Use it Up: Veggie Powder

Many things are tossed into the garbage can when they still have lots of good life left in them. Use It Up is a section on how to use this "trash" to make new, useful items for your home or to re-purpose items to avoid a purchase.

My garden is producing massive quantities of veggies right now, and I'm adding them to every meal and also preserving as much as possible. With this harvest, I'm faced with another problem: waste. I harvest several radishes for a nice little snack, and I'm left with a gallon-sized container of radish greens. When cutting up celery for stir-fry, I'm left with lots of celery leaves. If you can tomatoes, you'll have loads of tomato skins. Whatever edible veggie-parts you're left with, it seems a shame to throw them away (or into the compost bin) when you worked so hard to grow them (or spent so much to buy them). A great way to use them up is to make veggie powder.

Veggie powder is a mix of dehydrated veggies, pulverized into a powder, used to add flavor to dishes. You can add it to eggs, casseroles, breads or soups. You can us it in place of seasoning packets when making rice, or sprinkle a pinch on top of a baked potato. You can add them to salads or to salad dressing. This winter, I plan to dump large quantities into the soups and chilis I make every couple of days to add more flavor and nutrition in a time when I'm craving produce.

Here are some ideas of veggies to add to your powder: tomatoes or skins, carrot leaves or peelings, beet leaves and stems, radishes that are too spicy to eat or the leaves or stems, celery leaves, pea or bean pods left from shelling, any green leafy veggie that you have too much of, any herbs in surplus, pepper skins, broccoli/cauliflower stems, and any other veggies that you just have way too much of (or find a fantastic clearance rack bargain on).

Dehydrate leaves separately from more dense items that will take longer to dehydrate. Leaves only take a few hours in my dehydrator, while many veggies take 8 hours or longer. Cut denser veggies into small pieces or shred them to expose as much surface area as possible to the warm, dry air. This will also make it easier to pulverize.

Once you have your leaves and veggies dehydrated, toss them into a food processor or blender and pulse until you've got a nice, fine powder. Pour the mixture into a flour sifter to sift out large pieces. Reprocess the large pieces. Mix the powders well and you're done! You now have veggie powder to add to all sorts of savory dishes and reduced the amount of green matter you tossed into the garbage bin!

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Dehydrating Peppers

I use a lot of peppers in my cooking, especially in winter when I make lots of soups, stews and chilis. During the winter, however, peppers are ridiculously expensive and the quality is terrible. Instead of just settling for crappy, expensive peppers, I dehydrate wonderful and cheap peppers during summer to use all winter long. Dehydrated sweet peppers make a wonderful snack, especially for road trips or hiking. Peppers can also be added to eggs, casseroles or pasta dishes.

Last night at a farm stand, I found beautiful Hungarian Wax peppers for $1/3 and jalapenos for $1/5. Sometimes I find peppers on the clearance rack at the grocery store 4 bell peppers for $1 or a 5 lb bag of hot peppers for $2. If you get a bumper crop of peppers in your garden, dehydrating is a perfect way to stretch your harvest with minimal expense or space.

First, clean the peppers well, and dry. Trim off the stem and any bad spots and cut out the seeds and membrane. I cut small peppers into rings and larger peppers into thin strips. You could cut them into chunks or thick strips, but you won't be able to fit as many on a tray and it will take much longer to dehydrate.

Lay them out evenly over your dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 6-18 hours, depending on types of pepper, size of pieces, humidity, etc. When they are fully dry, they will crack easily when squeezed and clatter when you stir them.

I reuse food jars left over from pasta sauce, pickles or relish to store my dehydrated food. I have stored dried peppers for several months without noticing any loss in quality. If you wanted to save food for a longer term, add oxygen packs, vacuum seal or oven can the peppers. 

You can snack on them (drink plenty of water if you regularly snack on dehydrated food). You can rehydrate them by pouring boiling water over them for about 20 minutes. If you are making soups or chili or a slow cooker meal, just add them to the dish dehydrated, and simply add a bit more water than the recipe calls for.

