Dehydrating The Harvest Abundance

One of my favorite reasons for gardening is having lots of healthy food around that I've grown. It means that I know where it came from, what exactly is in it, and that it was picked at a ripe time. The sad part of growing is knowing that each food's season must come to an end. So how can we have our yummy home grown food around during the off-season? Dehydrating!

A dear friend recommended to me an excellent book on food dehydration. "Dry It You'll Like It" written by Gen MacManiman is a simple oldie but goody. You can download the pdf of this book for free here.

In this book you will find all the instructions needed to dehydrate various types of foods like fruits, vegetables, herbs grains, meats, and even fish. There are also recipes for leathers and snacks. My favorite aspect of the book is the plans, materials lists, and building instructions to build a dehydrator of my own.

Living Foods Dehydrators are unique in that no fan is required. They use their own specially designed Warm Air Generator (WAG) that allows low temperature heat (100-110 degrees) to rise taking the moisture right up with it. The key is in the air moving freely within the compartment. The cabinet design allows for that circulation with no fan necessary.

If you do not desire to build your own dehydrator Living Foods Dehydrators have both kits and complete cabinets that you may purchase here.

*****No compensation of any kind was given by this company or any other. These statements are completely my own opinions for informational purposes only.

Making Room

I was having a difficult time distinguishing my farm fresh eggs that my very faithful new chickens have been providing for me and my store bought eggs when left in their cartons.

I also dislike when I need just one or two eggs but must still fight the carton one handed because I have a messy opposite (I know you're supposed to pull all your necessary ingredients out first...but that would just only make sense now wouldn't it??)

My solution became so simple that it perplexed me for years. I now keep my eggs in a basket. Easy to store, easy to grab, and saves room to hide those Dove chocolates behind the basket waaaaaaaaay in the back!! ;) I can easily keep 3 dozen eggs in it.


Don't worry...it's the day before payday. My fridge always looks like that the day before I go shopping. It will be busting out the seams tomorrow!

Week 3

Here is the Week 3 Menu.

Here is the Week 3 Household Chore List.

Being busy with all the Christmas baking and present making keeping on track has been such a blessing. I don't have to THINK about what to clean. I only need to check my list and get it done or enlist one of the kids to get it done.

Pumpkin Bread!!

I thought I'd make a twist with my banana bread recipe and switch out the bananas for 1 cup of canned pumpkin. I also added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 tsp of freshly ground cinnamon stick.

The banana bread recipe is for a bread machine. When I want to make mini loaves like these I place a fourth of the batter in each of the four compartments of my mini-loaf pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Insert a toothpick to double make sure it is indeed ready.

You will find the bread recipe here.

Week 2 Menu

Monday

Breakfast:
Cereal
Fruit
Bagels

Snack:
Cheese Stick
Mandarin Oranges

Lunch:
Baked Potatoes

Snack:
Smoothies

Supper:
Taco Soup
Tortilla Strips


Tuesday

Breakfast:
Eggs
Fruit

Snack:
Dried Cereal
Dried Fruit

Lunch:
Sandwiches
Carrot Sticks

Snack:
Muffins

Supper:
Chicken Stir Fry
Rice


Wednesday

Breakfast:
Muffins
Fruit

Snack:
Apples

Lunch:
Spaghetti

Snack:
Almond Crackers

Supper:
Sandwiches


Thursday

Breakfast:
Oatmeal
Fruit

Snack:
Grapes
Fig Bars

Lunch:
Pizza

Snack:
Yogurt Sickles (Place craft stick into yogurt cup and freeze the day before or use this recipe)

Supper:
Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup


Friday

Breakfast:
Cereal
Fruit

Snack:
Bananas
Pineapple

Lunch:
Pasta Salad

Snack:
Cookies

Supper:
Shish Kabobs
Shrimp
Potato Skins


Saturday

Breakfast:
Eggs
Waffles
Bacon
Juice

Snack:
Apples

Lunch:
Sandwiches
Chips

Snacks:
Pudding

Supper:
Salisbury Steak
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans


Sunday

Breakfast:
Yogurt
English Muffins
Fruit

Lunch:
Salami Sandwiches

Snack:
Fruit

Supper:
Hummus
Veggies

Week 2 Household Chores List

Week 2 is when I detail the kitchen. Of course, it gets cleaned everyday but this is when I take care of those things that seem to accumulate into the "nasties" if not addressed occasionally.

Week 2 Household Chores List

Monday:
Laundry: Ours
- defrost ground turkey/tortillas
- steam clean upper cabinets

Tuesday: (Homeschool Meeting in Evening)
Laundry: Kids'
- defrost chicken
- make muffins
- steam clean bottom cabinets
- drop off laundry to cleaners

Wednesday:
Laundry: Girls
- make crackers
- clean ceiling fan

Thursday:
- make pizza crust

Friday:
Laundry: All bedding/sheets
- defrost stew meat/shrimp
- make ice cream and cookies
- steam clean counters
- p/u laundry from cleaners
- turn-in recyclables
- defrost Saturday breakfast meats

Saturday:
Laundry: Towels
- defrost ground beef/green beans
- clean microwave and coffee pot
- clean oven

Sunday:
- defrost salami
- make hummus

A New Joy

I have discovered iced coffee. The idea always seemed strange to me...cold coffee? YUK!

Until I tried it! One of my all time favorite blogs is Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman and she had this amazing recipe for making an entire month's batch of iced coffee for the price of one purchased at "you know where"! (And for you Okies out there, she's a local!)




Go over and check it out. It is extremely easy to make and store. I'm enjoying this one as I type.

CHEERS!!