#everybitcountschallenge. Week 9.
Last week was extra busy but I did manage some things...
I had a bag of ripe Bananas I bought on special. I made 18 GF Banana Muffins and 18 regular. I just used my Banana cake recipe but I had some left over yoghurt and added some of that in for extra goodness. Some went to Chloe to help her with work lunches and rest (except those tasted for quality control) went into the freezer.
On this weeks shopping order I got more Chicken from the deli department... some became Butter Chicken and I froze more portions.
I found and watched a really good You Tube tutorial/demo on my exact food processor. It was like having a personal class. I learned so much! There were things I just had no idea it could do! I can pretty much guarantee any appliance you have or any thing you want to learn there is a detailed free lesson on it. This is just so valuable. Who knew a video on how to use a food processor could be so exciting but there you go! 😊
My Chard is enormous and I tried to show how big each leaf is... this is next to a small coffee cup (with tomato seedlings in it.)
I picked a big bunch, got it washed and put it through the processor. Oh my gosh it is so fast.
When this was dehydrating I filled another shelf with Stinging Nettles. Andy drinks this tea every day so I will keep up supplies.
I am shocked at the difference in my dehydration times. The Chard was dry in under half what I would normally allow. It has to just be the finer more even chop. It is conditioning now but the colour is so good. I also sealed a jar of Celery that was ready to add to the cupboard.
The jar vac sealer I bought is ok but not great. It successfully seals Ball canning jars and so I went on and vac sealed all that I had. It doesn't work on regular lids though and so I am not going to recommend it. Many vac sealing units have a jar attachment. I do think that vacuum sealing is worthwhile. Heat, oxygen and light are the main enemies of food preservation (aside of bugs, rodents!) so these things are worth considering.
This week I have some extra opportunities as I am going to town. There is the chance to go to the swap tables as well, I have lots of things to chose from to take including eggs and plants that I potted up.
How did you do? Did you find any good deals to add to the pantry, freeze, dehydrate, can or freeze dry anything? It all counts! xxx
I got my food processor in over the weekend and I unpacked it, but that's all I had time for. I will look for videos - great idea! I was able to add 2 more pounds of butter to my freezer. I usually only buy the store brand, as it's over a dollar cheaper, but they haven't had it. But they did on Saturday, so I grabbed a couple. One can never have too much butter on hand, especially with the holidays coming up. I watched a video where a guy was dry canning pinto beans and rice, using the oven. I think that's what I might do to help extend the life of my beans and rice. So many great ideas out there - the internet is a wonderful tool if used for good! I am old enough to appreciate technology for sure, and I embrace it. Have a great week, and thank you for all your sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, For my Kitchen aid the one I watched was How to use your Kitchenaid 13 cup food processor by Epicuricloud and it really was very good.
DeleteGreat to get butter. I am keeping as much as I can in the freezer too. I think it is just fantastic how we can keep learning and have free lessons on hand! Have a good week to you too! With love Annabel.xxx
I have finally admitted what any gardener would have said weeks ago--my garden this year was a bust! And since it is such a tiny garden, I don't have many "free" resources (if you call my water bill "free") to help me stock up this year. Annabel, I'd love to have some of your chard!
ReplyDeleteI decided to focus on stuff that I buy at the store, which--TBH--is most of what we use. I haven't bought much up to now because there haven't been good sales. But when I got home from my trip and opened my pantry cupboard, I realized how much I need. And, as you commented last week, any price that seems high now is going to look good in a year.
When I went to Winco Saturday, I spent some time looking at all of the products available in bulk. Unfortunately, most of them are items I do not buy! However, I topped up our supplies of oats, rice and spices (I am expecting lower prices on packaged flour and sugar closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas). After I got home, I realized I should have bought cornmeal, more rice and oats and several other spices...so they are on my list for when I am next at Winco. Bulk prices were about 20-30% higher than they were a year or so ago, but still cheaper than packaged goods in the grocery aisles.
