November and December

I’m sorry that it has been so long since my last post...my computer and I were having a little disagreement.  But it has been fixed (for free- thank you Apple Care), and we are back in business.  I have been very excited about the last two months of grocery shopping.  In November, after looking through what we have on hand and doing my meal planning accordingly, I was pleased to realize that I only needed a handful of items for the month.  Apples, carrots, spinach, frozen edamame and broccoli, dried basil, coconut milk, and red curry sauce all made the list.  The total was a whopping $38.35 for the month.  To be very transparent, I needed a container of vegan cream cheese later in the month, so add $2.99 to that total.

For the month of December, (which I completely forgot to photograph), I decided just to purchase the few items we needed to restock and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.  I have a lot of food in our pantry and freezer to use up, which will supplement the produce that we bought to create our meals.  Things like bell peppers, spinach, asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli, onion, apples and some spices made it into the cart, plus hempseeds, olive oil, and canned stewed tomatoes.  Our total came out just under $114.  

My in-laws were also here this month, and they treated us to a few groceries that we needed such as bulk popcorn kernels, vinegar, coffee, salmon, mahi, and a couple other items that will definitely save us money in the coming months.  Thank you Mom and Dad Peterson!

My goal over the next couple of months is to clear out some of the space in our big freezer that is in our garage.  As a matter of fact, I am headed down now to get out a frozen crockpot meal that we can have for dinner tonight.  Thanks to a day of hard work several months ago, dinner will be mess and stress free tonight...yay!

I am very happy to have had such low food costs these past couple months because the holidays always stretch our budget.  We are not big on gift giving in our house, but there are countless opportunities to give money (and/or time) to charitable causes.  I will, however, be hand-making something small for friends and family, which I will be sure to share more about in my next post.

How do you keep your food costs down during the holidays?  Do you prefer to donate rather than buy gifts in your family?  What are some of your favorite homemade gifts?  Thank you for reading, and happy holidays!  

September and October Groceries, and Meal Photos

September was an expensive month for our grocery budget.  It seemed like most of our expensive items ran out at one time in August, and we ended up buying higher priced items including salmon, wine, maple syrup, vegan butter, rice and almond milk, olive oil, quinoa, miso paste, vegan mayo, and a few 25 pound bags of bulk legumes.  Our total for the month was $332.50, which was humbling after a couple of really low months.  Here is a photo of our goods:

October was much easier on our budget.  I did our grocery shopping one night after work this week, and it only took me one hour to get all of our groceries from three stores, and I spent $82 for the month.  I feel like this helped balance out our expensive month of September.  Here is a picture of October groceries:

I took a handful of photos of our meals since the 10 Item Challenge, and I thought I would share some of those here so readers can get a better idea of what my husband and I eat.  I hope you find some ideas for your next menu plan as well.

 Vegetable Miso Soup

Grilled Veggies and Tomato Avocado Salad 

Tomato Cauliflower  

Lemon Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Walnuts

 Roasted Veggies with Sauteed Basalmic Mushrooms and Crusty Bread

Green Veggie and Udon Soup 

Grilled Salmon Salad and Fresh Peaches 

Forbidden Rice with Tomato Sauce and Steamed Broccoli  

Roasted Dill Root Vegetables and Steamed Broccoli  

Grilled Corn with Sauteed Veggies, Peaches, and Avocado Bean Salad 

Tomato Lentil Stew 

 Steamed Veggies- sometimes you just crave this for dinner!

Tomato, Eggplant, Zucchini, and Onion Ratatouille  

Teriyaki Vegetables over Brown Rice 

Polenta Lasagna (From the Bonzai Aphrodite Blog) 

Penne with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Steamed Green Beans 

Roasted Eggplant and Brussels Sprouts with Steamed Carrots 

Cauliflower Alfredo 

Steamed Veggies, Roasted Beets, and Baked Sweet Potato 

Roasted Red Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans, Fresh Tomatoes  

 Roasted Root Veggies with Butternut Squash

Thank you for reading, and I hope all of your monthly grocery shopping trips are going well!

Long Overdue: Corn, Pears, and Heirlooms

It has been way too long since my last entry, and I apologize.  Since I started work after summer break, life has become busy with schedules again.  To catch up readers on our big summer projects that finished out the summer season, I am sharing the preserving processes that we did for corn and pears.

My mom and I went to the Pumpkin Patch Farm on Sauvie’s Island to pick up our corn.  We bought 200 ears of their “peaches and cream” corn, and it is the most amazing corn we have ever had.  (They are carrying it through fall if you want to see for yourself.)  At 5/$1, that means we each paid $20, and we did not have to throw out a single cob...pretty great considering all of the things that you could find when you pull back those husks.  

My mom, my grandma, my sister and I all husked the corn.

We then placed the whole cobs into boiling water for about five minutes.

We cut all of the kernels off of the cobs.  I found this tip using the bundt pan from a Martha Stewart magazine.  You balance the cob on the center part of the pan and use a knife to cut off all of the kernels, which fall right into the pan.  It makes clean-up very easy.

We filled vacuum bags with 2 cups of corn per bag and sealed them off.  The bags then went into the freezer.  We ended up with 80 bags total.  Broken down into price per bag, it is 50 cents a piece for two cups of sweet, juicy, farm-to-table corn...that’s a win in my book.  (200 ears of corn, 5/$1= $40.  $40 divided by 80 bags= 50 cents/bag.) 

We also picked up pears while we were on Sauvie’s Island.  We bought green Bartlett pears at $8 for a 20 pound box.  We each bought three boxes, which was a total of 60 pounds and $24.  The pears had to ripen for about a week, so we set them outside on my grandma’s deck on newspaper.  

When they were ripe, we started by peeling and coring each pear.  The fresh pears were packed into clean quart size mason jars, which already had a fresh orange slice at the bottom.  If you haven’t ever canned pears with a thin slice of orange, I highly recommend it- it adds a great flavor.

We poured a boiling hot mixture of syrup into each jar, which was 2 cups of sugar to 4 cups of water.  You could probably cut the sugar in half if you wanted to.  We left one inch of headspace.  Once the jars were topped with new, sterile lids and rings, they were processed in a water bath for 20 minutes per batch. 

We ended our pear day with 40 quarts of pears.  Here’s the price breakdown: 60 pounds of pears at $48, divided by 40 quarts= $1.20 per quart.  Each quart jar held about 6 large pears, so the jars last more than just one sitting...unless you are my husband who had never had home-canned pears...

After a busy season of canning, I ran out of room in my kitchen pantry for all of our jars.  As a solution, I cleared out a small hallway closet that sits right next to our kitchen, which we really didn’t use.  I was able to fill it with all of our jars and my food storage buckets (brown rice, black beans, rolled oats, bread flour) for a clean, organized pantry space that stays cool and dry.   

I will leave you with a couple photos of some treasures I have recently added to our home.  I decided to get rid of a lot of items in my kitchen that don’t really reflect my taste.  My husband and I are doing a fundraising garage sale for a non-profit organization, so it was great motivation to get rid of all sorts of things...and the kitchen took a nice, big hit.  The donated goods were mostly serving pieces, mixing bowls, and items that were purchased new from a store.  If you know me at all, you know that I love things that tell a story, and that are not necessarily new, but rather vintage.  I decided to jump on the pyrex bandwagon to replace the mixing bowls that we donated, and the pattern I chose is called “Butterprint.”  I am only going to collect a set of mixing bowls and a couple refrigerator dishes with lids.  Here is the start to my collection:

I was also fortunate enough to be given sets of silver flatware from both my family and my husband’s family when we got married.  (My in-laws know the way to my heart!)  I pulled these beauties out of retirement last month, polished them up, and replaced our flatware from Ikea with pieces that remind us of our families...and did I mention they are beautiful?  What a treat it was last month when my aunt came over for dinner and realized that the very fork she was eating with belonged to her mother (my grandma) who passed away in 1985.  She said she probably ate with that very fork a hundred times as a little girl.

What vintage items do you have in your home?  How were your summer preserving adventures?  Have you started anything for Fall yet?  I’d love to hear.  Thank you so much for reading.     

Green Beans, Green Apples, and Green Bell Peppers... A Photo Journal

It has been a couple of very busy weeks for myself and my family as we take advantage of the bounty of produce that summer brings.  We put up green beans and beets in the pressure canner, and we made applesauce for the freezer.  My mom, aunt, and grandma also made apple pies to freeze, but I decided to just can apple pie filling in a water bath since vegans require a special crust that I would rather make fresh when we want a pie.  I also found a local deal on u-pick green bell peppers, and at 4 for $1, I couldn’t pass up stocking up for the year.  Since pictures sometimes speak louder than words, here are some photos of all of the processes...

These were 15 pound boxes and we bought 4 of them at $16 a piece.  We ended up with 80 pints of green beans, which calculates out to 80 cents a jar (each pint is 16 ounces of beans).

We snapped both ends off and washed the beans in a water bath.  This is where you throw out any bad or discolored beans.  We had to throw out quite a bit this year, and probably could have ended up with a total of 90-100 jars if we hadn't lost so many.  What we learned: can the green beans the same day you bring them home, if at all possible, to avoid losing some of them.

We snapped them into fairly uniform pieces...

and stuffed them into our pint jars.  We added a half teaspoon of canning/pickling salt to each jar.

They were then filled with boiling water, leaving one inch of headspace.  The clean, boiled lids and rings were then assembled.

They then went into the pressure canner.  I have always been afraid of my pressure canner, but once I learned how to use it, I found it to be pretty easy.  Just be sure to read your directions carefully before you begin.  And also, steam burns are painful... oops.

We processed at ten pounds of pressure for 20 minutes.

The finished product.  We covered them and let them cool completely in Grandma's garage before moving them into our pantries.

Here are most of the jars of beans.

