Dehydrating Strawberries

I ordered a flat of strawberries from bountiful baskets we ate a few then I decided to dehydrate the rest of them dehydrating Strawberries is pretty simple. There is no pretreatment required

I soak mine in vinegar water for a few minutes to clean them.

 

Then take off the green top  and thinly slice, lay slices  on your trays. ( Sorry didn't get a pic of them on the tray).

 

Dry at 125 degrees it will take about 12 to 18  hours to dry they  will be hard when dry.

 

If drying in the sun it will take 1 to 2 days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To use

1 cup boiling water to 1 cup dried strawberries, pour boiling water over dried strawberries soak 3 to 4 hours pour off any remaining liquid.  

Strawberries may be refreshed and used in any dish calling for fresh strawberries or you can use teh dried chopped strawberries in cake,cookies or bread mixes

1cup dried yields about 11/2 cups refreshed

 

 

Prayers for Oklahoma City and surrounding area.

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Please keep the people of Oklahoma City and the surranding area in your prayers, as they were hit with a massive tornado. As I understand it the elementary school as well as the high school and the hospital took direct hits. Entire subdivisions were wiped out. Please pray for all the family’s that have been affected by this and also the first responders to keep them safe and to let them find the people still in the rubble. I cannot imagine the devastation, my heart goes out to all the people of Oklahoma City and the surrounding area.




　

Dandelion Jelly

This is so good taste a lot like honey. Very easy to make.

Dandelion Jelly

1 quart dandelion blossoms

2 quarts water

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 package sure - jell

5 1/2 cups sugar

Start by picking several dandelions. You do not want to get from the road sides.   

 

Cut the stems and collars try to get as much of the green off as you can. As you can see I still have a little green but a little will not hurt a lot will make it bitter.

 

You will need 1 quart of blossoms. Raise well, I do this after I cut them if you do it before they are a little harder to cut as the flowers want to close up. 

 

Add to two quarts of water and bring to a boil let simmer for about ten minutes turn off heat and let sit a couple hours you can even let it sit overnight.



 

Cool and strain ( don't look at my strainer to close I have a new one but have no idea where it is lol ) Pour3 cups of the liquid into a large pan.

 

 

 

You will need to add 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1 package of Sure -Jell or equivalent

 

Stir well

 

Bring to a boil

 

Add 5 1/2 cups of sugar and stir well.

 

Bring to a boil and trun down to mediume heatand let boil for 3 minutes stirring occasional.

 

When done pour into sterilized jars, You can use what ever size you would like.  Put on the lids and rings

 

Put into a water bath cover jars with hot water and boil for 10 minutes.

 

Take out and let cool.

 

 

 

 

I doubled the recipe that is why it looks like a lot I got 13 half pints so a single batch will give you a little over 6 half pints.

 

 

Self Sustaining Pantry, Catch Up

Been a while since I have posted this but we have got a few things.

We got two hives of bees our first time to have bees so we are learning as we go.

I found out our town has a bountiful Basket so I signed up for that I got a lot for 15 dollars several avocados, 2 heads of lettuce, bananas, cantaloupe watermelon, lots of bell peppers broccoli cucumbers a bag of apples and I did an add on of a flat of strawberries for 12.50. They do this year round and you get what is in season. If you want to see if there is one in your area you can go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ You will have to create a account then you can go to your state and see if they have one in your area.

Our chickens have finally stated laying good again so now I have eggs coming out my ears.

Got several jars of beans canned.

Learned how to make my own socks.

Dandelion Jelly made and some dandelion tea made for jelly.

9 gallon bags of frozen mashed potatoes.

Strawberries in the dehydrator.

I got a soda stream for Christmas I ran out of the co2 Wal-Mart has the co2 cartridges that you trade in, they are 17 dollars (more than I want to pay) so we took it to the wielding shop and they filled it for 5 dollars that I can live with.

Pepper and tomatoes plants bought, ran out of time to get them started ourselves.

Got the two new areas for our garden spots cleared out. Now to just finish getting them ready and planted. We don’t plant until the first of June to make sure it will not freeze.


Well that is about all I have gotten done the last few weeks be so busy with trying to get water going on the fields, working in the yard and I have had a few extra kids so not getting as much done as I would like. Oh well it will still be there to do when I can get to it lol. Plus school will be out next week and the girls will be home to help get things done. It is so nice that they are such good helpers I would like to say that they never whine about helping but they do have there moments lol. All in all though they are great little workers.

Have you been able to get much done these last few weeks?

Week 19 Food Storage Challenge

This Weeks food storage challenge is.

 50 lbs Sugar / Canned fruit

50 lbs sugar if you are going to be doing any canning you may want to try and get a little more sugar than this.

 

Canned fruit, get the fruit that your family likes even if you plan on canning your own you might want to pick up  a few just to have. Then if the fruit freezes or something happens to it you will still  have a little. Pie fillings also count as fruit.

Keep putting water back.

Add a little more to your money stash.

Don't forget garage sales this time of year a great place to find things you may need.

When planting your gardens and flower beds, don't forget to add some herb plants to them.You might also think about putting them all on a drip system if you don't  already use one. It cost a little in the beginning but you will save a lot on your water bill, plus you can put it on a timer and not have to worry about remembering to water.

Have you worked on learning any new skills? I would love to hear what they are.