What to do with that pumpkin...

Many of you might have leftover pumpkins from Halloween, or your garden.  Well, this is what I did with mine...

I had a few smaller pumpkins, so I found it easiest to cut them in smaller pieces and then clean them out with a knife and spoon.  If anyone knows an easier way to clean out a pumpkin...please share! :)

And, here's my pan full of pumpkin...I put a little bit of water in the pan to prevent the pumpkin from sticking and burning.

We have chickens, so I took all of the seeds out to soak in salt water and then fed the rest to the chickens.  They love it. 

I baked the pumpkin for about 40 minutes on 350.  If your pumpkin is larger, you will need to cook it longer.  You can check it with a fork to make sure it is soft.

Next, I scraped out the inside of the pumpkin and put it in my blender:  I added just enough water to help it blend.

And here's the nice smooth pumpkin...

Now, I have an amazing recipe for pumpkin bars (that will be my next post) that uses 2 cups of pumpkin, so I measured out 2 cups of pumpkin and put it in a Ziploc bag to put in the freezer.  This way when I want to make them, I can just take the bag out, thaw the pumpkin and use it in my recipe.  

I haven't baked my seeds yet, they are still soaking on my counter.  When I do, I will put them on a baking sheet sprayed with oil and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes--just until they are slightly browned. Then turn my oven off and let them sit in there while it cools.  They are absolutely delicious!!

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Potato Latkes

Each month I put together a dry pack canning project for my ward at church.  We usually can items like wheat, beans, flour, oats, etc. that the LDS Cannery offers. This month, I decided to try something different and we canned potato shreds and potato slices (dehydrated) from Winco.  It was a huge success.  We canned almost 300 cans (the big #10 ones).

Since lots of people have them now, I decided to post a yummy recipe using the potato shreds.  I made these tonight for dinner and even my SUPER picky eater thought they were pretty good.  

Here's my can (I had bought this awhile ago, it's not one we just canned)

Here's the recipe:

POTATO LATKES

 (I always forget how to pronounce them. . . )

Boil 4 cups of water (it doesn't have to be exact)

Add 1 1/2 cups dehydrated potato shreds (turn stove off0

1/4 c dehydrated onions (or you can use fresh and add in with other ingredients)

Let sit for 10-15 minutes

Drain water out 

Pour potatoes/onion into a medium sized bowl and add the following:

2 eggs (I used real, but I might try powdered next time to make it a great food storage meal)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients together

Scoop 1/4 cup of mixture into a frying pan with hot oil and flatten a little

Brown for a few minutes on each side

Top with sour cream and applesauce-- or I just like ketchup

Here are my re-hydrated and drained potatoes:

Here's my mixture (my daughter loves to help):

Here they are frying on the first side:

And after I flipped them:  

Place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

I used an electric skillet to cook mine and I had the temperature set to 300 degrees.

And there you go!  Enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon Fruit Leather

After canning 124 quarts of applesauce, I still had some apples leftover.   I got a GREAT deal on them at $.13/lb at my local orchard.  So, I decided to make apple cinnamon fruit leather.  My blender was having issues, so I used my food processor to chop the apples up.  It was a little chunkier than when blended, but it still turned out fine.  All I did was wash, quarter and cut the seeds out of the apples and then put them in the food processor.  I added in some cinnamon (sorry, I don't measure a lot) and kept mixing. Then I spread it out on my trays and stuck in my dehydrator. 

Here it is out of the dryer. 

And the final product all rolled up in plastic wrap.  It is delicious!

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Q & A

I love getting comments on my blog. . . it really motivates and inspires me to do more, so thank you for your comments.  There was a question about what to do with leftover Halloween candy.  I have a few recommendations:

First, much of your hard candy (i.e. Jolly Ranchers, suckers, anything hard) you can actually dry pack can into #10 cans, if you have that available to you.  In my ward at church, we dry pack can each month, and you can bring your own food to can.   We put an oxygen absorber in the can, then fill it with the food, put the lid on and seal it with a #10 can sealer.

Second, you can vacuum seal it with a Food Saver, or other brand sealer.  I have a post here where I have vacuum sealed granola and wheat nuts.  You can totally vacuum seal candy--even chocolate!  Although, if it is for long term storage, I would put it in a box labeled "Broccoli" or something like that. :)  If you want to seal up something in smaller packages like mini candy bars, or packages of M&M's, then take a straight pin and poke a couple holes in the packaging so that the oxygen can be sucked out of the inside of the wrapper.  I love vacuum sealing, because you can preserve food that would otherwise go rancid quickly, like brown sugar, brown rice, and nuts.

Last, if you don't have either of those methods available, you can simply store it in a glass jar.  Plastic is okay, if it is PETE plastic, but glass if preferable.  You may put in an oxygen absorber if you really want to.  But, hard candy would probably be fine for a long time just in a jar.

Now, I am not an expert on the best way to store candy, but this is what I would do (and probably should because we have WAY too much candy around here right now!).

Thank you, Christina, for your question!

I made deodorant!

So, here's another thing I've thought for awhile about trying, and finally got around to it.  Homemade deodorant.  I think the fact that I am almost out pushed me to do this. :)  It is so easy.  I literally took less than five minutes.  I watched a video on You Tube before making it and it was as easy as it looked.  The lady on the video said that she and her husband have been using it for 2 years and have been totally happy with it.  So why not try it out?  

Here's the link if you would like to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar0BF6hMuGE&noredirect=1

This is all I used :  1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup corn starch (or she uses arrowroot powder)

6 Tblsp. coconut oil

Put them in a bowl and start mixing!  

 This is what it looked like when I was done:

And then I put it in this little 1/2 cup jar.  It is better to keep in a glass jar, rather than plastic.

And there you go!  You can apply it with your fingers, or if you don't want to do that, put it in an empty deodorant container and use it like normal.  

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Tis the Seasonings. . .

In the back of my mind, I have wanted to do this for a while.  And, I finally did!  I made my own taco seasoning, dry onion soup mix, and dry ranch mix.  It was pathetically easy.  Why did it take me so long to try?  I don't know.  I found these recipes on http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/recipes-2/condiments.  

Taco Seasoning:

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sea salt

Put ingredients into a jar and shake.

Dry Onion Soup Mix:

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.  I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. 

Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.  Store this in a dry, cool place. 

Ranch:

5 tablespoons dried minced onions

7 teaspoons parsley flakes

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip:  Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend.

Here are my finished products.  I doubled each of the recipes and ended up with a perfect amount for a pint jar.  They are delicious and I feel so much better using these than store-bought seasoning mixes that are full of MSG and lots of other unnecessary and unhealthy chemicals. :)

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Some new stuff. . .

So, I've been doing some fun stuff, I just haven't had time to post.  So, I'll try to get it all up.  First of all, I have a new favorite website.  It is:  http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/ .  I've been trying to feed my family healthier foods and cut out all that yucky stuff like hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup and any other chemical listed on an ingredients label that I can't pronounce. 

So, I have found some fantastic recipes on this website and have tried out quite a few and want to share what I have done.  Well, have you ever checked out your ingredients labels. . . particularly on crackers and snacks?  Ugh.  I guess I have to make my own.  Which I LOVE to do.  I would much rather eat something that I have made then buy it at the store.  Anyway, here's a super yummy granola bar.  LOVE THEM!  And my kids like them and I can sneak healthy stuff in them like sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, coconut and even raw pumpkin seeds (although I couldn't get those past my son, the green was not completely covered by the chocolate).  

Here's the recipe:  http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-chewy-granola-bars-without-corn-syrup

If you want to see her lovely pictures and step by step.  Here are the basic directions:

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)

1 cup oats

1 cup total of any combination of:  sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips

In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add one cup of oats.  Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP.  (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.)  Pour in and stir well.

Stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.

Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.

Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack!

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