Here Are So Many Ways You Can Preserve Herbs

 Preserving Herbs:

Aha! I bet you didn't think of this one. 

We grow our herbs in my AeroGarden. It is a hydroponics water system to grow herbs and many other things. If that caught your attention and you are interested, here are two videos I put together walking you through what it is, how it works, how to set one up, and how to care for yours. 

Now, how do I go about preserving them? I'll be glad to tell you how. 

The first way is by picking whatever I want and putting them onto a baking sheet and let them air dry, turning every few days. When they are completely dry, I crunch them up or run them through a coffee grinder. I then take a bottle with a lid and place the dried herb into the bottle and label it. Any bottle or jar will do, as long as it has a lid that seals. You could even use a small plastic bowl with a locking lid. Bam! long shelf life. 

Method number two is to pick some leaves from the one herb of your choice or you can make a blend of herbs, place into a food processor and add salt. I'm not talking about a sprinkle of salt, I'm talking about the same amount of salt as herbs. Pulse them together until the herbs are finely chopped and mixed into the salt. Place in air tight containers with a locking lid and  place in the refrigerator since these are fresh herbs and not dried. Use as a regular salt when cooking. The cool thing is,  you can use those little leafy ends of  celery and you can use carrot tops too to do this. I am so sorry, I forgot to get a picture. But trust me, it tastes so good. 

Method number three is to take leaves and place in the cells of ice cube trays, with an oil or butter (melted)  of your choosing. Place ice cube trays in the freezer until fully frozen. Remove from freezer, pop cubes out into a ziploc bag for storage. Take out a cube as needed to cook with. It melts just fine in the pan with your dish. I will take mint leaves and freeze them in the trays with water or juice to make mint ice cold tea, or smoothies. 

Method four: take a stick of butter and mix with any finely chopped herb.  After it is good and well combined, place into an air tight container and store in the refrigerator since you are using  a fresh herb. 

Method five: take stems of herbs with their leaves still in tact and place into a jar, fill up to the rim with an oil of your choice. Put lid on and store in a dark cool place and use when cooking. You will need to use these quicker because fresh herbs in oil can go rancid. You can choose to dry the herb first then fill with oil, it will last longer. Do not refrigerate or the oil will congulate. 

Method six, you can make pesto which I have not tried yet, but trust me, I will. 

You can watch the video version here:

How We Grow Harvest and Preserve Pumpkins

 Pumpkins: Pumpkins are another vegetable that are very versatile. We have grown both sizes, the pie pumpkin and the carving pumpkin ones. To be honest, there is no taste difference for me because it is the spices you put in it to make the pie anyway. I would rather grow the big ones and get more bang for our buck. Hence, the larger the pumpkin, the more you get. 

They are not just for pumpkin pies. You can also use them as a vegetable as a side dish or soup, depends on how you put it up. Pumpkins are in the squash family, so therefore, you can also treat them as such. You can freeze them and pressure can them in cubes too. You can roast them and season any way you want to like with olive oil, salt pepper, Italian seasonings etc. You can mash them  like potatoes and they could be a substitute in Keto and Diabetic diets. You can cut them into wedges and make pumpkin fries out of them. You can puree and make soups. I plan to do just that. 

The first way I preserve some is by roasting and making puree to put into pumpkin pies, breads, muffins, donuts, waffles and  pancakes. 

It all starts with breaking down the pumpkin which is really easier than breaking down a butternut squash. 

Dear hubby breaks down the really large ones for me seeings though I am short. He lets me break down the little ones. 

Let's start with roasting first, it's easier. You cut around the stem and punch it down to the inside. Take your knife and cut the whole pumpkin in half down the center. Separate. Scoop out the seeds from both halves, place flesh side down onto a lined baking dish, rub a little oil on the skin to keep it from burning, place in the oven and roast on 375 or 400 degrees until the skins are wrinkly. Remove from oven, let cool completely. 

After they have cooled and you can touch them, peel skins off, put flesh into a bowl, drain the water out, mash with a potato masher and puree. You can also do this in a stand mixer. I like to portion my puree into 2 cup portions into a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal  them. You most certainly can use a ziploc bag. Then flatten so they will store better into your freezer and save space. 

Now let's talk about canning them or freezing them. 