Republished on: Homegrown.org

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Frugal Tips I Learned from My Grandma

My wonderful Grandma passed away this past week. She was a passionate and fun woman and I adored her. She taught me a great many things about frugal living, many of which are a part of my daily life. Here are some of my favorite tips.

Shop at thrift stores. Grandma used to drive me all over hitting the coolest thrift stores. I still visit tiny hole-in-the-wall thrifts that she took me to 20 years ago.

Forage for free food. She used to take me out to pick wild berries or cherries from trees on her friend's property (with their permission, of course) that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Visit farms for the best produce. My grandma would take me to pick your own farms and orchards. We would pick 5-gallon bucket after 5-gallon bucket for much less than purchasing at the grocery store. This would be the best way to have enough produce to...

Preserve food when you have a surplus. The basement of her home was lined with lots of canned fruits and veggies. She always got the food for free or at a bargain and could stockpile summer's bounty for winter, when produce would be more expensive.

DIY can be a fun and cheap way to decorate your home. My grandma's house was filled with crafts she made with friends. She was re-purposing items that would otherwise have been thrown away long before it became cool.

Remember that time is a better gift than money. When I would spend the night at her house, Grandma used to stay up til 3:30 or so watching movies and giggling with me. While she also gave me many gifts over the years, those late nights eating sherbet and spending time together were the best gifts.

Use it Up! Bacon Grease

Many things are tossed into the garbage can when they still have lots of good life left in them. Use It Up is a section on how to use this "trash" to make new, useful items for your home or to re-purpose items to avoid a purchase.

One of the great disappointments in life: frying up a huge package of bacon and ending up with a couple of bacon bits and a pan full of bacon grease. Don't despair! You can use that grease in place of oil in cooking to save money over buying oil, and to add that incredible bacon flavor to other foods.

I save bacon grease in a glass jar in the refrigerator so that it lasts a good amount of time (can't say exactly how long because I've never had any go bad). If you keep it on the counter, you should use it fairly quickly, just to be safe.

Note: I suggest using a wide-mouthed jar for storage so you don't spill hot grease all over. Not that I have any experience in that area.

Here are some ways to use bacon grease. You'll be glad you did.

* Spread on bread in place of butter for grilled cheese sandwiches. Honestly the most decadent lunch ever.
* Fry greens and onions in it. This may be an effective way to get picky eaters to get their greens.
* Add to ham and bean soup or baked beans for a bit more oomph.
* Fry or scramble eggs in it.
* Use in place of lard in homemade refried beans.
* Make fried potatoes or the most awesome french fries ever.
* Make hashed browns.
* Rub on the outside of potatoes before baking.
* Use to grease pan for making a savory corn bread.
* Grease pans for casseroles.
* Grease pans for savory breads and muffins.
* Make white gravy and eggs (brown a couple tablespoons of flour in a heaping tablespoon of bacon grease, then add milk and small amount of additional flour, whisk and cook until it starts to thicken. Add chopped eggs and serve over sourdough toast. A family favorite!)
* Use to season steamed or boiled veggies.
* Pan fry squash, onions or other veggies in it.
* Fry green tomatoes.
* Make a candle. Yes, you read that right. Ehow has a great article oh it.
* Rub under the skin of a whole chicken or turkey to roast.
* Caramelize onions to use on everything.
* Use to pop popcorn on the stovetop.
* Use for cooking hot dogs.
* Use to grease a pizza pan to make a homemade pizza a more decadent affair.
* Make fried rice.
* Use as a warm salad dressing with a bit of vinegar.
* Make pancakes or waffles.
* Use to season cast iron.
* Make fire starters.
* Fried cornbread.
* Saute mushrooms.
* Add to mashed potatoes in place of butter.
* Use to grease a panini press.
* Add to dog's food. Just be reasonable about the amount.
* Add to hearty soups such as potato soup. It is also great to add a bit more flavor to veggie soups.
* Fry chicken.
* Use in place of butter in mac n cheese.
* Render it into lard to use in pie crust or other recipes using lard.
* My friend found an old cookbook that called for bacon grease in a cake. She said it turned out well, but interesting. :) I've also heard of people using it in cookies.
* Make soap (Thanks, Miss Nifty Thrifty!) http://sustainablescientist.net/2013/03/04/making-bacon-soap/
* Make paleo mayonnaise (Thanks, Stella!) http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2013/07/05/paleo-mayeo/
* Make liver and onions. (Thanks, Lora!)

