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extending your garden season adds BOUNTY to your table

Two of the most important things to remember about gardening is that
1) there are a lot of ‘rules’
2) some of those rules should be obeyed, but some of them – you must be willing to break to move ahead

There are many things about gardening that one has to experience to understand what the rules are there for. These are the things that one must learn through experiences. But they don’t always have to be your own, we can learn from each others’ experiences too. One of these age old rules in my part of the world, says that we should plant our gardens on the May long weekend (3rd weekend in May). But statistics say that the expected last frost is anywhere from May 1-10. Obeying that rule straight across the board, amounts to a week or more of lost growing time – when there are only an average of 120 (give or take) frost free days in Edmonton.

I don’t pretend to be an astronomer or any other kind of expert, but there are some things that simply make sense to me. Consider this:
The summer solstice in 2022 is June 21. It is longest day of the year – more daylight than any other. The center of “BEST SUN” days.
Count back 7 weeks to May 1, and forward 7 weeks to August 9. Those days are going to be the BEST Sun days of the summer right? A reasonable assumption to make. In fact, in Edmonton, on May 1 – 2022 the sun will rise at 5:57 AM and set at 9:05 PM = 15 hr 8 min of sunshine. On August 9 – 2022, sunrise will be 6:03 AM, sunset at 9:14 PM = 15 hr 11 min of sunshine.

My point? My point is that after August 9, the sun is not as high, and not as present. In fact only one month later, September 9, the sun rises at 6:57 AM (54 minutes later than Aug 9), and sets at 8:04 PM (70 minutes sooner than Aug 9). That is 2 hours and 4 minutes LESS sun-time. In ONE MONTH! So yes, those may be frost free days, time for things to ripen, but the ideal growing time has passed. If we’re planting on May 24, that gives us only two and a half months of best sun days to grow. When we could easily have another month or more.

So, how does one make the best of those high sun, but possibly NOT frost free days of early spring? Answer: Plant earlier.
The next obvious question then is this – what can we plant earlier that will not be killed or stunted by those chilly mornings of early spring? Answer: There are many hardy and semi hardy cool weather vegetables that thrive in our growing season. We just need to get to know them and learn to appreciate them. Here are some ‘hardy’ and ‘semi-hardy’ vegetables (and some notable fruits) that you can be growing in the average backyard garden in and around the Edmonton region.

HARDY VEGETABLES can tolerate a hard frost and temperatures between -5 and -10 Celsius

If you haven’t made friends with some of these yet, then open your mind and introduce yourself. They’re not only anxious to make friends, but are extremely forgiving and loyal. Hardy Vegetables include: Brassicas like Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Collard Greens, Kale, and Kohlrabi, as well as Leeks, Mustard Greens, Parsley, Radishes, Spinach and Turnips. THAT is a lot to choose from, and ALL of them can be planted as soon as the ground is dry enough to work in. If it snows again after planting – no worries, they laugh at snow. I planted my Spinach seeds on April 2 this year, but I could easily have planted them a week or two early. Its not simply a matter of them TOLERATING the cooler weather, they THRIVE in it. I’m sure you’ve noticed that as soon as the weather warms up in June, your spinach bolts (goes to seed). These cooler crops don’t like the heat, and they don’t do well in it at all. They are best grown in the earliest parts of spring. In some climates they are winter crops, but not for us in Edmonton LOL. See below for some advice on ‘some’ of these hardy vegetables. I don’t have experience with all of them, but maybe you do. I’d love to hear your opinions and suggestions from your own experience. Please share by commenting below.

KALE:
Personally, I am not a fan of growing most brassicas because I’ve lost too many battles with the caterpillars that like them so much, but I make an exception for KALE. Knock on wood, I’ve never had a problem with kale (so far). It’s easy to grow, doesn’t attract pests, and it toughs out the cold weather in both spring and fall. It was a no brainer that we should become fast friends, I just needed to get to know how to use it more in the kitchen. That was the easiest part of all. I pick kale from May through September – a whole season of wholesome green goodness in salads, green smoothies, and everything in between. And it dehydrates beautifully for winter use. What else could I ask for? Depending on the weather, and the the type of spring we’re having, they can be planted outside by seed, as soon as the ground is dry and warm to the touch (anytime from April 1-30). And don’t worry if it snows – they won’t care. You can get a jump on the season by planting young seedlings outside around the 1st of May.

MUSTARD GREENS:
are new to me this year, but I am excited to try them. A quick phone call secured me a pack at a local seed store. So it will be one of my 2022 experiments. I don’t have a whole lot to say about them at the moment, but stay tuned. I’m sure I will in a future post.

PARSLEY:
has been a favourite herb in my garden for years, and occasionally even comes back in the spring – though at best it is still only a biennial, so its best to count of replanting seedlings every spring. But no need to wait till late May, parsley plants can be planted by May 1st for sure. Don’t bother planting seeds outside. They take too long to germinate for that. Either start them indoors in February or early March, or buy your plants from a greenhouse.

SPINACH:
is wonderful, and one of the healthiest plants when eaten FRESH (within a couple hours of harvest). It’s leaves are tender and perfect for salads. I used to buy a lot of ‘fresh’ spinach from the grocery store, all year long, but I very rarely do anymore. We know that all produce begins deteriorating nutritionally within the first hour of harvest, and the sad new about spinach is that within four days – it has lost 100% of its vitamin C. I don’t know about where you buy yours, but I can pretty much guarantee that the spinach available in my local grocery store was NOT picked within the last 96 hours! So the very best source of spinach is the one that can it get to your table within only a few hours of harvest. That means its either grown in my garden, or its THRIVE LIFE Freeze Dried Spinach.

The tricky part about growing spinach is that it LIKES COOL WEATHER. That is its great strength as a garden vegetable in Alberta, since we specialize in ‘cooler’ weather. But wait. The convers of that fact implies that it hates hot weather. And it does. When the sun gets real hot, spinach goes to seed (it ‘bolts’ – see below). If you plant spinach around May 24, it will bolt in the heat of late June, and you are very likely to be disappointed. What to do? Plant it earlier.

Its good to know bytheway, that there are several other greens that grow well all summer long without bolting, so it doesn’t have to be “spinach or nothing”. But, back to spinach. Because it’s a cool weather crop, we can plant spinach in the early spring (early to late April depending on the year), when we can take advantage of the long ‘sun’ days that come with the cooler weather of April and May. Ironically spinach wants a nice sunny location, but doesn’t want the heat that comes with the sun, so its the perfect plant to extend your growing season. By the time your spinach has given up in the heat of summer, your swiss chard and other greens are ready to eat!

Is it worth it? Absolutely. If you can get your spinach planted early enough in the spring, you’ll get a beautiful crop that will flourish. Its the perfect opening act to your summer garden. And its a great source of iron, calcium and vitamins A, B, C, and K.

what is “bolting” and what causes it?
Bolting is a common response of cool weather vegetables to stresses of summer – temperature stress, day length stress, or water stress. When the plant is in distress, it hastens it’s purpose in life – which is to go to seed. Long spells of hot dry weather may be good for peppers and tomatoes, but NOT good for spinach. Many other leafy vegetables do the same thing. Not much you can do about the weather in summer, so just work with it. Spinach doesn’t want what tomatoes want. So planting it when the days are cooler, and giving it as much cool time to grow as possible will make it happier.

In some zones, spinach might be a good fall crop, but I’ve found that the end of our growing season is too fickle. In Edmonton, the sun is less by the end of August, but the days are still very warm and dry. We could just as easily have snow in October as not, and if we do, temperatures could drop quickly. I’ve tried extending my growing season by planting spinach at the end of August, but experience has shown me I’m gonna have more success in the early spring.

Plant your spinach in rich soil – amended with old manure and/or compost. Keep it consistently moist, but not soggy. Water deeply and regularly. Spinach is a heavy feeder, so sprinkling blood meal around the plant mid growing season will encourage rapid growth of continuous new, tender leaves. Once you see five or six nice healthy leaves on a plant, go ahead and start snipping the larger ones off for spinach salad.

RADISHES and TURNIPS:
I am not a fan of either of these vegetables for their roots, but I absolutely AM a fan of their greens! I grow both, only for their tops. They have a little zip that is great in a fresh garden salad or any other combination of greens, and are super nutritious – SO worth it. They’re best when they’re young, so start picking early while you’re thinning them out. Once the roots get big, the leaves are not as tender and suitable for salads, but they make a great Pesto. (click here Radish Green Pesto for the recipe)

SEMI HARDY VEGETABLES will tolerate light frosts and temperatures around freezing (0°C)

Semi-hardy vegetables can be planted quite a bit earlier than the May long weekend, but maybe don’t push it too far into April, unless its an especially warm spring. Some great Semi-hardy Vegetables include: Beets, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Endive, most kinds of Potatoes, all kinds of Lettuces, Radicchio, Rutabaga, and Swiss Chard.

BEETS:
good for the tops as well as the roots. Plant at the beginning of May.

young carrot tops are delicious as well as nutritious

CARROTS:
for example, take up to 3 weeks to germinate, so getting a heads start on them is important, but planting them too early, when the soil is still cold won’t help. The first days of May should be early enough for carrots. If you haven’t discovered making your own SEED TAPE, then you are in for a treat. Super easy to make yourself, and prevent wasting a ton of carrot seeds.

Did you know that carrot greens are not only good to eat, but super nutritious? More vitamin C than the actual ‘carrot’. I use them lightly chopped when they’re young and tender (the thinnings) in garden salads and in smoothies. If I have more than I can use, then I lightly chop and freeze for later. They make a fantastic Pesto!

Click HERE for the recipe.

LETTUCE:
of all kinds is fine with cooler temperatures and even the odd light frost in the beginning. They’ll germinate in a few days and will thrive in the bright light.

POTATOES:
could have an entire blog post devoted to growing them, but don’t wait till the long weekend in May to plant them. Shoot for the end of April / beginning of May, depending on the spring, when your soil is nice and warm. You don’t want them to pop up before the last frost, so don’t push your luck toooo far, but two or three weeks before last expected frost should be fine. You can expect them to be ready to harvest in 120 days, but you can begin ‘stealing’ young potatoes in early to mid August (depending when you planted them of course). The best potatoes I ever grew were hilled completely in hay. An experiment that I am trying to recreate this year. Stay tuned.

RUTABAGAS:
not to be confused with turnips. They are both root vegetables and have similar shape and appearance, but they are not the same. Turnips are usually harvested young – only 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and are a summer vegetable. Rutabagas are harvested closer to the end of the growing season, and are usually bigger. Turnips are white with a purplish top, rutabagas have a yellowish flesh, also a purplish top. Turnips taste a little like radishes to me, while rutabagas are a little milder and maybe even sweeter. Both can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, roasted or stir fried. Its all about personal preference when judging between the two, and tastes change over time, so I think its a good idea to come back to certain foods that we may not have liked in younger years. Turnips and rutabagas are the perfect example of that.

This year is a FIRST for me to grow rutabagas. I confirmed last year that I am not a fan of turnips, but I do like to oven roast the rutabagas that I buy in the winter, so I’m gonna give them a good try in my garden this season. Stay tuned for more information.

swiss chard early afternoon, destined to become spanakopita for dinner

SWISS CHARD:
is one of my best friends in the garden. Fast Growing, Forgiving and Fabulous it is delicious, nutritious and very flexible in the kitchen. It is a staple in my summer kitchen, and the most important ingredient in my SPANAKOPITA. In fact I grow swiss chard especially for this summer delicacy.

Chard will tolerate the heat of summer much better than spinach, but hot dry days will still cause it to bolt. Watering well when its dry will help cool it down, but its important to pick continuously throughout the season.

Planting Non Hardy Vegetables must wait

Rushing the season with tender plants like tomatoes and peppers, is asking for trouble, so yes, for them – stick to the age old rule of May long weekend. For the others mentioned above, a little frost, a little snow – pshaw, we’re talking about SUPER HEROES here! They’re not afraid of cold. A late, cold spring, doesn’t have to shorten our season, or decrease our harvest, in fact, cooler temperatures are best for these cool weather vegetables. Be brave, and Be positive. You’re the boss of your garden. Begin looking at cold rainy spring days as SPINACH DAYS. And there’s other good news – in the early spring, there are fewer pests around to damage plants. It’s a total WIN!

Whether you’ve been around the block a time or two, or you’re just getting your feet underneath you in the garden, cool crops are a bountiful way to extend our season. And because they’re so forgivingly easy to grow, they are encouraging plants to start off with. Success means starting with winners. And the key is to EAT them. Broaden your horizons. Commit to experiment every year, with something new to you. Learn about one more vegetable that you never knew before. Plant it. Make friends with it, and learn ways to enjoy it.

SPANAKOPITA is why everyone should always plant Swiss Chard!
There is no question that the world would be a happier place if we all did.

Hardy fruits:

There are many fruits we can grow in and around Edmonton, most notably – BERRIES. I hope you love berries because we grow awesome raspberries around here. And great red and black currents. And terrific honey berries (haskaps). And saskatoons. And plums and sour cherries. And rhubarb and apples. And all of these come back every year! We also grow excellent strawberries and even some types of grapes. So don’t limit your gardens to annual vegetables, open your mind and your arms to perennial fruits. But that’s another blog post for another time.

The one cardinal garden rule that everyone should obey is to:
GROW WHAT YOU EAT, AND EAT WHAT YOU GROW. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time and space.

Have fun in your garden this year, and have fun planning and planting it. Don’t wait till all the stars align, the sun is warm and everything else is perfect. You’ll have wasted valuable growing time. Embrace the hardy vegetables of cool weather. Put your jacket and garden gloves on and get out there!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on extending your gardening season. Please comment below.

At the time of this writing it is mid April 2022. We’ve had an unseasonably cold early spring. Snow has not completely melted. The world is in turmoil. War is raging in the Ukraine as they fight to remain autonomous from Russia. This is affecting food supplies all over Europe, and the fallout will be felt worldwide. We in the west, are still recovering from droughts, floods, fires, storms, and labour shortages. Food prices have skyrocketed along with fuel and energy prices, and everything related to them (which is pretty much everything). If ever there was a good time to plant a garden to supplement our grocery dollar, this year would be it!

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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Meals in a Jar

A few years ago I discovered “meals in a jar”, and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, it kinda changed my life. In a good way. What exactly IS a meal in a jar (MIJ)? Its a good, healthy meal, ready in a matter of minutes, prepared ahead for such a time as this. The variety of options is endless, limited only by your imagination. If you’re short on imagination at the moment, scroll down. I’m giving you a few of my favourite recipes below, with some suggestions for adjusting as seems appropriate.

6 different MIJ – Meals in a Jar

Food storage has been a way of life for me, all my adult years. Why? Because it’s the SMART thing to do, that’s why. I saw the example in varying degrees throughout my childhood, but Dan and I took it to a whole new level as we practiced and learned, and increasingly saw the value of having a food storage. Not everybody’s food storage looks the same. With encouragement, suggestions, and the kinship one feels with other likeminded people, I developed my own plan that fit into our lifestyle. The best piece of advice I absorbed came from Spencer W. Kimball, who counselled “Store what you eat, and EAT what you store.”

When freeze dried food became more readily (and increasingly) available, storing high quality food became easier, and more nutritious. It also opened up a whole new world of possibilities for convenience. Yes, convenience and healthy, and long term shelf stable, can all exist on the same table at the same time. True, we generally focus on food storage as an emergency resource, but consider the innumerable minor emergencies that happen in the regular course of our week. Those days when you’ve been crazy busy, but the family still needs to eat supper. Those days when you just don’t have any good ideas or energy, but the family still needs to eat supper. Those days when you’re sick, and need to leave dinner up to someone else. Those times when money is short, and the fridge is bare, but the family still needs to eat. . . . You get the picture.

Meals in a jar (MIJ), properly sealed can last an easy five years, but personally I’m not interested in them lasting five years. With freeze dried food, I already have an excellent food storage that will last 25 years. What I’m looking for with MIJ – is convenience. I want a few meals our family will enjoy IN the pantry, close and handy for the day I need it. I want a few meals I know I can count on, that I can pass on to a friend or neighbour who could use a helping hand from time to time. But its gotta be healthy. That’s my one big criteria, my non-negotiable. No artificial additives. I still run with the motto “If you can’t say it, don’t eat it“, so homemade with ingredients I can trust is essential.

How long can you expect a MIJ to last with a good snug lid on it? Six months to a year is how long I keep mine, and I’ve never had a problem. MIJ are great options to keep on the shelf for THOSE emergencies!   If you’re of a mind, and if you have a vacuum sealer, go ahead and seal them for longer shelf stability. But in the meantime, consider them part of your routine: your emergency dinner-to-the-rescue, to pull out when you need to get dinner on the table quick!

Sausage Corn Chowder on the table with broccoli cheese biscuit

Ingredients:

Most MIJ recipes require freeze-dried foods of course, with perhaps some dehydrated ingredients.  These are ever more readily available in stores and to order directly. Truth is, not all freeze dried food is the same quality, so do your homework when picking a reliable source. Personally, I prefer the quality of THRIVE LIFE foods – just Simple, Clean Food. The quality of your MIJ and the confidence you have in it’s shelf stability, can only be equal to the quality of the ingredients you use, and the care and attention you give to cleanliness when packing it.

Equipment:

Containers: I use wide mouth quart jars for family sized meals, and pint jars for smaller meals. I like glass because you can SEE – easy to know what is in there, and that they are airtight with a good lid.
Make sure they’re clean and DRY. And store in a cupboard away from light so the vibrant colours are not faded by the sun.
Jar funnel: Not necessary, but sure comes in handy to get everything INto the jar.
Measuring cups and spoons: Measurements are pretty important when you’re trying to fit it all into a jar.
Label: just something to write basic information like the name of the dish and how much water to add of course, but I learned a good lesson about including directions. One day when I had some visiting grandchildren, I was not well. Dan was working during the day, but when he got home, he pulled out a MIJ to whip up a quick and easy dinner. Occasionally, if I am intending to give the meal away, I’ll also include a list of ingredients on the label.

How to create your own recipe:

Fill up these jars with different Meals to keep on hand. I usually make at least two of each recipe, and try to have 6-8 MIJ in the pantry at any given time

Once you have prepared a few MIJ’s, and have stored them and used them, you’ll become more familiar and comfortable with things you like about them. It will become easy to create your own recipes from existing favourite recipes. For instance: in a magazine while waiting to get my hair cut a few years ago, I came across some soup recipes that looked appealing. The one that caught my eye was for a “Bacon Corn Chowder”, using potatoes, corn, onions, celery, and bacon. As I reviewed it, I realized that I had all the necessary ingredients in my pantry (except the bacon). I could make this meal today, and better than that, if we liked it, I could create a MIJ for future meals. One of my favourite MIJ recipes came from adapting that one. I used Freeze Dried Sausage Crumbles instead of bacon. Perfect!
When I try out a brand new recipe I’m developing for a MIJ, I make two. One meal goes straight into the pot for dinner today, and the other, straight into the jar. This accomplishes two important things:
1) I want to TRY the recipe to ensure we like it before I invest too heavily
2) I want to see how it all fits together in the jar, so that I can make notes as needed. Ideally, I can fill many future jars from that recipe, so I want to ensure I’m happy with it.
Don’t forget a pen and paper to work out amounts and make corrections during the process.

* You can layer your ingredients in the jar in any order you want. If you put the bigger pieces in first, and end with the powders, you can shake the powder down through the other ingredients at the end and get more ingredients into the jar. Very practical but not very visually appealing. I’m all about ‘pretty’, so I prefer to begin my layering with the powders and then transition into bigger pieces as I get to the top. It looks much nicer. But, you be you; do what you want.

Recipes

sausage corn chowder

Cindy’s Sausage Corn Chowder
This is the one that originated from that magazine recipe. Layer into a wide mouth quart jar:
1/4 cup Thrive Life Instant milk powder
1/4 cup Thrive Life Sour Cream powder
2 T Thrive Life Chicken Bouillon
1/3 cup Thrive Life Bechemel Sauce (or homemade cream soup base)
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, crumbled by hand
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried chopped onions
2 T Thrive Life freeze dried celery, crumbled by hand
2 T Thrive Life dehydrated carrots (*I’ve tried a few varieties, but Thrive Life is by far the best)
1 cup Thrive Life dehydrated potato chunks*
1/2 cup Thrive Life Sausage Crumbles
Fill the remaining room with Thrive Life Sweet Corn
Secure lid, label and store in cool dark place.

