Five Homemade Quick Bread and Yeast Bread Recipe Ideas for Easter

Here's some freshly baked inspiration for your holiday table from the Farmgirl Fare recipe archives—and they all freeze beautifully. Just click on each name to go to the recipe.

These scrumptious Savory Chive and Sharp Cheddar Cheese Scones are a springtime variation of my  Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones, which is one of my most sought after recipes.

Made with softened cream cheese in place of the butter, both versions mix up quickly and always garner rave reviews. I've been baking them for 20 years and love them split in half and toasted with butter or made into cream cheese and ham or turkey sandwiches.

(P.S. Fresh homegrown chives are an inexpensive gourmet luxury. You'll find tips on growing and using chives, along with my simple homemade herbed yogurt cheese recipe, here.)

Four more homemade breads below. . .

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Hello, Spring. Hello, Creek!

Hello, spring. You're looking a little pale this year.

In the past five days we've had more snow than we had all winter. The biggest snowstorm of the year arrived late on the second day of spring, with big, soppy flakes that piled up to about five inches in no time. By the time I made it outside the next day with my camera (we're both down with the flu now) most of it had already melted, but it was so pretty while it lasted.

11 more photos and an update below (hover over each image for a description). . .

Wordless Thursday Dose of Cute

More roosters? Here.
More Lucky Buddy Bear? Here.
More wordless cute? Here and here.

© FarmgirlFare.com

Wednesday Dose of Hungry Cute, Plus Toting Treats to the Barn and Beyond

All you can eat hay buffet—kids under 40 pounds eat free!

If you're wondering what these BlogHer reviews are and why I write a few of them each year, please see my long replies in the comment section of this post. And thanks for supporting the advertisers who help bring you Farmgirl Fare!

When my publishing network, BlogHer, asked if I was interested in being part of a review program for Glad food storage containers, saying yes was a no-brainer since I already use them.

For most of February I used Glad storage containers to tote giant whole wheat chocolate chip raisin cookies down to my little shepherd's hut (aka the 18-foot travel trailer) parked at the barn, because you never know when you'll need a pick me up snack at 3 a.m. during lambing season. (And judging by how many times I brought the empty container back up to the house for a refill, apparently I need one pretty often.)

I'm a big believer in storing food (and all sorts of other things) in reusable containers, and we have them in lots of shapes and sizes. Since we both work at home on the farm we don't need to pack a lunch every day, but we never head into town without plenty of edible provisions.

Even if we're just making the 20-mile round trip to the post office we take along water and snacks, because when you live out in the middle of nowhere anything might happen between here and there.

More story and photos, plus a fun Pinterest contest below. . .

Tuesday Dose of Brand New Baby Cute

Two-year-old Helga and her newborn ram lamb (photos taken February 9th).

So how do you distinguish yourself from the flock when you're not the first mother of the season, you don't have triplets, and by the time it is your turn to give birth, twins are already old news?

Why naturally, you accessorize!

17 more photos and an update below. . .

Recipe: Easy Roasted Onion, Potato, and Cabbage Soup (or Side Dish)

Spanning two seasons: a hot bowl of comforting soup, garnished with a sprinkling of easy to grow spring chives from the kitchen garden (soup recipe here).

The temperatures here on the farm have been going up and down lately, which is par for the course in late winter Missouri. It dipped down into the low 20's (F) two nights ago and is supposed to be up in the 70's by Saturday. The daffodils along the fence all burst into bloom the other day and then froze. Thankfully these cheerful flowers are also very hardy.

I'm hoping cozy soup season will hold on at least a little longer, though, because I've been craving this easy Roasted Onion, Potato, and Cabbage Soup.

Inspired by my favorite Roasted Leek and Potato Soup with Arugula, it's thick, rich, and flavorful, yet low fat and full of healthy goodness.

The roasted potatoes, onions, garlic, and cabbage also make for a tasty side dish on their own—perfect for St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy!

Can't survive on soup alone? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, slowly slurping our way towards spring.

I'm Doing Another 30 Days of Yoga: Care To Join Me?

Spring! What better time to let a new home yoga practice bloom?

Last May I announced that I was getting ready to do Marianne Elliott's 30 Days of Yoga and wondered if any of you wanted to join me. Several of you did, and it ended up being a really great experience. In fact, taking Marianne's course changed my life—and I never made it more than 15 minutes into my 45-minute yoga video (and that's okay!).

Marianne has just launched a new and improved course platform for the 30 Days of Yoga courses, making everything much easier to find, to follow, and to come back to over time. The first group courses for 2013 will start next Monday, March 18th, and I can't wait. (Registration ends March 17th.)

Have you been wanting to try yoga, or wishing you could get back into a regular yoga practice? 30 Days of Yoga is a lovingly crafted online course to help you develop and sustain a home yoga practice that adds self-care, kindness, and a greater sense of well-being to your daily life.

Marianne is an author, yoga teacher, courage cultivator, human rights advocate and consultant, as well as a former human rights lawyer in New Zealand and a United Nations peacekeeper in Afghanistan. She created 30 Days of Yoga for herself because she struggled with her own home yoga practice.

There are three different 30 Days of Yoga courses to choose from: the standard version (which I'll be doing), one for total beginners, and one for people who think they're too busy to do yoga. (There's also a course designed especially for curvy bodies. The next curvy yoga course will start on April 15th, and registration will begin on April 1st.) The standard version lets you choose from several different yoga practices to suit your needs and goals.

More below. . .

Monday Dose of Cute: All in a Day

Feeding one of my two bottle lambs in the barn.

Random photos taken around the farm yesterday. It rained for several hours (yay!) and when the sun burst out during a lull, I took a break from cleaning up the greenhouse and grabbed my camera. Our 19 little lambs are growing fast, and hopefully the grass in the fields will soon be too.

Seven more photos below. Hover over each image for a description. . .

Friday Dose of Cute: Chillin' in the Warm Sun

Have a relaxing weekend.

© FarmgirlFare.com, soft and snuggly all the way.

Monday Dose of Cute: Curious Little Lambs

More photos and a lamb report below. . .

Wordless Wednesday Dose of Cute

More wordless cute? Here and here.
More Marta Beast? Here and here.

© FarmgirlFare.com

Saturday Quick Dose of Little Lamb Cute

Friendly and her three day old triplets (taken yesterday).

Hoping you're having a warm and cozy weekend.

More little lambs? Here.

More woolly beasts? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where it's a lot more comfortable having all those babies on the outside than on the inside. Click here and here to see first time mother Friendly's 2012 batch of triplets.

Thursday Farm Photo: Happy Valentine's Day

Love is everywhere you look.

Wishing you peace, joy, and love this Valentine's Day—and every day.

© FarmgirlFare.com, home to hundreds of heart shaped rocks, most of which aren't perfect, just like (a quote I once read said) love can't always be perfect—it's just love.

Wordless Wednesday Dose of Lambing Season Cute

Four more photos below. . .

Valentine's Day Recipes: Napa Cabbage & Broccoli Winter Slaw and Easy Chocolate Babycakes

Say I love you with a big helping of antioxidants! My fondness for this crunchy Napa Cabbage and Broccoli Winter Slaw with a Creamy Dijon Dressing just keeps getting stronger.

Radishes and brussels sprouts add extra color and flavor, and everything is quickly chopped up in the food processor (or you can use a sharp knife). It even goes well with champagne, though of course I think pretty much everything goes well with champagne.

Or how about some Easy Chocolate Babycakes with Mocha (or Chocolate) Buttercream Frosting, which definitely go well with champagne (and milk). These cute little treats are made using my simple Emergency Chocolate Loaf Cake batter (which I've been making for about 15 years) and they're always a big hit. Enjoy!

© FarmgirlFare.com, always cute, always hungry, always full of love.

Saturday Dose of Cute: Frenchie One Ups Eugenie

Frenchie and her four-day-old Frenchettes (taken 2/3/13)

The first lambs of the season inevitably get the most attention. So what's the next ewe to do? Have triplets of course.

8 more photos and a lamb report below. . .

Sunday Dose of Cute: Oh Baby, Baby

Eugenie and her newborn twins on Tuesday morning.

The 2013 lambing season has begun!

14 more photos and the rest of the story below. . .

Sunday Dose of Cute: The Waiting Game

Four year old Freida

Can you believe it's already the end of January? How has your new year been going so far? Ours hasn't been going quite as expected.

It started with Joe throwing his back out on new year's day morning. Remember last spring when he was housebound for several weeks and ordered not to lift anything heavier than five pounds for at least a month? It's like that. Fortunately this time we had some medicine on hand (left over from the last time), and he was able to make the 70-mile round trip to the chiropractor the next day.

Things were going okay until a few days later when, in a freak accident, I managed to stab myself in the ankle with a metal electric fencing stake—in the exact same place the snake bit me, which was still store after two and a half years.

It was a lot like the whole snake bite ordeal all over again, and almost as painful, only without the morphine drip and three hot meals a day—and with a lot more blood. For a while I even had the Luggable Loo back on my side of the bed.

I once read that farming is one of the most dangerous jobs there is, and I believe it. We're always getting banged up, but in our nearly 13 years together we've never both been out of commission at the same time. Until now.

More story and photos below. . .

Lucky Buddy Bear, Ace Cattle Dog

It's hard to believe that our beloved Lucky Buddy Bear turned eleven years old this month. He's been suffering from some age-related hormone issues (aren't we all?) that we're still trying to get figured out, and he is slowly losing his eyesight, but for the most part he's doing well. The vet couldn't believe how good his teeth looked.

Bear is half English Shepherd and half Australian Shepherd, which are both excellent stock dog breeds. When Bear was still a little cub, we bought a book called something like How To Train Your Stock Dog Even if He's Smarter than You Are. After reading the first couple of chapters we gave the book to Bear.

It has been so amazing to see the natural instincts our different farm dogs possess. Bear simply knows what to do, just like Daisy and Marta, our two livestock guardian dogs, know to protect their flock. Two different types of dogs, two completely different jobs. And then of course there's Beagle Bert. Nobody had to teach him to head off after a rabbit.

Even though Bear has never been formally trained as a stock dog, he does remarkably well. He helps with everything from rounding up chickens and herding sheep to keeping the donkeys (and sheep) from attacking you when you're holding the treat bucket. He's also an excellent guard dog, often staying up all night warning off coyotes and monsters.

He's far from perfect (probably because we never trained him), and there have been plenty of times over the years when he's done exactly the opposite of what we wanted him to, but he's always been more of a help than a hindrance. And what a big personality. I can't imagine the last eleven years without him.

Despite having no experience with cows except for being around the freezer steers we raise two at a time every few years, Bear was in top form recently when a hungry mama and three bad little calves escaped from the neighbor's pasture into our (obviously much tastier) hayfield.

15 more photos below. . .

Recipe: Easy Spinach Soup Made with Fresh Spinach

This tasty, healthy, dairy-free, gluten-free, low fat soup is packed with fresh spinach and cooks up in about 40 minutes (recipe here).

I originally shared this recipe for Super Spinach Soup Made with Fresh Spinach back in 2006, and it's been tucked quietly away in the recipe archives ever since. I've continued to make it all these years, and for the last six weeks it's been one of the most popular posts on Farmgirl Fare, so I dusted it off, spiffed it up, and finally added some photos, along with a printer-friendly version of the recipe.

What's so super about this simple spinach soup? It's super fast and easy to make, super delicious, and super good for you. It's rich and satisfying and yet contains no milk or cream. The secret to its thickness is a little uncooked rice tossed in. Enjoy!

Still hungry? You'll find over 120 more of my Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where going green never tasted so good.

Recipe: Sunburst Carrot Soup with Fresh Ginger, Orange, and Carrot Juice

How about a piping hot bowl of healthy winter sunshine? (recipe here)

For the latest installment of soup week on Farmgirl Fare we have Sunburst Carrot Soup with Fresh Ginger, Orange, and Carrot Juice. This cheerful, low fat soup is packed with carrots and bursting with antioxidants and flavor.

It's a big dose of happy for the body and mind and even freezes beautifully. The flavor and color from the fresh carrot juice stirred in at the end add a wonderful brightness, but the soup tastes great even without it.

Adapt my easy recipe to suit your taste: try more fresh ginger, more orange zest, maybe extra garlic—or leave any of them out. A little ground cumin is a very nice addition. However you serve it up, cold and flu season won't stand a chance.

Can't survive on soup alone? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where our seven donkeys don't get all the organic carrots, just most some of them.

Recipe: Simple and Healthy Swiss Chard Artichoke Soup

Thickened with garbanzo beans and made with milk, not cream, this flavorful soup is cozy comfort food at its healthy best (recipe here).

It's homemade soup week here on Farmgirl Fare! In honor of the single digit degree mornings we've been having, I thought I would highlight a few more of my favorite soup recipes from the recipe archives. There's nothing like a steaming bowl of homemade soup to warm you inside and out. It's easy to make, tastes great, and the delicious aroma that fills your kitchen is oh so comforting.

I've already mentioned my popular Roasted Garlic Lover's White Bean Soup/Stew with Vegetables and Herbs and this sublime Roasted Leek and Potato with Arugula (or Spinach). Here's another healthy favorite: Swiss Chard and Artichoke Soup. It's a slurpable version of my Hot Swiss Chard and Artichoke Dip that's low in fat, full of flavor, and packed with vegetable goodness. It's not exactly beautiful, but it tastes really good.

