Worth the Effort or Waste of Time?

Let's start with the benefits of pumpkin....

• AIDS VISION; a cup of cooked, mashed pumpkin contains more than 200% of the recommended daily of Vitamin A, carotenoids and beta-carotene.

• LOW CALORIE; 3 grams per cup of pumpkin is only 49 fiber rich calories.

• REDUCED CHOLESTEROL; Pumpkin Seeds are naturally rich in phytosterols which may help reduce LDL levels and tryptophan which has shown to improve moods.

• REFUEL A TIRED BODY; one cup of cooked pumpkin has up to 564 milligrams of potassium.

• VITAMIN C; upwards of 11 milligrams can be found in one cup of cooked pumpkin.

Wouldn't you agree that it IS worth the effort and time commitment?  I would.  Yes, you can buy a can of it at the store, even get the organic, I have.  However, if I have the opportunity and time to make my own, I always take that option.  I'd prefer the only processing of my puree to be my Kitchen stove and a glass jar and not a commercial processing facility.

Ok, enough of that, on to making your own puree:

You can use any pumpkin but I prefer "milk pumpkins" or also known as "sugar pumpkins".

They are lighter in color than what you normally see.

Give them a good scrubbing.

Cut open the pumpkin and scoop out the innards.

You can either compost or save the seeds and roast them.

Slice into chunks that will fit into your pot, cover with water and boil until soft.  Depending on how big your pumpkin is and how much fits in the pot, it can take up to 30 minutes or longer to soften.

Remove sections from the pot, BE CAREFUL, the pieces will be very hot, let them cool a few minutes.  Use a spoon to scrape the pulp from the skin (the skin goes in the compost too). 

This is the undrained pulp from one large pumpkin.

Using a colander, let the pulp drain until most of your water is out and give it a stir every now and then. This takes quite a while, up to 2 hours in most cases.

This is what drained from one of my pumpkins, nearly 7 cups of water!

As you can see, draining the pulp is important.

You're done!  It's probably taken all day BUT well worth the effort in my book.

What I see here is 9 pumpkin pies to be made any time I want!

A few tips:

I normally do this on a weekend.  I'll get everything cut up, boiled and draining started then go about my day, passing by every so often to give it a stir.

Any pumpkin works but Sugar Pumpkins have a nice taste which I prefer for recipes.

If you like your pies a little rustic like me, there's no need to do anything further after draining. If you like it smoother use either a potato masher, blender or immersion blender to achieve the desired consistency.

I use a mesh strainer and cheesecloth only because I find it easier to clean up.  Any small-holed strainer will do.

Store puree in the freezer in freezer-safe jars, BPA-free plastic containers or Ziploc Bags, removing as much air as possible.  I prefer the glass jars since they are reusable and easy to clean. When you're ready to defrost, put it back into a collander while you prepare your recipe.  A little more water will drain from being frozen.

You CANNOT safely can pumpkin puree either with a Pressure Canner or Water Bath Canning.  There is no safe way, other than freezing, for long term storage.

You CAN Pressure Can pumpkin chunks.

You can find my favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe here.  I've been making the same recipe for over 20 years and it's perfect every time.

If I were to buy 9 fresh pumpkin pies at a bakery, it would cost me $20 per pie.  Yep, 20 bucks!   

The pumpkin cost me $6 so that's 67 CENTS per pie plus another $2 for ingredients.  Total $2.67 for homemade, nutrient-rich pumpkin pie.

To me that's worth the effort.  Wondering if it's worth your time and effort?

Try it.  Compare a pie made with your fresh puree and another with canned.  I promise you'll be shocked at the taste.  And if not, well, you learned something new, you have a few jars of puree and a good story to tell.

Apples: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, that describes our apple trees.  We don't treat the trees with any kind of chemical sprays, or even organic sprays; we let nature decide.  The outcome?  Many are Good, meaning no bruises, spots, pest issues.  Some are Bad, meaning those are picked and put in the woods for the many animals that frequent our yard.  And there's the Ugly.  Some are ugly and edible, others are ugly and put out back.  This year, our 3rd year living here, happened to produce mostly Good and we couldn't be happier.

My usual course of action this time of year is to make applesauce and freeze it.  However, since we now have our own apple trees and a bounty of fresh apples, I felt it was high time I learned canning. Off I went to Pinterest and found more than enough recipes to get started, too many actually which is why I wound up making a Pinterest Board dedicated to apples.