I will take some of the broken down wedges and remove the peelings. I did this two different ways. One, I used a vegetable peeler to scrape the peelings off, the other way, I used a knife like I was removing watermelon from a rind. Then I took those wedges and started cutting them up into 1 inch cubes. I packed the cubes into the jars leaving a one inch headspace, filled the jar with water, debubbled, wiped jar rims off, placed lids and bands on, and processed in the pressure cooker for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. You can substitute water for broth or simple syrup in the jars. You can also dry pack them. 

For freezing, I will start cutting the wedges into one inch cubes and portion them into vacuum seal bags, vacuum seal and place in freezer. 

Video version here:

I have also processed pumpkin to puree and have on hand to use in dishes. This video I show you how I cut a pumpkin, roast it and prep it to make a homemade pumpkin pie. It was delicious. It is easier to cut a pumpkin open, lay flat on a baking sheet and bake until tender. The skin pulls off so much easier. You can watch it here:

Preserving Peppers

 BELL PEPPERS:

We freeze our Bell peppers with our vacuum  sealer. I bring them in and wash them and cut them up in strips. Put them into the bags and seal them. Perfect for easy meals.

The second way we preserve our peppers is to roast them. Start with fresh washed peppers. Remove stems and seeds. Cut into strips or leave them whole. Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and roast at 375 or 400 degrees until skins are wrinkled. Or we like ours blackened. Remove from oven and let cool. While they are cooling, prepare your jars. Pack jars with peppers and keep pushing down until you get to one inch headspace. Fill the jar with water up to the neck, debubble, wipe rims of jars to remove any juices or oil that might interfere with the seals on the lids. Place lids on fingertip tight, place in water bath canner. Make sure water covers jars completely. Let the water come to a rolling boil then start your processing time. I processed mine for 75 minutes. If you want to go longer, you can. After they process, remove from the canner to cool. 

Here is the video verion:

Preserving Butternut Squash

 Butternut Squash:

This vegetable is so versatile and can be used in so many ways for so many dishes. You can freeze them, or can them. They are so easy to grow. The hardest part of preserving these is when you get ready to cut them up. They are awkward in shape which makes them harder. However, once you find the way you want to cut them and get into a flow, it goes by pretty fast. 

I found a way to cut them that was easy for me. First , I cut the ends off where you have a flat bottom and top so it want roll with you. I start at the top and slice down, with the grain and cut in half. Then I scoop out the seeds. If I am roasting some for puree, this is where I would leave the skins on, turn flesh down onto a lined baking  sheet with aluminum foil, roast in the oven at 375 or 400 degrees until soft and skins are wrinkly. This makes the skins easier to peel off. I remove them from the oven and let them cool completely so you can touch them. I peel the skins off and place flesh into a bowl. After a few minutes, water will collect at the bottom in the bowl. Drain water or you can put in a cheese cloth and hang over sink to let the water drain. After draining water, I take a potato masher and mash and stir up to make puree. You can also do this in a stand mixer. I then take a 1 cup measuring cup and put into a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal bags with my vacuum sealer or you can use ziploc bags. Flatten them out for easier storage in freezer. 

Next is to cut them up into cubes to freeze or pressure can. After I cut them in half and scoop the seeds out, now I turn it over and grab the neck of the squash. I will take a vegetable peeler and peel down the neck to the rounded bottom. The rounded bottom is the hardest, but you peel going around the bottom not down (if this doesn't make sense, I am attaching the video version so you can see). After all skin is removed, I cut the half where the neck meets the round shape of the squash. It is easier to cut the neck into strips then into cubes. The bowl part, I can cut into wedges and have wedged fries. Or I can keep  cutting them down into cubes. You can actually leave the necks into strips and use as french fry wedges. After I get them all broke down, I decide what will get frozen and what will get pressure canned. The wedges will get put into vacuum seal bags and vacuumed sealed and put into freezer. I can also freezer some that are cubed up and do them the same way. Then I will can some that are cubed up. This is where I get creative. I can can some in water, vegetable stock or a simple syrup of brown sugar, syrup and water. Or I can dry pack them (no water in the jars). I can have a variety on hand at a moments notice for a meal. 

For the ones that I am canning, I pack raw cubes into jars, fill the jars up to the neck with water (or whatever I want to can them in), debubble, wipe rims of jars, place lids and bands on finger tip tight and place into pressure canner. I process quarts for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. Check the lbs per pressure for your altitude. 

 However you cut your squash is how many different ways you can use them. For example, If I cut some of the squash into strips I use as french fries. If I cut into cubes, I can roast them on sheet pan dinners, throw into roasts, stews, soups, etc. I can boil or bake the cubes and still have mashed squash. The puree can also be a substitute in pumpkin pie. Yes, in the depression era cooking days they would do this if they did not have pumpkins. I told you squash is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways and recipes. Butternut squash is a good substitute for Keto and Diabetic diets. 