Our grocery ads run Wednesday-Tuesday. I hadn't paid much attention to them last week because I was jetlagging in a big way. I took another look this weekend. I saw Progresso soups for $1.28 at Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Hunt's spaghetti sauce for .88 can at a local store. That's always been a good price (not necessarily the lowest, but still very good) and I topped up my supply of both. My husband likes to have canned soup around for when he can't think of anything else for lunch.
Last week I read that Kroger is buying Albertsons and Safeway (A bought S a couple of years ago). This means that all of the national grocers in my town will be owned by a single company. Albertsons and Safeway are the two most expensive stores in town (and they don't compete--identical ads and prices), with Fred Meyer somewhere in the middle. We do still have one independent grocer, plus Winco (a regional chain headquartered in my state), but I don't think this is good news for consumers. Also, Fred Meyer recently dropped newspaper advertising. Now you must go to their app to read their ad and load coupons. This has ramifications beyond prices--grocery advertising is the lifeblood of local newspapers.
Even though I'm late to the game, I'm glad you are doing this series...it got me thinking!!
Dear Maxine, I am studying the catalogues too and you have sale times we dont have ie Black Friday (I think) and Halloween and Thanksgiving... we can get really good deals in the few days after Christmas. I would love to have a Winco I see these stores on some of the you tube channels I like to watch!
DeleteWhen they are all owned by the same owners no that is not good. I hope there will still be some competition. Have you ever tried the one where they meet you in a parking lot with the orders? Now I forget the name. But a lot of people say they re really good. Oh... Azure Standard.
Anyway of stocking up counts the main thing is to be well stocked for a good period of time one way or another. With love Annabel.xxx
I always read every single post and have for years. I don’t usually post a comment because typically on most blogs it never shows up, but I wanted to try today. Regarding your jar vac sealer, I’m not sure what yours is like. I have a Food Saver with jar attachment heads & hose. So since mine is different I wasn’t sure this suggestion would work for you….usually when I’m sealing jars I have to put an extra lid on to make it seal. You put the lid that’s actually going to seal onto the jar and then put a second one on that fills up the extra air space or something. Then top with your device. Once done, remove your device and the extra lid, & the first one should have sealed to your jar. I hope that makes sense. I had trouble with mine at first and read this advice, that it helps take up the extra space somehow. It has worked for me so thought you might want to try it. You are such an inspiration. Thank you for taking your time and energy to share your talents, experiences and advice…..Vicky in Kentucky
ReplyDeleteDear Vicky,
DeleteThank you so much! Your comment showed up and I really appreciate you trying!
Thank you for your hints on sealing the jars. That does make sense to me. I will try it! I think vac sealing just gives that extra life to foods so it is worth it. Thank you ! With love Annabel.xxx
Annabel,
ReplyDeleteYou got a lot accomplished considering your busy week. I can't live without my food processor, for sure! Glad you are reaping the benefits of yours. I will look for youtube videos to see what I am missing with mine. I was able to add turkey craw beans to my pantry. They are a regional dry bean here in the Appalachian Mountains. I baked 2 small loaves each chocolate zucchini bread and 2 of applesauce bread. I have been dehydrating apples nonstop for almost a week. I think I might have overbought on apples. Is there such a thing? We love snacking on dehydrated apples. I also dehydrated pumpkin puree and froze 9 pints of pumpkin puree. I grew the pumpkins in my little garden. A question about dehydrating celery: I blanch my celery and run it in the dehydrator as directed in the book but after about 2 months it changes to an ugly greyish green color. It never has come out the beautiful bright green yours did. Any advice? Thanks!
