Tag: Food

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Liquid or Powdered Pectin

This year has been a big experiment in new canning recipes, and foods.  In doing that, my wife especially has been learning a lot as she has stretched beyond some of the basic recipes we’ve used in previous years.

Well, over on her own blog, my wife made a comment about something she’s learned this year.  Go check out what she’s learned on the difference between liquid and powdered pectin.

And boy has she been using that a lot this year.  I’ve been grabbing pictures to post up here, hopefully I can get to it soon.

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Dehydrating Peppers

Peppers courtesy of the garden
Peppers courtesy of the garden

Harvest season is upon us here in Utah, so I’ve been pretty busy preserving the harvest.  This year I grew pepper plants from seed and have LOTS of peppers in my garden.  Some are hot and some are mild.  This is a good thing if you like peppers a lot, but I do not.  Thankfully my husband does, but even a pepper lover like him can only eat so many peppers.  So what do we do with all those peppers?  We eat a few, put a few in salsa, and save the rest for later by dehydrating them.

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Store zucchini in bread

I have been searching for the best way to store zucchini and have found the answer: in bread. Instead of trying to freeze the zucchini itself, make it into bread first and freeze the loaves.

Other options that I am trying are freezing the shredded zucchini pre-measured in individual bags and as bread dough, pre-measured in individual, disposable baking tins. Freezing the shredded zucchini allows for convenience as you only have to thaw exactly what you need and it’s already measured for the recipe. The frozen dough is even more convenient as it only requires baking, saving you time and a messy kitchen. The most convenient option of course is pre-baked loaves though as they come out of the freezer ready to eat. I’m going to do some comparisons through the winter to see how much of a difference in taste and texture there is between bread baked from frozen dough and the pre-baked frozen loaves. If it turns out that the frozen loaves are just as good as freshly baked bread, then I will stick with that. It’s much easier and saves a lot of electricity to have a baking day where you cook it all at once. Continue reading “Store zucchini in bread”

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Solar Cooking Challenge and Special Price

A while back, I did a post detailing the unboxing of my Solar Oven Society Sportster solar oven. I’ve been meaning to do a post where I showed how easy it is to use, but haven’t been able to get around to it.

My wife and I have been using the oven pretty frequently and are very pleased with it. When we first got it, we did a side by side comparison of it and my neighbor’s Global Sun Oven which costs just a bit more. Without getting into too many details, I think that the build quality of the Global is better, which translates to faster heat up times. The Sportster oven on the other hand is a bit larger and can handle two small pots where the Global is restricted to just one. Since a meal often consists of more than one dish, cooked in a different pot, this can be a real concern.
Continue reading “Solar Cooking Challenge and Special Price”

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Easy Gourmet Pressure Cooking: Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

This was posted by Kellene over on the Preparedness Pro Blog.

Have you been dying to learn how to utilize your pressure cooker to the fullest? Join Kellene as she teaches an Easy Gourmet Pressure Cooking workshop at the Orem, Utah Macey’s.

* Macey’s Food & Drug @ 880 N State St, Orem, Utah
* Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 from 7:00 – 8:30pm
* Call (801) 225-6010 to register
* Cost: FREE (Priceless)

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Farmer’s Markets

Typical Farmer's Market Offerings
Typical Farmer's Market Offerings

Now that the weather has warmed up, I am revisiting a post I started back in the deep winter of January.

Farmer’s Markets are a great way to find locally produced fruits, vegetables, meats and other products. These markets are often the only way to find heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables that our forefathers took for granted. You will also generally find more variety if you are looking for Organic or hormone/pesticide free food.
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Survival Seeds in a Can-9 Years Later

"Vintage" 2000 Nitro Pak Survival Garden Seed Can
"Vintage" 2000 Nitro Pak Survival Garden Seed Can

I, like some of you, have in the past purchased canned or packed “survival seeds” that are advertised as if they can be saved and planted when disaster hits.  Mine came from Nitro Pak Preparedness Center and were packed for 2000 (yep, that’s 9 years ago).  We didn’t get into the Y2K scare, so it’s really just coincidence that that is the year they were packed for, but I’m guessing I’m not the only one that has a can or two of these seeds sitting on the food room shelf waiting to plant them until I “need” them.  They are non-hybrid seeds, meaning they produce seed that will grow the same plant it came from when it is planted, so you are supposed to be able to harvest your seeds and grow more food next year with it.

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Review: Life Caps

Life Caps are a new and fairly recent product on the market in the emergency preparedness category. I’ve heard of them on a few websites, and then I attended an emergency preparedness fair last weekend where several women were recommending them.

The product is promoted as an “emergency preparedness pill”—you take one capsule three times daily, along with drinking plenty of water, in order to provide your body the nutrients it needs throughout the day. The creators claim that these pills satisfy your body’s needs such that you aren’t hungry for food, which is ideal in an emergency scenario if you don’t have access to your normal daily amount of food.

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Taking Stock

One of my secret, very un-prepper-like joys is getting the call from my wife on the way home, stating that I need to pick something up.

Making some stock
Making some stock

Who knows the reason, but usually that means I’m going to stop by Costco to pick up one of their roasted chickens.  Then again, we tend to pick up one of these pretty often.  Getting a whole chicken works out well, giving us several meals already largely prepared.

But whether you are like us, and just addicted to that rotisserie chicken, or you like to cook your own.  There lies the question of what do you do with the *rest* of the chicken that you don’t eat?

Continue reading “Taking Stock”

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Shelf Reliance Recipe Contest

Do you have a favorite recipe for using your food storage?  Maybe a comfort food your family wouldn’t want to go without, or something that makes excellent use fo the basics?  Well here’s a good chance to show your stuff, and have a chance to win some *awesome* prizes.  Our friends at Shelf Reliance are having a recipe contest this month.

shelf_reliance_contest

There’s some seriously nice prizes too:

Entries can be emailed to [email protected].  For more information, such as the rules and details, go check out their page.

Also, go ahead and send along your favorite recipe to me, and we’ll post them up on the site here.  Of course, just watch out because I’ve got a few recipes up my sleeve, and I’m gunning for that #1 prize myself :)