* do NOT use freeze dried potatoes as they’ll just fall apart in the length of time you’ll want to simmer this chowder

to prepare: Dump jar ingredients into a pot with 2 cups of water. Turn medium heat on and bring to a slow boil while stirring to prevent clumping or scorching. When everything is beautifully combined and is beginning to thicken, pour remaining 3 cups of water (total of 5 cups). Bring back up to a slow-low boil and then reduce heat to simmer till potatoes are tender – 15-20 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent lumping or scorching as it thickens. When potatoes are tender, remove from heat and let sit for five minutes before serving.

Cindy’s Taco Soup in a Jar
in a wide mouth quart jar, layer the following:
1/2 cup Thrive Life Tomato Powder
1 T taco seasoning
1 T Thrive Life’s Chef Choice Seasoning (or your fave all purpose seasoning)
1 teaspoon cumin powder (I always put in more, but you’re the boss, you do you)
1 teaspoon salt
1 + 1/2 cup instant red beans
1 cup Thrive Life ground beef
1/3 cup dehydrated or freeze dried chopped onions
1/3 cup dehydrated peppers
3/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried Sweet Corn
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

to prepare: Dump contents into 8 cups of water. Bring to boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching bottom. Reduce heat, add up to 2 more cups water and bring to a and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes till beans are tender. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes to thicken. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar if desired and replace lid.
Serve with corn bread or taco chips. Enjoy!

Zuppa Toscana in a Jar
in a wide mouth quart jar, layer the following:
1/2 cup Thrive Life Sour Cream powder
2 T Thrive Life Veloute Sauce (chicken gravy)
1 T Thrive Life Chicken Bouillon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 teaspoon freeze dried garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 cup Thrive Life freeze dried Spinach
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried chopped onions
1 cup instant refried beans
1/2 cup Thrive Life Sausage crumbles
1 cup Thrive Life dehydrated potato chunks
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

to prepare: Dump contents into 8 cups of water. Bring to boil, stirring frequently to prevent lumps or scorching bottom. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes till potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes to thicken.
Serve with grated parmesan cheese and fresh bread on the side.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup
in a wide mouth quart jar layer the following:
1 cup Thrive Life Bechemal Sauce (white cream sauce)
1 T Thrive Life Chicken Bouillon
1/4 cup Thrive Life Sour cream powder
1 T dried sage crumbled
1/4 t pepper
1 T parsley
2 T Thrive Life dehydrated carrots
1/3 cup Thrive Life freeze dried chopped onions
1 cup Thrive Life dehydrated potato chunks
1 cup Thrive Life chopped chicken
1/2 cup Thrive Life freeze dried peas
1/2 cup Thrive Life freeze dried sweet corn
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

to prepare: Add contents to 6 cups of water. Bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently to prevent lumping or scorching. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes stirring once in awhile to keep from scalding on bottom. Remove from heat and let sit 5 or 10 minute to thicken before serving.

what about meals that are NOT soups?
no problem!

Shepherd’s Pie
in a wide mouth quart jar, layer the following:
1/4 cup Thrive Life Bechemal Sauce (creamy white sauce)
2 T Thrive Life Tomato Powder
2 T Thrive Life Beef Bouillon
1 teaspoon freeze dried garlic
1 teaspoon crumbled dry oregano leaves
2 T Thrive Life dehydrated carrots
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried chopped onions
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried celery (crumbled by hand)
1+1/2 cup freeze dried vegetables of your choice (here I did a combination of freeze dried peas, corn, green beans, and butternut squash, but you can also add broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, spinach, asparagus, kale . . . etc)
Top off the jar with a few more vegetables if needed.
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

This becomes the base of your Shepherd’s Pie. You’ll want to cover with a layer of mashed potatoes, sprinkled with shredded cheese of your choice.

to prepare: Pour contents of jar into casserole dish, add 2+1/2 cup boiling water and stir to completely mix everything evenly, and to refresh it. Spread evenly in pan. Make up some instant mashed potatoes according to package directions (Thrive Life makes the best and purest instant potatoes I’ve ever tried). Layer the mashed potatoes over top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. (Thrive Life also has shredded cheese)
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese.

Beef Stroganoff
in a wide mouth quart jar, layer the following:
½ c. THRIVE Life Instant Milk
½ c. THRIVE Life Sour Cream Powder
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp THRIVE Life Beef Bouillon
¼ c. THRIVE Life Butter Powder
1/3 c. THRIVE Life Chopped Onions
1/3 c. THRIVE Life Celery – Freeze Dried
2/3 c. THRIVE Life Mushroom Pieces – Freeze Dried
2/3 c. THRIVE Life Diced Beef – Freeze Dried
2 c. Elbow Macaroni , rotini, egg noodles – your choice
Top off the jar with a few more vegetables if needed. Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

to prepare: Throw and Go. Add all ingredients to 6 cups hot water and bring to a boil. Stir a few times to prevent sticking. When liquid comes to a boil, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer 12 minutes. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking. When pasta is cooked, turn heat off. Stir and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to thicken.
*Option 1: For variety – substitute Egg Noodles for the pasta. Use a little less water and adjust cooking times slightly as egg noodles don’t take as long to cook. They also take a lot more room in the jar, which is why I usually use macaroni.
*Option 2: For the vegetable lover, add ½ c. THRIVE Life FD Red or Green Peppers in the last minute of cooking. You don’t really need to cook them, you just want to plump them up and heat through.
*Option 3: For a gorgeous Florentine Stroganoff, stir in ½ c. THRIVE Life FD Spinach after you turn off the heat.
*Option 4: Substitute THRIVE Life FD Ground Beef or THRIVE Life FD Shredded Beef for the meat. * DO NOT use freeze dried pulled pork, as the shelf life on pulled pork is considerably shorter (it being a high fat meat).

When you pour your stroganoff into your serving dish, generously sprinkle with Parsley and freshly ground pepper, or better yet, THRIVE’s Chef’s Choice All Purpose Seasoning Blend.
Enjoy!

Mac n Cheeseburger
in a wide mouth quart jar, layer the following:
½ cup Thrive Life Instant Milk (the very best)
2 T cornstarch
3/4 cup Thrive Life Cheese Sauce
1 T Beef Bouillon
1/3 cup Thrive Life Freeze Dried chopped onions  
½ cup THRIVE  Life FD Ground Beef
2 cups elbow macaroni
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

to prepare: Pour contents of jar into 6 cups hot water in a ‘big enough’ pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. When liquid comes to a boil, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer 10-12 minutes till pasta is tender, stirring once in a while to prevent sticking. When pasta is tender, turn heat off. Stir again, and let sit 5 minutes to thicken.
*option: add 1/2 cup FD shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese for an even cheesier dish
*option: add 1/2 cup FD peas about 5 minutes before pasta has finished cooking

Fresher than Fresh Berry Muesli
This recipe has been adjusted to fit into a pint jar for a smaller, more portable serving.
So quick and easy to prep, and portable to throw in your bag to take for lunch or eat on a road trip.

In a wide mouth pint jar, layer the following:
1/2 cup Quick Oats
1/4 cup Thrive Life dehydrated Applesauce
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried Blueberries
1/4 cup Thrive Life freeze dried Raspberries
1/4 cup Thrive Life Strawberry Slices
Jar will not be completely full, which is what you want to be able to stir the apple juice in later. Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.
to prepare: Add 1+ 1/2 cup apple juice, and stir in to completely moisten everything. Let it sit aside for up to five minutes to assure everything is completely absorbed. Enjoy!
– link to full recipe –

Smoothie in a Jar
now smoothies can be totally portable! For a long time (before RUVI became available) , I would blend small amounts of freeze dried fruits and vegetables in the blender and make a “smoothie-in-a-jar”. Convenient and nutritious to take when I was on the run and didn’t have time for a meal. Those are the times you’re tempted to pick up fast food right? But that’s exactly what I don’t want to do. Did you know? 1 Tablespoon of powdered vegetable = 1 serving. ? I just add a little cold water, shake up the jar and drink it. 4 servings of fruits and vegetables with all the nutritional goodness they have to offer. What a gift. You can use any combination you want but my favourite was the following.
1 Tablespoon pineapple powder (made from Thrive Life FD pineapple)
1 Tablespoon peach powder (made from Thrive Life FD peaches)
1 Tablespoon spinach powder (made from Thrive Life FD spinach)
1 Tablespoon kale powder (made from Thrive Life FD kale)
layer it or shake it up to mix.
This is POWER in a Jar. The natural enzymes of pineapple, the vitamin C of the peaches (and pineapple). The vitamin A, minerals and antioxidants of spinach and kale.

* Did you know? Thrive Life peaches have 21 times MORE Vitamin C than so called ‘fresh’ peaches from the grocery store in the middle of summer. Not even kidding. You read right – 21X more. Wanna know why? Because unlike the peaches we buy in the grocery store, which are picked green, Thrive Life fruits are picked when they are completely RIPE and at the height of nature’s perfection, being nutritionally complete. Everyone knows that produce begins to deteriorate within the first hour after harvest, so eating it ‘fresh’ is ideal. Thrive Life ensures that not only are those peaches picked ripe, but they are picked, peeled, sliced and flash frozen within 6 hours of harvest. That is why they retain 95% (or more) of their original natural goodness.
* Did you know? Spinach loses 100% of its vitamin C within 4 days of harvest! Yup, sad but true. When you buy so called ‘fresh’ spinach from the grocery store, there is ‘0’ (ZERO) vitamin C left in it. Thrive Life Spinach is picked, washed, chopped and flash frozen within 6 hours of harvest, retaining pretty much ALL its vitamin C plus a whole lotta other goodness. Up to 95%!

* hint: the natural sweetness of the fruits will eventually cause the fruit powder to compress. The vegetables will not, they’ll stay loose. So mixing up everything might not be as pretty, but it is more likely to stay loose. Your choice. You be you.

so what about desserts? Can you put those into a jar too? Absolutely!

Lemon Pound Cake from your pantry
this cake is good for so many reasons, and for so many things: from a simple elegant lemon pound cake, to a gorgeous berry lemon trifle, and everything in between. And its the perfect choice for a MIJ (except its not a ‘meal’). Just add water.

measure the following ingredients into a clean dry quart jar
1+1/2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup Thrive Life Butter powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 T Thrive Life classic lemonade – or up to 2 T for those exceptional lemon fans
1/4 cup Thrive Life scrambled egg mix
1/2 t salt
3 T Thrive Life Instant milk
Secure lid, label and store in cool, dark place.

