by Texas Homesteader ~
Several weeks ago we were shopping for a family gathering and we needed to pick up some fresh limes. While we were in the grocery store to pick up limes, RancherMan decided that ‘6 for $1’ was the way to go. I wasn’t sure we’d go through all six limes though. As it turns out there were indeed limes leftover after our gathering. To keep them from going to waste I washed them and tossed ’em in the freezer.
Come see how a frozen lime helps me reduce waste in the kitchen.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Food waste – we all hate it. We work diligently to make sure none of that food we’ve paid our hard-earned money for is wasted. But are we doing all we can? Maybe… But maybe not! Have you ever thought about eating your compost?
Stay with me now, I’m not suggesting that you root through the compost heap and snack on its contents. Today I’m talking about food destined for the compost heap.
by Texas Homesteader ~
My baby sis and her hubby came to spend the weekend with us recently. RancherMan & I planned to grill out since the weather was nice. I’d also planned to roast some fresh veggies that I had in the fridge.
As my sis & I were in the kitchen I opened the refrigerator door to fetch the broccoli leftover from our dinner party several days ago. My sister saw how it was contained and exclaimed “That’s BRILLIANT!” I guess I just never thought about it before. So come see this Homestead Hack for keeping your broccoli fresh.
by Texas Homesteader ~
WHEW! I finally finished with all the fresh apples my aunt let us harvest from her tree & bring home. Ten bushels worth! TEN bushels. T-E-N. Wow.
I’ve made and canned Apple Pie Filling for quick homemade pies this winter. And I dehydrated some of those delicious apples into crispy Cinnamon/Sugar Apple Chips for snacks.
But I love the Slow-Cooker Applesauce the most. I’ve even taken some of the regular applesauce & flavored & canned it into Cinnamon-Vanilla Flavored Applesauce.
And of course the liquid released when I cooked down those apples into applesauce wasn’t wasted either. I strained & canned it for apple cider.
All are delicious, but today I was thinking about that applesauce. How versatile it is in my kitchen. Not only do I enjoy eating it straight from the jar, but it replaces a cooking item I typically have to buy.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Although we often plant winter rye and clover for early grazing opportunities for our cattle herd, we planted clover heavily in the pen right next to the beehives. It’s beautiful in full bloom! We’ve kept the cattle off of this piece of land to allow the bees to do their thing with the clover blossoms. I suspect there’s not a much sweeter delight than home-grown clover honey #amiright?
But as we were walking through that paddock recently I commented to RancherMan how fragrant those blossoms were. Wonder if I can make jelly from them? Hummmm…
by Texas Homesteader ~
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I love fresh spinach & I’m sure to plant it every year in my edible landscape garden. It’s beautiful, leafy-green and makes a lovely border.
But in our part of NE Texas the window of opportunity in enjoying fresh spinach is short. In no time our spinach bolts and becomes bitter.
But I’ve recently been introduced to a completely different kind of spinach. One that grows vigorously in a vine. In the heat!
by Texas Homesteader ~
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A sweet neighbor offered to let RancherMan & me come harvest from their huge pear tree. We took a ladder but only had to pick the sweet pears within our reach to bring back about 75 lbs of fresh pears!
I’ve heard of people making something similar to applesauce but using pears instead – Pear Sauce!
I love applesauce so I figured I should give it a try. Using my slow cooker it was super easy too, the procedure is the same as when I made applesauce. Check it out!
by Texas Homesteader ~
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When our garden is producing extremely well I like to preserve as much as I can from it. Oftentimes our tomatoes are producing like GANGBUSTERS and I’m making Tomato Sauce and Pasta Sauce from it Sometimes I dehydrate them into Tomato Powder or just Dried Diced Tomatoes to drop into my wintertime simmering soups.
But one of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes is by dehydrating it into tomato leather. That way I can roll it out directly on top of my pizza crust & just start piling on the toppings. The cooking process and the moisture in the toppings rehydrates the leather for me.
But I didn’t get many tomatoes this year so I find myself purchasing pasta sauce until I can make it myself again. (sigh…) But recently I had leftover pasta sauce and wondered what to do with it. Since we’ve recently discovered tortilla pizzas I decided to make some tortilla-sized tomato leather!
