Olalla Homestead

Holiday dinners can be kind of a bummer for us gluten intolerant folks! That’s why I created a “Holiday Classics Made Gluten Free” virtual, prerecorded cooking class! In this class, I show you how to make these classic American favorites, completely gluten free, and just as delicious. Everyone at the table will love them!

Included is an ebook with 3 printable recipes for:

•Stuffing made with homemade bread
•Soft & Fluffy dinner rolls
•Pumpkin Pie in a flaky, buttery crust

There are Step by Step video tutorials for sandwich loaves for the stuffing, dinner rolls, and the flaky buttery crust.

A master grocery list
Product sourcing guide
&
Thanksgiving prep tips.

Check it out! 🧡

https://www.heritagehomeandhearth.com/store

Sign up for our email list for a Free Gluten Free Sourdough Starter Guide!

heritagehomeandhearth | Instagram | Linktree Old Fashioned American Cookery Made Gluten Free

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heritagehomeandhearth | Instagram | Linktree Old Fashioned American Cookery Made Gluten Free

Old Fashioned Flare in the modern kitchen 🍳

On my countertop, which is not perfectly tidy, you’ll find jars of animal fats, sourdough starter, clabbering raw milk, & a French press. The simpler the process our food goes through, the better!

For cooking, cast iron is the only cookware that stands up to the amount of cooking I do. I adore my mortar and pestle for grinding whole spices - they taste so much better that way & it’s just fun. Handheld beaters whip eggs up so beautifully and my kids love it.

The more I can use my own hands and cookware that isn’t electric, the more I feel connected with the meals I’m making!

And is there anything more charming than an antique China tea set? I think not!

Which of these things do you have? What other old fashioned essentials could we find in your home?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve felt very different & like I didn’t fit in anywhere. I felt uncomfortable with anything that made me unique, even the way my name was spelled, my family’s religion, my two different colored eyes.

I use to wish to just be like everybody else & I resented my parents for the things that made me and our family different than the other kids and families. I was rebellious and rebelled against what I felt like made me, or us, weird.

I’m still rebellious. I will always, completely unbridled, reject and rebel against anything that doesn’t sit well with me & my values. But now as an adult, I’m not afraid to be unique or different. I let my freak flag fly proudly now.

Funny enough, a lot of the differences I was afraid of as a child are the ones I’m embracing as an adult now. I know I’m different. I’m increasingly aware of the beliefs, values, and lifestyle that I have are pretty unique and not often celebrated out in the real world. Tell anyone that you homeschool, raise and eat rabbits and see what they say 😂
I get the responses of being privileged, not being progressive enough, being naive, being irresponsible, not showing little girls how capable they are. I’ve heard it all. I hear it often.

I don’t believe any of that, so it doesn’t matter to me what anybody thinks.

I know just by talking to other, more traditional homemakers, homesteaders or home educators that there are some insecurities about being a •proud• homemaker and I just want to invite you under my wing and give you permission to Feel and to SHOW others your pride, be a rebel, and just let that freak flag fly.

Someone asked me the other day who shoulders more weight around here, my husband or me - and I laughed, knowing both of us would say “I do!”

We both do A LOT. We work sun up to sundown providing for our family & we have completely traditional roles in our family. My husband goes to work and makes the money, he’s the muscle that builds things, repairs them, and fixes our cars. He’s organized and thoughtful & is a skilled welder. I give him ideas and he works out how everything will function and he often tells me my ideas aren’t feasible (every marriage needs one dreamer and one realist!)

I handle all things children, caring mostly for the animals, the garden, and all of the meals. I am not organized by nature, I am not a cleaner - I am, however, a devoted nurturer and that’s my main and most proud role in our home.

I’m not afraid to be a proud nurturer and homemaker. I’m proud that my husband is masculine and capable of all of the things I am not and I’m proud to be feminine and nurturing. Gender roles, to me, are only a means of maximizing your biological and God given talents, given to you as a man or a woman.

I haven’t always believed this - I used to call myself a feminist, not really knowing even what it meant. What I believed then, and still believe now, is that a man or a woman is FREE to choose who they serve in this life, regardless of cultural pressures. Be that an old fashioned housewife or a busy career woman. Be that as a stay at home dad or as a Tugboat captain. We all should have pride in what we choose at the end of the day.

And I have pride - so much pride - in how my husband and I have chosen our roles. It isn’t easy. We always argue about who’s getting more free time or who gets to hold the baby while the other takes a shower. It’s really hard to be a parent & a spouse. But we do our best everyday to support each other and appreciate each other.

