Frugal Friday: Food Preservation

 

I've spent a lot of time in my kitchen this week. I love autumn and everything about it. And one of the things I love best is being able to preserve food to last for the winter months.

It is a satisfying feeling to open up a jar of food that you put up yourself to make a dish for your family. I love seeing all the pretty jars on my pantry shelves and knowing that my hands were the ones who did the work of providing some security for my family's culinary needs.

I haven't gone apple picking in a couple of years because it's just not as fun without little ones. But I do go to my local farm stand and purchase local apples. I picked up a half bushel of McIntosh apples for $.75 per lb. which is much cheaper.

Yesterday I made an apple pie.

I cut up some apples and added sugar and spice in the crockpot for apple butter. That has been cooking in the crockpot overnight. I need to jar it up today.

I also took the peels and filled a jar about 3/4 of the way, added a tablespoon of sugar and covered with water. I covered it with a coffee filter and put it in a dark cupboard. This will become apple cider vinegar in time. I love being able to use up every scrap with no waste.

I need to process the rest of the apples today, but at least I got a start on that yesterday.

I purchased 3 large heads of cabbage for $.49 per lb. at the same farm stand. I sliced them up into strips, added kosher salt and pounded it down until I had a brine. In a few weeks this will be sauerkraut as it sits and ferments. I found something weight down the cabbage in the crock to make sure the cabbage stays under the brine. I'll check on it every day or so just to be sure.

When I was done, the cabbage shrunk down to half of this. Fresh sauerkraut is a favorite around here. 

My son's work schedule is weird and he leaves at 3 in the afternoon. I've been trying to have our main meal around 1 p.m. and then he packs himself a lunch to take with him. A favorite here is bierocks which are cabbage and ground beef filled hand pies originating in Russia. 

This week I made a bunch for the freezer so all he has to do is pull out what he wants and then heat them up in the microwave them at work.

I decided I better do something with the herbs that I've been growing since we had a few nights that dipped down into the 30s. I know once there is a hard freeze I won't have them and I want to preserve as many as possible. 

I took the herbs I already had drying and pounded them down to store in jars.

Then I went out and cut some more to tie in bundles and hang to dry. 

I also preserved some rosemary in salt to use as a seasoning salt in some dishes. 

I made a bunch of cookies this week to have for lunches. Those are always a hit and I hadn't baked in quite a while so they were appreciated.

Lemon lavender shortbreads for a luncheon I had last Sunday.

Chocolate chip cookies.

I made a batch of waffles for the freezer as well as granola to have on hand.

I really need to go through my chest freezer and start to clean it out. I have some things in there that can be used to make some space. 

For example, I have a number of bags of banana puree that I could turn into muffins. I also have a bag of plums that I put in there. I didn't have time to deal with them a few weeks ago and I knew they were ripe and would go bad by the time I did. So I put them in the freezer. I'm going to make some plum jam with them.

I also have 3 bags full of veggie scraps, as well as a chicken carcass that I want to pull out today. I'm going to put them all in my slow roaster, cover with water, add some spices and cook it low and slow to make chicken broth.

At some point I would like to get a pressure canner so I will be able to can things that need the pressure such as chicken broth. It would save a lot of space in my freezer.

I want to go pick up some pie pumpkins as well so I can get pumpkin puree. 

Preserving food is a lot of work and yes, there are times when I think, "It would be so much easier to just go buy it at the store." But the reason I do this is that in the long run it is much cheaper. I also am supporting local farmers. And I know what is going into my food. There are no added preservatives. The ingredients are fresh and I generally use everything I make the same year I made it. Sometimes, the canned goods you purchase in a store have been sitting in a warehouse for a very long time. 

And to be honest, some of the reason I do this, is that it is enjoyable. It connects me with the women in my past. Both my grandmothers preserved their own food. I have a long history on my dad's side of farming and preserving food. 

It brings me joy and that is the main reason I do it.