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Canning Tomato Sauce
With a summer full of tomatoes, I like to can as many for the winter as possible. Today I am canning tomato sauce but it will work for diced tomatoes to sauces and pastes. The process is fairly simple and great for beginning canners, homesteaders or self reliance efforts. Canning tomato sauce is great for pasta, pizza and casserole dishes. I just add the seasoning with each meal at the time of making it. Make tomato sauce by simmering pureed tomatoes until the sauce is the desired thickness. I have a recipe for basic tomato sauce if needed. Sauce must be hot when canning into jars. Measure out how much…
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Dehydrated Zucchini
Oh zucchini, the never ending summer vegetable. About mid summer, everyone and their mother has zucchini. What do we do with it all? One solution is to dehydrate it. I seem to dehydrate it very often to save for winter. Dehydrated zucchini is great to have on hand when making soups and smoothies. Sneaking in vegetables, with a picky eater, is sometimes all we can do. To make it even easier, I also blend up the dehydrated zucchini into zucchini powder. Dehydrating zucchini is simple with the right tools. I use my dehydrator but the oven on a low temperature will work as well. Wash 3 medium zucchini. Cut zucchini…
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Sourdough Croutons
Making bread can be very rewarding, but what do we do with stale bread? One of the ways I preserve and use my bread before it gets old or moldy is by making sourdough croutons. Sourdough croutons are eaten as a snack or on salads and are full of flavor. Flavoring the croutons is as simple as finding out what flavors you like. I use many different kinds of herbs but my family favorite is parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary. I will also make them with garlic and salt. What makes these sourdough croutons? The type of bread I cut up is always leftover sourdough bread. I make sourdough french…
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Easy Homemade Syrup
I love making this easy homemade syrup. It is buttery sweet with molasses and maple flavors. I started making this syrup because I was tired of using store bought high fructose corn syrup and overly priced organic maple syrup. This syrup is definitely not healthy but at least I know what ingredients I am using. Not only does it taste amazing, it is easy and fast to make. All you need to make this easy homemade syrup is real cane brown sugar, filtered water, butter and maple extract. I use dark brown sugar for more molasses flavor. Salted or unsalted butter doesn't seem to make much difference in flavor. Sometimes…
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Dehydrated Strawberries
My kids love strawberries. I often dehydrate strawberries to make strawberry chips. Finding ways to keep them delicious is a must. I either freeze or dehydrate strawberries when there is a sale or they are in season. We do buy them out of season but they never taste as good. We will eat dehydrated strawberries plain, on cereal, or even blend them up for strawberry powder. One of our favorite snacks is pink puppy chow, mixing in a lot of strawberry powder. Dehydrating strawberries take up less space than in the freezer and can be added into many recipes. First you will need strawberries, a food dehydrator, knife and cutting…
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Egg shells for chickens
Chickens get a lot of nutrition from their food but we can offer more. I like to add extra supplements in their diet by putting crushed eggs shells and grit in the run and allowing the chickens to free range whenever possible. I do not add the shells or grit to the main food bin. I have two different areas where they can find the extra supplement the chicken is looking for. Not all chickens need extra calcium and some chickens find it when free ranging. The calcium helps the chicken produce an egg and the egg to become stronger. It isn't recommended to give chickens extra calcium until it…
