Thursday, March 8, 2007
In Our Kitchen

Well everyone, I am giving it my all to fill the shelves of my pantry with homemade canned goods. I received a food dehydrator for Christmas and I have been putting it to the test. So far I have dried 3 lbs of banana's, 2 lbs of strawberries (now that was just a test and you know what.... they are good!) and 3 lbs of grapes. Now my strawberries and grapes turned out great. The banana's, unfortunately, were sliced to thick and therefore didn't turn out well. Thats ok though, I made Horsie treats without knowing it. heehee The horses just love em!! I am going to try banana's again tomorrow (good thing there aren't expensive !!) I am also going to dry apples and tomotoes. I am so thankful for this gift, it has been really fun drying things out. Oh and we will also be making some Deer Jerky too!  

 

Today I cut about 2 pounds of green beans and froze them but I will be going back to the Farmers Market to buy a bunch more and I am going to can them. I would like to can about 14 quarts. I will also be canning zucchini relish, stewed tomatoes, and bread and butter pickles. It really is fun even though it is a lot of work. The kids are showing signs of wanting to be a part of it so they can be my helpers. I pray they all turn out right and that I don't have any bad jars or anything. My hubbies mother canned all the time with his two aunt's, unfortunately his mother and one of his aunt's passed away not long after we got married and I wasn't able to learn from them. I am hoping though that his Aunt Jay who is still with us at 91 yrs old will be willing to help me out for a day. She still gets around quite well and we are building a relationship with her. She lives just down the road but his family is quiet and reserved. We are really making it a point to spend time with her though as my children don't have any grandparents still living and we love to hear about 'the good ole days'. I will be calling her tomorrow to see if we can plan a day for her to come over and advise us on our canning. I pray she will come.

 

We have also been following our 'Menu Cards' and making up some healthy meals. Here is what we had for lunch today..  inside my wrap I had tuna, swiss cheese, tomatoe, and mayo. I so wanted to add romaine lettuce but it seems I have eaten it all up.  I will have to purchase some more soon.

For dinner we had Spaghetti. Dad wasn't home so it was just the children and I. It was really delicious even though I forgot to make the garlic herb bread I planned on having with it. I guess I got caught up in my cutting and freezing and dehydrating.  oh well, I am sure as time goes on and I get used to using the Menu Cards I will remember ALL the items for the meals. Baby steps...  right!!

 

Well that about sums up what was in the kitchen today. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

 

MM MMM Deli-i-isious!!!

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