Preserving for the Winter

I think I am finally done canning for the year.  Frankly, I am burned out.  I always feel this way by now.  I actually ran out of jars this year and had to borrow some from my mother in law.  I shouldn't complain, I am so blessed to have a pantry full of food.

My garden was not great this year with the exception of my tomatoes.  They have done awesome!  Something ate my green beans early so I wasn't able to get any from my own garden but we were gifted beans from a friend at Will's work.  I got squash bugs which destroyed all my zucchini, squash and cucumbers.

It looks like my tomatoes are starting to slow down.  Blight is setting in so it appears that my harvest is almost over with those.  My hot peppers are still going strong so I see some pickling in my future with those.

I just put up 14 quarts of apples and that is the only fruit I am going to preserve this year.  I still have a decent supply of pears and peaches from last year.  As of right now here is what I have preserved this year.

I just counted total number of jars, I didn't specify if they were quarts or pints.

Corn 5
Green Beans 17
Regular Salsa 11
Jalapeno Salsa 4
Spaghetti Sauce 11
Pickled Peppers 15
Regular Tomatoes 56
Plain Tomato Sauce 5
Tomato Jelly 5
Mulberry Jelly 19
Apple Pie Filling 14

What all have you preserved this year?

Free fruit, foraging, drying, and frugal snacks

Today's post is a guest post from Julie over at Juliecache.com

Look at the ground. It was not easy to maneuver the slope and the windfalls.

I spent one morning and one evening picking fruit with my handy dandy fruit picker. I may have to upgrade to a fruit picker like my sister's above -- I got to try it today, and that telescoping handle is pretty convenient for a short person like myself.

"I" of GAIN and I drove a 1 mile radius from our house and picked apples from five different public trees before dusk came the other night. I peeled, sliced, and dried about six apples this morning -- they are already gone. The kids have told me they prefer dried apple slices over fruit leather. But they still like fruit leather, so we also picked pears right as it got dark. The pears will be mixed with apples to become fruit leather later this weekend. (Commercial fruit leathers have pears as a main ingredient.)

This morning, my sister, her youngest, my youngest, and I went to pick more pears before the heat got unbearable. The fruit was like what you'd find at a grocers.

The negatives of picking your own fruit were very insignificant compared to the benefits. We really didn't expect to step in slimy overripe fallen fruit and see so many bees and butterflies, but we did expect to see the toddler eat a few pears (oh, so cute) and we did expect to gather enough for our families to eat. We easily saved a lot a money by not purchasing at the store -- three large boxes were filled in less than an hour. I believe Sara's plan is to can the fruit for eating later in the year. What a blessing to have abundance during our drought.

Julia is a foraging, food producing, food preserving, home cooking, bee keeping, and event producing mother of four. She lives in Iowa and loves to learn new things. You can read her blog at http://juliecache.com.

Preserving for Winter

As I said in an earlier post I have spent the better part of the last couple months canning and preserving.  While a lot of people struggled with their gardens this year due to the weather, I was surprised that mine did so good.  Everything I planted produced well for me with the exception of the bell peppers.  I have a few on but they are small and bitter tasting.

As usual the canning season started off with sweet corn.  I put up 27 quarts and 40 pints of corn. 

From my own garden I was able to preserve:

27 quarts and 12 pints of tomatoes
12 quarts and 56 pints of green beans
11 pints of pickles
9 half pints of hot peppers
7 pints and 9 half pints of salsa (got some of the peppers and tomatoes from a friend, everything else was from our garden)
86 quarts of peaches (not all were off our trees.  Some of these were given to us and some I bought at a produce auction)

I also  found a lot of free sources for produce.  Apples were a big one for us this year.  I found a couple different places that had apple trees that the owners weren't interested in having.  Yay for me!!  I was also able to find places to pick pears and grapes.  So in addition to the above I also added this to my pantry...

21 quarts and 26 pints of pears
8 quarts and 41 pints of applesauce (as well as lots of dried apple rings)
3 pints and 12 half pints of apple butter
11 pints and 19 half pints of grape jelly
1 quart and 5 pints of grape juice.  

I also attended a produce auction where I bought 100 lbs of tomatoes and with that I made 27 pints and 6 half pints of tomato sauce. I have a seperate post about that!

