Using Up Your Garden Harvest

Here are a few tasty recipes to reduce your bounty of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and yes, even zucchini.  Your efforts in the garden have paid off, and a bumper crop of vegetables is the reward for a job well done.  If you’ve shared your green thumb jackpot with family, friends, and neighbors, but the veggies keep coming, try these tasty recipes that make the most of your end-of-the-season harvest.

Three-Hour Refrigerator Pickles

This quick recipe uses regular cucumbers and can be done without the hassle of canning. 

6 pounds cucumbers

4 medium onions

4 cups sugar

4 cups white vinegar

½ cup salt

1-1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon mustard seed

Slice the cucumbers ¼ in thick.  Slice onions 1/8 in thick. Place both in a large nonmetallic bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over cucumber mixture.  Stir well for 5 minutes.  Cover and refrigerate 3 hours before serving.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, stirring occasionally.  Yield: 2-1/2 quarts. 

Three-Pepper Salad

Fresh-picked peppers form the foundation of this colorful salad.  If you can’t find yellow peppers, use only red and green varieties.

2 medium green peppers, julienned

2 medium cucumbers, sliced

2 jars (4-1/2 ounces each) whole mushrooms, halved

1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned

1 medium sweet yellow pepper, julienned

1 can (6 ounces) pitted ripe olives, halved

½ cup chopped onion

DRESSING:

2/3 cup Italian salad dressing

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon seasoned salt

¼ teaspoon salt

In a large salad bowl, combine the first seven ingredients.  In a small bowl or jar with tight-fitting lid, combine dressing ingredients; mix or shake well.  Pour over salad.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Serve with a slotted spoon.  Yield: 16 servings.

Garden Casserole

This delicious cheesy casserole uses lots of veggies and herbs from your garden.  The dish includes a sunny medley of eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes.

2 pounds eggplant, peeled

5 teaspoons salt, divided

¼ cup olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium zucchini, sliced ½ in thick

5 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, sliced

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

¼ cup minced fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup grated Romano cheese

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Cut eggplant into ½-in-thick slices; sprinkle both sides with 3 teaspoons salt.  Place in a deep dish; cover and let stand for 30 minutes.  Rinse with cold water; drain and dry on paper towels.

Cut eggplant into ½ in cubes; sauté in oil until lightly browned.  Add onions, garlic and zucchini; cook 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes, celery, parsley, basil, pepper and remaining salt; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat; stir in Romano cheese.  Pour into a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking dish.  Combine crumbs and butter; sprinkle on top.  Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Yield: 12 servings.

Broiled Tomatoes

This is a very quick and tasty side dish.

Several medium tomatoes, sliced ¼ in

Spike seasoning

Mozzarella, Pepper Jack, Swiss, Provolone cheese

Cover a shallow baking pan with the sliced tomatoes.  Generously sprinkle Spike on the tomatoes.  Cover the tomatoes with squares of your desired cheese.  Low melting point cheeses are best.  Broil until the cheese is lightly brown.  Serve with your meal or eat as appetizers.

Corn Salsa

1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels, thawed (or kernels cut from 4 ears lightly cooked fresh corn)

1 cup minced sweet red pepper

½ cup minced red onion

2 tablespoons lime juice

¼ to ½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup peeled, seeded, minced cucumber

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 to 2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

  Combine ingredients in a bowl.  Makes about 3 cups.  Eat with tortilla chips.

Fresh Salsa

2 cloves garlic

1 ½ jalapeno

I lb. tomatoes, seeded and quartered

½ medium onion, quartered

¼ cup cilantro

Juice of one lime

Take garlic, onion, jalapeno and cilantro and blend in a food processor or blender, then add lime juice.  Add tomatoes and lightly pulse.

Beans

What are beans:

Beans are legume vegetables that carry plant protein and fiber. They are versatile and commonly eaten in many different ways.  They are easy to prepare and great to store. There are many different types and uses for them and they provide great nutritional value. 

Nutrition:

They are low in fat and high in fiber, high in protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. To meet the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans it is said we should eat 3 cups of beans each week. It will help our body fight against obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Types:

Black beans, black-eyed peas, cannellini, chick peas, great northern beans, kidney, lima, pinto, and navy.