“Children are born with all the wonder they will need, our job is to not take it away.” Ainsley Arment

In a world of iPads, iPhones, and video games, how do we raise children with any sense of wonder in the real world? How do we raise children to care for the earth if they have no connection to it? How do we raise happy kids when their reality has become an augmented version of life on a screen?

I say, take it back to basics. Back to the days of playing make believe in a dirt pile all day. Take it to the days of chasing chickens and counting eggs. Having tea parties with caterpillars and making mud pies for rocks.

When you allow your children to live in the real world, they are free. Free to imagine. Free to create. Free to think. Free to play. Free to wonder.

For the 11 years I’ve been raising kids, I have always felt strongly that video game systems and iPads/tablets are detrimental & should be avoided. I’m not chastising anyone for using them but I know that my preference for my children is learning from what feels like will soon be lost - tangible books, the great outdoors, and true, good old fashioned imaginative play.

I will not allow the beautiful, timeless ways of play and learning to disappear on my children. I can’t let that be traded in for fancy electronics that last but a few months until the next, better one comes out Forever and ever, until all they have is a pile of broken, useless gadgets.

Do you want to keep these things alive too? Are you my people?

The extremely talented came to our home to capture our life, our family, and our homestead and she did such a beautiful job. I’m so happy with these!

Behind these beautiful photos is not a perfect family but a family that commits to each other every day - to serve each other, to forgive each other, and to work together to achieve the beautiful life we’re creating all together.

It’s not an easy life - but it is a full life. Full of beauty. Full of life. Full of hardships. Full of successes. Full of failures. Full of hope. Full of sadness. Full of happiness. Full of love.

“I could never raise my own food”

Oh indeed, the preparation of one’s own animals - the love, the sweat, often the tears that go into an animal from its first breaths until it’s last are not for the faint of heart. Yet, It’s a job for the tender hearted - the mother heart that instinctually knows how to nurture. It’s a job for the strong minded- the gritty ones who will do what it takes to provide for their families. It takes an artistic hand to prepare a beautiful meal in which you can honor the life of what will nourish you.

So often society looks at the farmers and the homesteaders as disconnected, as brute and careless or heartless - we look at the indigenous as respectful, as spiritual, as resourceful and knowledgeable. I see so many of us homesteaders living the same. We honor these blessings. We don’t waste. We let the tears fall for them. We are passionately connected with each bit of our environments, from the plants to the animals - were connected to it all.

I’m grateful. And I’m hungry.

Animal fats being the main cause of coronary heart disease is hogwash - so to speak.

Animal fats are full of health benefits that you should not be depriving yourself of. Yes, we’ve been taught that lard will make you fat and clog your arteries. I’m giving you permission to reconsider & do some reading on this. Fats like tallow, lard, and butter are the best sources of fat soluble vitamins that your body needs.

If you want a healthy heart, stop eating processed foods full of inflammatory ingredients - CHD is an inflammatory disease which is why the major decrease in animal fats in the diet have not changed the occurrence of heart disease.

It isn’t always easy being their main source of comfort is if? Especially as an HSP, I can get very overwhelmed by big emotions - and everyone in my family has them.

It feels like a superpower sometimes, that my lap, my embrace, is the safest place on earth for my babies. What a beautiful privilege.

It’s not easy to drop everything you’re doing to soothe your child, especially when it’s the 20th time that day - but something I remind myself of every day is that for the rest of my whole life, I want them to know I’m their safe haven. A place they can always come to rest their bones and souls. Right now they are just little, but when they’re grown and hurting, when life is hard and they feel like nobody loves or sees them, they’ll know mamas shoulder & lap is always there for them.

I’m such an imperfect mom, I’m not the most gentle or positive all of the time. I know they’ll always feel my immense love for them though.

Sundays are for dinner rolls 🙌

Gluten free sourdough, as always! These rolls are made with an enriched dough (milk, eggs, & butter added) and is so versatile! I use it to make cinnamon rolls, donuts, sandwich loaves, and now dinner rolls!

This recipe will be in my cookbook 🧡 this is a work in progress but it will be a collection of homestyle, old fashioned staples like Grandma used to make. Being gluten free doesn’t mean giving up your favorite things or settling for “good for gluten free” things. You can be gluten free and have all of the comfort foods you want without sacrificing flavor, texture, or appearance!

Last week, I made a post about being a Highly Sensitive Mama and that seemed to resonate with many of you!

It highlighted some of the struggles we have as HSP individuals but what I didnt have the room for was all of the sensory things that light us UP!

