Dehydrating Intro | Viggies Veggies. Several people have asked me about dehydrating in the last week or two, so thought I’d do a little write up about it. Dehydrating is my favorite method of preserving what I grow, so think it’s kind of funny that I haven’t really talked about it here! Dehydrating is a bit easier to do than canning because you prep the veggies or fruits and can let it sit in the dehydrator unattended.
Because it’s less of a time investment, I did it a lot more when I was working and going to school and time was at a premium. You are also able to do any sized batches, which is great for those of us with smaller gardens who don’t always have enough for canning. It is recommended that you blanch most vegetables before dehydrating to” stop enzyme action and enhance destruction of microorganisms”. But honestly, I haven’t really noticed a difference between blanching and not blanching. Most fruits and vegetables can be dehydrated at about 125 degrees. I dehydrate everything until crisp to maximize storage. A Guide to Freezing Food.
Imagine you’ve just woken up, a little bit late even. Everyone is hungry. You grab a baggie full of luscious summer fruit from the freezer and toss it in the blender. On a good day, maybe you also have time to add a bit of yogurt. Blend—and voilà—breakfast is ready to go. Now imagine you’ve just come home from work. Everyone is hungry. You grab a pan from the freezer and pop it in the oven. Learning to stock and eat from the freezer in ways that maximize efficiency is a solid way to maintain the ability to eat healthy, high-quality foods and avoid opting for delivery pizza yet again. Freezer-Friendly Recipes • Slow-Cooker Enchiladas Recipe • Freezable Black Beans Recipe • Rancheros Sauce Recipe Freezer Guide • Freezer Organization Tips A Guide to Freezing Fruit Depending on how you intend to use it, there are three ways to freeze fruit. Dry Pack: A dry pack is good for small whole fruits such as berries. Sugar Pack: Many fruits freeze well packed with sugar.
A Guide to Freezing Vegetables. Free Printable Canning jar Labels - Free Mason Jar Labels. Each year I do at least 200 jars of home canned produce. Last year we almost made it to 300 jars. That's a lot. After I finish each jar it gets labeled in some way and put away with all my home canned foods storage. Normally if it's something that's just for us I just write on the top of the jar the contents and the year it was produced and stick it in the pantry. But sometimes I'll put together special mixes into jars for later (and I tend to just keep refilling jars after the mixes are made so the same thing goes back in). Breadmaker Bread MixOoey Gooey Brownies MixPita Pockets MixFajita Seasoning MixTaco Seasoning MixHamburger Helper MixHot Chocolate MixHot Roll MixPancake and Waffle MixInstant OatmealCream of Soup Mix Those I like to label a little differently.
And what about gifts in a jar? Caramel Corn in a JarSugar Cookies in a JarThe Thankfulness Jar For those types of things I like to have a little nice label on, rather than just something to stick on the top of the jar. Probiotic Pickles: A Fermented Year-Round Recipe. There’s nothing quite like a lacto-fermented half sour pickle! They are crisp, crunchy, and refreshing with just the right amount of tang! Plus they pack a hefty probiotic punch! It’s a win-win. Having moved away from the NYC metro area it’s hard to find good quality fermented pickles. Kosher delis like Zabar’s in NYC just aren’t as common out here in “these parts” (quoted text to be read with country-western twang). With the help of Sandor Katz’s recipe and a bit of my own fermentation experimentation (that’s right) I’ve come up with a super-satisfying recipe for crunchy lacto-fermented half sour pickles (or full sours if that’s your thing)!
Tips & Tricks: The below recipe uses a 3.5% saltwater brine to make half sour pickles. Ideally, you want to pack the cucumbers tight enough so that they stay below the brine for the duration of the pickling (i.e. fermentation) time. A word on pickling spice: Choose a good quality pickling spice and check the ingredients for funky preservatives.
20 Things To Do With Your Dehydrator. Canning Homemade!: Canning Marinated Red Peppers - Yes it's safe! Make Sauerkraut in a 5 Gallon Bucket. Instead of setting yourself back over 100$ for an authentic German sauerkraut urn, you can ferment in a 5 gallon bucket to make sauerkraut that’s just as good. Sauerkraut at home is just two ingredients – cabbage and salt. But you have to get the right salt, it should say “pickling salt” or “canning salt.” Here’s an example. You will need something to weigh the sauerkraut down as it ferments. You can use the standard sauerkraut stone disks, or something as simple as a plate weighed down with a gallon jug of water. Use a Food Safe Bucket There is some disagreement about whether the orange Home Depot buckets are food safe.