Blueberry Lemon Cake
(made w the crumbled blueberries left in the bottom of a can of Freeze Dried Blueberries)

to prepare:
preheat oven to 350 F. Dump contents into a mixing bowl and with wire whisk, gently mix all ingredients till thoroughly combined. Form a well in the center and pour in 1+1/2 cup water. Stir just until everything is moistened. Pour into greased 9×9 pan and placed in center of oven. Bake about 40 minute, until center is done. Test by gently tapping center, then by inserting clean toothpick. When it comes out clean, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Cut and serve. Enjoy.

* option: drizzle with lemon glaze while still warm. Mix 1 T classic lemonade powder with 3 T water and slowly cream in sifted icing sugar to desired consistency. Drizzle over top. Or use 3 T of fresh lemon juice.
* option: add 2 T poppy seeds into dry ingredients
* option: add 1/2 cup freeze dried blueberries and a little extra water

Do you make Meals in a Jar already? If so, I’d love to hear about your favourite recipes. It’s always good to share. If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll give it a try. If you don’t have enough freeze dried foods to get started, here’s what THRIVE LIFE has available. They are the biggest freeze drying company in North America, and their quality is second to NONE.

If you’d like suggestions of best ways to purchase, or if you have any questions on particular products, ask away – I use them ALL, and I can suggest best ones for MIJ.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle


Posted on

OATS: Where Healthy Food and Convenience Meet

Oats are a staple food in my house for many reasons, and in all the variations.   Although I usually prefer the nice thick rolled oats, and even the oat groats, quick oats have a firm place on my list of favourites too.   Quick oats are where wholesome goodness and convenience meet, and because of that they’ve earned their spot in my pantry. Adding a little quick oats to baby food helps provide well balanced protein, good representation of vitamin B, and a sustainability that will help baby feel satisfied longer. Keep some handy to add a tablespoon to pureed fruit, soups and yogurt.

I grew up on oatmeal porridge, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Moms for generations instinctively knew that oats were ‘good for you’, and since they’re relatively inexpensive, they were the perfect choice. Good and affordable. Oats had the reputation of “sticking-to-your-ribs”, so were a popular choice for breakfast. But what does that even mean? They are actually, a great source of dietary fiber, (both soluable and insoluable). The primary type of soluble fiber in oats is beta-glucan, which is slow to digest (hence they stick-to-your-ribs), and YES, this is a good thing, as it increases satiety, and suppresses appetite. In short, it is satisfyingly filling, and keeps you comfortable for longer.

But did you know that oats are even better for you than your mom and gramma understood? In fact, oats are among the healthiest grains on earth! They are a gluten-free whole grain and a great source of important nutrients. Although delicious and nutritious, most people are unfamiliar with the whole grain – groats: the hulled, whole seeds of the plants. We’re more familiar with rolled oats.

Oats are a great source of important vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, like potassium, calcium, magnesium and several B vitamins and Vitamin E, as well as trace minerals: manganese, copper, iron, phosphorus, selenium and zinc, AND – big bonus . . . Oats are a good source of protein. One of the richest sources of protein in the grain family: 11-17% dry weight. Truly, the humble OAT is a grain that deserves a place in your kitchen and in your family’s daily diet.

Groats:
All oats start off this way: the whole, unbroken grains. Before being processed into any other form, groats are usually roasted at a very low temperature. This not only gives the oats their nice toasty flavor, but the heat also inactivates the enzyme that causes oats to go rancid, making them more shelf-stable. If you have never cooked up groats, then you owe it to yourself to give them a try. Because they are the original source of oats, they should always be the first “go-to”, but admittedly, they take a little longer to prepare (which is still worth it bytheway), so in our fast passed society, they often get sidelined. Cooked groats have a beautiful chewy texture that retains much of its original shape, and more of a nutty, earthy flavour than regular rolled oats.
– see recipe below –

Steel Cut Oats:
are simply groats that have been cut to make them quicker to cook. Sometimes referred to as Irish oats, these oats look similar to rice that’s been cut into pieces. Chopping them makes them easier to cook and exposes the starches inside to the water. These starches dissolve during the cooking process, creating a thickened, creamy porridge. It takes a little less time to cook than the whole groats, but has that same beautiful chewy texture. True Scottish oats are ground on stone mills from whole oat groats.  They are not rolled, nor cut; they are ground. The texture of Scottish oatmeal is fairly fine.

Steel cut groats are more than porridge: add to stuffing, and even made a savory congee.
– see recipes below –

Rolled Oats (or Old Fashioned Oats)
These are the oats I grew up with, but in those days we mostly used them for porridge and cookies. My mom also used them in meatloaf.

I’ve since, taken oatmeal to a whole new level and I think I make the best in the world. (only slightly kidding). See recipe (such as it can be) below.

When I was a young mom, my mother in law introduced me to OATMEAL SOUP. The name is not very inviting, but it became a family favourite in our house. I’ve often made it for others, but I never call it by that name because of the images it conjurs up lol.
– see recipe below –

My first experiments with Muesli were with the old fashioned rolled oats, which I started the night before. It was pretty much rolled oats and chopped dates in milk, soaked over night. I liked it, but my daughter disliked dates. Immensely. The concept of an uncooked ‘oatmeal’ intrigued me though, so I determined to keep it up, with some necessary adjustments. See below for more on Muesli.

Quick Oats
Oat groats that are steamed for a longer period of time and rolled into thinner pieces so that they can absorb water easily and cook very quickly, or not even at all. NOT to be confused with the boxed “instant oatmeal”, available in stores now which contains quick oats plus a lotta sugar and artificial flavours. Instant oatmeal does not deserve a spot in my pantry.

For porridge, I never use quick oats, but they do come in handy for other things. Their convenience justifies their position in my pantry, and I though I rarely used them when my kids were younger, I wouldn’t want to be without them now. They are the base for my Muesli recipe (below), and I often add quick oats and blueberries to yogurt.

the flexibility of oats
Truly, I do not know why oats are not more of a common food in most households. They are SO much bigger than the porridge of our childhoods.

Oatmeal:
Yes, that generational breakfast favourite – cooked rolled oats. I have fond childhood memories of oatmeal on winter mornings before school, and I hope my kids have those same memories. I’m doing my best to make sure my grandkids do.
– see recipes below –

Oat Flour:
Your can buy or grind your own oat flour. Throw a little into cookies or bread for a boost of nutrients, and added chewiness.

Oat Bran:
Oat bran comes from the outer part of the groat. If you grind your own flour, you can get oat bran by sifting coarsely ground groats. Or you can buy it. When oatmeal is processed, the bran (outer layer), is removed. Oat bran is a good source of protein, B vitamins, iron and soluble fiber. It is used to make porridge, and as an ingredient in a variety of hot and cold cereals, as well as in breads, cookies and muffins. Fiber adds bulk (not calories) to foods, so it helps “fill you up without filling you out.” Oat bran is particularly rich in a type of fiber called soluble fiber, which turns into a gel-like substance in your stomach. This helps you take in fewer calories overall.

Oat Risotto:
Simply replace oat groats in your favourite risotto recipe. Easy peasy.

Oat Congee:
Congee is a thick Asian comfort food, traditionally made with rice in a meat broth. Simply substitute in oats.
Because it uses more water and is cooked longer, congee began as a way to stretch the rice in hard times. Usually a thick stew, or even a porridge (or gruel) type of dish. From its humble beginning, who knew it would turn into a favourite food of so many, and even find its way onto restaurant menus? I guess that’s the way with most comfort foods, they start out as necessities: poor people’s food. Adding rice to a brothy soup and simmering it till the rice actually thickens the soup, essentially IS ‘congee‘. Well you can do the same thing with barley, so why not oats? Remember, you’re the boss. You can add it to any soup recipe that calls for rice or barley. And you can flavour it any way you like.
– see below for sample recipe –

Muesli

Let’s talk about Muesli, because it really does deserve more attention than it gets. Developed in the early 1900’s by pioneer nutritionist, Swiss physician Maximilan Bircher-Benner, he used it for convalescing patients in his private hospital. It was not originally intended as a breakfast, but more of an appetizer. Bircher-Benner’s focus was a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables which he used as an essential part of his nutritional therapy. Truly, he was ahead of his time. Who knew that over a hundred years later we’d finally understand how important a focus on fruits and vegetables is to our health. And Muesli has stood the test of time, as it is ever growing in popularity.

The original 1900 Bircher-Benner recipe consisted of : apples and nuts in a base of rolled oats, with lemon juice. The oats were pre-soaked water for up to 12 hours, then mixed with grated apples (the most readily available fresh fruit in Switzerland at the time). They were served with milk or cream, sweetened with honey or a small amount of sweetened condensed milk. The lemon juice helped keep the apples from browning. The idea was to serve a small amount of muesli immediately before every meal, as an appetizer of sorts.
Modern adaptations of Bircher-Benner’s recipe includes more fresh fruit.

Years ago, when my older kids were little, I came across what was referred to as a traditional Swiss Muesli recipe: large flaked oats, dates and other dried fruit and topped with yogurt and toasted almonds. It was delicious and nutritious. Soon enough I realized the potential for flexibility, and muesli progressed to include whatever fruit was fresh in the summer, or whatever home canned fruit I had on hand in the winter. Some things were constant: usually shredded apples and raisins. Some things varied: sometimes apple juice, sometimes milk. Muesli is like that. Flexible and wonderful.

Though my recipe has evolved over the years, I’ve generally depended on apples as the fruit base, mostly because they were so readily available throughout the year. Other fruits I added depended on the season. As time went on, and freeze dried fruit became more available, my dependence on seasonally available fruit lessened. And less nutritious canned fruit became a thing of the past. The base is still oats, but it fluctuates between rolled oats or quick oats. Rolled oats if I start the night before, quick oats if I decide at the last minute (which is more often these days). Its a breakfast for us, or a lunch, or even a late day snack.
– see recipe below –

RECIPES

Oat Groat Porridge ready to go!

Oat Groat Porridge (for two servings)
remember, you’re the boss. If you prefer all water, or all milk, or all another type of milk – you do you. This is just how I do me.

1/2 cup oat groats
1 cup water
pinch of salt (not more than 1/8 t)
1 cup milk
I T maple syrup or brown sugar or honey

Because groats are a whole grain, they take longer to cook, so I find it helpful to give them a little head-start.
1/2 cup whole groats in 1 cup water, bring to a boil, stir, then turn heat off. Let sit overnight (8 hrs-ish). In the morning, t will already be tender and chewy, turn the heat back on and stir, bringing the groats to a boil again. Add a cup of milk and lower the heat a little to bring it back to a slow boil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Reduce to low, cover and let simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent sticking.
The texture will be gently soft, but still chewy. If desired, sweeten with your choice of sweetener. I like maple syrup. Serve and Enjoy.