Storage:

Beans can be stored in many different ways. Dry beans will last the longest and you get more for your money.  They can last 1 or more years in the bag from the store. To store longer, package them in #10 cans with oxygen absorbers. Doing so will allow them to last 30 or more years. 

For more information on this visit. (Usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/dry-beans.org.) Type beans. Grocery stores have canned beans that will last 1 year. Once cooked, beans can also be stored in the freezer. Defrost and use as needed. Pureed beans can also freeze well.

Cooking:

All beans require rinsing, soaking, and cooking.  It is important to do each step to help your body digest them better. The older the bean is, the longer it will require to re-hydrate and cook. If they do not re-hydrate use them for bean flour. Just grind in a wheat grinder. While rinsing, make sure you look for rocks and broken parts to discard. Put beans in a large enough saucepan because the beans will expand 3 times larger.

1 c. of dry beans to 3 c. water.

One 15 oz can= 1 1/2 c. cooked beans

One cup of dry beans = 3 c. cooked beans, drained

1 lb. dry beans=6 c. cooked beans, drained

Follow recommended cooking on the back of the package. Or follow these simple instructions:  http://www.theleangreenbean.com/how-to-cook-and-freeze-beans/

Uses:

Dry beans can be ground into flour to add to baked goods.

Cooked beans can go in many different styles of recipes. 

Puree beans to add to baked goods for extra fiber, and protein. Pureed beans will replace oil and some of the eggs. Using pureed beans, I like to use navy or great northern. They hide in every recipe. You can use pinto or black beans for darker colored recipes such as banana bread or chocolate cake. The pinto beans would hide well in the bread and the black beans would hide in the chocolate cake.

Recipes:

Chickpea Stuffed Shells

18 cooked jumbo pasta shells                                          1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 can(15 oz) garbanzo beans                                            1 small onion

2 egg whites                                                                         1 garlic clove, minced

1 carton (15) oz ricotta cheese                                          1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce

1/2 c minced fresh parsley                                                 1 1/2 c. Mozerella cheese

In food processor, combine beans and egg whites until smooth. Add ricotta, parsley Parmesan cheese, onion, and garlic. Blend. Pour 1 1/4 c. spaghetti sauce in 9x13 greased pan. Stuff the shells with bean mixture and place on top of spaghetti sauce. Once all shells are stuffed, cover with remaining spaghetti sauce. Bake uncovered at 350° for 30 min. Sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 5-10 min until cheese is melted and bubbly.

 Quesadilla Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (8 3/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained

2 teaspoons McCormick® Chili Powder

1 teaspoon McCormick® Cumin, Ground

1 teaspoon McCormick® Garlic, Minced

1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Oregano Leaves

1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Red Pepper, Crushed

6 flour tortillas, (8-inch)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the seasonings. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture, and cheese. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

Zucchini Brownies

1/4 c. oil

3 c. sugar

4 eggs

1/2 c. black beans, pureed

1/2 c. applesauce

1/2 c. cocoa powder

3 t. vanilla

2 t. salt

3 t. baking soda

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white flour

4 c. zucchini, grated

2 c. melted milk and semi chocolate chips

Mix oil, sugar, eggs, beans, applesauce, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. In another bowl, combine flours and baking soda, combine with liquid mixture.  Add zucchini, and melted chocolate chips until combined. Pour in large sprayed cookie sheet till desired thickness. There is usually extra so I put some in a 9x9 pan to bake. Bake 350° 30-40 min.  They are done when a tooth pick comes out clean.

Food Storage - Where do I begin?

Do you grow food in a garden? Do you have an extra jar of peanut butter or an extra can of diced tomatoes somewhere in your house? Do you have food in your 72 Hour Kit? If you said yes to any of these questions, you’ve already begun your food storage!

To me, there are two sides to food storage: “insurance” food storage and “to live” food storage. Both ways are good.

What is “insurance” food storage? “Insurance” food storage is buying a three month supply of food for your family from an emergency preparedness type store (think MREs--Meals Ready to Eat) and calling it good. You have your three months of food in case something crazy happens and you are following the prophet. All is well.

How to start “insurance” food storage?

· Look for Deals: Some of the stores have newsletters or emails announcing upcoming sales. Sign up for them.

· Try them: If it tastes nasty, don’t buy a 3 month supply of it!

· Make sure you have a way to eat them: Do the meals need water? Do they need to be heated? Will you need/want utensils?

