Well hello there! Make yourself at home!

So I guess this is my first "official" blog post here at Homestead Cupcake.  Ooooh, aaahhh!  LOL!  My name is Teresa, and I am the wife to my best friend Matt, otherwise known as Shnook, and a mother of three children.  THREE!  When the hell did that happen?!?  One minute the hubbs and I are sipping champagne and having a little fun and the next thing I know, there are three midgets in my house, taking up space and demanding food and clothes! And to think, as a young girl all the way up into my teens I swore I would never get married and definitely would never have any children.  Instead I planned to go to college, get my degree and become an independent career woman. Ha!  Life sure turned out different than that tight knit little plan.  Instead I met a man, a then young boy really, who offered me his ice cream cone and drove me absolutely crazy...and not in a good way.  I avoided him as much as possible while he worked as hard as he could to get a hold of my phone number to ask me out. And the rest, like they all say, is history.  


We've fought like crazy, but we've also loved even crazier, and it's what's kept us together for 15 years. He has loved me as an overweight and insecure teenager, as a morbidly obese and insecure woman and now, finally, as a self-assured, healthy mother of three.  So I can literally say that my husband has loved me through thick and thin.  Which leads me to another topic I'd like to share in this blog: having lived my life as a size 30/32 woman and what I do to maintain my new, healthier lifestyle. From 2008-2012 I have shed 200 pounds from my body and work hard every single day to keep that weight off. Losing weight and changing how I cook and eat has made a big impact in my life and is what has inspired me to come up with many of my recipes.  It is a way for me to maintain my new body without being miserable or resentful of food.  Instead I come up with new and easy ways to get the food and drinks I've always loved, without also getting all of the fat and empty calories along with it.  Don't get me wrong, I still indulge and still eat pretty much whatever I want at this point, but in moderation. It's all about moderation...says the person who's never had a cupcake!  :oP




In all seriousness though, losing all of the weight really opened my eyes to what goes into all of the food that we put into our bodies and just how bad and artificial most of it is. Which is why I've begun baking and cooking from scratch as much as possible. I actually couldn't cook at all when I first moved out of my parents house at 18. And one of my first attempts at cooking something resulted in me setting my husband's, then boyfriend's, kitchen on fire. Literally.  Thankfully he was quick on his feet and kept a fire extinguisher under the sink!  Soon after that debacle I tried my hand at homemade chicken fingers.  I set out the food to eat, went quickly to use the restroom, and when I returned I found my dear, sweet Shnook at the kitchen sink, washing off his chicken, trying desperately to make it somewhat edible. That was one of the moments that showed me he truly did love me!  Thankfully, after a lot of practice and plenty of visits to the kitchen sink, I am a much better cook and baker and now take pride in what I create for my friends and family and hope to share some of my favorites with all of you!


Learning to bake and cook also made me passionate about good quality ingredients, which is why I try to grow or raise up my food in my own backyard as much as possible.  I live in a big city in Southern California, yet live like a self-sustained farmer of sorts.  I guess these days you'd call me an urban homesteader.  I have a big garden out in my backyard where I grow my own fruits and vegetables, I have various fruit trees and also raise chickens and ducks for their eggs, compost, and crazy, funny personalities.  You have not lived until you've had some looney ducks and chickens running around in your yard, chasing after your children. I mean, let's face it, every mother needs a moment now and again where we can sit and laugh hysterically at karma kicking our little one's butt for torturing all of our good motherly intentions for an entire afternoon...or week.


I also love to sew and draw and design new things.  I guess you could say I'm a habitual DIY'er.  I am addicted to learning new things and figuring out how to do everything on my own, in my own way.  So IN YOUR FACE mass produced world!  You cannot have my soul!  Because if there is a way for me to make something myself rather than buy it, you better believe I'm gonna try.  Plus I'm a persnickety biznatch who likes everything to be a "certain way" or "just right" so the best way to accomplish that is to simply do it myself.  Which means I am in a constant state of learning and trying new things.  I love customizing things and making them my own, for both myself and my family and friends.  I have a creative spirit and if I'm not making something new at any given time, my heart is heavy and I'm a very unhappy girl.


I really hope that this blog turns out to be a perfect outlet for me to share all of my endeavors in this crazy little life, from chasing down (or being chased by) chickens to covering every inch of my house in pink glitter while eating a homemade scone that I've just pulled warm from the oven. Because when you're a stay at home mom with three little ones, sometimes our only proof of there being life "on the outside" is a comment from someone that says "I hear you! I've been there!"