Steel Cut Oat Porridge
A basic ratio for making steel-cut oat porridge is 1 cup of oats to 3 to 4 cups of water.
Less water keeps the oats more intact and chewy. More water makes a silkier porridge.
Try it a few times to nail down the way you prefer it.
I like to start with 3 cups water, and then add the last cup in milk toward the end.
Or use all milk. You’re the boss.
Add a pinch of salt of course.

Cooking steel-cut oats is easy.
Simply boil water, add oats, reduce heat, and simmer. But give it ‘time’, like 20 to 30 minutes to become tender.
Start testing your porridge around 20 minutes, and continue slow cooking, testing every few minutes till its perfect. If the oats are tender at 20 minutes, it will still thicken up a little to leave it on heat for a little longer. Try it a few times to find your favourite way.
To serve, pour a little more milk over top, and add a spoonful of brown sugar.
Try using maple syrup to sweeten instead of sugar.
I like putting raisins, or dried or freeze dried apricots on the top.

Because groat porridge takes so long to prepare, you might want to cook a little more, and refrigerate some for tomorrow. It will get dry in the fridge, but don’t despair, just add a little more milk and warm it up. Problem solved.

If you’re the type of person that must see an actual recipe, then see below, but remember, you can edit the details to your heart’s content.

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups of water and 2 cups milk
a pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon)
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the salt and groats, stir well to prevent sticking on the bottom. Return water to a boil, stirring.
Reduce heat to low, add 1 cup milk, stir again and cover. Allow to gently simmer for about 10 minutes, checking every once in a while and stirring to prevent sticking. Cover again, and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Add that last cup of milk if you want and simmer another 5-10 or so minutes. That’s where personal choice comes in.
When it is the way you want it, spoon into bowls and serve with a little more milk over top and a little brown sugar.
Serves three or four depending on how much milk you added at the end.

Cindy’s Oatmeal: I cook mine as little as possible.
Bring 2 cups water (with a dash of salt added) to a boil.
Add 1+1/2 cups rolled oats. Return to a boil, stirring to prevent clumping.
Add 1 cup milk and a little sweetener (usually brown sugar).
Gently simmer a few minutes and serve.
I occasionally add raisins to the boiling water (just before the oats), as a special treat. Or maybe some freeze dried fruit at the end: blueberries, raspberries, apricots. To me, oatmeal is great with several different fruits like apples, peaches, pears and cranberries.
I never use Quick oats for cooked porridge (too mucky, I like the integrity of whole rolled oats). I do however, use them for Muesli, or to add to yogurt bowls.

Overnight Oats:
a quick, easy no-cook option.
For one person use a pint sized jar: put ½ cup rolled oats + 1 cup milk of your choice + ½ cup fruit of your choice (banana, apple, peaches, etc). Add 2-3 T Greek yogurt + 1 T brown sugar or maple syrup. Put lid on, and shake vigorously till all is incorporated. Refrigerate overnight. The oats will soften and the mixture will thicken. Optional: sprinkle toasted nuts or seeds over top in the morning. Ready to “Grab n Go”.

fresher than fresh muesli made with freeze dried fruit

FRESHER THAN FRESH MUESLI
serves 2 or 3, uses mostly freeze dried fruit and takes five minutes to prepare. It doesn’t get any easier than this.
1 c. Quick Oats
1/2 c. dehydrated Applesauce
1/2 c. freeze dried Blueberries
1/2 c. freeze dried Raspberries
1/2 c. freeze dried Strawberry Slices
2 c. Apple Juice (approx)

Lightly stir to moisten completely, and let sit for 5 or so minutes to absorb juice. Add more juice as desired to keep it the texture you want. Serve. That’s it. It really IS that simple, and that quick. And that delicious. NO fat, NO sugar, NO dairy, NO wheat, NO additives of any kind. Super Nutritious and Delicious.
Remember, you’re the boss. If you don’t have or want berries, then use what you have or prefer.
Option 1: use any kind of fruit, substitute your faves or what you have on hand
Option 2: use any kind of juice or milk, substitute your fave or what you have on hand. I prefer apple juice because is mild tasting allowing the other tastes to come through.
Option 3: top it off with added nutrition in your bowl: a scoop of plain yogurt, a sprinkling of toasted nuts, or seeds: sesame / chia / hemp seeds.
Be creative. Muesli is flexible.

Muesli takes on a whole new world of possibilities with freeze dried fruits. Always ‘fresh’ and always at their nutritional peak, you can have any kind you want because you have all-the-fruit all-the-time in your home-store. No matter what time of year, THRIVE freeze dried fruit is “fresher-than-fresh”.

basic recipe for a Greek Lemon Chicken Soup.
Instead of using rice, use groats

Oat Congee
first of all, don’t get tied up in using a specific recipe like this one. Congee is simply adding the rice (or groats) to more liquid than usual and slow cooking it till they come to a very soft stage where they thicken the broth.

1 cup steel cut oats
4-6 cups vegetable or meat broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced onion (I use chopped freeze dried onion)
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots (I use Thrive Life dehydrated carrots that are diced)
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (I use freeze dried mushroom pieces)
small amount of diced meat (leftover meat of your choice, or use diced freeze dried beef)
1 T freshly grated ginger, or 1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Bring the broth to a boil and add everything in. Reduce to a simmer and gently cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. If it starts to get a little ‘thick’ add more liquid.

CINDY’S OAT SOUP (serves 6)
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup butter + 2 Tablespoons
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken broth (or bouillon)
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 quart home canned tomatoes, or equivalent in canned or ripe tomatoes (3-4 peeled and chopped)
1T dried oregano crumbled
salt and pepper to taste later
Melt butter in large heavy skillet, over medium low heat. Add oatmeal and brown slowly, stirring constantly to prevent burning. It will burn suddenly, so be watchful. When nice and toasted, and smelling good, remove from heat and set aside in a bowl.
In soup pot, use remaining butter to saute onions and garlic. Add stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and oregano. Bring to a boil and add toasted oats. Reduce heat. Simmer covered for about 45 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent clumping or scorching. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Turn heat off and allow to sit for 15 minutes to thicken before serving.
This is a soup that is just as good on the second day, and will have thickened even more.
And yes, this is a type of ‘congee’.

PATTI SHENFIELD’S OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
(our family’s favourite cookie)
1 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/4 cup milk
3 cup flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup coconut (optional)
3 cups raisins (or chocolate chips or both)
In large bowl cream butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, vanilla and milk – beat until fluffy.
Combine dry ingredients separately then add to creamed mixture one cup at a time. Mix until well blended. Stir in oats and raisins and coconut if you’re using.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Yield 7 dozen cookies.

* Are oats gluten free?
Yes, oats are gluten free, but many commercial brands are processed in facilities that also produce gluten grains like wheat, rye, and barley. Since cross-contamination is common, many GF people feel the need to avoid oats altogether. Big fat shame, and big loss to the individual. If you’re a gluten free person, you don’t have to miss out on oats. Simply look for the “gluten free” label signifying that they’ve been protected from contamination.

Posted on

Blueberries

Super foods do not have to be exotic, and blueberries are the perfect example. These sweet, nutritious and wildly popular berries are NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA. Yay! They are low in calories and incredibly nutritious, and so convenient to eat by the handful. They are primarily a northern fruit, and as a northerner, I am pretty happy to lay claim on these hardy, dark blue berries.

The list of the health benefits of Blueberries is almost too good to be true. And far be it for anyone to exaggerate those kinds of things right? But a little research should help disperse the nonsense from the credible. You’d be surprised at how many credible and documented benefits there really are. We don’t need to exaggerate. For example, its been well documented for decades that blueberries are good for your eyes, and health periodicals have sang their praises my whole adult life. Nevertheless, I was a little surprised when my eye doctor advised me to eat 1/2 cup of blueberries a day as part of a preventative regime for two genetic eye diseases I am in line to inherit: macular degeneration and glaucoma. I believed it before, but it felt good to have her further testimony. And yes, I try to eat a few handfuls every single day.

But wait, there’s more! Blueberries help lower your cholesterol, reducing your risk of heart disease. Packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, blueberries are high in potassium and vitamin C. They are also anti-inflammatory. Since inflammation is a key factor in all chronic diseases, blueberries can and should be your personal BFF (best friend forever).

Blueberries have been the subject of medical studies related to vision for over a century, and blueberry extract, (high in compounds called anthocyanosides), is found to slow down visual loss. (hence my doctor’s recommendation) The anti-oxidant properties prevent or delay all age related ocular problems like macular degeneration, cataract, myopia and hypermetropia, dryness and infections, particularly those pertaining to the retina. Imagine a superFOOD — not a drug — powerful enough to do that! Truly, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”

inside colour of a ripe blueberry

If you are among the few not familiar with the taste of blueberries, this is my best description: small, but juicy. Mild, slightly sweet with a tiny bit of acid. Unripe, they’ll be a little sour. And they aren’t actually a true blue, but rather more of a deep blue/purple, which is the colour of the antioxidant “anthocyanin” found especially plentiful in them. The inside however, is a light greenish yellow. A good rule of thumb is, the darker the berry skin, the richer the antioxidants.

So that brings us to their availability. Fresh, I can find them in local grocery stores in 10 pound boxes for about six weeks in the summer; and in the off season, they are often available trucked in, in smaller clam-shell containers. Kinda pricey in the winter, and if you know me at all, you know that I am a big proponent of seasonal eating (mostly for nutrition’s sake). Just because we can buy it, doesn’t mean we should. Personally I don’t buy ‘fresh’ blueberries in the winter. The use of the word ‘fresh’ in the off season, is misleading at best. Frozen blueberries are an excellent alternative, and are even more nutritious than produce section options in the off season. Why? Because produce destined for the freezer, are frozen QUICKLY, sealing in valuable nutrition. But as you know, frozen blueberries are not so convenient to consume. Who wants to eat them frozen? And worse, who wants to eat them thawed and soggy? I take it one step further, and buy only FREEZE DRIED BLUEBERRIES for those other ten months of the year.

How is that possible? Well, for one thing, the word “fresh” is a relative term. Fruits and vegetables begin to deteriorate in the hour they are harvested, so getting them from field-to-table as soon as possible is very important. By the time our “fresh” fruits and vegetables are picked, packed, shipped, distributed and shelved, several days have elapsed. Nobody’s fault. Its just part of the process that allows us the great privilege of food variety we enjoy. But, the reality is that it is no longer at its best by the time we see it. Then we buy it, and put it in our fridge for several more days. . . . . . . I think we get the picture.