 

For the beets, we bought a 20 pound bag for $17.  We ended up with 28 jars, which breaks down to about 61 cents a jar.  First, they needed to be sorted into fairly uniform size groups, and then boiled for about 20-30 minutes to remove skins.

Then they are peeled and cut into smaller pieces to be stuffed into pint jars.  

Each jar gets a half teaspoon of canning/pickling salt, and filled to a one inch headspace with boiling water.  The clean, boiled lids and rings are then assembled, and they are processed at ten pounds in the pressure canner for 30 minutes.

The finished product...aren't they a beautiful color?  We also made one batch of pickled beets for my grandma because she loves them.  We used a simple recipe of salt, sugar, water, and vinegar, and cut the beets into about 1/4 inch slices.  We processed them in a water bath instead of the pressure canner, and they turned out great.  We are planning on making more pickled beets next year. 

We had the privilege of watching my niece overnight while we did all of this canning.  My husband was more than happy to rise to the occasion of getting her to take an evening nap so we could finish up.  We also learned that she does not like beets... at all.  

The next day was apple day.  This is a picture of my grandma's Golden Delicious apple tree.  There are more apples than leaves on it right now.  I asked my mom how long these apple trees have been feeding our family, and learned it has been about 50 years.  We did not use any of the Golden Delicious apples for our applesauce and pie.  We will save those for another day. 

Instead, we used Gravensteins. 

These apples photograph so well.  Here are two sitting on my grandpa's old wooden ladder.

I love how this picture looks like the tree is just holding the apples in it's hand.

Here are some of the bunch we collected as we were getting ready to start the peeling.

I see you!

First we cut...

Then we peeled.  These are Grandma's hands... she has been doing this for decades.

Then we cut into smaller pieces.

They went into a pot with water, and we boiled until the apples became soft.  We then used a potato masher to turn them into sauce of the right consistency.  We like our applesauce a little chunky around here.

We don't really use a recipe.  We just added sugar and cinnamon to taste, which was about a quarter cup and 1 tablespoon, respectively.  Applesauce is not a science- just make it the way you like it.  Remember, it is easier to add more than to take away, so add slowly and taste often.

We then filled our pint jars and left about an inch and a half of headspace since the sauce will expand once frozen.  Finding a broken jar in your freezer is such a disappointment, so be careful not to overfill. 

We let them cool entirely before popping the jars into the freezer.  No processing required for freezer applesauce.  Applesauce holds its texture after being frozen, so that was a few extra steps we could eliminate.  You can process your applesauce in a water bath if you would rather have shelf stable sauce, or if you don't have the room in a freezer.  We made about 34 jars, and since the apples were free from the backyard, it only cost us the price of the new lids we put on them.

Cooling... I just liked this picture.

Here are some apples that I went home with for my apple pie filling.  They are sitting next to a giant zucchini that someone brought to church for me.  That is a nickel sitting on the zucchini to give you a reference of how big it was.  I am so grateful for this family's generosity.

With flowers from a dinner guest and friend.

The zucchini was washed and peeled.

Then it was seeded.

Then cut into smaller pieces, put into three separate freezer bags, and put into the freezer.  I plan on adding it to soups during the cold fall and winter months.

The apples for the apple pie filling were washed, peeled, and sliced.  I filled three quart jars with them to be processed.

The pie sauce was a mixture of 4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and 10 cups water, brought to a boil while it thickens.

The jars were filled to about a half inch headspace with the sauce and processed in a water bath for 20 minutes.

I also ended up with 4 pints of just the pie sauce to freeze for later use.

 

These are the green bell peppers that I picked from a local farm.  I picked 28, and at 4 for $1, it only cost me $7.  I only use green bell peppers in my homemade marinara and sometimes in our veggie fajitas.  Otherwise, I typically use red because that is what my husband prefers.  I have yet to find a u-pick farm that has red bell peppers in our area.  But if I do find one, I will probably pick more than 28.  The green bell peppers that we usually see in our local stores run about $1 to $2, so 25 cents a piece and only ten minutes to pick all of them was a great deal.  I think I have enough to last the whole year.  First I washed them in a vinegar and water solution.

Then I let them air dry for a few hours.

Then they were each seeded and diced, and put into FoodSaver bags.

The air was then sucked out of the bags.

Here they all are, ready to go into the freezer.  I decided to do one pepper per bag because that makes a lot of sense for our cooking purposes.  You may want to put all of yours into one bag and just take from it as you need, which works great too.

Here are some other photos from my grandma's backyard:

Crocosmia in bloom.

These are the hydrangeas that I used in my wedding two years ago, and they are blooming in the same color again now.  My mom and aunt picked them the morning of our wedding, and my mom and mother-in-law delivered them to a local woman that makes wedding bouquets and centerpiece arrangements.  I loved that extra personal touch, and I was very grateful that I could share that experience with my grandma, who went home with my bouquet at the end of the day...

How cute is she?!

 

And at the end of the canning marathon, a little agave wine margarita to celebrate.  Next up is corn and pears this weekend.  Thanks for reading!