Freezing Surplus Fruits and Vegetables-Food Storage

POMEGRANATE ARILS........

CRANBERRY SAUCE MADE WITH FRESH CRANBERRIES!

20 CUPS OF FRESH PUMPKIN PUREE IN MY NEW CHEST FREEZER!

Long time, no blogging! I'm making an early resolution to blog a couple of times a week.

So, I woke up this morning at 8 am. Well, actually, I woke up at 6:30 am to feed and potty the dogs, then I went back to bed, and woke up at 8 am. Gotta keep my facts straight! Anyway, I had a plumber here to fix a previous contractor's poor work. What does all of this have to do with pumpkin, pomegranates and cranberries? I was up early enough to work on processing all of these foods today.

I started with the pomegranates. I had about 6 of them, and wanted to get them peeled and ready to use. I had seen a cool video of how to peel them underwater (makes less mess), so I tried it out. It worked well. Now I have 2 containers of pomegranates arils (the red seeds). Here is a link that tells you how to do it. I didn't cut mine up, just gently tore it apart in a bowl of cold water. I like the fact that they can be frozen. I like to use frozen fruit in my morning smoothies.

Next, I made some Cranberry sauce with my fresh cranberries. There is nothing quite as nice as some fresh cranberry sauce with turkey or chicken. I've been cooking turkey breasts in the crock pot lately, and now I have some fresh sauce for the next time I cook one. I put the rest of the large bag (costco) of cranberries in the freezer for future use.

Finally, I got to work on the box of pie pumpkins sitting in my garage. I put it out there to keep them cool until I could make a little time to process them. I got them at Albertson's for 50 cents a piece after Thanksgiving. That was a great deal on pie pumpkins!

Having my new range really was wonderful in helping me steam the pumpkin. I used my Vitamix to puree the cooked pumpkin, then put them in freezer containers. Pumpkin is the "new" banana. After reading a report about all of the pesticides used in banana growing, I've discovered that pumpkins are perfect for replacing banana in smoothies. You don't taste it, but it adds a nice texture. Also, there is a wonderful vitamin A perk that you don't get with bananas.

My smoothies are something like this: 1 c. spinach, 1/2c. pumpkin, 4 frozen strawberries (costco has huge bags of delicious strawberries), 1/2 c. yogurt (sometimes I make it myself in the crock pot) and whatever other fruit is hanging around (pear,pineapple,etc) and some water. It is usually around 350 calories, which is just about right for my breakfast.

So, it was a busy day of processing food, but it is done and the freezer is filling up nicely!

Farmer's Market and CSA and cherries from my now sold home!

It was another great day at the St George Farmer's Market. My CSA, Cricket Song Farm, gave me another HUGE amount of produce. I am going to get it washed and ready for cooking this afternoon. I always wash the lettuces, get them chopped, and store them in a zip lock bag, ready to make a salad.
Here is a picture of some of the cherries I picked from a cherry tree at my Mapleton home just before going to sign the title over to the new owners. I left them plenty to pick. I have never had this cherry tree produce this many cherries in the 15 years I lived in the home! They are very delicious!
I need to check on the apricots in the next couple of days and start processing them (bottling them or making some jam). What did you get at your farmer's market, garden or CSA?

Tomatoes growing well in the Topsy Turvy

I know it's been a month since I last posted on my blog....yea, it has been crazy busy for me. Plus, I was in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for a couple of weeks. So, I thought you'd all be interested in how my tomato plants in the topsy turvys are doing. The plants are really thriving. I have them hanging from the limbs of the apricot tree in the side yard. They get the perfect amount of afternoon sunlight.

I was so excited to find the first cherry tomato ripening! I think I'll pick it tomorrow morning and pop it in my mouth and eat it! I water the plants every morning after I've fed the dogs. The box directions say that you can't over water the plants.

And look at this crop of apricots in the tree where the tomatoes are hanging! My friend, Char, and I might just bottle some of these golden beauties! Of course, if they taste really sweet, there may not be enough for bottling! Apricot jam is a good possibility, too!

I hope that you are enjoying some delicious produce from your garden or farmer's market.

CSA produce for June 13, 2009

It was another wonderful CSA for the week. I feel so spoiled getting so many great produce items. In the picture above, you'll notice a bag of pecans in the shell, cabbage, green onions, beets with the greens attached, carrots, 2 bags of lettuces, bag of spinach, bag of chard, broccoli, herbs and salad dressing. Not picture is my dozen farm fresh eggs. I bought the sunflower sprouts from Lea's Micro Garden. I'm addicted to them!

My CSA, Cricket Song Farm is great. Jill is the farmer, along with her family. She will trade other farmers for items. Today I got some Italian dressing from Jill. She traded with another one of the people at the St. George Farmer's Market. I love trying out the new items. Last week, Jill had given me some homemade soap, made using oatmeal and goats milk. I have it at my kitchen sink where I wash my hands a lot. It is great.

I spent several hours washing, spinning dry, chopping up and cooking some of the vegetables. I cooked the spinach for a recipe I made today (Lasagna Rolls), which I will post later. It was delicious!

CSA produce pick-up for May 16, 2009

Wow, my CSA had wonderful items this week! It kind of feels like a special occasion to get all of this great produce and eggs!

I love how Jill (Cricket Song Farm) tucked in the nasturtium flowers (which are edible) with the lettuces and spinach....very sweet.

I was totally thrilled to receive the garlic salt in a grinder spice jar....awesome! Check out that artichoke!

Purple cabbage......I'm going to chop it up and eat it raw in a salad.

Here is the full "haul"....rhubarb, gigantic-enormous squash, bag of lettuces, bag of spinach, radish sprouts, radishes, garlic salt (in the handy grinder/container!), shallots, green onions, artichoke, chives, tarragon, and arugula. I am using most of the lettuces for a party tonight. I'm going to make a rhubarb/strawberry pie for my friend, Char. I love having so much produce...fantastic!

What did you get at your farmer's market or CSA this week? Post a comment and put a link to your post.

Baby Sweet Potatoes from Trader Joe's

Here is a meal I made recently.....teriyaki chicken, baby sweet potatoes and a tossed salad with grape tomatoes. It was delicious. When I was in Las Vegas, I had to go to Trader Joe's (my favorite grocery store) and buy a few things. I came across the packages of baby sweet potatoes.

Here is a picture of the package. I loved the fact that you can microwave these gems for only 6 minutes, and you are ready to serve them. They were a big hit at my house.

If you get a chance to shop at Trader Joe's, pick up some baby sweet potatoes. They are super easy to cook, taste great without adding anything to them, and are very nutritious (good source of vitamin A).

Topsy Turvy Tomato hanger

Even though I am enrolled in a CSA (consumer supported agriculture) for the summer, I wanted to try and grow something in the yard, even though we are renting this house until our property in Utah County sells. Perfect solution: the Topsy Turvy tomato hanger (got mine at Walgreen's for $9.99).

With the Topsy Turvy, you can grow tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, etc from an upside down hanging system. Click on the picture to get a closer look at the plant. The only place I could hang it was from the side yard apricot tree. It is heavy, especially after watering (water is poured in at the top). This location provides lots of afternoon sun, and the plants are thriving (I have another one growing since I took this picture). Within one week, the first plant has blossoms! Can't wait to pick my first tomato this summer!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of my tomato plants. Have any of you ever had success growing your tomatoes upside down? Post your experience!