And if after all of these fun ways to use bacon grease, you use it all up? Do like one of our readers suggested and buy packages of the ends and pieces. They have lots of fatty bits and will yield a lot of grease for your jar.

                                                   Youtube: Jim Gaffigan on Bacon


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Republished on: Homegrown.org

Frugal Summer Beverages

It is ridiculously hot today, and one of the best ways to relieve the heat is to sip on a cool drink. Here are some of my favorite frugal drinks to help you cool off on hot days.

Water is practically free if you drink it from the tap. On days that you sweat a lot, you need to make sure to replenish the fluids you lose and having a glass or reusable bottle filled with water is a great way to stay hydrated. If you don't like the taste of plain water, add some fruits or veggies to the water for homemade "vitamin water". Add slices of cucumber, apple, peach, or berries. It adds a bit of flavor with negligible calories.

Iced tea is incredibly refreshing. I make a gallon of tea at a time by pouring a gallon of hot water over 8 tea bags and letting it steep for 5 minutes. I remove the tea bags and add sweetener sometimes. Just a hint of sweetener is all I need. I've noticed that the colder I drink the tea, the less sweetener I need to use. Mint tea is especially refreshing. I buy boxes of store-brand tea bags (that are just fine in iced tea) for $2.39 for 200 bags. So using 8 tea bags and no sweetener, I can make a gallon of iced tea for around a penny. This is a huge savings over $5 a gallon pre-made iced tea.

Iced coffee is easy to make at home if you plan a head, and much cheaper and tastier than what you can buy at chain fast food joints. The night before, pour a gallon of cold water over a cup of coffee grounds. Cover and let sit on the counter overnight. In the morning, strain it through cheesecloth or a towel. You can add sweetener and creamer if you like, but it's more refreshing without it. Also, with the cold-brew method, iced coffee is significantly less bitter than hot-brew iced coffee.

Milkshakes are a summertime staple, but I find that ice cream makes me miserable in the summer. Instead, I make chocolate banana shakes. I keep bananas and one-cup portions of yogurt in the freezer.  To make a banana shake, I place one of each in the blender, add chocolate syrup or a hot-chocolate packet and just enough milk or soy/almond milk to blend. If I want to drink this for breakfast, I add a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter for protein. It is delicious and refreshing, rather than bloating and fattening.

Make your own chai tea to serve over ice with milk, almond/soy/coconut milk. Nourishing Simplicity has a great recipe for chai concentrate.

Light fruit juice is great on a hot day. Full-strength fruit juice contains a lot of sugar, and costs a lot too. I buy full-strength juice and dilute it at home. I usually mix the juice and water 50-50 or 60-40 depending on the particular juice. Making homemade lemonade is another great way to get a bit of vitamin C while cooling off. Just make sure you go a little light on the sweetener.

If you get a hankering for a nasty, calorie-laden summer drink such as a frozen blended coffee, make it yourself for the most cost and calorie savings. Save leftover coffee/iced coffee in ice cube trays. Put into the blender with milk and your choice of sweetener/syrup. Top with whipped cream if you like. You can easily make this for less than a dollar at home, compared to $5+ at a restaurant, and it's likely to have fewer calories. (Note: A certain chain restaurant I worked at sold frozen blended coffee drinks. The "recipe" included a small amount of espresso concentrate with high-fructose corn syrup and a full 6 ounces of half and half).

Karen Voisinet on Facebook said she adds lime and a pinch of salt for a natural Gatorade.

