Sunday morning I was up with the chickens, dressed, with one
cup of coffee down and heading out the door with my shopping list. I went to four stores in total finding only a
few items on my list at Fred Meyer.
Their shelves were quite picked over and the meat they had in their ad
was nowhere to be found. Winco, Cash
& Carry as well as Dollar Tree were able to meet my needs and once I was
done I headed straight home to put everything away and get busy on my next
tasks.
I put strawberry rhubarb jam on in my slow cooker The rhubarb came from our garden! |
At Fred Meyer I was able to get some beautiful strawberries
that were on sale for $1.99 a 2# box. I
diced up a quart of berries before heading out to our yard to cultivate some
rhubarb and after slicing all of that up I made a nice big pot of strawberry
rhubarb jam in my slow cooker. It
smelled like heaven!
I found sliced organic mushrooms on markdown and knew I needed to dehydrate them for our long term storage |
I also removed all of the onions and bell peppers from the
dehydrator and gave it a quick wash before reloading it with three packages of
organic sliced mushrooms I found on markdown, a bunch of celery I had in our
crisper drawer and three of the apples I had picked up from the markdown bin as
well. I puttered out in the garden,
pulled weeds, spread compost around the berry bushes, did a load of laundry,
checked the chickens, cleaned up the kitchen and canned the jam. It was a great Sunday!
We have been dehydrating (and eating!) a lot of markdown apples |
Monday morning I awoke to a well soaked lawn and garden from
a lovely overnight rain. I emptied the
mushrooms and celery from the dehydrator and washed the trays. I cleaned my jam jars that I let cool
overnight, washed the rings I'd removed and put labels on the jars before
putting them away in the pantry. I need
more jam jars! So I guess I'll be on the
hunt.
This is the rhubarb I harvested from our garden. Beautiful |
When I got home Monday evening I reloaded the dehydrator
with more markdown apples completely filling it up. The ones I did on Sunday taste absolutely
fabulous, just like everything else I've dried so far, which has really been
encouraging.
Dehydrated onions - they smell fantastic! |
Tuesday morning I took the bowl of dried onions and whizzed
it around in my little food processor to make them a little finer, but not too
much. I was able to reduce those four
trays of chopped onions to fill a quart jar about two thirds full. I think I chopped up ten onions total and I
still have a lot more in the bag to do up.
That evening I cut up a nice sized bowl of strawberries for a future
batch of jam and stuck them in the freezer.
I will make the jam once I find enough jam jars at the thrift store to
complete the task.
I water bath canned my jams |
Wednesday morning I reloaded the dehydrator with frozen
blueberries and a tray of fresh strawberries I sliced up. The girls like the dried apples so much they
went to Fred Meyer to see if there were any more apples in the markdown
bin. They came home with three bags of
apples for $1 each. My youngest was
super excited about it too.
When I got home from work I put on a big pot of salsa and
canned it in my new canner. I am having way too much fun with that thing
I have to tell you. I am also looking
forward to exploring its many other functions too, once I have a spare minute. While the salsa simmered I refilled the
dehydrator with apple slices and let it go overnight.
My daughters made these gorgeous dipped strawberries |
After work on Thursday I emptied and reloaded the dehydrator
with more trays filled with sliced apples.
I let those go overnight rotating the trays just before I went to bed
and again in the morning when I got up.
When I got home from work they were perfect and ready to go into a one
gallon glass jar I have had for eons.
The dried apples look so pretty.
Lots of rain last week! |
Friday was the official start of my staycation. I celebrated after work by stopping at the
nearby thrift store and picked up nine more canning jars. Right now they are sold out at the stores and
out of stock online. I prefer to find
mine at thrift stores anyway. A perfect
start to my vacation.
Salsa! |
Saturday morning I didn't want to sleep away my vacation so
I was up early and snuck out to Fred Meyer again this week to pick up butter
for $1.99, sour cream for $1 as well as tissues and markdown apples also for $1
each. Not too shabby. The apples ended up in the dehydrator, of
course.
When I got home from the store I put all of the groceries
away, made a batch of strawberry jam with the diced ripe strawberries I'd put
away in the freezer on Tuesday and tidied up the kitchen. Then the young one and I headed off to do
some thrift store shopping with the sole purpose to hunt down some canning jars
and she wanted to find a couple of books.
We found both jars and books so
we came home pretty happy campers having visited a total of six shops. Go us!