These pictures tell a story of what makes me feel so many feelings.

Knit textures, the smell of an old book. Fresh herbs & morning sunlight hitting just right.

The sizzle of breakfast in a pan when the house is perfectly quiet.

Watching the steam above my hot coffee move and swirl.

The soft, low sound of a simmering soup or broth.

A bubbly, ripe sourdough starter. Man I love that smell 😂

Being Highly Sensitive is a good thing. I do all things I love with full blown passion. While I’m easy to overwhelm, I’m also very easy to please.

I’m indifferent to almost nothing, very passionate about a lot. And truly that’s exactly what makes me who j am as a person, a wife, and a mother. You take the good with the bad, and with a Highly Sensitive Personality - it’s a lot of good! I can almost always spot those HSP comrades by how beautifully you speak on, post, or photograph what many people find mundane or plain.

What are your favorite sounds? Smells? What lights up your soul?

It is true that it’s human nature to always want more. To compare our lives to others & wish for more exciting things. Though, when I envision my “dream life” it really isn’t any different than the one I have!

I have been working on a dream board in a workshop I’m doing with , and after a burst of excitement and fun while pinning pictures that made me FEEL how I want to feel and what my “dream life” looks like - it just looks like normal life. Cozy, homey, family centered, surrounded by food, warmth, togetherness, and simple living.

It’s amazing that I don’t realize I’m living my dream life everyday. Today I realized that I’ve created this life that I dream of and now that I’m living it, it feels common and mundane most days.

Truly the only thing I want more of is the realization that my life is wonderful. And also more time with my husband who works so so hard for so many hours a day.

What have you grown to feel is “common” today but past you would’ve thought was a dream? For me it’s spending my days with my kids, feeding farm animals & baking.

I never knew there was a name for it - I just thought I was high strung & anxious.

If you don’t know what a Highly Sensitive Personality is, it’s basically a personality type where you feel everything really intensely. Good and bad! Swipe for some examples for Mamas!

This is an example of me when I’m dysregulated and completely overstimulated by clutter or a messy house, let me know if it sounds familiar.

Saying “What is that smell?! Can anyone smell that?” Over and over and nobody else smells anything.

Literally can’t walk barefoot because the sensation of a single crumb on my foot will ruin my entire day.

Child yells “Mom!” From across the room while I’m standing in a messy kitchen - instant, loud and abrasive “WHAT?!” Escapes my mouth before I even realize it.

Ugh! I don’t want to create a tense environment for my kids because I’m so sensitive to every little thing. I’m SO passionate about providing a nourishing and wholesome environment for my family.

The thing is, as moms, we only have so much control over the norms of raising children. It’s(beautiful) chaos. One of the things that made me imagine up and feel so freed by the idea of the was the realization that I CAN control the things that are terribly overstimulating for me, like piles of clothes, dirty dishes, and closets full to the brim. I can control clutter. I can create peaceful spaces where I can handle a bit of overstimulation.

I can be a calm & regulated mom.

I am a different person in a clean home. I truly am. Realistically, it won’t be spotless, but this Reset, this act of love for of taking control of and restoring order were we can, it’s a gift. It’s SEEING yourself and giving her the promise of the peaceful moments she craves. It’s giving her more sweet moments with the kids instead of frantic, frazzled moments.

Whether you’d consider yourself someone with HSP or youre a mama that craves clean, fresh, minimal spaces but has allowed things to accumulate, join my little tribe of Homemaker Resetters! It’s more fun to tackle projects with support - just use the hashtag so we can see you!

W O W! What an exciting and beautiful response I’ve gotten from the challenge! We broke 1k followers and I’m so excited to see some of you guys pop into my DMs in the future from time to time! Please say Hello! I love getting to know you!

I wanted to say thank you and welcome by doing a little 1k Giveaway!

Gluten free sourdough is a staple here in our home, and I know that so many of you are anxiously awaiting my Gluten Free Sourdough Course! I will mail out one winner a dehydrated, ready to go, 100% brown rice flour sourdough starter for free this coming Friday!

Entry Instructions:

((Must be a 🇺🇸 resident))

•Share this post in your stories!

•Like & Tag Your Friends! Each tag is one entry.

•All entries will be put into a random generator and chosen on Friday, August 19th.

•Sourdough starter will come with in depth instructions on how to activate and care for your starter. Any questions at all in the future are always happily answered by me!

Can’t wait to share this special part of my home with you!!!