Here, you can watch the video version:

Another Favorite Way To Preserve Tomatoes

 Another favorite way we love to preserve tomatoes is to roast them, and I tell you this is a game changer. The flavor is phenominal. 

Start with fresh washed tomatoes, cut the core out and any spots or blemishes, cut into halves or quarters, lay on baking pan, drizzle with olive oil. Now, at this point, if you want to add extra flavor, you can cut up onions and add garlic cloves to roast right along with your tomatoes. I choose not to because we do not know what all we will use our tomatoes for in different recipes, so I left them out.  Roast in the oven at 375 or 400 degrees until the skins are wrinkled, or if your are like us, until you get some blackened skins on them. Take them out and let them cool off. 

While they are cooling, prepare jars and either use a little lemon juice or salt for your preservative or citric acid. I chose salt as my preservative. Ladle tomatoes into jars and make sure to press down to remove any air space and fill jars until one inch headspace. Wipe rim of jars off to clear any juices or oils that might have spilled, because this will cause your lids not to seal properly. Apply lids finger tip tight. Place in water bath canner making sure water covers jars completely. Bring water to a rolling boil, then start timing and process for 40 minutes. After processing time has finished, remove from canner to cool and you should start hearing all those wonderful pops.

Here is the video version:

College Dorm Room Cooking and Small Space Cooking

 We all know College students are back in school too. But I'm wondering if you all know how to cook for yourselves because momma is not going to follow you to college and cook your meals. Now is the time to start learning. 

In case you don't know, I have videos on our YouTube Channel where I cook in a hotel room (small space) using nothing but an airfryer, instant pot and microwave. I have put together some awesome meals for me and my husband when we have to travel for a work trip. It is too expensive to eat out every day, every meal. So I pack a traveling kitchen and take with us. 

Here are my latest videos in case you missed them:

In one of these videos, I even show you young whipper snappers  how I meal plan and I even take you along with me on a grocery shopping haul and give you tips and tricks on how to shop the sales and pick out the best prices. It's using simple math and economical thinking. 

I have a whole playlist on Hotel Cooking/Small Space Cooking in case you missed older videos. You can see them here.

But wait! These videos are not just for college kids, they are for any one living in small spaces like small apartments, dorm rooms, military barrocks, campers, tents, even semi trucks. Yep. There are some people who just want to cook using smaller appliances instead of big ones. These videos are for you.

You need the essentials though to get started.

Here are some deals on Airfryers

Deals on instant pots

Deals on small microwaves

Deals on airfryer accessories

Deals on instant pot accessories

Deals on microwave accessories

There are all kinds of instant pot cookbooks, air fryer cookbooks and microwave cookbooks

You can fine them here, here, and here. Those Meals In A Mug cookbooks are awesome. 

I hope you find some kind of info, recipe or tips and tricks useful. I know I sure have when I get to travel with my husband. He can still come "home" to a fresh home cooked meal. 

Happy Grandparents Day

 Happy Grandparents Day to all the awesome people who made our childhoods wonderful, happy, safe and secure. You helped shape and mold us and God knows we learned alot from you. I had the greatest and would give anything if I could still talk to them and visit. I could sit and listen to them all day long and never tire of it. They stood in the gaps and showed up when our parents needed them. They spoiled us and also took care of us. Showed us unconditional love. Guided and counseled us because they are from a generation who really knew best. 

Some of a child's best memories are about their grandparents. Mine sure is. We had an awesome time. 

We vowed that when our kids had kids we would do the exact same thing and we are so honored to be in this category in our lives. I wouldn't give anything for it.  

I use to get on to my momma when she would let our boys get away with things that she would have burnt my butt up for. Then she would say those words, "Well, it's  different!" Well, now I know what she means. You love your kids, but there is just something about those grandkids. I'm glad we are getting to see our kids have kids. It is a blessing to see your kid be a good parent. That means all those years of fussing and fighting with them paid off. I hope  God blesses us with as many grandchildren as he sees fit. They will truly be loved. ❤️

Knowledge Box Central For All Students and Teachers

 Knowledge Box Central is not just for Homeschoolers, it can also be used in the classroom for teachers and students. More great ideas for learning and supplementing material in the classroom or homeschool library. 