To find out more, read our full dissection of the food safe buckets issue. 5 Gallon Bucket Sauerkraut First make sure your bucket and weight are clean as can be. Chop up your cabbages. 2 heads will make about 2 quart jars, so adjust as necessary based on your hunger for the Kraut. Knead in 2 tsp of picking salt per pound of cabbage. Keep the Bugs Off 4 to 6 Weeks Later. Canning Granny: Pot Roast in a Jar... Canning Roast Beef. I found a nice pot roast on sale at the grocery store recently... it was a big one, bigger than DH and I could eat for one meal. I usually would cook it anyway and we would eat leftovers for a few days.
This time I decided to can it. Now, I have several jars with portions just the right size for two and now when we want pot roast we can pop open a jar and heat and eat. Here's what I did... I sterilized my canning jars by boiling them upside down in a pan set on two stove eyes. In the bottom to keep the jars from tipping over, added two or three inches of water, and boiled them for 15 or 20 minutes. And I sterilized my lids and rings by bringing just to a boil and simmering them for 10 or 15 minutes, keeping them hot until time to put them on the jars (don't boil the lids, just simmer). Then I cut my hunk of beef into "jar-sized" pieces... pieces that would fit easily into the wide mouth pint jars I ended up with four nice sized pieces. I added a teaspoon of salt in each jar. (which I love!) Southern Pepper Sauce Recipe. How to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs.
How to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs This month's notes: April 2014: Spring is just around the corner. Strawberries are here in Florida, Texas and California, next in late March and April for much of the South, then in May for most of the country and June in cooler northern areas. See how easy it is to make strawberry jam or strawberry-rhubarb jam! Organic farms are identified in green! Subscribe to our: Email alerts; Follow us on Twitter Add this page to your favorites! Yield: 7 quart jars Click here for a PDF print version Making canned tomato sauce is something easy to do and will make your tomato dishes taste so much better. Here's how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated.
If you have a pressure canner, you may want to use this version for pressure canners instead, as it is faster! I've added free labels for your jars here, in a Word format! Ingredients Equipment Step 1 - Selecting the tomatoes. How to can tomatoes at home, from fresh tomatoes - Canning tomatoes made easy and illustrated! Click here for a PDF print version  Making canned tomatoes is something families remember years later. Home-canned tomatoes have been a tradition for many generations. In the middle of the winter, you can use the tomatoes to make a fresh spaghetti sauce, lasagna, chili, or other tomato-based meals for that fresh garden taste. Here's how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated. If you have a pressure canner, you may want to see the pressure canning tomatoes page for those directions instead!
And if you'd rather freeze your tomatoes, see this page! Ingredients and Equipment Process - How to Make Home Canned Tomatoes from Fresh Tomatoes Step 1 - Selecting the tomatoes It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality tomatoes! At right is a picture of tomatoes from my garden - they are so much better than anything from the grocery store. The picture at right shows the best variety of tomato to use: Roma; also called paste tomatoes.
Get the canner heating up. How to make homemade canned tomato paste, from fresh tomatoes - easy and illustrated! How to make homemade canned tomato paste, from fresh tomatoes - easy and illustrated! This month's notes: April 2014: Spring is just around the corner. Strawberries are here in Florida, Texas and California, next in late March and April for much of the South, then in May for most of the country and June in cooler northern areas. See how easy it is to make strawberry jam or strawberry-rhubarb jam! Organic farms are identified in green! Subscribe to our: Email alerts; Follow us on Twitter Add this page to your favorites! Click here for a PDF print version Yield: About 9 half-pint jars Making canned tomato paste is something easy to do and will make your tomato dishes taste so much better. Here's how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated. And if you'd rather can your tomatoes or freeze your tomatoes, see this page! Ingredients Equipment 1 Water bath Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 - $30 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores.
Canning 101 - Canning Tips & Resources | living Green And Frugally.