Have you discovered the joys of Swiss chard yet? This tasty, nutrient-packed green is a mainstay in my organic heirloom kitchen garden. There's even some thriving in the unheated, homemade greenhouse right now. If I were allowed to grow just two things, they would be tomatoes and Swiss chard. We almost always have an abundance of chard, so it was only natural that I would eventually turn some into soup. Both the leaves and stalks are used in this recipe.

Swiss chard is cold tolerant, heat tolerant, and even more versatile than spinach. It's easy to grow from seed, comes in all sorts of colors and sizes, and thrives in containers. I'm thrilled that one of the most popular posts on my kitchen garden blog for the past five years has been How To Grow Your Own Swiss Chard from Seed (and Why You Should). I'm on a one farmgirl mission to get everyone loving this gorgeous leafy green.

Wondering what else to do with Swiss chard?

—What To Do With Swiss Chard: Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip Recipe & Other Ways To Cook & Enjoy My Favorite Leafy Green

—Healthy Swiss Chard Tuna Salad with Scallions & Kalamata Olives

—Swiss Chard Cabbage Salad with Garbanzo Beans & Cottage Cheese

—Swiss Chard and Artichoke 'White' Pizza

© FarmgirlFare.com, comfort for the country (and soup) lover's soul.

Recipe: Roasted Leek and Potato Soup with Arugula (or Spinach)

This simple, flavorful soup is thick and rich but not loaded with calories or cream (recipe here).

There's nothing like an 8°F morning to put you in the mood for a piping hot bowl of soup. I could probably eat soup every day in winter, and this Roasted Leek and Potato Soup with Arugula is one of my favorite recipes.

It's hearty and healthy and full of flavor, especially if you use homemade chicken stock, which freezes well and is ridiculously easy to make (instructions on how to make your own chicken stock are included in the soup recipe).

No leeks? Just use onions. No arugula? Try spinach instead. The roasted leeks and potatoes also make a scrumptious side dish. Snuggle up and enjoy!

Love the peppery bite of arugula? Check out these other Farmgirl Fare arugula recipes:

All Purpose Arugula Cottage Cheese Dip/Spread/Sauce

Arugula or Spinach Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Pecorino, Chicken Sausage, and Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Arugula Pesto (tastes great on pizza!)

Arugula Pesto Cream Cheese Spread

Arugula Salad with Pan-Fried Herbed Potatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Feta Cheese, and Kalamata Olive Vinaigrette

Did you know arugula is easy to grow? This gourmet green thrives in cool weather and doesn't take up much space. It's also really good for you. Learn how to grow arugula from seed in less than a month here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, just as good reheated.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Lover's Easy White Bean Soup with Vegetables and Herbs

A bowl of hearty and healthy white bean soup is cold weather comfort food at its best (recipe here).

This Roasted Garlic Lover's White Bean Soup, which is so thick it should probably be called white bean stew, has been one of the most popular winter recipes on Farmgirl Fare ever since I originally shared it back in 2006.

It's packed with flavor and is so simple it can be made by nearly anyone. It can also be eaten by nearly everyone: it's vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and fat-free, and any ingredient except for the beans and water can be successfully omitted if necessary. If you're looking for recipes for Alejandro Junger's Clean Program, just swap the potatoes for extra turnips and you're good to go. (This Easy Spinach Soup Made with Fresh Spinach is another Clean Program recipe.)

This recipe also happens to be cheap to make, freezes beautifully, smells divine while simmering on the stove, and is really good for you. But most importantly? It tastes delicious—and it's even better the next day.

Love cozy soup season? You might also enjoy these Farmgirl Fare recipes:

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Garbanzos and Artichokes

Fast Black Bean Soup/Chili

Hearty Lentil Soup with Smoked Sausage

Italian White Bean Soup with Tomatoes and Smoked Ham

Quick and Healthy Cream (or not) of Artichoke Soup

Roasted Leek and Potato Soup with Arugula (or Spinach)

Roasted Onion, Potato, and Cabbage Soup

Sunburst Carrot Soup with Fresh Ginger, Orange, and Carrot Juice

Swiss Chard Artichoke Soup

Care for some homemade bread to go with your soup?

Beyond Easy Beer Bread (my most popular recipe)

Easy Rosemary Focaccia (Italian Flatbread) with White Wine and Pecorino

Farmhouse White Classic Sandwich Bread (makes great rolls & buns too)

Savory Feta Cheese & Scallion Scones

Oatmeal Toasting Bread (makes scrumptious rolls too)

Carrot Herb Rolls (and a wonderful bread baking book for beginners)

Still hungry? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, full of flavor and simmering slowly for years.

Wordless Wednesday Dose of Cute

More wordless cute? Here and here.
More chickens? Here.
More snow? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com