“To live” food storage is incorporating the bulk (rice, beans, and grains) and canned foods you already use in your normal meals into your three month supply. This method is more time consuming than “insurance” food storage, but it usually costs less.

How to start “to live” food storage?

· Start Small: Build up a week supply of meals, then a month, two months, etc. Or build up one meal at a time. Work on having all the ingredients to make spaghetti six times in three months. When you finish that, then work on having all the ingredients to make tacos six times in three months, etc. Until you have a three month supply of meals.

· Buy in Bulk/Look for Deals: If something you normally eat is on sale, buy a case of it!

· Learn how to cook from scratch: If you are not familiar with cooking rice, grains, and beans, learn how! Cooking or baking with whole grains takes a little practice, but it is much healthier than processed foods. Did you know you can make your own yogurt, evaporated milk, sour cream, etc. from powdered milk? You can! There are so many areas to improve and become more self-reliant.

Don’t forget there is more to food storage than just food! It’s also important to store other things you use all the time.

· Water: Are you relying on your water heater as part of your water reserve supply in a crisis? Do you have a way to get the water out of your water heater? Have you practiced getting the water out of there?

· Financial Reserve: We all can see the wisdom in having some money set aside.

· Health and Hygiene Products: soap, baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, dental care, etc.

· Health Care: First-Aid, medications, etc.

· Fuel: candles, matches, wood, coal, kerosene, propane, diesel, etc.

· Clothing: cold/warm weather, children’s clothing, sturdy shoes, etc.

· Tools: food mills, generators, camping gear, etc.

· Essential Records: birth certificates, marriage license, social security cards, bank account numbers, etc.

There is no wrong place to start. The important part is to start! Keep it simple and work on your food storage a little every week.

Freezer to Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Noodles

It's basketball season at our house which means weeknights are a little more hectic as we try to get our boys to and from all their practices. Weekends are also crazy as we watch 3-4 ball games every Saturday. I am relying on my crockpot a lot to have a meal ready when we make it home, hungry and tired after it all. This freezer to crockpot creamy chicken and noodles is a new favorite.


I pre-cook the noodles during the week when I have a little time. When they are done cooking, I drain and rinse them with cool water. Then I place them in a container and stir in a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil. The oil keeps them from sticking together while they are stored in the fridge. I store them unitl the night they are needed.

I get the crockpot going before we leave. When we get home, I pop the noodles in the microwave while I cut the chicken up and add the sour cream. The kids set the table and dinner is ready in about five minutes. Serve with a side salad and some crusty bread. Another side dish that works well is sliced, fresh fruit. It's simple, comfort food at it's best!

Freezer to Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Noodles

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 ½ lbs frozen mixed vegetables

½ cup sour cream, plain yogurt, or cream cheese - add just before serving

1 lb wide egg noodles, cooked

Mix the cream soup and seasonings in a gallon freezer ziplock bag. Add the chicken and vegetables. Write directions on the bag and freeze. When ready to use, thaw overnight in the fridge. Pour into slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low. Pull the chicken out and dice it. Add it back to the slow cooker. Stir in the sour cream, plain yogurt, or cream cheese. Spoon over cooked egg noodles to serve.

Home Generators

Even though a generator appears on our Emergency supply list, its value seems to drop to the bottom of the list of needed purchases after we have survived a power outage without loss of our freezer foods; the furnace motor is still intact after the power surge; and we seemed to have kept warm by layering with clothes and blankets as it was a short power outage. We may look on this survival experience as luck, but this is not true preparation. Being prepared is important, comforting , and long-term. Home generators can be one of the most useful tools for our home and family security as a temporary (or long-term) power source.

NEEDS
Our needs determine the size, price and complexity of the generator required for
our home. Our first requirement is to assess the needs of our family in the home. 1. Does our home have an alternate heat source – fireplace (wood or pellet supply) and cooking source?

2. Do we have infants, small children, elderly needing power for oxygen, or other medical or technical devices requiring electricity?

3. Is air conditioning important or necessary for the family?

4. Have we spent our time and money on our freezer food storage and want to protect it?

WHICH GENERATOR DO WE NEED? How much power do we need? How soon do you need to use it? How often do you expect to use it and for what duration of time? Are you able to move around a few hundred pound device?