So as you can see, I have been a bit busy.  With grocery prices going up I am happy to have a pantry full of healthy, homegrown canned goods for my family.  

Freezing Yogurt

I was gifted a case of yogurt a few weeks ago.  There were 6 large containers.  We go through yogurt pretty fast at our house but this yogurt was close to expiration and was needed to be eaten quickly.  I knew we wouldn't be able to go through all of it so instead of letting it spoil I decided to try and freeze it. 

I spooned the yogurt into ice cube trays and placed them in the freezer.  After a couple hours I pulled out he trays, popped out the cubes and placed them into a ziplock bag.  I then labeled the bag and placed back in the freezer. 

I was very happy with the way they turned out.  The cubes thaw nicely, and once stirred, they return to their normal consistency (this was All Natural Chobani Greek yogurt that I used, not sure how other yogurts will thaw).  The cubes also work great for my smoothies.  I just pop a couple into the blender, add my fruit and/or veggies and push the button.  So easy!  









The frozen yogurt cubes also make great snacks on a hot day. 



Freezing is a great way to use up any yogurt that is close to expiration.  Another idea would be to stock up on it when it is at rock bottom price and freeze any extra that you may not use right away.

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.  

Preserving Strawberries

I have had a good crop of strawberries again this year. Usually berries are just starting to get ripe, but due to the crazy weather this Spring I have been harvesting for about the last 2 weeks.

They are starting to wind down and the picking each night is getting less.  We have been able to enjoy fresh strawberries from the garden everyday.  I have been able to put a couple gallon bags up for freezing.  Certainly not near as much as I wanted too (we are planning to visit the local berry patch this week to preserve some more).  We just go through so many berries at our house.  All the kids love them!  The easiest way for me to preserve strawberries is by freezing.

First, cut off stems and wash berries. Pat with towel to dry off any excess water. Place berries onto a cookie sheet or cake pan with out touching each other. I place a towel under them, this eliminates the berries from sticking to the pan.

Place cookie sheet into freezer for a couple hours. This will get them frozen enough that you can pull them off and place them into a bag. Place desired amount into bag, label and freeze.  I preserve mulberries and blueberries the same way.

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Preserving Food for the Winter

It has been a busy few months preserving food at our house. Between my garden, trips to the local berry patch, a produce auction and foraging my pantry is over flowing with food. It is a wonderful feeling.

You can pretty much find homemade canned goods all over the house. In the cupboards, in the fridge or just sitting on the counter.My pantry shelves are completely full so we have had to start stacking items in front of the shelving unit.I preserved some new things this year like green beans and some jellies. I also have a large supply of chicken stock so no more buying store bought broth.
After taking inventory of my pantry shelves (and floor) here is what I was able to put up this year as far as canning.

Salsa 19 pints, 10 quarts
Peaches 5 pints, 26 quarts
Pears 15 quarts
Green Beans 34 pints, 15 quarts
Tomatoes 9 quarts
Corn 31 pints, 2 quarts
Chicken Stock 7 pints, 20 quarts
Jalapeno Jelly 11 half pints
Mulberry Jelly 18 half pints
Grape Jelly 8 half pints

Have you preserved any food for winter?

Frozen Apple Pie Filling

With my abundance of apples I decided to make up a large batch of apple pie filling and freeze it for future use. It worked great and made the house smell amazing for the entire day! Here is the recipe I used.

Apple Pie Filling
*24 cups sliced peeled apples
*2 cups white sugar
*2 cups brown sugar
*1 cup cornstarch
*2 teaspoons cinnamon
*1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
*1 teaspoon salt
*10 cups water

Peel, core and slice apples. Treat to prevent browning (I tossed mine with lemon juice). In a large pot (I used my canning pot) combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg and water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add apples. Return to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer till apples are tender about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Ladle into freezer containers leaving 1/2 inch headspace. This batch will yield approximately 5 1/2 quarts, enough for five 9" pies.

I ladled mine into gallon freezer bags. I place about 4 1/2 cups into each bag. This should be enough for 1 pie. Lay bags flat onto a cookie sheet and place into freezer. Once frozen, these will stack nicely and take up less space in your freezer.

Dehydrated Apples

This year has been a big year for me as far as foraging for food. Midsummer I was able to pick lots of mulberries locally and we used them in smoothies and I was also able to make jelly. I found a pear tree that looked neglected and spoke with the owners who said I could take what I wanted. I also discovered a neglected peach tree and spoke with it's owners. We swapped emails for future pickings and possible bartering.

The last couple years I have picked apples for free from my in-laws neighbor. He is happy to have someone pick them because it is less for him to pick up off the ground. Recently I found another source for free apples so I have been busy preserving. I love finding free, local food.

Along with freezing apples for turnovers and pies, making fruit leather, applesauce, and cooked apples for the baby I have been dehydrating apples. This has become my new favorite snack!

They are really easy to make. My MIL bought me this wonderful apples peeler last Christmas and this is the first time I have put it to use. Well actually it wasn't me that really used it. My son, who is almost 5, loved using the peeler. He did all the work for me.
The peeler actually peeled, cut and cored the apples for us. Then I just broke them apart and placed them in a mixture of 1 part lemon juice to 4 parts water to treat for coloring. Place in a single layer in a food dehydrator. If you don't have a dehydrator you can place them on a baking sheet and place in the oven at the lowest setting. It usually takes about 10-12 hours.
My dehydrator takes about 10 hours although I like mine a little less done so they are chewy. Just test it out to see what you like best.
You should be able to store these in a cool, dark place for 6-9 months (so I have read). This is the first year I am going to try and store some so we will see. Otherwise you can also store them in the freezer.

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip.

Zucchini Overload

My zucchini plants were slow to produce this year. The plants themselves were huge but I didn't get any flowers for a long time. Then about a month ago they started putting out. I am still getting zucchini's every couple days.

There is only so much you can do with zucchini! Since we have been harvesting so much I have started to freeze it. First off I froze some in chunks. I just washed it and cut it into chunks and this will be added to stir fry and soups later.

Another thing you can do with zucchini is shred it and add it to brownies, breads and muffins. This works well for those really large zucchinis you find hidden under the leaves of the plant or that you have forgotten about. Just wash and cut the zucchini in half.
For the large ones I scoop out the seeds. Then just shred the meat, skin and all into a bowl.I package mine into Ziplocks in 2 cup amounts. Lay flat in your freezer and they will stack up nicely.
What do you do with your abundance of zucchini?

Harvesting and Preserving in Full Swing

This last couple weeks have been busy ones for gardening. My garden is doing great this year and producing an abundance of fruits and veggies. I am picking something every day. Here was our pickings today. I was shocked to see how many green beans I had. I picked an entire basket full. Looks like I will be doing some more canning this weekend! So far I have been able to put up 10 pints of beans.

The zucchini went crazy too. I haven't gotten much so far this year so I didn't check for a few days. Wrong move because I found some huge ones hiding. I will be shredding and freezing those for use in bread and brownies later.

Our cantaloupe is doing great. So far we have picked 7. I still have a few out on the vines waiting to ripen. They are wonderful! Sweet and juicy.I still have a few tomatoes coming on. The major crop is over and I was able to put up quite a few quarts of tomatoes as well as salsa.

I fell into some really cheap sweet corn and was able to put up 17 quart size bags into the freezer. After posting about canning sweet corn I read lots of replies about freezing it so thought I would give it a whirl. I don't have a lot of freezer space to spare but the corn did stack nicely and didn't seem to take up much room.Along with everything that is being produced in my garden I fell onto some free apples from a tree in my neighborhood. I have already picked one batch and plan to make another trip here soon. Applesauce, frozen apple pie and turnover packets, dehydrated apples, as well as fruit leather is on the list of things to make with those.

I also was given permission to pick a few grapes from my neighbors vines. Looking forward to possibly making some jelly with those if we don't eat them all first!

How is your garden doing? Are you busy harvesting and preserving?

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday at Spain in Iowa.

Preserving Corn

It is that time of year again. Time to preserve fresh sweet corn. I did this last year with my MIL. We ended up with 50 pints for the year. After taking inventory a couple weeks ago, I realized I still had 10 pints left. So this year I started off with 5 dozen ears to see where that put me.

I put my kids to work cleaning the corn.Here was my work station. After cleaning the corn and getting all those wonderful hairs off I set up a 13x9 inch pan and cut the ears in that. Works pretty slick. All the corn would then be poured into a large bowl. Once all the ears were cut I started the canning process.

To can, fill up pint (or quart) jars with corn. Pour boiling water to top leaving 1/2 inch head space. Add 1/2 tsp salt to pints and 1 tsp salt to quarts (optional)

Check on the baby to make sure she is being good. Hi baby!Place lids and bands on and place in pressure canner. Cook at 10 lbs of pressure for 55 minutes for pints or 1 hr and 25 minutes for quarts.I ended up with an additional 20 pints and 3 quarts of corn to add to my pantry for the winter months.

Did you preserve corn? Did you can or freeze? This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip hosted here at Learning the Frugal Life.

Busy Day Ahead

I've got my work cut out for me today. The goal is to get these, plus another huge bowl on my counter preserved. My plan is to make a large batch of salsa to can and then whatever is left over will be canned for soup this winter.

These all came from our garden. Even though my blight has pretty much consumed my plants I still have been able to harvest a good number of fruit. I have quite a few green tomatoes on the vines as well. If they make it, I will plan another canning session here in a couple weeks!

Homemade Mulberry Jelly

The mulberries are at their peak right now in my area of the world. I have spent a few different days picking berries. I have frozen some to use in smoothies and this last batch I picked I made jelly for the first time.

I am super excited to share this jelly recipe with you. My family is pretty picky when it comes to jelly and jams. We are pretty much sold on grape. I have tried others in the past without much luck. I tried this recipe for mulberry jelly and not only did my first time making jelly work, my kids really liked it. It tastes very similar to grape jelly in my opinion.

I ended up making 4 batches (12 pints). I think we will no longer be buying store bought jelly. Love it!!I used the Berry Jelly recipe from the Ball Blue Book.

3 1/2 cups berry juice
5 cups sugar
1 package powdered pectin
2 tablespoons lemon juice

To prepare juice place clean mulberries into a saucepan and fill in spaces with water. Use potato masher to crush berries. Simmer berries until soft, about 15 minutes. Strain mixture through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to extract the juice. I used an old tea towel. Juice may be used fresh, canned or frozen for later.

To make the jelly, add 3 1/2 cups juice to sauce pan. Add pectin and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add sugar stirring till dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Ladle hot jelly into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust 2 piece caps and process in water batch canner for 10 minutes.

Yields 6 half pints or a little over 3 pints.

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday at Spain in Iowa.

Homemade Baby Food - Green Beans

We have moved onto greens at our house. My daughter just turned 8 months old and so far I have made all her baby food with good outcomes. She however is not a fan of green beans. I may just start giving her the cooked beans as finger foods and see how she does with that. If you are interested in making baby food here is how I did my beans.

I selected a batch of organic green beans from a local farmer's market since my beans that are in my garden are slow growing. Clean and snap green beans.
You can either steam or boil the beans. I chose to boil mine. I added the beans to a pan and then barely covered with water. I boiled mine with the lid on for about 13 minutes.
Once cooled, I added the beans to the food processor. Beans are a little stringy so I ended up adding them to the blender with a little bit of water afterwards and pureed them to a thinner consistency. I saved some in the fridge to give to the baby and froze the rest in ice cube trays for later.

Learn how to make homemade baby food using...

Apples
Bananas
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots

Mulberry Season

Tis the season of mulberries! In Iowa they are plentiful. You can find them in parks, along trails, sometimes even in your own backyard. When I was a child my hands and feet would be stained purple from walking around barefoot under the trees and picking berries right off the tree and eating them.Fast forward 25 years and my hands are again stained purple from picking mulberries. Thanks to my sister and sister-in-law I have found my love for mulberries again. I went with some of my children and my sister and her girls to pick berries a few weeks ago. With this batch of berries I came home with we ate some and froze the rest to make smoothies. To freeze the mulberries; wash and spread mulberries in a single layer onto a pan. Lay a towel under the berries to prevent them from sticking to the pan. Place pan in freezer for a few hours. Place berries into bag, label and freeze. This makes it easy to just pull out what you want. The berries will be frozen individually and not stuck in one big chunk.

Mulberry smoothies are easy and my kids love them. Here is our recipe.

Mulberry Smoothie
1 cup frozen mulberries
16 oz frozen strawberries
1 cup yogurt
Milk to desired consistancy

You can experiment with different berries or fruits. We have also added bananas and blueberries and they are just as yummy!

Stay tuned for a future post on mulberry jelly!

This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip, hosted here!