I started with Food.com's Best Apple Pie Jam recipe.  It seemed simple enough and it was, we turned out about a dozen jars.  For the novice canner like myself, I highly recommend this one.  It also happens to taste delicious. The only change I made was instead of packed brown sugar, I use Sucanat. I've been using it in place of commercial brown sugar for years as a healthier option.

My next day included Canning Apple Pie Filling from Little House Living.  I found it fairly easy to follow and wound up making 5 Quarts plus 8-1/2 pints for holiday gifts.  Win-win!

After the Apple Pie Filling, I decided to try Homemade Pancake Syrup from the apple peelings. Since I'm not one to waste anything, this sounded like a great idea.  Let me just say, this would be better suited to a more experienced canner.  I read the directions carefully, however, one key factor was missing; the proper time for boiling.

After my failed attempt, I decided to read thru ALL the reader comments and found that I was supposed to boil the liquid for just a minute or two.  Since this important fact was left out of the directions, and I didn't know any better, I boiled the liquid for over 30 minutes.  If I had to be honest, I'd say it was probably 45!  Needless to say, it went downhill from there.

To make a long story short, I boiled over the liquid onto my ceramic top electric oven.  Not pretty, and not pretty to clean up either.  The outcome? Candy Apple Topping.  We grabbed a few Good Apples, literally wiped on the topping, and enjoyed a treat for the afternoon.

My last attempt, using additional leftover apple peelings was Apple Scrap Jelly from Fireflies & Mudpies. I'm happy to say, this was a huge success.  We did 9-1/2 pint jars for holiday gifts and will continue to make this throughout the season.  Note:  This recipe calls for 9 cups of sugar, I reduced that to 6 cups and it was wonderful and not too sweet.

All in all, canning has been a good experience and considering we have several more bushels to pick, we'll be in the Kitchen for the next couple of weeks.

Need ideas for your apples?  Check out our APPLE HARVEST Pinterest Board.

Over 600 pins for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and (adult) Crafts.

Also, be sure to sign up for email updates and receive our mini-eBook
Canning Made Easy.

RESOURCES

Our Pinterest Canning Board here
Our Apple Harvest Board here

Test jars for proper sealing here
Troubleshooting here

Questions about Water Bath Canning here

Questions about Pressure Canning here

Adjust for high altitudes here

National Center for Home Food Prep here





Thoughts from a newbie canner:

1. It looks like alot in the pot, but it's not.
2. I ran back to the store 3 times for jars.  Stock up ahead of time.
3. Get the all the canning supplies recommended.  You'll use them all.  
4. Always check the reader comments, it typically holds valuable information the writer omitted.
5. If YOU are posting a recipe, read, read, read and read it again.  Make sure you have ALL necessary and pertinent information included.  Canning really is easy if you have the proper directions. 

Super Simple Mint Iced Tea and Why You Should Drink It

Let's start off with the good stuff - the Super Simple Mint Iced Tea recipe!

5 cups fresh picked Mint (more or less depending on how light or strong you like it)
1 cup Sugar (again, more or less depending on how sweet you want it)
1 gallon water

Bring water to a boil then stir in sugar until completely dissolved.
Add Mint leaves and softly boil for 15-20 minutes.
Drain in colander.
Cool and put in pitcher or enjoy it hot!

That's it!!

Want to dress it up?  Freeze mint with water in ice cube trays or freeze Lemon and Mint or Lime and Mint.

Looking for a twist?  Try some of these combinations;

Ginger Mint Tumeric Tea
Ginger Mint Tea
Green Tea, Bubbles, Lemon and Mint                                                           
Sweet Honey Mint Green Tea
Honey Mint Green Iced Tea
Moroccan Mint Tea
Mint Lime Tea Cooler
Matcha Mint Iced Tea
Apple Ginger Mint Iced Tea
Lemon Mint Iced Tea
Chamomile Lavender Mint Iced Tea
Mint and Lime Sweet Tea

Want to grow your own Mint?  Check out these Do's and Dont's!  Be wary though, Mint is like a weed, it will spread and grow uncontrollably and take over your planting bed.  Be sure you have an enclosed planting bed or plant in a large pot.

Now, WHY should you drink Mint Tea?  Oh so, so many reasons!

Organic Facts has a great list with explanations for use as a Fever Reducer, Nausea and Vomiting, Respiratory Issues, Immune System, Bad Breath, Weight Loss and Stress Reducer.