For me, the is all about creating a more simple life. I want a home that isn’t screaming at me at all hours a day demanding that I attend to. I’d rather enjoy a slow flow with my children & regulate their emotions and my own by creating a peaceful and happy environment.

My children deserve an environment that is calming, regulating, and wholesome but they can’t have that if I’m not calm or regulated. I’ve learned that I can’t find the calm I SO need when I have clutter and mess.

A family home is bursting with life & it should be! But it can easily become packed with things once used and never again. Pursuing minimalism and order allows for new life to come in without adding heaviness to the daily load.

I want LESS to “do” so that I have MORE time, more patience, more energy, more smiling, more “me” time, more adventures, more snuggles, more books, more walks, more space.

Today is another day of closet decluttering for me! This time it’s my daughters room. What are you working through today?

Remember - don’t let this become another stress! Take it slow, remind yourself there’s time for it, take breaks, and remember our mantra this week “The less you own, the less owns you”!

Over the next 3 weeks, myself and many other women have committed to simplifying their homes for the in order to gain control over their daily lives and not be weighed down by so much STUFF.

For me, all of the clothes, toys, junk, etc has accumulated to a point where My home no longer feels peaceful to me but feels overwhelming and anxiety inducing.

It changes my mood significantly to walk into a clean room and open a clean closet, so I’m doing this as a loving act towards myself and my family so I can put my best step forward each morning and cultivate a home that is a sanctuary for myself, my kids, and my husband.

I’m ready to go! I’m putting carnitas in the crock pot so that I don’t have dinner hanging over my head later. The kids have snacks prepped. We will break to go to the library. And most importantly, I’m reminding myself that this is just a start. There’s no pressure to get it all done at once and there’s no rush. I’ve given myself plenty of time to minimize my belongings significantly without feeling burdened by time - which means I can care for the little things that arise with the kids & home without feeling frazzled!

This quote will ring in my mind throughout the week to remind myself that the efforts are worth it! I hope this helps you too!

If you’re joining, make sure to tag me and use the hashtag in your posts so that I can spread your encouragement with the others!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sunday scenes on a homestead

There are beautiful parts and not so beautiful parts. Processing weekends are hard & emotional. By the end of this weekend we will have 16 rabbits in the freezer and that’s really exciting! But also of course the sacrifice made is heavy on the heart.

A farm is the perfect reminder that all things have beauty and strife. You take the good with the bad. The abundance with the loss. The gratitude with the sacrifice. The sweet snuggles with the tears. Nothing is all good, nor all bad.

It is an intimate connection we have with the food that makes it to our table. We appreciate every part of it because we know what it took to get there.

On another note, I’m so excited that TOMORROW is the start of my new, simplified, minimalistic life. I’m going through my home and purging all the things that make my life feel heavy. Stuff we don’t need. Things we’ve been holding onto for too long.

Are you joining me tomorrow for the ?!

We tend to forget, right? It’s hard not to. The world tell us that success is working your way up a corporate ladder & making a name for yourself as a woman. It’s progression, it’s shattering glass ceilings, it’s chasing the next best thing.

These things are important for society and women as a whole. I’m grateful for the advances that have embraced women in the workforce. They’re a force to be reckoned with and are inspiring in their very own right and hard work & I love seeing a woman killing it in her career.

Yet, with that forward movement, there’s no doubt a stigma that women who stay at home with their children have somehow settled for less. They’ve decided that they just “can’t” find balance with work and motherhood. They “can’t” find a job that pays enough for daycare. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I tend to use this language when I tell people why I closed my business last year.

The truth is, and there isn’t a person who can argue this, being a mother is THE most important job that exists in mankind. Without The Mother, there is nothing. There are no innovative creators, no world changers, no progress because without The Mother - there is nothing.

You choosing this role as your •Full Time• gig, is an upgrade in worth - it is YOU and your partner deciding that you are worth so flippin much that there isn’t a monetary amount that matches your worth at home.

We’re doing The Work, mama. This is it. You are worthy. We are worthy.

The depression and decline of self worth I have felt over the last year since closing my business has been so heavy I’ve had moments of literal despair. With nothing left to do, I finally swallowed my pride I’d carried my whole life and asked God what my purpose here is & if it’s worth anything anymore. If you’re not “religious” you can call it the Universe, but a powerful, bright switch flipped - This is the only purpose that matters. I’m worthy & I’m living with purpose.

If this reaches you, I hope this reminds you of your worth.

And if you need a reset, a way to start fresh and gain a little control over your household, join me in my challenge, starting next week for 3 weeks!

