Fermentation is an old way of preserving food – really old, as in before refrigeration and before canning. Back in the day, you either dehydrated or fermented food to keep it from spoiling. Fermented foods include common items such as yogurt, cheese, and sauerkraut plus less common items such as kefir, kvass, and kimchi. Years […]
Canning Tomatoes in the No-Waste Kitchen
My absolute favorite thing to grow is tomatoes. I love that there are literally thousands of varieties to try. I love the flavor of homegrown tomatoes – store bought tomatoes just cannot compare. I even love the smell of tomato plants – which don’t really smell very good, but I love them anyway. So, for canning […]
Canning Black Bean and Corn Salsa Recipe – The Safe Way
My family loves salsa; we eat it on everything from eggs to tacos. My boys can polish off a quart of salsa and a couple of bags of tortilla chips in no time flat. Sometimes I like to serve a salsa that has a little extra nutrition, you know, to counter the bags of tortilla […]
Canning Corn with the raw pack or hot pack method
I love keeping home canned corn on hand. Although canning corn takes a little bit longer than canning other vegetables does, it’s totally worth it. There’s nothing like the flavor of locally grown sweet corn during summer, and when you can your own corn you can enjoy that bit of summer all year long. We […]
Making and Freezing Pesto Sauce in Canning Jars
Every spring one of the first herb seeds I sow are basil seeds. I liberally scatter them in several places in the garden. I do this for one reason…pesto! We love pesto so very much and I refuse to pay $5 for 6 oz of basil pesto. So each summer you’ll find me making […]
Canning Beef Stew for Convenience and Emergencies
Every summer I find myself spending a few days making canned beef stew, I make other canned soups and stews also but canned beef stew is our favorite. Even though it’s hot, I like canning beef stew during the summer because I can use the produce right out of our garden. My beef stew “recipe” […]
How to Preserve Lemons by Fermenting
I used to think it was silly to preserve lemons because they were available year round at the store whenever I happened to need one. Then I tried my first Meyer lemon and preserving lemons became a necessity. We have an amazing lemon tree that gives us several hundred pounds of lemons each year. So, […]
Homemade Dried Lemons – an easy way to preserve lemons
I love preserving food in a variety of ways and citrus is no exception. We have a wonderful Meyer lemon tree that gives us hundreds of pounds of lemons most years. Once you’ve had a Meyer lemon, regular lemons just won’t do. So, every year I spend time freezing, fermenting, and dehydrating lemons. I make […]
Freezing Lemons and Using Frozen Lemons – whole, slices, juice, and zest
We have this amazing Meyer lemon tree that came with our house. Each year we try to freeze lemons to last the year. I like to use frozen lemons in a variety of ways to I like to freeze lemons in a variety of ways. I freeze whole lemons, lemons slices, and lemon juice. You […]
Canning Potatoes for Emergencies and Convenience {plus how to use canned potatoes}
I was an teenager before I saw canned potatoes. I was at a friend’s house and her mom was quickly making dinner and I saw her open a can of potatoes and dump them in a pot to heat up. Once they were heated up, she drained the water added salt, pepper, butter and a […]