Medical News Today notes the use of Mint for Relief from Allergies, Common Colds, Indigestion, IBS and Skin reactions.

Livestrong adds Stomach Upset, Mental Focus and Coughs and Congestion.

Of course, if you are using Mint for medicinal purposes, be sure to research side effects and check with your doctor before starting any self-medicating.

If you're curious about the history of Mint, check out this post from Our Herb Garden.  It's quite interesting and informative.

So there you have it; a Super Simple Recipe, a dozen more recipes ideas, Advice on Growing Mint, The Benefits of Mint and the History of Mint. Now it's time to enjoy your own Homemade Mint Tea, Hot or Cold!

Homemade Laundry Detergent....Yes, it works!

Years ago I came across this recipe for Homemade Laundry Detergent by the Duggar Family.  I was skeptical at first, only a tablespoon would clean our clothes?  Doesn't the commercial laundry industry convince us that only huge amounts of THEIR particular brand of detergent will clean our clothes?  That we should pay upwards of $20 a bottle for such a important item?  That we must be NUTS to try anything else!

Well, sometimes you have to scrape by and during those days I decided it was high time I gave this Homemade Laundry Detergent a try!  So off I went for my ingredients, taking note that there was only 3 and all chemical-free.  But would it really clean the clothes for a family of 5 (all males but me!), including a husband that works in a quarry and spends most of his time outdoors?

It worked.  Not only does it work, but it works GREAT!  No chemicals, no additives, no perfumes. This also had a pleasant side effect of no longer irritating our skin (I have occasional eczema) from commercial detergents.  I will say it does not work so great on solid whites.  I have seen people add Oxy-clean to this recipe with great results and essential oils for scent.

Think about it, for less than $10 you can do approximately 40 loads of laundry.  Hmmm... that's just about 25 cent per load.  Let's say a commercial soap for $20 also does 40 loads (and we know it doesn't) that's double the cost.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Did I mention, the boxes of Arm & Hammer and Borax will net you about 9 complete recipes so really you're just buying the Fels-Naptha.  I'm no mathematician but that's like 2 cents per load. Again a no-brainer.

Ingredients - total initial cost under $10

• 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer super washing soda (not baking soda or detergent!)
• 1/2 cup borax

Preparation Instructions

1. Grate soap or break into pieces; place in a food processor and blend until the entire bar is powdered.  Alternatively you can use any type of food grater. 
2. Mix the powdered soap bar and remaining ingredients together in a small bucket with a lid. If you are using a food processor, just add the remaining ingredients and continue to blend.
3. Powdered soap can be stored in a dry area indefinitely.   

Use Instructions

For 'really dirty' clothes use two tablespoons per load. For 'standard wear' clothes use one tablespoon (like intimates and towels).


While we're on the subject of soap, here's a quick and 
easy way to stretch your dollars with dish and hand soaps.  

For dish washing, purchase an olive oil dispenser.  Fill about 1/2 way with your favorite dish soap and the rest with water.  Be sure to use a high quality soap; cheap store brand soap won't work as well.  I LOVE Seventh Generation Free & Clear. One bottle will last me a good month, and I was dishes nightly (in fact, we don't even have a dishwasher in the house)!

For hand washing, purchase a Foam Soap Dispenser.  Purchase a REGULAR soap (not foam soap) refill bag like they sell at Target.  The bottle will have a mark for filling.  Generally it's 1/4 soap & 3/4 water.  I haven't purchased a refill bag in weeks!  And just in case you're wondering, being a Homesteading family we continually wash our hands!

As with the savings in making Homemade Laundry Detergent, this is also a no-brainer.

I am a Homesteader...and I live in Suburban New Jersey

Anniversary weekend at
1922 Starkey House in upstate NY

I have to say, I never thought of my self as a "Homesteader". Images of run down shacks on the outskirts of Alaska come to mind when I hear of homesteading. However, the more I learn about it, the more I come to realize this has been our way of life for nearly 20 years!

Being married over 25 years to an avid hunter, gardener, composter, landscaper and outdoorsman (to name just a few) has taught me alot. It was my stepping stone, WAY BACK in 1988, to a life of homesteading. A life I didn't realize I would become a part of and love every minute of it!

