Festival of Foods

Dear Readers:
My garden this year has produced, and produced and produced (every pun intended). I almost can’t keep up with it-neither can my freezer. I’ve been harvesting daily, canning, freezing, dehydrating and when all else fails, inviting others over to stuff them full of veggies.

I hope to prolong and save back as much of the garden’s goodness as possible. I thought I’d show you all what I’ve been up to.

Roasting whole cherry tomatoes has become a favorite past time. I throw these on a pizza, a sandwich or I just eat them plain. Yum. I’ll do a large batch, freezing several small baggies for later use.

To use up cucumbers, I concocted a cuke salad adding black and red beans, red onions, vinegar and stevia. So tasty.

Of course, canning is a must. I’m set for the next couple of years in the salsa, whole tomatoes, jalapeno pepper department.

My little $5 dehydrator has been pushed to its limit and has seen the likes of tomatoes, green beans, okra and peppers. I freeze most of the dehydrated items to use in recipes down the road.

And Bicep’s favorite are my chocolate zucchini muffins. So, I made lots of them-96 to be exact. Most I freeze, but I pull out a few from time to time if he’s been a good boy.

This is the only thing my garden hasn’t produced, but that I love to make-granola! I make 4 batches at a time and freeze 3 ziplock bags full for the future.

Biceps even got in on the action and for the first time ever, made french baguettes. They were amazing.

My poor little freezer-I have pushed it to the limit. I stuffed it so full of awesomeness that the air wasn’t circulating and nothing was freezing. Our ice cubes were water squares.

I think it’s safe to say that next year, I’m saving up for a chest freezer. End of story.

Simple, Healthy Salad Dressing

In March, I gave myself a month long challenge of ridding my house of nasty chemicals and high priced products that I can make myself. Here are a few of the things that I’ve been able to replace around the house:

Recipe for Facial Moisturizer
Cheap, Organic Face Wash
DIY Household Green Cleaners
DIY Organic Eye Makeup Remover
Simple, Organic Lip Balm

But the replacements must meet or exceed three important expectations for this frugal gal:
1. It must be easy to replace-no beakers or science lab experiments. Thank you.
2. It must be just as good or better than the current product I’m using and,
3. It must cost the same or less than the current product I’m using.

photo source unknown

If the product I create passes the final test-me using it for over two plus weeks to make sure it does its job-then I’ll be sharing it with you. I will break down the cost for you, provide you the recipe and give you my honest opinion of the final product.

Today, I have a recipe for Simple, Healthy Salad Dressing via my sweet mother-in-law. I tweaked the recipe a little and I subtracted the salt and pepper. I enjoy lots of pepper on my salad, but just a pinch of salt. (I figured I could add my own accoutrements expo facto.)

All that is needed to make this Simple, Healthy Salad Dressing is:
1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup All Fruit, No Sugar Strawberry Jam

In a liquid measuring cup, pour 1 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In the same measuring cup, add the 1/3 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar. Watch the cool little bubbles float around for a minute and pretend you are in a CSI lab.

Measure out 1/4 Cup of Strawberry Jam. Lick your fingers.

If necessary, use a funnel to transfer the measured jam into the chosen dressing jar.

Next, pour the olive oil and balsamic mixture into the jar. This will get all the last little bits of jam left in the funnel, into the jar.

Place the lid on the dressing jar and shake vigorously. Pour a small amount on top of your favorite salad, grab a fork and dig in.

Add salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy!

Note-this dressing must be stored in the fridge and it will settle and separate. Shake the bottle before each use.

Linking up here, along with other parties: