I lost nearly 500 ingredients from transfering them from my home in Markarth to my new build home (I carried them over and put them in a bag). After I got back (after doing some quests) nothing were left - I cant find them in my house anymore. How can I get them back?

Ohhhh snap... I think I stored a bunch of ingredients in a barrel before telling my steward to furnish the place. Might have to check it out asap

Anyway, unfortunately, I think you won't be able to get them back.

You sure you are looking in the right place? All the containers are safe in the normal version of the game, unless you remade the container or got your steward to remake it. You did lose them, the only way you are getting them back is to load a save game before you lost them.

uh-oh... no, plz - I think I have done that

Hang on...tonight I lost a number of books in bookcases in a mod house, which has never happened in the previous 6 months of that mod, and several run-throughs. Could Hearthfire have introduced a glitch?

Since it is a mod house, it could have been some incomparability with Hearthfire that caused it. But some have had a glitch where their books vanish off bookshelves long before Hearthfire came out. Were you accessing the bookshelf when the books vanished? If so it is probably the old glitch.

You could try searching the kids chests if you have them (err i mean the storage chests that belong to the kids) when i checked mine out there was all sorts of strange things in there including quite a few ingredients.