We're just a regular Suburban family. We live in a beautiful town in a beautiful 3 acre home filled with DIY projects, surrounded by awesome neighbors (no, they are not 20 miles away lol) and yes, the grocery store is 10 minutes away and a huge mall is just 20 minutes down Route 15! To look at us you'd think we were just like everyone else.

But we're not.

High School Sweethearts
25+ years later

We exclusively eat venison (no chemically processed beef for us!), have gardens, grind flour, bake from scratch, DIY, use only what we need, recycle manically, shop Farmer's Markets and Trader Joe's as much as we can.  Now Trader Joe's IS at least 40 minutes from here but so worth the trip AND I get to visit my sister! 

We are not crushed by debt but live by our means and do without when necessary.  We've had some really GREAT times and some really AWFUL ones too.

We have three beautiful sons who are learning right along with us but still have complete freedom to become their own persons (One would be considered a Hipster, one is an artist and one is a total techie nut). We've been called hippies, crunchy, even bitchy (I can get on a tangent about healthy eating).

We've essentially cured asthma and gastritis through nutrition. By essentially I mean no more pneumonia episodes or nebulizers. No day and night pills for gastritis. Not one of us has had the flu in years. In fact, we RARELY get sick at all. All through changes in our nutrition habits.

My Beautiful Boys

I hope you find this Blog interesting and helpful. I'm happy to answer questions if I can. Remember, Google search is your friend.  Talk to your local farmers, they are a wealth of information.  Seek out like-minded people to get yourself started or continue your journey. 

You will never know it all....E-V-E-R-Y D-A-Y is an opportunity to learn something new!

Grinding Your Own Flour

Okay, that title might scare you – DON’T LET IT!!  I’m sure you have images of sitting on a low, wooden stool, a big wooden bucket full of grain between your legs and a giant wooden spoon.  Then you’ll spend the next 12 hours mashing it into flour.  Perhaps if we were back in the 1800’s but this is the new millennium!  No more stools, wooden spoons or hours of back-breaking time in the barn!

Personally I use the NutriMill Grain Mill because it came highly recommended and at the time I was a novice taking a leap of faith. Yes, it’s expensive (the average cost being around $250) BUT the health benefits of grinding your own grain far outweigh the initial cost.  

As of this post, I have had my mill nearly 10 years, that’s just $25 per year and each year that number goes down. Did you know, there are over 60 different nutritional properties in a SINGLE GRAIN!  Among these properties are essential oils.  In commercial grain, ALL the properties of the grain are stripped, washed, bleached and then only certain properties are added back in (hence, “enriched flour”).  

Did you catch the word BLEACH?  Yes, flour is NOT white.  Commercial flour is white because of bleaching. Now if we’re talking organic flours, yes, they are MUCH better than your store-brand or name-brand commercial flours but they DO NOT have the essential oils or nearly ALL the original nutrition.  If they did, they would turn rancid on the shelf long before you ever bought them. 

Remember, commercial flour is ground, treated (either commercial or commercial-organic), packaged, stored, shipped, stored at grocery store, then put on the shelf.  And if it’s not made here in the USA, you can double that time frame.  Yuck! 

Do your research!  There are many different types of grain for different cooking and/or baking applications.  Personally I use Organic “Soft-White” because it’s the most universal.  I also like the ancient grain Kamut because it has a slight nutty flavor. Did you know, Kamut is considered an ancient grain.  It had once been found in an Egyptian tomb dating back 5,000 YEARS and was still in perfect condition!  Grains won’t ever go bad if stored properly.  I store my grain in 5 gallon food grade buckets with tight fitting lids I purchased at Lowe's for about $6.

Where can you get grain?  Just about anywhere nowadays!  I buy mine online because I purchase large quantities. Recently I purchased a 50lb bag of organic Soft-White for $70 shipped.  That’s barely $1.50 per pound!  Organic flour will run you upwards of $5 per pound!  I grind about 3 pounds and store it in the freezer.  If you want it ULTRA-HEALTHY, grind only what you need and use it right away.  Freezing the flour will cause some nutritional loss but still by far outweighs buying commercial flour.

So, how do we make flour?  Well, get ready.  Take out your Nutrimill  (or whatever grain mill you purchase), put the grain in the top, turn the dial. Now walk away for a couple minutes (the machine is LOUD!).  Come back to fresh flour in the bucket.  Wait, that didn’t take HOURS of backbreaking labor!  That took just 3-5 minutes!  Whew, better go rest now…