I was having a conversation with a friend recently and I mentioned that I like to freeze muffins before I bake them. Up until a couple of years ago I always baked muffins and then froze them. It worked great but it was time consuming to keep cooked muffins stocked in the freezer. Then I […]
Growing Tomatillos {for more than tomatillo salsa verde}
Tomatillos are nightshade plants that love the summer heat. They’re native to Mexico but can be grown in most home gardens in North America, and are very popular in Texas and the southwest states. We’ve been growing tomatillos for several years and every year I’m amazed at how well they grow with very little care. […]
How to Dehydrate Bananas to Make Chewy Banana Chips or Banana Jerky
Bananas are a staple fruit in our home because they are so very inexpensive, even the organic bananas are much cheaper per pound than other fruits. And when I can find them marked down because they’re getting brown I buy all I can. We freeze some to use in smoothies and banana bread. But we […]
How to Store Home Canned Food
We are in the depths of canning food during June and July; in fact, I don’t even bother putting our canning stuff and mason jars away during these two months. They just stay in a corner in the kitchen waiting to be used every couple of days. Then comes the task of storing all that […]
How to successfully freeze in glass jars and containers – no more broken jars
One of my favorite things about the summer garden is the basil. We pretty much use basil for one thing….pesto. I shared photos of our first batch of pesto for this season and a couple of local friends asked me about freezing in glass jars. Then I got a comment on the post asking how […]
Things No One Tells You About Growing Tomatoes {but you need to know for a good tomato harvest}
It’s not that people are intentionally keeping tomato growing secrets, it’s just that sometimes those of us who have been gardening a while forget what it’s like to be a beginner gardener. And sometimes new gardeners don’t know what questions to ask. I’ve been reminded of this as I help my sister with her first […]
Can You Freeze Cucumbers? yes, you can!
I was talking with a gardening friend and lamenting our dismal cucumber harvest this year. We have enough for eating fresh but not enough for freezing. She asked, “Can you freeze cucumbers?” Yes, you can absolutely freeze cucumbers and it’s super easy and useful. By the way, she’s bring me some of her excess cucumbers […]
How to make a drawing salve for thorns, splinters, and other working outside hazards
It’s dewberry season around here which means we have stained fingernails and small thorns in our hands. We should wear gloves, I’m not sure exactly what it is about gloves that we don’t like when we pick berries but there’s something…and so we don’t wear them. We just deal with dirty looking fingernails; eventually they’ll […]
Reduce your grocery budget with zero waste kitchen tips
I’ve always believed that that of all our budget categories, the grocery budget is the easiest to save on from month to month. For the most part, there’s very little you can do about your mortgage, there’s only so much you can do to reduce energy costs, and I don’t know about you but our […]
Growing and Using Cucumbers
Cucumbers are one of those vegetables that people tend to love or hate. My family is mostly filled with cucumber haters but that doesn’t deter me from growing cucumbers every summer. They’re worth growing even if only a couple of us like them. Like zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers can be quite prolific which is […]