Dear Marley,
DeleteI feel like I love the Appalachian Mountains as I watch Patera and a few others and so I feel very fond of the whole area! Your baking and apple dehydrating sound fantastic. With the celery... I dont blanch it. Chop and dehydrate... and keep in a dark place. So far I can only comment on about 6 months storage since that is when I began. But so far so good. I like it to look right green to me that means I have kept most of the vitamins etc. I hope this helps. With love Annabel.xxx
Thanks! I will try that. I followed the instructions in the cookbook. It said to blanch but I would love to skip that step.
DeleteHello Annabel!
ReplyDeleteThat chard certainly looks like it is packed with nutrition! Just curious, do you lose many vitamins and minerals when you dehydrate food? I’m guessing no, you’re just taking out the liquid. Also, how do you process stinging nettle without getting, well, stung? I’ve heard it has many health benefits and I’ve been digging up many horrible thorny things in my garden, just not sure what they are exactly🤷🏻♀️. Hope the feathered babies are doing well. Those muffins certainly look delicious! Love from, Jennie in Queanbeyan.💚💚
Dear Jennie,
DeleteI think because there is very low heat you do not loose too much goodness. Of course fresh will always be best but I think snap frozen foods are very good, dehydrating is pretty good... freeze drying is even better. I wear gloves to pick the nettles and get them into the dehydrator. After that they have lost there sting. Try to search your weeds on google and see what they are. If I dont know I get my weed and place it inside a clear plastic bag and take it to the local nursery and they will tell you. The babies are all doing great thank you! With love Annabel.xxx
Thanks Annabel! I will take the thorny things to the garden centre and see if they know. I also recently ordered ‘Eat Weeds’ by Diego Bonetto. Will just have to read it🤦🏻♀️💚💚
DeleteI love my food processor but the thing I could not live without is my Mueller chopper. It makes perfectly diced foods and so easily. I use it for all the produce that I freeze.
ReplyDeleteDear Lana, I am going to look up this chopper! Thank you! Kitchen help is a good thing for sure! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteLoved seeing how healthy growing your chard is. I always have it growing in my garden. I love how it regenerates itself after you pick a few leaves. It is the gift that keeps on giving. This week I added two dozen homemade English muffins for my husband to the freezer, 3 pints of chopped green peppers, 3 quarts of Turkey bone broth, 8 servings of roast turkey,one quart of chicken pot pie soup and ,2 pounds of brussel sprouts and 8 Amish onion patties. I started making cards for Thanksgiving and Christmas with materials I have on hand. Life is busy good. Cookie
I was given an air fryer as a gift and it wasn't until I watched YouTube videos about using it that I learned to love it. I would never have known how best to use it by reading instructions. The jar sealer does also come in a size for regular jars I think but I have heard it doesn't work nearly as well as the wide mouth sealer with those jars. I need to get mine out and vacuum seal flour, once again instructions are on YouTube!
ReplyDeleteHi Annabel and Bluebirds!
ReplyDeleteYour banana muffins look delicious! Wonder how lemon would substitute? YouTube is such a good resource! I learned to darn on YouTube. This week has been a big one. I got a stick vacuum and a dishwasher! I've been washing dishes by hand for a while, and doing okay not grumbling. The dishwasher is going to save me a huge amount of time. I didn't know if I would like the stick vacuum, but it's light and easy to use. Between YouTube and Instagram, I learned some tricks of the trade for things it can be used for. My house is super clean now. I'm gathering supplies for Christmas cards, and also started a new quilt with some favorite fabrics! It's time here in the US to buy a turkey, and check some of the things off the Thanksgiving menu. If I spread it out over a month, it's not as big a price tag on the week of the holiday. In my area, it's also likely that I won't find some food items if I wait. Stocking up on butter and oils, flour and sugar. Just basics! It's busy but all good things!
Big hugs!
Stacy
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI bought the jar vacuum sealer attachment for my Foodsaver sealer, but it doesn’t fit my model. Instead of buying a new sealing machine as it’s quite new, I saw a video about sealing jars with a brake bleeder, which I might purchase and try. Maybe you already have one of these kicking around?