Knowledge Box Central is family-owned and operated. We design educational materials for homeschoolers, as well as private and public school students. We specialize in Lapbooks, Copywork Notebooks, Notebooking Pages, Activity Workbooks, Games, Interactive Foldable, and MORE! Our products work great with all ages and grades!

Here is a video explaining how it works:

How it works

You can find all you need here :

ArtKive For Kids Art

 I have seen these books on Instagram and probably will do this for the grandkids. I loved keeping some of my kids artwork (still have it) from their childhood and now I love getting artwork from the grandkids. I am a softie and I love keepsakes. This is the perfect way to do that. They take your child's artwork pages and turn them into keepsake books you can have for a lifetime.

Hi, we're Artkive!

We solve the problem for parents of what to do with all the art and school work kids bring home.

Since 2012, Artkive has turned children's artwork into stunning keepsake books and unique one of a kind wall art for families and organizations! Check them out below

Grow And Make Crafting Kits

 

These kits are not just for kids but adults as well. So many categories to choose from

Grow and Make offers DIY crafting kits for every occasion!

Grow and Make was founded to inspire people to use their hands to create. We invite our customers to live a more sustainable, simple, and fulfilling life – just by growing and making more of what they consume.

Help us spread the hand crafting revolution!

All of our kits are made in Portland Oregon and assembled by hand.

Our product line includes:

Extreme, Deluxe & Artisan Hot Sauce Making Kit

BBQ Sauce Making Kit

Cocoa Butter Soap Making Kit

Goat Milk Soap Making Kit

Soft Cheese Making Kit

Chocolates Making Kit

Tea Herb Garden Kit

Gardening Kit for Kids

Edible Flower Garden Set

Sugar and Salt Scrub Making Kit

Lotion Making Kit

Cocktail/Mocktail Bitters Making Kit

Gin Infusion Kit

...and more!

Give the gift of DIY!

Bentgo Sale

 

Bentgo is having another sale right now on their lunch box and backpack products for kids and grown ups. New styles, colors and prints on lunch boxes and back packs. New lunch box accessories and containers all the way to glass containers for adults who take their lunches to work. Sales on thermos', bentgo boxes with easy open closures for even preschoolers, plastic containers, sauce cups, utensils, etc. Ends Sept 19th.

Check out everything here

More Deals and Sales For You

 I said in one of  my last posts that I was on the hunt for deals and sales for you to help ease on the budget, well in this post I am providing more for you. 

I love Bentgo Products for lunches for kids, teenagers, young adults and even grown ups. Right now you can Create a complete lunch sets in 3 simple steps & save 10% click on the link to find out. 

Create a complete lunch set in 3 simple steps & save 10%! Shop Now!

Don't forget your every day deals at your Dollar Tree click here to see what all is new

You can even order small quantities online click here to find out how and save

Stay tuned, I have more to come your way!!!!!!!

It Has Been A Good Summer

 Well, August has left us and now the BER months start. 

We have had a very good summer. We have celebrated birthdays, the birthday of our country and Independence, planting, growing, harvesting and preserving season, time with loved ones, and many projects that were on our to do list we finally got to do. 

Now we start planning on fall and winter projects on the farm. Seems like it never ends, but I look at it this way, You spend 75% of your hard earned money to have nice things like homes, vehicles, etc., you should take really good care of them so they will last a long time and you are not throwing money down the drain. You work too hard for it. 

Pregnant cows are doing fine and momma cow and baby are doing great. The calf is growing like a week and looks so strong and healthy. 

This fall, I'm going to work on just flower beds around here. So much pruning needs to be done. I think the last frost or freeze we had in the early spring stunted alot of our rose bushes and such. Then I want to freshen flower beds and plant some bulbs. There are two flower beds that are claimed by dear hubby and some of the things he had planted in it died from the last freeze. So I asked him if I could plant something for him. I want to plant Iris', Lilly's and Buttercups for him. Those were his mothers favorite flowers. I think they will look nice. 

Well, it is time to go feed the cows and close down the kitchen for the night. Hope every one has a blessed night. 

Back To School and Off To College Savings and Deals

 Even though school has been back in session since August 1st here in our region, I know lots of regions who don't start back until after Labor Day. 

So in today's post and a few more coming up, I will share deals and sales with you that I have tried to find for everyone.  I love saving people money and helping you shop economically because,  hey, it's hard out there with inflation and the way prices just keep rising. We have to cut as many corners as possible to save on the budget. 