SIZE
A. How many watts do we need? Three general areas to address in an emergency are Security, Food, and Information. - What appliances or devices (home office, computers, medical) support is needed. A basic home requires about 5,000 running watts (5 Kilowatts) Most appliance tags or the owner’s manual or brand’s website will give wattage requirements.

B. Portable Generators - quick way for power back up. 1. Less expensive than standby (stationary) generators, and newer ones are quieter, more efficient and safer for sensitive electronics like computers, TVs, cell phones, etc. 2 2. Can be stored in garage but must be used outside (never indoors) and then connected to the appliances with extension cords.

C. Home Standby (Stationary) Generators are 24 hour protection 1. Will run immediately within 10 seconds of power outage. 2. Heavy, permanent units sit outside on concrete pads and run on your home’s natural gas or propane lines. 3. Require licensed electrician to install and also a licensed plumber to meet code. 4. More expensive than portable generators (much of the added expense is in installation costs) but long-term advantages provide safe and immediate power.

PRICE After determining your family’s requirements which somewhat determine the size of the generator of your choice and your budget, there are many options and prices available to select the generator best for your needs.

Consumer Report Buying Guide 2015, pg. 59-6 gives a quick overview of the portable and large and small stationary (standby) generators by brand, price & other features. Figure on paying $600 to $1,500 for most 5,000 to 7,000-watt portables. $1,800 to $3,200 for similar-wattage stationary models, $3,500-plus for higher-wattage models.

NEW OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR GENERATORS - Additional costs

A. Smart switches recognize overloads and will turn unit off

B. Mobile Link – remote monitoring system for Honeywell from cell phones and devices

C. Solar power generators are becoming more popular

D. Smaller back-up generators are battery powered providing uninterruptible power supply backup and surge protection throughout the year. Multiple connection ports to power up various devices including computers cable modems, etc.

HINTS

A. Gas is not available at the service station during a power outage if the station does not have generators for their pumps and very few do. (We found that out the hard way – long lines and then no gas. Lesson learned)

B. Generators must be placed outside during use. Fifteen feet from home, windows, & doors.

C. Many generators can be very loud.

D. SAFETY FIRST IN USING A GENERATOR. QUESTIONS –CALL A PROFESSIONAL

Storable Snacks - dehydrating fruit and making granola bars

This has been a wonderful summer and looks as though we are heading into a beautiful fall! Each season brings so much to offer and to look forward to. Yay, it’s exciting!! At our house, we have transitioned back into the swing of school schedules, dance and soccer practices, music lessons and earlier bed times. Our days fly by!! I’m sure you can all relate this to your own schedules. Thankfully, I have found ways for us to save time and money using local and online resources. A little digging can go a long way. :)

Each morning I make lunches for my kids to have at school. I’m one of those “mean moms” who wants her kids to have a healthy, clean lunch and balanced snack. Mean, right? These lunches also need to fit within the guidelines for food allergies we’ve been tackling. But, like I said, a little digging can go a long way in finding healthy, alternatives to replace store bought, over processed items-that although still good and convenient, I find myself saving for emergency meltdown situations.

So, luckily I was asked to theme my newsletter around healthy storable snacks. How do you like that for timing? I’m not an expert in any way, but this is what works for us and if it works for you too then that’s GREAT!!


This season we have taken advantage of fruit and vegetable harvests and enjoyed trying lots of new projects and recipes. Usually I do several batches of canned fruit, but we still have so many jars that I didn’t can this year. Instead we dehydrated LOTS of peaches and pears. Great snack to store for long term or short term storage.

We also made several batches of peach fruit leather. There are various recipes and ways to make leather. I have made fruit leather before BUT this year what I did worked better than any recipe or technique. It was easy, tasty and just plain awesome! AND according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, fruit leather will keep up to 1 month at room temperature and up to 1 year in the freezer. (Note from Tammy Price: Without humidity in Idaho, dried fruits and leathers will last a year or more just on your pantry shelf stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag.)

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it.  YUM, YUM! 

Ingredients:

4 Large unpeeled peaches (softball size)

2T Agave

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 225°. Wash and cut peaches in half. Remove seed. Place unpeeled peaches and agave into a blender and puree until smooth. Pour mixture onto a sprayed baking sheet. Use a spoon or spatula to evenly spread with width and length of baking pan. Be sure to keep it even. Place in oven and bake for 5 hours. Cooking time will vary based on oven and thickness of leather.

