Dehydrated Green Peppers

Have I mentioned yet how much I love my dehydrator? Well, I do. :) Now, in the fall, things are so busy with harvesting and canning that I don't always have time to get everything done that I'd like to. I picked a bunch of green peppers from our ward garden at the end of the season, chopped them up and put them into the freezer. I filled a gallon sized ziplock bag with them. That was quite a few peppers! Now, the freezer is a fine place to preserve your chopped green peppers, but I had other ideas in mind. I love preserving food--but even more so, I love getting it out of the freezer and on to the shelf.

Last night, I finally finished my green pepper project. I took out my bag of green peppers and put them in the dehydrator last night. (I had some of them thawed already in the fridge, so I took the rest of the bag out of the freezer and ran them under hot water to thaw them out, just because I was impatient).


They dried up beautifully! I put them all into a quart jar and it only filled half of a jar! Then I vacuum sealed it.

Ta da! All those green peppers that were taking up space in my freezer are now in a jar sitting on my shelf ready to be used in any recipe that I need them for.

Just a note--normally you have to blanch veggies before you dehydrate them. When you freeze them (or even buy frozen veggies on great sales) they no longer need to be blanched before you dehydrate them (sorry, I don't have the scientific info on that). The part of the vegetable that gets broken down during blanching also gets broken down when they are frozen.

**I just found another brilliant idea and am going to try it and post it. Stay tuned! :)

What's for dinner?

I tried a new recipe tonight that I wanted to share. It was delicious! Here's the recipe (and sorry I didn't get a picture taken):

Pasta Fagioli

2 T olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped (I only used half of a large onion )

Heat oil, garlic and onion in a large saucepan. Then add:

1 large can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
2 T parsley
1 can kidney beans, drained

Simmer for 25 minutes. In the meantime, cook 2 cups of shell pasta. Add the pasta and fresh grated parmesan cheese to the sauce just before serving.

Enjoy!

Organized Spice

So, I finally found the time to organize my spice drawer! I have been saving baby food jars and collecting them from friends and family (Thanks!) to use in my project.

This drawer is right next to my stove, so it is a very convenient place for all of my spices, but as you can see, it has become more inconvenient to find or get anything out of that drawer.


So, here's what I did: I took the jar lids out to my garage and spray painted them (with the door open) black. It was a pretty simple and easy job.

Then I filled my jars with spices, put the lids on them and printed out nice little labels for the lids. Doesn't that look great! I am so excited to cook something now! :)

What a great use for empty baby food jars!

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Ezekiel Bread

So, I made Ezekiel bread for the first time and I was very pleased with how easy it was and how well it turned out! It is nothing like what you can buy at the health food store in the freezer section. The recipe I used turned out just like regular homemeade wheat bread.



I started by grinding the following grains all mixed together:
5 cups wheat
1 cup barley
1 cup rye
1/3 cup millet
1/4 cup pinto beans
1/4 cup soy beans
1/4 cup lentils
1000mg vitamin C tablet (acts a a natural dough enhancer)

(I was able to find all these grains at WinCo in the bulk section)

This is what I ended up with:



Here's the recipe:

5 cups warm water
3 Tbs. yeast
½ cup honey
1 stick of butter
2 Tbsp salt
½ the flour mixture

Mix until blended.

Add ½ cup vital wheat gluten (you can use gluten flour. . . also at WinCo) and gradually add in the rest of the flour, kneading to make a smooth dough, about 10 more minutes. Allow dough to rise ½ hour before shaping into 4 loaves. Rise a second time for ½ hour, and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

Here's my mixing dough:




And here's my nice smooth dough:

The loaves before rising (my girls like to make their own loaves):

After rising:

And out of the oven:

My bread turned out just slightly denser than my wheat bread, but it stayed soft for a very long time. It makes delicious sandwiches or toast. I made grilled cheese and my kids had no idea it was any different than my normal bread, and yet they are getting so many more healthy grains in them!

If you don't have a grinder and are a neighbor or friend, I'd be happy to grind some grains up for you! Just let me know!

Enjoy!






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Granola!

I had such a great time at our Self-Reliance class last night! Thanks to all of you that came!! I have posted the recipes for granola bars and yogurt, so now I am going to post the granola recipe. . . or maybe a couple recipes. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it! Maybe I'll take one and add it later.

Granola

6 cups regular rolled oats (not quick)
1 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp salt (oops. . . I forgot that last night! Oh, well, it still tasted good!)
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups dried fruit

Mix dry ingredients. heat oil, honey, and brown sugar until warm, stirring. Combine dry and wet ingredients and pour onto large cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Add dried fruit in for the last 5 minutes of baking.

Here is another recipe for granola that I have been making:

6 cups regular rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix everything but raisins. In a separate bowl, whisk together:

1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla

Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients and stir to coat evenly. Spread on large cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes stirring frequently. Add raisins during the last 5 minutes of baking.

As you can see, there are many similarites to granola recipes. My advice is to use what you like (or what you have) in your granola and make it your own favorite. I like to add cinnamon to my granola sometimes. Other times, I will combine different recipes together. I don't think I've ever made the same granola twice! It's fun to try new things. One thing we put in our granola last night was pumpkin seeds (even though it wasn't on the recipe). Try it out and enjoy!



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Making Yogurt

One of the greatest things I've discovered lately is homemade yogurt!! It is SO easy and healthy. The only special tool that you need is a candy thermometer. You can find them at Wal-Mart for $3-$4.

Here's what you do:

Put 7 cups of milk (I use 1%, but you use what you like) in a pan on the stove.

Whisk in 1/2 cup of powdered milk.

Stick your thermometer in and heat up the milk (on about medium heat) until it reaches 200 degrees.


(Sorry I don't have anymore pictures right now, but I am anxious to get this posted).

Pour the heated milk into a pitcher (not glass. . . just speaking from experience. . . .CRACK)

Stick your thermometer in it and wait until the milk cools to 110 degrees. This takes about an hour, so make sure you have the time!

Add 1 cup of plain yogurt (Dannon plain is the best to use as your initial starter). After that, you can save 1 cup of the yogurt you make to start your next batch. You can even stick it in the freezer if it's going to be awhile until you make yogurt again.

Stir it up well and pour into four glass pint jars. Put lids and rings on them. (You do not need a new lid, just use a clean one that has already been sealed before).

Now. . .you have a few options. . . the goal is to keep the jars at 100 degrees for 9 hours. . . .

#1 Wrap jars up in a warm fleece blanket or some towels and place in a small cooler. When I did it this way, I put the cooler in the sun. . . I don't know if that is necessary or not, but it turned out great!

#2 Warm your oven up to the coolest setting. Turn it off and place your jars in the oven. It might be best to do this at night when you will not be using your oven. Then the yogurt will be done in the morning.

#3 I have a square dehydrator where the trays come out and I can put my yogurt right in and turn it on to the right temperature for making yogurt.

Let your yogurt culture for 9 hours and then put in the fridge.

A few notes:

*To make vanilla yogurt, add 1/3 cup (or more) of sugar and 2 Tbs. of vanilla when you are heating up the milk.

*If you would like fruit yogurt, add a few spoonfuls of jam to the bottom of your pint jars before you pour the heated milk in.


*A lot of the time, I will make just the plain yogurt and then add a small spoonful of jam to it, along with some homemade granola and dried or fresh fruit and it is DELICIOUS!


Whew!! It really isn't that complicated. . . I just wanted to give you all the details! Enjoy!!




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Granola Bars!

I've been searching for a good granola bar recipe, and I have loved this one! I hope you all enjoy it!

4 1/2 c rolled oats (regular, not quick)

1 c flour ( I like to use whole wheat flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 c butter, melted

1/2 c honey

1/3 c brown sugar, packed

1/2 c mini chocolate chips (raisins, craisins, other dried fruit, whatever you like!)

Combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips (or whatever you are putting in). Mix and then add the chocolate chips in and mix again. Press into a greased pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes. Enjoy!!

**this is a basic recipe. . . if you like other things, try putting them in and make it your own recipe! Nuts, seeds, coconut, peanut butter. . . the options are endless!**

Here they are pressed into my pan. I made a double batch the other day and fit it in this pan. It makes them a little thicker, so I just cut them a little smaller

Once they've cooled off for a few minutes, cut them up to your desired size. They are VERY filling, so keep that in mind, especially if you have young kids.

Once they have cooled completely, I like to wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in a big ziplock bag. You can also use the snack size baggies to put each one in. What a yummy and healthy snack your kids have to come home to! (And yummy for mom, too!)