Gleaning apples - because free apples taste so much better

I wasn't familiar with the term gleaning (except in the Bible) until a few years ago.  I read about someone getting free apples because they asked someone with an apple tree.

Put the word out to family and friends

I thought this was interesting so I put the word out to my family and friends that I would take free produce if someone didn't want it.  It was about 2008 and my sister said she saw an ad in our local paper about free apples if we wanted to come pick them.

 

I called some like-minded friends and we took all our kiddos over there and picked those free apples.

The next year we went back to the same guy only the apples weren't as good.  We did manage to get some though.

Knock on the door

The year after that I kept passing this house that had two huge pear trees.  I stopped and knocked on the door but no one answered.  I saw a car for sale parked in the yard and so I called the number.  I told the man that I didn't want to buy his car but wondered if I could pick their pears.  It turned out that they weren't his pears but his friends and he asked them and told me I could!  So my friend and I went there and picked as many pears as we could and I made pear sauce, canned some and made pear jam - my favorite and my sister's too.

Ask for "Seconds"

Then in 2011 I just went to the orchard and picked out the "seconds" from the big bins. It was ever so much easier and at $17 a bushel it was a pretty good price.

Look for "Free Apple Signs"

Last year I got a call from some friends.   They passed this house from church that had several apple trees on it and there was a sign in the yard that said "Free Apples" so of course we jumped on that and picked a ton of apples.  I wasn't able to process them though since I had just had a baby and we had just moved twice.

Ask your friends if they have an apple tree

My friend has an apple tree in her backyard and her neighbor has two trees so we picked those and then we processed them into applesauce and apple butter.





 

If there is a sign in the yard, call the number

I also called a house that is for sale down the street.  It is for sale by owner and I know no one lives there.  I told the man that answered that I did not want to buy his house but wondered if I could pick the apples in the backyard.  He told me I could.

So I got some extra help from my friend's girls who had never picked apples before.  You can tell by their choice of clothes and footwear.  But they worked hard and seemed to have fun.  We picked one day and processed the next.

Don't judge an apple by the outside.  These were almost perfect inside.  There were hardly any yecky ones.  I trust dirty apples more than I trust grocery store apples.  Also don't be afraid of worms.  I don't see them very much.  I also run my apples in my dishwasher - with no soap - so they are dead by the time I cut the apple open anyway.

The girls cut the apples in no time flat.  They all wanted to do it.  We used safe knives for the little kids.

I tried to pressure cook some but it seemed to take longer by the time it heated up and then cooled down.

The girls liked to put the apples through the mill.

I kept the applesauce hot in my friend's roaster until I could can it all.  Some of the apples were more red and so some of it was red and some of it wasn't.  I just mixed it all.

And  now we have roughly 45 pints of applesauce for free, peeps, without any high fructose corn syrup or anything for that matter except I did put some cinnamon in a batch.

Also, don't throw away your peels!  Save them and make Candy Apple Jelly with them or just make regular jelly.



Gleaning apples is really worth it.  All you can do is ask.  The worst that can happen is that they chase you off their property with a broom.  Not really, I find most people are nice and don't really want their apples to go to waste.  Just take someone with you if you are going to a house you don't know or if there is a sign in the yard call the number.  You can look on Craigslist or in your local paper too for people giving them away.

Or if you are too nervous to do that go to your local orchard and ask for seconds.  Many orchards have them.

Have you ever gleaned anything before?  I'd love to hear your story.

Pressure cooker - its baaaaaaaack!

Do you remember the pressure cooker?  I think it may have been big in the 70's.  My grandma always used one to cook her pork roast in because it made it tender and because she wasn't a big menu planner.

I've been seeing posts about them and I thought - I need to try it.  So each week I have been using it once or twice to try things.

I had no book on how to use it but I knew how to use my pressure canner so I thought I could do it.

I have no idea the brand I have since it was my sweet Grandma's.  It is really easy to use though.

Here are some things I have done and have had success with.

Black beans!  Yes, I just took dried beans - NO SOAKING - and rinsed them and then I put about 2 cups of water in with a bag full of beans and cooked it for 25 minutes (once it came up to pressure).

Whole Chicken in the pressure cooker - this is ridiculous and so easy.  You have to try it.  I mean 25 minutes and it is done. 

Pressure Cooker Carnitas - This again was so good and so easy, like crazy easy.

Have you tried the pressure cooker lately?  If so, what should I try next?

 

Got Hard Water? Dishwasher help

We were having an awful time with our dishwasher.  It is less than two years old and it was not cleaning our dishes.  Now, we live in hard water central and we do not have a softener.  My husband, being the genious that he is, decided to do something.

He searched You Tube for tutorials on how to take apart a dishwasher and clean it.





After he took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together, we started using vinegar as the rinse agent and I bought some lemi shine!

Have you used Lemi Shine because if you haven't you need to!  You can find it in your grocery store.  It will help with hard water stains and make your glasses more clear.

Hope this helps your dishes. 

  

Homemade Bread Keeping and Cutting Tips

Oh bread - how I love thee?  I love thee lots and lots.  I spent a good year trying to find a good bread recipe which meant I made a lot of bad bread recipes.

I finally found the perfect bread recipe.  It turns out great every time.

Marilyn Moll's Famous Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

You have to check it out.  It gives you three methods to make the bread.  I use the bread machine because I'm lazy.

Another tip is to make up a bunch of bread kits like I did  here - this makes it so easy!

It looks like this when it is done in the bread maker:

Once your bread is done baking wait a few minutes and then take it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely.  This is very important - you do not want to put your bread in a bag while it is still warm or the moisture could make it mushy and yecky.