So here are some things I have found:

I am all about trying to find deals and sales for everyone and trust me when I say, this is a steal. Back To School and Off To College, parents, this is a great savings to get them fixed up for their homework at home, virtual, zoom or livestreaming, Homeschooling, and for you college students for all your class needs. This was $1,099.99 now it's $289.99 which is 74%off also with a $20 coupon at checkout. You can't beat that. Also perfect for anyone who works from home. Click here to check it out. You want be sorry. 

Check our even more savings on other name brand computers here 

Check out the deals on all computer essentials like mouse pads, wireless mouse, backpacks for your laptop, and even more here

Sales on tvs and accessories for the dorm room when they just need some down time or they can mirror things from their computer to their tv

Of course you will need to make sure their rooms are organized and they will need some small furniture to store clothes and essentials in when they move in check out the deals on small furniture, organizers, storage units etc to hold all their belongings and keep them organized. 

They will need comfortable bedding essentials to make them feel "home away from home" but in style also great deals and sales on all bedding here

You can't forget one important thing: THEY ARE GOING TO GET HUNGRY AND NEED TO EAT so here are some great deals on cooking appliances for dorm rooms. Man, some of these things are so cute, small and effecient, that I may get some for our home or for when we travel on work trips. They are awesome. But what is also awesome is deals on air fryers for dorm rooms. I love cooking meals in our air fryer when we travel. You will feel good knowing that they can make nutritious meals for themselves in no time and not have to spend money eating out all the time. Oh, and I almost forgot, deals on instant pots too. Instant pots are great for dorm rooms and they come in all kinds of sizes. Then there are crock pots where you can even match it with your room color or college school colors. If they prefer microwaves better, here are some great deals on microwaves.

They are going to need somewhere to store their cold food as well when they learn how to grocery shop to make meals or grab some snacks and drinks for those long study nights check out the savings on these dorm room refrigerators

For when they need to call home, you definately don't want to miss those calls because they forgot to plug up their phone to charge these are bedside caddies with charging ports there are also lamp stand with charging ports 

Now, if your kids are not moving into a dorm room and they will be commuting back and forth, they will need to carry their lunch with them. Look at all these deals on lunch boxes and accessories and don't forget your back packs to carry all those heavy books, computers and other things in as well.  Check out these deals on back packs for school

Don't forget back pack for the kids going back to school and their lunch boxes and accessories kids gotta eat too. 

And our never ending, long list of school supplies. You can get all your school supplies in one place at great savings

I will spend the next few days and weeks trying to see what all other deals and sales I can find for y'all. I hope this post, list and links help you save money on the budget for your kids of all ages. 

Here is a little extra: if you are a college kid or your kid is going to be off to college and will be doing their own cooking. I have a playlist of videos on our YouTube channel where I am cooking in a hotel with nothing but an air fryer, instant pot, and the rooms microwave. It might help teach them how to cook some meals for themselves and become more independent instead of eating out all the time. There are also a couple of videos where I do my meal planning for small space cooking and even take you along on a grocery haul and teach how to shop economically. These are all life skills these kids  need to learn how to do. Catch the whole playlist here

I will see you in the next post, hopefully with more savings, sales and deals. 

#dormroom #collegelife #college #backtoschool  #backtoschoolshopping #offtocollege #dormdecor #dormroomshopping #sale #deals #dealoftheday #discounts #savemoney

#coupons #codes #freebies #savings #promo #steals

Meal Planning and Grocery Haul

 In this video, I start a new week with planning my meals and I show you my strategy for how I meal plan for the week. I even do one better than that. I take you with me on my grocery haul and teach you how I compare prices and shop economically. Teach your kids to meal plan and shop the sales. College kids, this is good for dorm room cooking and storing food. It is important to learn these life skills for when you get your own home and family, or you just move away from home and you are on your own. 

After you watch the video, check out my whole playlist on Meal Planning and Shopping the Sales. Sure does save money on the groceries. 

#College #collegelife #dormroom #dormlife #dormroomcooking #smallspacecooking #hotelcooking #hotelliving #hotellife #lifeskills #mealplanning #groceryhaul

Home Hack

 Neat little trick. Instead of throwing away tons of plastic bags, get some uses out of them. I fold them like little footballs( the kind we use to play paper football with in school when the teacher wasn't looking lol), then store them in a container ( I use wipe containers since I have plenty), and use them in small trash can liners, in my truck for garbage, dirty diapers on the go, soiled clothes, even barf bags in a pinch.