After baking the leather, I cut it with a pizza slicer and wrapped them individually and stored them for lunch or snack options. With three young kids, lunches, snacks and lots of little friends over, the leather lasted 30 days in our kitchen. The shelf life is longer but we ran out!

Another great, healthy, storable snack to have on hand that you can make from home is granola bars. We loooove granola bars at our house! And now we make our own! My kids don’t ever prefer the store bought ones anymore! It’s great!! Granola bars are healthy, filling and you most likely have all the ingredients in your pantry to make some. Look online and scroll through recipes that fit your families preferences and tastes. There are SOOOO many out there! Whichever you choose, check the shelf or freezer life. It can range anywhere from a few weeks to several months.

This last spring I stumbled across a recipe. We call them Sprinkle Granola Bars. They are simple no bake, gluten free, vegan, dairy free, organic, no sugar added, no oils, no bake and no salt added. What’s in them? Just healthy yumminess!! Try it if you would like.

Ingredients :

1 C Quick Oats (Organic or gluten free if you prefer)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Medium Extra Ripe Banana
1 Packet Truvia
4T Powdered Peanut Butter (PB2 works too) Add the Powdered Peanut butter in the powdered form (Do not add water)

Sprinkles, optional

Mix everything together.

Shape into bars.

Add sprinkles for fun color.

I add sprinkles for fun color which is why in our house they are called Sprinkle Granola Bars. But you don’t have to. :) Then I place them in the freezer to harden. After a few hours, I place them in freezer bags or containers and whala all done!

When I pack lunches for school or soccer games, I grab a few and by the time we need them they are soft and chewy! I keep several in my freezer. They last for months. We go through them quickly and it’s so nice to be able to grab a healthy snack for on the go!

I hope you have a chance to take advantage of the fall harvest. It truly is a blessing in our lives to have the resources to become more provident in our living. You can save time, money, and energy from running out to the store to buy the things you already have and that are hopefully healthier for your family in the long run.


Have a great fall season!!

Caning Spaghetti Sauce

We now have 35 quarts of home-canned spaghetti sauce from our garden. Because I chose to pressure can it instead of using a boiling water bath, I had more freedom in the recipe I used. This recipe is not safe for the water bath canning process because it is not acidic enough.

Wash and cut your tomatoes in half. Place in a large glass bowl and cook in the microwave to release much of their juice. This saves you from having to simmer your pot down for hours on the stove- a huge plus for me! When done, strain the tomatoes from the juice. Reserve the juice just in case.

Puree the tomatoes in the food processor - peels and all.

Chop other vegetables in the food processor as well.

Here's my cute little helper. She is my only one home in the mornings this year so she has become my number one "helper." Those of you with young children know that it slows you down to have such a "helper," but I know I'm teaching her important principles so I try to be patient through it all. Her favorite job is to push the buttons on the food processor. Thank goodness mine has a lock function so it won't turn on until the lid is locked in place or I would have a giant mess!

Mix everything together. Add spices to taste. It takes more basil and oregano than you think. I buy my spices in bulk at our local grocery store. Stir in tomato paste until it is as thick as you like. You can also chop fresh herbs if you have them. I ended up adding the tomato juice back in and using a little more tomato paste so I could have a larger batch.

Fill jars. Then pressure can at 12 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes.

I ended up with about 9 quarts of sauce with this recipe. If you don't want to pressure can it, you can freeze this recipes with perfect results.

Home-Canned Spaghetti Sauce

18 cups tomato puree

3 large green peppers, chopped

3 medium onions, chopped

1 large zucchini, chopped

10 carrots, chopped

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar

3-4 cups tomato paste - enough to make it as thick as you like

Reserved tomato juice, if needed

Dried oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and cut tomatoes in half. Place in a large glass bowl. Microwave for 12-15 minutes. This allows the tomatoes to release a lot of their juice. Strain the tomatoes from the juice, but reserve the juice in case it is needed later. Chop the tomatoes in a food processor. Chop peppers, onions, zucchini, and carrots in a food processor. Mix all the ingredients together. Use some of the reserved juice, if needed, depending on how much tomato paste you added. Fill jars and pressure can at 12 lbs of pressure for 20 minutes.