Food Co-op

I found a local food co-op! It's great. I am enjoying choosing fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for my family.

Tomatoes!

I was given two cases of tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. They were mostly green, so I laid them out on a picnic table in the sun to ripen. Finally, they were ready. I canned 24 23 pints and 3 quarts today. (One pint broke.)

Pineapple Preserves

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try! I used the Diana #2 version by adding fresh orange zest. I used fresh pineapple that was on sale at my local grocery. Doubling the batch gave me 7 jars and a container for the refrigerator. It is very yummy! I will be on the look-out for pineapple bargains now!

Failed Fudge

Ok, what happens when you make a batch of peanut butter fudge and it fails to set up? I really didn't want to throw it out because it tastes yummy. So I bottled it into cute little jars and created a label, tied it up with ribbon and will be giving Peanut Butter Fudge Topping as Christmas gifts!

The labels say:

Peanut Butter Fudge

Topping

Spread on toast

Use as a yummy pretzel dip

Warm in microwave and serve over ice cream

Great with celery

Scrumptious on apples

Add a dollop on pancakes

Eat straight out of the jar

I may have to make another batch and not cook as long as needed just to have more. This stuff is really good!

Merry Christmas!

First Produce from the Garden

Turnip Greens! We had some for lunch today. Not too bad. I also noticed that we have small tomatoes coming on, and lots of tiny peas. They will probably be ready in a week or two.

Strawberry Jelly

Ok, I couldn't get to the jelly until today. I got about 6 cups of juice this time, but I didn't process 6 pounds. We ate some, and I gave some berries away, so I probably only started with about 4 1/2 pounds. I just refrigerated the juice until I was ready to process.

I got 5 - 8 oz jars of strawberry jelly! It jelled perfectly and looks so pretty and tastes great!

Strawberry Syrup

I got 8 cups of juice from the 6 pounds of berries I hung last night. I processed this into syrup and got:

• 9 - 8 oz jars,
• 2 - 6 oz jars, and
• 2 - 4 oz jars

This is a slightly thickened syrup that can be used as is, or thickened by adding corn starch and heated. It's yummy!

I got the rest of the berries cleaned and hung to drain.

Strawberry Season

I picked 12 pounds of strawberries today at a local farm. They are beautiful. I will be making strawberry syrup and strawberry jelly.

I cleaned half of the berries and put them to drain overnight. I will make the syrup out of this batch.

Strawberries - Day 2

More strawberry processing today. I now have 15 8oz jars of sugar-free jam, 10 16oz containers of sugar-free freezer jam, 5 16oz containers of sugared freezer jam, 10 packs of sliced strawberries with sugar - 3 cups each, 4 packs of sliced strawberries with Splenda - 2 cups each, and three trays of sliced strawberries in the dehydrator. I still have 4 pounds left. If the dehydrated slices turn out, I may do more of those. They will be good added to cold cereal, cream of wheat, oatmeal, yogurt and as a snack. I may also try making a fruit bread with other dried berries later this summer. I'll experiment and see what I can come up with, I am thinking of a zucchini bread with strawberries, raspberries and walnuts.

Supper tonight will be baked chicken breasts on spaghetti noodles covered with spaghetti sauce and topped with parmesan cheese, green beans, and fresh veggies.

I got the last of my seeds and some of my plants today. I need to pick up another light and build another seed starting station. I am not sure where I will put this one! Probably be this weekend before I can get that done.

We have started the 30 days of Prayer for Neighbors and Nation "Revolution on Our Knees" by David & Kim Butts along with our church. Today is Day 2. The song "He Reigns" by the Newsboys has been going through my head since I read todays devotion -

It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" Psalm 46:10

Mrs. B

Strawberries

They are on sale this week, $1 a pound, so I got 32 pounds. So far I have made 9 pints diabetic freezer jam, sliced and froze 8 pounds, and eaten another 2 pounds (with help from the family). I will finish the rest in the morning by making low-sugar strawberry preserves.

For supper tonight we grilled pork chops and fresh veggies (yellow squash, mushrooms, tomatoes, red and orange peppers, and onions) on the grill. Yumm!

Mrs. B

Menu Plan for the Week

Monday:         Valentine's Day - eat out using a gift card from Christmas
Tuesday:        Homemade Veggie Beef Soup left over from Sunday with fresh bread
Wednesday:   Hamburgers on the grill with homemade buns, baked beans
Thursday:       BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, green beans
Friday:           Ham and Bean Soup, cornbread,
Saturday:       Beef Enchilada Casserole, tamales, salad
Sunday:         Breaded Baked Pork Chops, baked potatoes, salad

and it begins . . .

We are off on our new journey - a journey to self-sufficiency. Our goal is to grow and preserve our own meat and food in an effort to become healthier and less reliant on the "normal" food chain. I have my seed order ready and will be starting some seeds by the end of the month. I have already started making our own bread and cooking from scratch to avoid chemical preservatives. We plan to purchase goats for milking and meat, and chickens for eggs and meat. Our very own backyard homestead!