaches lining my shelves! It has a different look because of the use of eggs in it, but we all enjoyed it.
Best Pie Crust Ever: Another winner. I have used the recipe for pie crust from Nourishing Traditions for years but this one has it beat. It will be my go-to pie crust.
Jasmine's Miracle Mayonnaise: I have been making this for about 2-3 years (since watching The Art of Cooking video from the West Ladies where this recipe is included) but I wanted to share the review because it is the most wonderful mayo recipe I have ever used. It works every time and tastes great! As a note, I use sunflower oil instead of olive oil.
Easy Healthy Ranch Dressing: This recipe has the same explanation as the one above. Except the recipe on their video is just slightly different. Instead of using the sour cream, I make the mayo above and use it with the buttermilk. I also add herbs like parsley and basil. It is my go to ranch dressing recipe. YUM!
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding: Finally! A banana pudding recipe from scratch- totally! Except, I didn't make it that way. ;) I was in a time crunch on Thursday night to get to Bible Study and so instead of making the graham crackers to go with it, I used some of Back To Nature's Vanilla cookies instead. Everyone loved it and I'll surely make it again.

Scalloped Potatoes: This was another "time crunch" recipe so I left out the bacon. The potatoes were delicious even without and bacon would only have made them better. It was certainly less time consuming to leave the bacon out but if I had extra left over from a breakfast, I'd gladly add it in.

Graham Crackers: It would have been helpful if I had made these before the Banana Pudding. I made them the day after. My kids love graham crackers but I buy them sparingly because, 1. organic ones are super expensive and 2. they're made of wheat. We're not gluten free by any means, I just try for us to not be eating wheat constantly. And my kids would eat graham crackers constantly if allowed. The recipe didn't give any directions on how thick to roll them out so I guessed and rolled the dough about 1/4" thick. That was too thick. I'd say somewhere between paper thin and 1/4" is good. These were a little bland but were o.k. and would be perfect in the banana pudding as suggested.

I'll have a Recipe Review -Part 3 to share with you in a couple more weeks!