Over the last several months, yI’ve felt more depressed and overwhelmed than ever before (I bet I’m not the only one?) It’s hard to understand why, when my life is really everything that I want it to be, right? But some days, maybe most, I’m drowning.

The problem is, I am terribly overwhelmed. I have so many •things•. Clothes, toys, tools, junk - things that continuously add up and make me feel like I’m drowning and out of control of my own life. On top of all the things, I have kids that need to be taken care of, naps, meals, schooling, appointments, activities. It feels like nothing ever gets done, those things pile up and pile up, and when I think about tackling them - im paralyzed with overwhelm and helplessness. It’s all so much.

I’ve prayed so much for so many things so often this year. Please help me be patient with my kids. Please help me with my health. I’ve even asked please just make it all stop, at the lowest of my lows. But recently I asked for guidance. How do I get through this?!

Well, I’ve felt so guided to simplify. To cleanse. To start over. To re-connect with my home to gain control.

I’ve also felt guided to invite others to join me. I don’t have a lot of followers & to create a challenge like this feels really silly in a way but what I do know is that the vast majority of my followers are mothers of growing families. A time of life that is overwhelming for so many reasons and one of those is all of the •things.• I genuinely want you to liberate yourself from this stress. We have control over this - we just have to start!

So this is me inviting you to join me in resetting & gaining control over this environment and home I so desperately want to be a safe haven and space full of love and peace - not a disorganized hodgepodge of too much stuff that makes me feel frazzled and overwhelmed and depressed.

I’ve set goals for myself for the next 3 weeks and I’m going to share with you along the way. If you feel like you need this as much as I do, let’s use the hashtag so we can inspire each other and be inspired as we go! Maybe it’ll just be me. That’s ok! I just wanted to encourage you that you’re not alone.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChGQZyQv6iv/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I’ve come to a realization recently that one of the hardest parts of living such a home based life is that I never feel very good about the way I look.

Everyday, I get up and change into another pair of sweats or leggings, throw my hair up, and go about the motions. Everything I wear is raggedy, ill fitting, and old. For the last few years, I have barely bought anything new for myself to wear, feeling like it was pointless and taking away from my family’s needs.

But I started noticing when I wore clothes that aligned with my lifestyle and how I feel on the inside, I had these beautiful days where I was more patient with my kids and husband, and smiled more!

I recently decided I’m getting rid of every piece of clothing I own and replacing them with thoughtfully selected items that reflect and align with how I feel on the inside. Feeling beautiful isn’t at all how something looks on you, it’s how you feel wearing whatever it is that you’re wearing.

My whole life I though you could only wear what was flattering or age appropriate and now at this phase in my life, postpartum and little time for actual workouts, pretty much nothing would be considered flattering when you only think about it from a physical standpoint.

I am a woman that does dirty work all day everyday, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to be feminine.

I feel so good when I wear a skirt or a dress because it connects me with a femininity I rarely feel in this chosen life.

A flowy dress or skirt makes me feel free in movement and in spirit. As I wear it with my bare feet outside, it just feels so..right!

It feels so strange to say it out loud, though I know so many other home based mamas can understand the challenge of feeling so drab on a daily basis.

Good riddance to the clothes that make me feel less than my soul desires to feel. I don’t need you anymore.

Hello to functional fabrics that are inexpensive enough to get dirty but I can move in and feel proud in.

I’ll be barefoot in a dress in my kitchen everyday, living the life I’m choosing to live and I don’t feel a bit bad about saying that out loud 😉

11 years ago, I gave birth to the most wonderful human around. When he was born, I was so scared - how could I ever be good enough for someone I loved so much?! I couldn’t believe that he was mine. I still can’t believe it!
I try everyday to be the kind of mom this beautiful boy deserves.

Harlo is smart, he’s sweet, he’s funny and creative, and he’s everything I could ever ask for in a son!

Spending my days with him is an honor & privilege I’ll never take for granted.

I love you my son 💕

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CguZazrphXW/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

😍 been super busy developing recipes for my gluten free sourdough baking course! These turned out so so delicious!

Kelci Bright Michaelson on Instagram: "Gluten Free Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls 🤤🧁 Guess what? Gluten free baking is easier than regular baking. It’s not a mountain. It’s not a unicorn. It’s just different! Some of of the biggest issues in gl Kelci Bright Michaelson shared a post on Instagram: "Gluten Free Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls 🤤🧁 Guess what? Gluten free baking is easier than regular baking. It’s not a mountain. It’s not a unicorn. It’s just different! Some of of the biggest issues in gluten free baking are sticky doughs a...