Using the Dehydrator

Hello Friends; Hope you all are safe & well.

Decided on Tuesday to use our dehydrator & take care of a few left over Red Delicious apples that were getting a bit soft and grainy. So I pulled out the mandolin slicer & made Cinnamon Sugar Apple Slices.

So yummy with just the right amount of sweetness.

Sliced about a 1/4" thick & dipped in lemon juice & water (couldn't find my Fruit Fresh), laid out on the trays and sprinkled with a cinnamon and sugar mix. Into the dehydrator at 145 degrees for roughly 8 hours until dry but pliable.

Working on sewing a few masks to keep in our vehicles for when we have to go to the store to get necessaries. Made two of the pleated style yesterday and will work on a couple of the contoured type and Olson Masks today.

That's it for today, so until next time..... 

Take Care of Yourselves & Be Safe

Hugs, Sandy 

A Bit More Canning

Got to stock my pantry shelves with a bit more home made goodness on Sunday.

I discovered last month that I love Pickled Garlic and Pickled Carrots, couldn't find either one in Costco or Walmart, just mixes that also came with pickle chips. So what's a girl to do when she already has over 30 quarts of different pickles in the basement pantry ? She makes the yummyness herself, that's what she does.

7 Pints of Pickled Carrots & Garlic with 7 half pints of Pickled Garlic

Now I just have to have patients and wait a couple of months for them to cure up before I start snacking.

The Garlic is so good for the immune system and your heart, so a win win situation, health benefits and just plain yummy.

If you like to can as well, here's the recipe ....

Pickled Garlic
2 1/4 cups Vinegar
2 1/4 cups Water
1/4 cup Canning Salt
1 Tablespoon Pickling Spice (can sub Red Pepper Flakes for Spicy)
2 pounds Peeled Garlic (bought a 3 pound bag at Costco)

Mix vinegar, water, canning salt, and pickling spice in sauce pan and heat on medium heat until simmering, stir until salt is melted.
Wash garlic before packing jars.
Pack hot half pint jars with garlic and add pickling liquid to 1 inch head-space.
Clean rims of jars and top with hot lids, screw on rings until finger tight and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. After turning off heat let jars sit for five minutes before removing from water bath.
Let jars set for 12 hours before testing seal.

For the pints of carrots & garlic I upped the vinegar and water to 2 3/4 cups each and mixed about 2-3 pounds of carrots with the extra pound of garlic in a colander and packed jars from there. I didn't count or weigh just grabbed handfuls and added to jars. I processed in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes and let sit for 5 minutes.

Well that's it for today, so until next post .......

Take Care Everyone
Hugs, Sandy

Storms & Chocolate

All week long I've been watching storms roll in, the wind blow and the rain come down. Enough rain that I have had to empty the 55 gallon rain barrel twice in four days. 

On one of the stormy days I figured I make the hubs and I a treat.

A couple of hours later two pans of Dark Chocolate with crushed and slivered almonds and a sprinkle of sea salt was the result. Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!!

This will last about a month since we only have one or two pieces a day or so.

Tomorrow I'll get out the bread machine and make an Italian Herb bread to go with Spaghetti. The bread will be a boxed mix just to see if we like it. If it ends up being a bread were not fond of I'll slice it, dry it and run it through the food processor for herb-ed bread crumbs to use in recipes.

That's all for today, until next post.......

Take Care & Have a Great Weekend

Hugs, Sandy

Making A New Favorite Snack

Two weeks back I found out that I LOVE Hummus. 

We were in Costco and they had the Sabra Organic Hummus with Red Peppers at a taste booth or traffic congester as I like to call them, so I thought what the heck might as well try something new. I LOVED it!!!!, so I bought the tub of hummus and had it gone in the first week : (

Didn't want to continue to pay almost $10 for a snack that would only last a week, so I went on the internet and found recipes for the yummy treat then proceeded to make my own using the basics of different recipes as my template to come up with my own from what I had on hand.

Homemade Garlic Hummus

   

2 - 15.5 ounce cans Garbanzo Beans - drained and skins left on

2 T. Lemon Juice - I used bottled

1 to 2 T. Garlic - I used pre-minced

4 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 t. Kosher Salt

1 t. ground Cumin

1/2 to 1 t. Paprika

1/2 t. Onion Powder

1/4 c. Red Bell Pepper - chopped

2 to 3 T. Water

I put the Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) into the food processor and pulsed them around until they were coarse ground then I added everything except the peppers and water and processed until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl. 

Then add the water a little at a time until you get the thickness that you want, then add the peppers and process to mix them in, next time I will stir them in by hand so I end up with little pepper chunks instead of the barely there that I got from processing. 

I added a little Paprika and a swirl of olive oil on top for looks.

Most of the recipes called for Tahini, but I didn't have any or enough Sesame Seed to make my own, but it was an optional ingredient so I didn't worry about it.

It's really good with Wheat Thins or baby Carrots, I didn't like it with Triscuits.

If you like Hummus, give making your own a try, it's really yummy and quick.

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy