Garden Harvest

Thought I would share what I picked out of my garden about 5 minutes ago.  Will be making my first batch of salsa this weekend.
Have a Fabulous & Frugal Day!!!

Tomatoes, Tomatoes!!!!

I totally had to re-post "The Joys of Tomatoes" I seem to once again have an over abundance which is leaving me with tomato sandwiches everyday. I am not complaining, I love love love them... and the ones at the store are never as good. I will probably be making a batch of salsa this weekend.


Have a Fabulous & Frugal Day!!!

The Joy of Tomatoes

I have an over abundance of Tomatoes from the garden... I never thought I would ever admit this, but I am getting pretty sick of tomatoes. Here are 12 ways to eat raw tomatoes.

1. Tomatoes sliced (with salt & Pepper)
2. Tomatoes w/cottage cheese & pepper
3. Tomatoes w/ balsamic vinegar drizzled on them
4. Tomatoes w/ Mayonnaise spread on them (& pepper)
5. Tomato sandwich
6. Tomato & Cheese sandwich
7. Tomato stuffed with tuna (salad) and sprinkled with dill
8 Tomato stuffed with chicken salad
9. Tomatoes chopped and mixed with chopped olives, garlic and a little olive oil (spread this on crackers~YUM)
10. Tomatoes sliced on scrambled eggs
11. Tomatoes sliced on a hamburger patty
12. Tomatoes sliced on your favorite sandwich.. (maybe not peanut butter)

I really do love tomatoes and am glad they came on so well in the garden. Any other ideas out there using tomatoes?

Have a Fabulous & Frugal Day!!!

Free Water

Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the rain. I removed the plastic coverings on my garden and folded them back, this is in an effort to avoid freezing at night. I wanted to take advantage of the free water. It rained at a moderate level for most of the day yesterday, and today my garden is happy and rejuvenated.

Have a Fabulous & Frugal Day!!!

The Lost Art of Home Canning

I love to home can my own Jams and Jelly's, as well as Salsa. Occasionally I will make recipes in the pressure canner too. Canning is really not hard, it is a little time consuming, but the rewards are unbeatable. This info was taken off of the Ball Canning Website, I hope you find it useful. Oh and by the way.... I found an old Kerr Canning book (from 1947) just a small paper one at a yard sale last month for 25 cents. Have a Fabulous & Frugal day!!!

Why Should I Can?

Fresh Preserving provides a number of great benefits which are relevant to today’s lifestyles. While home canning has been around for generations, the reasons why people can today are different than the reasons why people canned products years ago.

Gardening and home canning can lower your grocery bill. Burpee Seed Company (www.burpee.com) estimates that for every $50 spent on seeds and fertilizer, a gardener can yield $1250 worth of produce. As it’s not feasible for a family to enjoy all of that fresh produce all at one time, home canning allows you to preserve that fresh, home grown flavor from your garden for use all year long, and saving on your grocery bill.

Home canning supports sustainable lifestyles. Canning locally-grown produce reduces the carbon footprint created by transporting vegetables around the world in off-seasons. A study by Carnegie Mellon found that 11% of the average American’s household food-related greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation of foods. You can reduce that by growing your own produce or purchasing it locally, and then fresh preserving the harvest and re-using Ball® Jars year after year.

Fresh preserving allows you to manage your family’s nutrition. Many canning enthusiasts enjoy the versatility and control they have with fresh preserving recipes. When you fresh preserve foods, you can avoid additives and preservatives found in many commercial products, and you may even opt to use organic ingredients.

According to research from The National Gardening Association, 48% of consumers’ garden to ensure their food is safe. Canning is a perfect way to manage the ingredients in your recipes to ensure that your family not only gets the garden fresh flavor of fresh produce, but that they also avoid any undesired ingredients.

Express yourself through unique and creative recipes. For generations canners have used fresh preserving to showcase their own unique style with creative canning recipes. Impress your friends and family by creating unique jams, jellies and other culinary creations.

For tutorials, videos and other information on how to can visit our Intro to Canning section here.

Search our database of fresh preserving recipes and start your culinary adventure now!

Garden

I must say again how much I LOVE summer. Summer is my favorite season of the year. I soooo look forward to summer all winter long. My garden is really coming on right now, I had to plant late because June was so cold and iffy. I must have 100 tomatoes on my 12 plants right now, but none of them are red. I have been enjoying lettuce and spinach for quite some time now, as a matter of fact one of my rows of spinach (what was left) has gone to seed. My zucchini and squash are doing really well too, they are about the size of my thumb....and I have small hands. Here is my worry...Our weather has turned chilly the last couple of days, I am praying for a warm up, so we will see. I have grandiose dreams of having zucchini, tomato stir fry with rice, canning lots of salsa, and making lots of zucchini bread. I love saving money on groceries and would much rather eat out of my garden. Keep your fingers crossed. Have a Fabulous & Frugal day!!!