 I do water, lime, and a pinch of salt. Natural Gatorade.
Have a favorite summer drink I didn't list here? Share your recipe below!

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Use it Up: Cake Pops!

Many things are tossed into the garbage can when they still have lots of good life left in them. Use It Up is a section on how to use this "trash" to make new, useful items for your home or to re-purpose items to avoid a purchase.

My sister's graduation party is today and I wanted to be able to bring some kind of dessert. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money, but I wanted to bring something nice. I am also taking a Use-it-up challenge with some online friends to try to eat from the freezer and pantry to use up items that have been taking up space too long. Also, it's a terrible thing to have to throw away cakes, cupcakes, muffins or scones that get dry or stale before you use them. Solution: Cake pops!  These cheap, easy desserts are delightful and give new life to lifeless sweets.

I had tons of icing in the pantry that I got awhile back for $.20 per tub using a sale and coupon. I had lots of different sweets in the freezer. When I make a batch of cupcakes or scones at home, I always end up making more than Trucker and I can possibly eat between the two of us. I tend to put them in the freezer and forget about them.

I dug out a lot of those sweets: orange scones, toffee ginger scones, chocolate cake, and white cupcakes. Once they thawed, I crumbled them up. I mixed in just enough icing for it to all stick together into one mass. I rolled small amounts into little balls and popped them in the freezer overnight (they really just need to be frozen for at least two hours, but if you have plenty in the freezer, you'll have a quick and easy snack on hand). I stuck each one with a toothpick.

I took a bag of chocolate chips and melted it in the microwave. I added about a tablespoon of veggie oil. This made the chocolate a lot better for dipping, as otherwise it is really thick. I dipped each cake pop into the chocolate and then placed on a piece of waxed paper (in this case, a repurposed cereal bag). After dipping each ball, decorate if you'd like with sprinkles or other decorative bits. For the orange scone pops, I topped each with a tiny piece of dehydrated orange zest.

They are delicious and I think they're going to go over very well at the party this afternoon. Better yet, it used up items I had in the freezer and pantry, so the only out of pocket cost was for the chocolate.

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Why I Love My Dehydrator

I love my dehydrator. It is right up there with my blender as my favorite kitchen appliance. It really helps to reduce food waste and increases the shelf life of many foods. Here's how I use it to save money:

When I find an amazing deal on produce, I dehydrate some of the bounty. Sometimes I find packages of peppers for $.40/lb, and I'll buy 10 pounds. Some are used fresh or frozen, but I dehydrate a lot of them to toss into soups or to add to casseroles.

Sometimes foods I enjoy come in packages that aren't practical for my family size, and nothing is worse than having fresh berries go bad before you can eat them. I enjoy mushrooms, but Trucker is allergic to them. When I buy a package of mushrooms, I leave out just enough for me to use in a couple days, and dehydrate the rest to use for later. Dehydrated berries make a delicious snack, or an excellent addition to trail mix or granola.

I make my own tea. When I find wild plants such as red clover or violets that make excellent tea, I dehydrate them to use to make my own tea blends. I also dehydrate some herbal teas such as dandelion leaf.

I dehydrate surplus garden produce when I get a glut. When a big harvest comes in, I try to freeze as much of it as I can (and this year I'm learning to can!), but there's only so much room in the freezer. Dehydrating is a great way to store some of the surplus to use in winter.

 I use dehydrated fruit as an alternative to candy. We used to buy boxes of candy (such as Gobstoppers or nerds) to snack on, especially for road trips. But once we tried home-dehydrated apples, we kicked the candy habit. I get free apples (from family trees), and save the money I would have otherwise spent on candy. It's also better for the teeth and waistline.

It's super convenient. When I use dehydrated items, they are already cut up and ready to use (other than rehydrating for some recipes). When I have to work but want dinner ready as soon as I get home, I put stock, shredded meat and an assortment of dehydrated veggies into the slow cooker, put it on low and go. It's quicker than canned soup, and it's cheaper and tastier!


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Republished on: Homegrown.org