Once it has cooled completely store your bread in a cloth bread sack with a drawstring close.  You could buy one or make your own.  Store the loaf in this bag for 1 day - 24 hours and then . . .

You want to store your bread in a plastic bread bag for the rest of the time you have your bread.  It gets too hard if you leave it in the cloth bread bag for more than one day.

You can buy the bread bags here.

Now, whenever you are ready to slice your bread you can just go right ahead and do that or you can use this handy dandy gadget which makes your slices even because if you are like me - you can't draw a straight line let alone cut one (a straight line that is).

Bread Slicers

I don't cut my bread until I am ready to use it that instant.  I don't want it to get dried out at all.  Also, very important, use a serrated knife to cut your bread and go in a sawing motion so you don't smoosh the bread.

And if you have it around long enough for it to get a little hard - throw it in the freezer until you can make croutons or bread crumbs out of it.

Oh my - was that too much?  I just hate for you to take the time to make homemade bread and then it gets too hard or worse - mushy.  I like to use this bread for sandwiches which is why I try to store and cut it the best way I know how.

A few other notes - I store my bread on the counter.  Do not store it in the fridge or the crust will get really hard.  You can also wrap your bread in plastic wrap and/or foil and freeze it.  I have done this lots of times.  I just let it thaw on the counter or reheat it in the oven at 350.

Any other tips you all have that I might have forgotten?

 

Breakfast Freezer Cooking Session

This week I decided I would do a "quicker" freezer cooking session of breakfasts.  I told my husband ahead of time and he was happy to help me by doing dishes and watching the kiddos - but I ended up doing most of it while he was running an errand so he cleaned the bigger bathroom for me instead which made me very happy.

I usually try to keep my kitchen stocked with basic supplies so I had everything on hand.  I also have my master muffin mix on hand and we actually only ever make the chocolate chip pumpkin muffins because EVERYONE likes those.

My list:

• Blender Batter Waffles
• Cooked bacon (*I didn't get to this)
• OAMC French toast sticks (for the freezer)
• Muffins - Using variations from the Master Muffin Mix from Home Joys with more variations

I started after breakfast.  My 5 year old daughter really loves helping in the kitchen and she honestly helped me a lot.  I used yesterday to teach her how to crack an egg and how to get egg shells out of said egg.

Making muffins - I use the reusable silicone muffin liners

I also use the blender batter waffle recipe - I never do the overnight soaking thing and lately I have been using oat groats because I have them on hand.

 I love my waffle maker because it makes 4 smaller thinner waffles which are great to put in the toaster oven straight from the freezer!

Here are the totals - 25 waffles, 17 muffins, 10 pieces of french toast and 25 french toast sticks.

I love having homemade breakfasts in the freezer.  It has taken a lot of trial and error to figure out the best breakfasts to make and freeze that the whole family will eat - but this list is a hit with everyone.

My advice to pull this off :

• Have an empty dishwasher and clean kitchen before you start.
• Get all ingredients and small appliances you are going to use out and on the table.
• Wash and reuse bowls, cups and spoons as you go so you don't have a kitchen full of dirty dishes when you are done.

I plan on making Monday my "make ahead day".  Next week I think I will do mixes.

I would encourage you to do this small version of freezer cooking once a week.  Think about how much this would have cost me if I had bought this at the store - even on sale Eggo waffles are about $1.50 to $2.50 and the ingredients are not nearly as healthy as mine and they come in a pack of 10.  

This post linked to Money Saving Mom's Frugal Photo Friday and Tammy's Recipes - Kitchen Tip Tuesday.

 

Kitchen Tip Tuesday - Make Bread kits

I have been a bit lazy about making our bread since my "morning" sickness lasted about 2 to 3 months.  And now I am feeling so much better but I am trying to be more committed to this whole homeschooling thing and turns out - that takes up a LOT of time.  So I still want to make the bread we like.  I just wanted to make it easier.  Introducing the bread kits!

I take some time to grind a whole bunch of wheat and then I fill quart size Ziplock bags with the dry ingredient from the best whole wheat bread recipe that I have found.

Here is what each bag holds:

1 1/2 tsp Real Salt
3 1/2 C fresh whole wheat flour
2 tsp Dough Enhancer
3 TB Vital Wheat Gluten
1 1/2 tsp Saf Instant Yeast

I make sure to put the yeast in first because the instructions in my bread machine manual says to put the yeast in last so if I put in the bottom of the bag it comes out last.

When I am ready to make a loaf of bread here is all I have to do:

Fill up a measuring cup with 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water, 2 Tbsp. of oil and 2 Tbsp. of honey.  I dump that in first then I dump in my bag and turn on my bread maker.  You can go here to see what I do after the dough is done because I always bake my bread in the oven and not in the bread maker.

It looks like this when it is done in the bread maker:

And then it looks like this when it is done baking:

I store these bags in the freezer because the freshly ground flour lasts better if it is frozen.  It really makes making homemade bread so much easier!

Let's talk about yogurt, shall we?

I have made my own yogurt in the past and even my own "cream" cheese.  I haven't done that in a while.  I have just been buying organic Stoneyfield yogurt in the big container.  Although this will work if you make your own yogurt too!

My kitchen tip today is to split this big container up so it is easier to grab and eat.  It is also less expensive than buying the individual containers of yogurt.

I bought Ball's freezer containers a while back to use for my strawberry freezer jam.   Since I already had them and we had used up the freezer jam I was wondering what I could do with them. 

Now I use them as my our own individual yogurt containers.  Since I buy the plain vanilla yogurt I will throw some frozen blueberries in the yogurt in half the containers and I will puree frozen strawberries and put them in other half.

The kids love yogurt (well 2 out of 3 of them do) and this way I can easily portion it out for them and also jazz up the plain vanilla yogurt too.