On the way home from the thrift stores we stopped in at another Fred Meyer and found this bounty in their markdown produce bin |
I added water to the empty fabric softener bottle, gave it a
good shake and had enough solution for one more load of laundry. I did the same thing to the dish soap bottle
after I emptied out the contents into my pump dispenser. I had enough soapy solution to wash up dishes
all week long which included all my canning and prepping dishes too. At work I finished up a bottle of lotion I
had sitting upside down for the past few weeks and was able to use up every bit
of it. All of the empty containers ended
up in the recycle bin.
A gallon jar of dried apples! |
We ate meals using up items pulled from our kitchen freezer
which included meat balls, turkey chili, taco meat for taco salads and corn
dogs. The girls bought egg roll wrappers
and we made egg rolls, pot stickers and rangoons. All of the fillings came from our
refrigerator or freezer. We had a fun
time making all of that and the girls really enjoyed eating it over the course
of two days. They even had some for
breakfast.
Salsa jars labeled and ready for the pantry |
Prepper Pantry = canned
pancake syrup, strawberry rhubarb
jam, strawberry jam, sloppy joes, ground turkey & salsa. Dehydrated mushrooms,
onions, celery, apples, strawberries & blueberries.
Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:
Laundry Room & Half Bathroom -
vacuumed floors. Daily swish &
swipe.
Dining Room - vacuumed &
mopped floor.
Kitchen - vacuumed & mopped floor, scrubbed sink,
cleaned range hood & stove.
Bedrooms & Main Bathroom -
vacuumed & dusted. Scrubbed sink
& tub. Daily swish & swipe.
Other - two large loads of laundry,
vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, mopped living room
entry. Swept front porch & tidied
the garage.
I found 19 canning jars at the thrift stores Saturday |
How was your thrifty week?
I was exhausted just reading your post. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHa, ha, ha! Thanks Connie. :o)
DeleteI've been using my digital pressure canner like yours and I LOVE it! Thank you so much for sharing about it. I can set it and forget it. Last night I set it and left the room to enjoy Foyle's War.
ReplyDeleteI've canned nacho cheese sauce. (I buy the big can and re-can it in pints. I know the FDA doesn't approve but it really does work great and is so much cheaper. I bought a book several years ago about canning cheese, milk, butter etc. and I've done it all with great results.) I also canned chicken stock and veggie soup.
I love hearing about how you use your digital canner. Curious, did you use it to water bath your jam?
Oh, and just in case the gal who asked about using it at high altitudes reads this - you can't set the PSI on this digital canner. It cans at 10# so if you are higher altitude you can't can at 11, 12, 13 PSI. I don't know if you can just add minutes to make up for the pressure. I've heard both yes and no. ???
I ordered a dehydrator but it hasn't even been shipped yet. I'm hoping it is here by the time the garden starts producing.
You are doing a great job of prepping. I enjoy hearing all about it.
I am so glad you are enjoying the canner. As with anything you just exercise good common sense and things will be fine. I used my regular water bath canner for my jam.
DeleteI know you did not ask, and if you do not publish this comment, it is okay, but... I think your apples are too thick. There is still moisture in them. Look up case hardening.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got my dehydrator, I used large jars to store. Now, I use pint jars for dehydrated items. If anything starts to mold, a smaller jar will keep you from losing a large jar of food. Some people use the oxygen packets in dried food they are keeping on the shelf. I don't because I have none. Like I said, it won't hurt my feelings if you don't want to.
I appreciate your concern. I promise the apples are nice and dry. :)
DeleteYou are really giving me the encouragement to get a dehydrator and get busy. I actually considered getting one about a month ago. I know nothing about storing dry fruits/veggies in jars but do know there are oxygen packet thingies (don't you love how technical I am ?)that you can use. Are you using those? Am I supposed to? I live in the extremely humid south, not sure if any of this makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed with the dehydrator and how well it does. I am having a lot of fun with it. I sure do recommend having one.
DeleteAs far as those "thingies" go if I lived in a humid climate I'd definitely use them. I live in a fairly dry climate and still plan to use them with mine. I figure it sure can't hurt.
https://www.amazon.com/Oxy-Sorb-Oxygen-Absorbers-Storage-100-Pack/dp/B0028AG8RO/ref=sr_1_2?crid=SE481MRAOXYV&dchild=1&keywords=oxygen+absorbers+for+food+storage&qid=1590527249&sprefix=oxy%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-2
Thank you for the link! I will look into trying this out.
DeleteI ordered some. Can't hurt. :0)
Delete