 Introducing FREEZE DRIED BLUEBERRIES

As it implies, freeze-drying is a two step process. It is flash frozen, then transferred to a facility where it can have all the remaining moisture removed through a vacuum-like process. While the two step process is pretty standard, producing a higher quality product, there are additional steps that can be taken to further ensure the highest quality result.

– It is critical that the fruits or vegetables be the highest quality to start out with.
– It is critical that they be flash frozen quickly after picking.
– It is also critical that those fruits and vegetables be picked ripe, with all the nutrients that nature designed present and fully developed.

The result? Beautiful crunchy blueberries! That can be eaten out of hand, over top cereal or yogurt, in smoothies, baked in pies or muffins, . . . . . . any way a fresh blueberry can be eaten. Any. Day. Of. The. Year! And get this: they have a shelf life of over 25 years! How is that even possible?
Zero moisture, packed into a sealed zero oxygen container = no way to decompose.
So not only is the nutritional value an unprecedented 95+% of the original freshly picked value, it has a completely stable shelf life. You can enjoy that kind of quality today, tomorrow, next year, in ten years, and so on. Once you open the can, simply keep a tight seal on it, and you can expect it to last a good year in most climates. (not that there will be any left in a year, but that’s not the point lol)

There is a North American company that stands out from the rest when it comes to the highest quality of freeze dried food. THRIVE LIFE operates by a self imposed list of requirements they call “The Nutrilock Promise“. By adhering to these requirements, they have raised the industry standard to new heights that no other company has been able to come close to. There are over 40 steps in the process, and compromises are never made.

Other Health Benefits of Blueberries:

– A bowl of blueberries can help in boosting immunity and can reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
– Consuming as little as 1/2 cup of blueberries daily helps strengthen your metabolism and prevent any kind of metabolic syndrome and deficiency.
– It has been observed that daily intake of blueberries can help reduce hypertension, inflammation, high cholesterol, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance.
– Blueberries are also known for improving cognitive skills such as attention, memory, and information organization.

Where do they grow?

Blueberries typically grow in humid, northern climates that have cold winters and mild summers. They prefer slightly acidic soil. This makes them the perfect northern berry, and it is not surprising that they are native to North America. They are also successfully grown in the more temperate areas of North American, including coastal regions, and have been introduced to several European countries as early as 1940.

Canada is the world’s largest producer and exporter of both wild and cultivated Blueberries. The majority of Canadian blueberry production is in British Columbia, where water and soil seem to be perfectly suited. Most of that is exported. New Brunswick is Canada’s second largest blueberry producing province, accounting for 30% of the country’s total production.

in varying stages of ripeness

They grow on dwarf shrubs of the heath family, with small, whitish drooping flowers that turn into the beautiful dark blue berries we know and love so much. I grew up picking wild blueberries in the summer, and though those days are over for most of us, market-garden-blueberries are very available. Having said that, if you live in rural areas, wild blueberries can still be found in abandoned fields, along roadsides, in forests and on mountains. They spread through seeds and the development of rhizomes, (underground stems). They are becoming more available in garden centres for those adventurous gardeners who want to have them closer to home.

Ways to Use Blueberries

#1 is FRESH out-of-hand of course. When that is not possible, freeze dried out-of-hand is a very close second.
A new favourite way for me to enjoy them in the winter time, was introduced to me by my friend Reese Wolsey. Blueberry tea. Simply pour boiling water over a handful of blueberries in your mug. Let steep for a few minutes and drink. SO good. And when the cup is drained, eat the blueberries.
Blueberry preserves for pancake and waffle topping. I just add a little water and simmer gently, mashing with a potato masher. Add a little sugar if desired, but not necessary. If you want to make more of a syrup, add a little more water and thicken with cornstarch. Also great for ice cream topping.
Fresh over top of cereal. Blueberries in your oatmeal. Blueberry cheesecake. Blueberry muffins. Blueberry pancakes or waffles. Blueberry pie. Blueberry cobbler. Blueberries in your coffee cake, and added to lots of other baking too. Blueberry yogurt bowl. Blueberry ice-cream. Blueberry jam. Blueberries in your green salad with a little crumbled feta. Oh my goodness, there is no end to the ways you can incorporate them.

Blueberries have been my husband’s favourite fruit for as long as I’ve been married to him, but up till recently we could only enjoy them for a relatively short time in the summer. Now that we can enjoy them ‘fresh’ in the summer, AND freeze dried (in most cases, fresher-than-fresh), all the rest of the year – they have become an important (and welcome) part of our household diet. They are the #1 Fave Snack of ALL our grandchildren, and I’m totally okay if some of their best childhood memories involve eating freeze dried blueberries at Gramma’s house. Even if I do have to limit them most of the time. Seriously, they inhale them if left unsupervised.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on blueberries. And different ways your household enjoys them.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut – literally translated, means “sour cabbage”, and that is exactly what it is. I’ve heard some refer to it as ‘pickled’ cabbage, but to be clear – it is fermented, not pickled. What’s the difference? Well, I’ll admit they may be similar in taste and features perhaps, but it is in the process by which that sour taste is achieved, that we find the difference. Pickling for example, is a method of preserving foods in acidic liquid like vinegar. One type of fermentation is the process of using naturally occurring good bacteria to produce lactic acid, which in turn breaks down the sugars or starches in a food turning them into acid. This is the fermentation used in common foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and even sour dough bread.

sitting on the counter to ferment

Why do we care? Fermentation produces PRObiotics, which support the body in building and maintaining healthy bacteria and other helpful organisms in the intestinal tract. This beneficial bacteria promotes a healthy gut and good digestion, which ensures we get the best from the foods we consume. PREbiotics are a source of food for your gut’s healthy bacteria. Both are necessary for good health. It starts to get very complicated but the process of making sauerkraut is super easy, and since the benefit of eating fermented foods is good health, we really should try to add more of them to our diet.

Although one most often thinks of sauerkraut with eastern European foods like Ukrainian, Russian or German, the lactic acid process of fermentation actually originated in Asia with something very similar – Kimchi. When we (in my house), first made sauerkraut many years ago, we followed a process of layering finely shredded cabbage with pickling salt and pushing it down to produce liquid which the salt drew from the fresh cabbage. I have since learned that a little bit of patience mixed with the same ingredients, allows the salt to do its thing with a lot less manpower. And when we first made sauerkraut we did a big batch – like we did everything in those days. When you have a big family, big batches of everything becomes the habit. But as life went on and family dynamics have changed, I’ve fallen in love with small batch preserving when its to my benefit. Since cabbage is in season from late summer through early winter, it is easy to make up a single quart here and there. The key is ‘patience’. The #1 rule with sour dough is “don’t try to rush the sourdough“. And the same principle applies to fermentation of any type. Don’t try to rush it. Don’t forget about it, but don’t rush it.

Health Benefits

Fermentation multiplies nutrition and health benefits far beyond those of fresh cabbage. Cabbage is already a good source of vitamins C and K, but the fermentation which transforms it into sauerkraut increases the bioavailability of nutrients, making it even more nutritious than the original cabbage. Fermentation is a process during which microorganisms on the cabbage digest its natural sugars, converting them into carbon dioxide and organic acids. It starts when yeast and bacteria that are naturally present in the air, the cabbage itself, and even your clean hands, come into contact with the sugars in the cabbage. Sauerkraut fermentation creates conditions that promotes the growth of beneficial probiotics – good bacteria that provide powerful health benefits. Probiotics also help make foods more digestible, increasing your gut’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals.

Maintaining healthy gut helps prevent the growth of harmful bacteria improving our immune system. Its a natural way of putting your body in the best position possible to fight disease.

It is a good source of calcium and magnesium and an excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese. Although you can preserve it in a hot water canner, the heat damages the vitamin C and naturally occurring enzymes as well as the live lactobacilli. Since it will last months in the fridge – it is my preference to simply refrigerate it and use it throughout the winter.

Top reasons to eat Sauerkraut
1 – improves digestion by introducing healthy bacteria important to proper gut function
2- excellent source of vitamins and minerals including fragile ones like Vitamin C
3 – low in calories
4 – high in soluble fibre
5 – it tastes great and is very versatile to incorporate into meals

Store bought vs homemade:
Now don’t get me wrong. I appreciate having healthy foods available commercially. And certainly, store bought versions are often the only way many people will get them. But, as with most things, store bought sauerkraut is considered to be less nutritious compared to homemade sauerkraut – mostly due to the necessary processing. Store bought sauerkraut has to be preserved somehow of course, and so must undergo a pasteurization during canning. This eliminates live probiotic content – which is one of its main benefits.
Store bought benefits: availability, shelf stable, still low calorie, still a good source of soluble fibre and non water soluble vitamins and minerals. Tastes good.
Homemade benefits: easy to make, will last in fridge for a long time, still low calorie, still a good source of soluble fibre and ALL original vitamins and minerals (including VC). Rich in antioxidants and live enzyme probiotics. Tastes better.

Eating sauerkraut played an important role in preventing scurvy in the early days of sea travel. Scurvy – the scourge of the seas in its day, resulted from an absence of vitamin C in the diet. Symptoms begin after a month, and the only prevention and cure for it is Vitamin C. It was the primary cause of deaths between 1500 and 1800 — on sailing ships around the world. Long before it was understood ‘why’, it was discovered that sauerkraut prevented scurvy. Scottish naval surgeon James Lind noticed that scurvy was linked to a diet which was severely limited. He began testing various foods and noted that citrus fruits provided the quickest and most effective cure for the disease. However, citrus fruits were not readily available in Europe, and it was impossible to keep fresh fruit on a sailing ship for months at a time.

Experiments using different types of food on sailing expeditions began in earnest, and famed Captain James Cook drew the lucky straw with sauerkraut in 1768. He was outfitted with almost 8000 pounds of the fermented cabbage, each man being rationed two pounds a week, and at the end of his three years’ journey, returned without a single death attributed to scurvy. An incredulous first! It literally changed the world! The number of lives that were saved with this discovery is unimaginable. A century later, during the American Civil War, physician John Jay Terrell began using sauerkraut to treat the same disease. In times when Vitamin C – the “fresh fruit vitamin”, is not so easy to come by, sauerkraut is a practical and healthful solution.

Let me just stop here for a moment and bask in the wonder of all this. It is amazing to me that ancient people could figure out how to harness the fermentation process and make it work for them. Without the knowledge of vitamins, bacteria or gut health, they came across a food that quite literally not only preserved their lives in winter times of no fresh fruits or vegetables, but preserved their health, enabling them to better digest foods, increasing their body’s ability to absorb important nutrients. And this, in a common farm house of illiterate people. If you are a believing person as I am, this is nothing short of a miracle – Evidence that a loving Father in Heaven cares intently about the affairs of his children.

making it

Making sauerkraut is embarrassingly easy, and I’m convinced when you discover just HOW easy it is, you’ll be making it frequently. It requires no special equipment. Yes, there are things traditionally used, like a crock and a wooden pounder, but you can also make it in a bowl with a potato masher, and stuff it into a glass jar with a lid. And yes, you can use a food processor, but I do not. I prefer to use a large knife and slice it thinly myself. Yes, if you make a lot, you might want to can it, but if you make less, you can store it for months in your fridge, so I prefer not to can mine – to take advantage of the full nutritional benefit. Its another example of how eating seasonally is best.

So equipment? Okay I lied. You do need some things.
Get a large, sharp knife for slicing the cabbage. A cutting board on which to cut it. A large enough bowl to hold the shredded cabbage while you toss it. A container to store it in: wide mouth glass jar or a crock of some sort . . . . I prefer glass or pottery. EVERYTHING SHOULD BE VERY CLEAN OF COURSE. I do not sterilize everything I use, but it is very clean, and cleaned continually as needed, throughout the process.

1. necessary: cutting board, sharp knife,
container to store – jar, corning are with lid, crock …
2. necessary: large bowl or tub to mix the cabbage with salt
3. optional but handy: some kind of tool to push cabbage down with, scraper to help transfer it from board to bowl, canning funnel to help put cabbage into jar

Ingredients:
cabbage and salt. That’s it! Really. That’s it. If you’ve got a good sized head of cabbage – medium large (approximately 5 pounds), you’ll use 3 heaping tablespoons of salt. NOT table salt which contains iodine, but pickling salt, or sea salt. I prefer coarse salt.
The SALT has a very important job – it draws the moisture out of the cabbage, helping to form the BRINE, it causes the cabbage to release fermentable sugars. Salt is also a natural preservative, inhibiting the growth of undesirable yeasts, molds, and bacteria. Through the miracle of nature, the bacteria needed for safe fermentation tolerates high concentrations of salt. Submerged in this brine for a week or more, the cabbage slowly ferments into the crunchy, delightfully sour – sauerkraut.

Some people add dill seed or caraway seed or even use purple cabbage. I think these are great ideas, and one day I might try a single jar of purple cabbage or even dill seed. But I hate caraway seed so that’s never gonna happen.

What causes this transformation called lacto-fermentation?
There is beneficial bacteria naturally present on the surface of all fruits and vegetables.  Lactobacillus is one of those bacteria, which bytheway, is the same bacteria found in yogurt. When submerged in a brine, the bacteria begins to convert sugars in the cabbage into lactic acid; this is a natural preservative that inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria.

Since this process is anaerobic – which means ‘without out oxygen‘, the cabbage much remain completely submerged in its liquid during fermentation. This is accomplished by packing it down firmly, and then placing some kind of weight on top. I have used a heavy rock (cleaned and in a plastic bag), plates, smaller glass jars . . . be creative. Find something that you can sufficiently clean, to set on top of your sauerkraut to keep it submerged. The cabbage near the surface wants to float, so I find it useful to place a large outer leaf of the cabbage over the surface to hold it down. Of course you want to ensure the jar or crock is covered at all times with a clean cloth. This allows airflow, and protects the surface.

the glass jars allow you to see the three layers beneath the weight:
1. tightly packed cabbage mixture on bottom
2. folded cabbage leaf to cover cabbage and prevent any
from floating to surface
3. natural brine which is produced from pushing cabbage salt mixture
4. weight of some kind to keep everything safely below the surface
5. cover to protect from evaporation and contaminants,
but not completely airtight

How long does it take?

It could take days or weeks – depends on you, your personal preference, and the temperature of the room you’re storing it in. The cooler the room, the longer the time. I suggest tasting it anytime after 4 or 5 days. When you like it, simply put it into the fridge. It will continue to ferment in the fridge too, but at a much slower rate.

In a glass jar, you may see bubbles, foam, or white scum on the surface of the sauerkraut. You won’t see them in a crock, but they’ll be there. All signs of normal, healthy fermentation. The white scum on top can be skimmed off as you see it, in both glass jar or crock. It’s possible that the brine might bubble over during the fermentation process, so best not to pack your containers too full, and have them sitting on a cloth to absorb excess moisture, or a plate to catch it. You should be checking the progress every couple of days anyway. This helps you trouble shoot. If you see white scum, remove it. Taste it frequently with a clean fork to test for doneness. NEVER RETURN THE FORK TO THE SAUERKRAUT ONCE YOU’VE PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH. GET A CLEAN ONE. Ensure the cabbage continues to be covered by the brine.

image on left: 5 gallon crock free from cracks, filled 2/3 – 3/4 with tightly packed cabbage (approx 3 1/2 cabbages).
Covered loosely with plastic wrap to reduce evaporation and clean cloth.
image on the right: large stone in plastic bag weighing down plate. Beneath plate is cabbage leaves protecting the sauerkraut and preventing any from escaping to the surface.

We have in the past found mold growing on the surface of the sauerkraut. Don’t panic. This is not rare, as mold typically forms when the cabbage isn’t fully submerged. Simply remove the offending pieces and re-ensure the rest is submerged. The sauerkraut is still fine being preserved by the lactic acid. Be smart though. Yes, a little mold that you can easily remove is not bad news, but a lotta mold that is affecting an inch or two into your sauerkraut is bad news. That would only happen if you’ve run out of brine. Perhaps your container was too full, and the bubble-over, took away too much of the liquid to keep the cabbage completely covered. Or perhaps it’s evaporated. Be proactive, if you’re running out of liquid, better to remove some cabbage to allow the remaining cabbage be fully submerged. You can always use the mild sauerkraut you’ve removed. Better that, than to risk harm to the batch with reduced liquid.

Recipe:

1) Remove the ugly outer leaves and discard into the compost. Remove another leaf or two and set aside to use later. I begin by cutting the cabbage in half, then in half again. Remove the core from each quarter, and slice. Slice thinly as you would for coleslaw. Scoop all the sliced cabbage into a large bowl or kitchen tub.

1. choose a beautiful cabbage 2. chop it up
3. sprinkle pickling salt over top 4. toss to coat completely, then set aside

2) Sprinkle your salt over top and gently toss to fully incorporate. I use my hands, its just easier. I massage the cabbage with my hands for about five minutes. Salt: I use 3 heaping tablespoons for a medium large cabbage. It seems like it won’t be enough for that amount, but trust me, it is. As you toss the cabbage, you’ll see within the first minute that moisture is already beginning to be drawn out of the cabbage. Gently squeeze handfuls of cabbage as you’re massaging it.

pushing the shredded cabbage down with a pounder is very effective. You can watch the liquid rise.

3) At this point, you can cover the cabbage loosely with a cloth and set aside for about half an hour or more. This gives the salt time to work. When you come back, gently toss it by hand and again, and you’ll be surprised by how much liquid you’ll see.

4) Begin packing the cabbage into your jar (or other container) by the handful. I use a canning funnel to make this less messy. If you’re using a jar, this is when you’ll be glad you chose a wide mouth jar, because you’re may want to put your hand in to tamp down the cabbage with your fist. Pour whatever liquid was produced into the jar with the cabbage.
If you have a wooden pounder (isn’t that a descriptive name?) it will come in handy now to pack the cabbage in easier. Don’t take the name literally and go pounding it. You’ll damage the cabbage. Treat it as gently with the wooden pounder as you would using your own hand. You’ll see more liquid start to form throughout this process. Keep it up till you’ve got at least an inch covering the cabbage. Don’t fill your jar too full. Give it plenty of room to bubble-up later. How much? I dunno. Depends on the size of your container. I’d say two to three inches in a jar, probably six to eight inches in a large crock. Whatever you choose will probably not be enough, but then you’ll learn for next time, right?

5) Take one of the outer leaves you’ve set aside, fold to fit into the jar, and place on top of the sauerkraut. This will help keep small pieces from floating to the surface and causing your grief later.

placing a tiny jar inside the wide mouth of your sauerkraut jar helps to keep the cabbage cover down, and cabbage submerged in brine

6) Put your weight on top. For a glass jar, consider using a rock (in a plastic bag) or marbles (in a plastic bag), or a small empty jar. For a crock, use a plate with a rock on top (in a plastic bag of course). In a large crock, we filled a plastic bag with water and placed on top to keep everything down. It worked well.

7) Cover with cloth to protect, and allow airflow. Secure.

It is important to keep everything clean throughout the process. Taste frequently over the next few days, up to a couple of weeks. Never return a used utensil back into the sauerkraut. When you decide its as sour as you want it, simply refrigerate. It should keep fine for three or four months in the fridge, ESPECIALLY as you ensure it stays clean. Never put a fork into your mouth and then back into the jar.

Enjoy.

I’d love to hear your sauerkraut experiences, and ways you use it.

Cindy Suelzle

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the peace of mind that comes with preparedness

The beginning of March 2020, we were in Mexico. While we were on the beach soaking up the vitamin D, the world at home tipped a little on its axis. We had heard about Covid before we left – from a distance. But it seemed to explode the week that we were gone. We arrived home March 11, and went through the usual immigration check points at the airport with nothing unusual. No one said anything to us about covid related precautions. Dan went back to work the next day, as per usual. My sister insisted we isolate ourselves, but I reasoned that the Canada border officer didn’t say a word about any such necessity. We had little reason to go out anyway, so we didn’t do a whole lot. Listening to the radio over the next few days we started to absorb some of the vibes, and on Saturday I told Mom that perhaps the responsible thing for us to do, was to lay low for awhile. After all, we had recently spent 6 hours in a plane breathing the same air as 200 other people. . . .

Truth be told, we didn’t need groceries anyway, even though we had very little in the fridge. I had picked up some perishables a couple of days after we got home, simply because I could, but I felt no urgency, nor compulsion to do so. I knew that we had in our pantry and home store, anything we could want or need for an extended period of time. And just as important, those pantry foods were ‘normal’ to our way of eating anyway. We hadn’t shopped in a grocery store for a couple of weeks before our trip, trying to clear out perishables. Rather than feel any of the stress that comes with the panic-buying we witnessed on news reports, we felt none. We hunkered down in our warm house. Mom sewed and I worked on some rugs. Dan still went to work every day.

We missed the kids of course, who normally would have all been over to say hello in the days after we returned. We missed our friends at church of course. But worry? There was none of that. Shortages? They didn’t seem to affect us. We wondered just like everyone else, how long it would go on. We were sad to read and hear reports of job loss, retail panic, even outright fear. But at home, life was pretty much what it always had been.

Without expecting a pandemic, we realized we had been preparing for this all our lives. Our home-store, (in no small way thanks to THRIVE LIFE freeze dried foods), had contributed greatly to our feelings of comfort, security, normalcy, and above all, peace of mind. We were grateful for the counsel we’d adhered to for decades, to have a food storage on hand, and to “STORE WHAT YOU EAT” and “EAT WHAT YOU STORE”. Of all the benefits we’d enjoyed over those years, the greatest was the current peace-of-mind we were then experiencing. There is no price on peace-of-mind.

So almost two years later, our society has learned a few things, we’ve developed a vaccine and many people have taken advantage of it. The vaccine is a very devisive subject, and has become a major source of contention among friends, families and society in general, with not too many people walking down the middle of the road. We’ve seen unbelievable upheaval in our society due to this pandemic – and not just our society, but the world over. Economical, emotional, physical, familial, educational, . . . everybody’s been affected. We became familiar with terms we’d never used before, like “supply chain” – which still affects us almost two years later, not just food, but in every other area we deal with: retail items of all sorts, construction, vehicle manufacturing and maintenance, medical supplies, . . . . areas that our affluent society previously believed we were immune to. So much for that.

It is late fall 2021, and in our province, we are leveling off our fourth wave. Who knew we’d still be here 21 months later?
Yes, we are well aware of the world around us, and yes, we’ve been affected in our own way too. Life goes on and we’re all adjusting, and mourning some losses, and reaching out to serve and assist in the best ways we know how. There’s nothing convenient about a pandemic. Everything and every one has been affected. Its been hard. Hard enough without having to worry about food and debt. One of the biggest blessings in our home, is the peace-of-mind that came from being prepared for an unexpected interruption we couldn’t forecast. The peace-of-mind of not needing things we didn’t have on hand already. The peace-of-mind of living within our means, and of avoiding the frustration of debt.

When it comes specifically to food, we are grateful for the lifelong habit of having a food storage, and it is THRIVE LIFE freeze dried foods that we are most appreciative for. Nutritious fruits and vegetables, dairy and protein – always here, always ready, always nutritious, always convenient. And that’s all I have to say about that here. It’s been a blessing. A tremendous blessing. Thank-you THRIVE LIFE. You were there when we needed you.

Was there anything specific that helped you get over the uncertainty of this long covid season? I want to hear about it.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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planning next year’s garden

(while this one is still fresh in your mind)

I have a simple rule that I apply to everything I ‘did’. Whether its my garden, an event that I was involved in, or a class that I taught – doesn’t matter, it pretty much always applies. At the end of whatever it is, I ask myself these THREE Questions (and answer them of course).
1. What went well? What was I pleased with?
2. What could have been better? What could I have improved on?
3. What did I learn? In my opinion, the most important.

All three questions are very important, and must be asked in order. It is very easy to get down on yourself when something didn’t go right. None of us seem to be short on negative self talk, if the season (or event) was disappointing. Its easy to get discouraged and give up if we focus on the bad, on the things that didn’t work out. So DON’T!

What went well? There is always something that was good. Think about it, and WRITE DOWN the answers. A fruit or vegetable that grew well – a new skill that came in handy – a new hack that paid off – etc. Write down everything that was good about this year’s garden.

For my 2021 garden: What went well?

* Kale. I grew great kale. The year before was the first time I planted kale and I only planted 6 plants, but it encouraged me to plant again, this time I planted double that amount, and some variation. I planted them in three or four different spots, I picked from the plants all summer long, and well into October when I finally harvested the last of it. I used fresh kale in salads, omelettes and scrambled eggs, soups, casseroles, chopped in sandwiches, and smoothies. I tried kale chips in the oven for the first time, and was wowed. Repeated that several times, using less oil each time lol. I dehydrated the excess and ended up with two FULL 2 quart jars of dehydrated kale, crushed into them.

* Tomatoes. I had a reeeeeally good harvest of tomatoes this year. Lots of tomatoes! Mostly the Romanian Giants. For the first time, I grew tomatoes all season long IN my new green house. Eight or ten tomatoes there, four around an arbour in the first garden bed, four around an arbour in the large horse trough, and some in their usual spot on the west side of the house. And some cherry tomato in planters on the patio. Made for a LOT. I admit it – tomatoes are my thing. The backbone of my garden, the one thing I look forward to the most. Everything else exists around them.
The most successful places (in order), was the green house, garden arbour and large horse trough arbour – all in the sunniest locations. We ate fresh tomatoes pretty much all of August, September and October. We’ll have fresh tomatoes into November. I canned the excess that ripened faster than we could eat, a couple dozen quarts. I made fresh bruschetta and salsa, canning about 15 pints of salsa. I oven roasted lots of tomatoes. We had so many different types of tomato based soups.

* Cucumbers: best crop ever. Honey berries, Cherries, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Oregano.

* Compost. We reorganized our compost area since building the greenhouse, adding another large old garbage can turned upside down. Also had a mound of dried lawn trimmings in our compost area, ready to add to compost piles as needed, and use to mulch gardens. We also added to the city compost from time to time – with undesirable compost: either branches and things that take too long to break down, thistle, scraps that included oil or meat, ….. that sort of thing. It was valuable to be able to recycle these organics even though we didn’t want them ourselves.

* Greenhouse. Dan built me a new greenhouse this spring. Not very big, 8×12 – the perfect size for our needs. I dug the soil down deep on both sides, and added gravel, compost and aged horse manure to the soil. When the shelves were no longer needed, I removed them and planted tomatoes, peppers and nasturtiums in the soil.

* Soil amendment in the former spruce area. We took out two massive spruce trees a year and a half before and the following summer it was almost a dead zone. Nothing we planted did well, so we gathered our resources and came up with an amendment plan, thanks to the suggestion of our friend Scott Campbell. Aged horse manure, barley straw and early spring mowing. Became positively LUSH compared to last year.

New Discoveries

Horse trough raised beds
Hori hori knife (my new favourite tool)
Mexican Tarragon, Papalo, and Epezote

What could have been better?

Grapes. Plums. Carrots. Potatoes. Strawberries. Basil. Beans. Butternut Squash.
My planting was too condensed, and I ended up shading some things I’d rather not have.
I thought I planted bush beans, when they were in fact pole beans, and consequently they weren’t placed in the best spot. That was unfortunate. I experimented with two different ways to grow potatoes. Both were interesting and I’m glad I did it, but not that great of a yield.

What did I learn?

We’ve been growing tomatoes on the west side of the house which we knew was short on sun, but the best we had at the time. This year, the new greenhouse resolved that issue. 2021 is our last year for westside tomatoes. Next year, that partial sun/partial shade area will be best suitable for greens: lettuce and arugula, chard, kale, nasturtiums and celery.

We topped up all of our beds with aged horse manure and completely redid the entire strawberry bed, including new plants, following the recommendations of some trusted friends. I allowed too many other things to grow in it as the summer progressed: dill, poppies and sunflowers. Next year, I’m gonna limit that. We’ll deep water the strawberries right away (end of October), and cover them in leaves to tuck them in for a long winter’s sleep, and hope for better strawberries next year.

Plans for improvement next year?

Gonna rent a small inground garden plot in our community garden, to plant carrots, potatoes and maybe beets. Those root crops I just don’t seem to have sufficient room or sun for in my small garden, and if there’s one thing the community garden has a lot of, it is SUN!

Seeds for Next Year’s Garden

I ALWAYS buy seeds one year in advance. For the most part, what I plant in 2022 will be the seeds I purchased in late winter 2021, and so forth. It’s part of my personal philosophy of preparedness. There will always be an exception, something I decide to try NOW, but generally speaking, I plan at least one year ahead for gardening. I don’t ever want to have a spring when for some unforeseen reason, I am unable to get seeds. Preparedness is not just food storage.

Some of those seeds will be seeds I saved myself, especially tomato seeds from my own Romanian Giants, Nasturtiums, Poppies and Dill. Garden preparedness includes ensuring I have sufficient potting soil for next spring, as well as planting containers.

I get my seeds from assorted sources: a local seed store on the west side, one of several Canadian seed companies I order online, the odd package that catches my eye at a greenhouse or garden centre, and of course those that I propagate myself or that friends have shared. But for next year I have decided to try another Canadian seed company a friend recommended. I am looking for a company that deserves my loyalty.

Keep your plans for next year ACHIEVABLE.

Seed catalogues are full of all sorts of potential, and it’s good to try something new every year. Some thing you haven’t tried before, a new vegetable, a new type, a new way of doing things, . . . And there’s nothing wrong with trying something totally ‘out there’ from time to time, like watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, honeyberries …. You never know what’s gonna WORK, and you very well may be surprised. Some things may simply have been fun to try, but not really worth investing too much energy down the road, not to mention the garden space that may have been better used for other vegetables. And other things may be tremendous successes. However, keep the bulk of your garden plans for the “most likely to succeed” crops. Go for the tried and true types. Ask other gardeners for their recommendations.

We’re fully expecting our Honey Crisp Apple, which we transplanted into our former spruce area two springs ago, to amaze us in 2022. It got set back when we transplanted it, and had a rough season in exceptionally poor soil, but we’ve apologized, and have done our best to make up for that rough start. I also have high hopes for our Royal Plum, which produced this year, but sparsely.

I highly recommend keeping a garden journal of sorts. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re gonna be a great journaler if you’ve never done well with journals before, but don’t be a defeatest either. Commit to it.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, just a simple notebook will suffice – but have a book that is gonna stick around. Not just a collection of note papers.

Keeping a garden journal WILL improve your gardening experience, I promise. Why? Because you will hone your skills based on what you learned from previous seasons. It will provide you with historical information that will help you better predict future results. It will help you keep an inventory of your seeds and perennials, as well as record your harvests. It can effectively evolve into a personalized garden TEXT BOOK, and every year you add to it, it becomes more and more valuable.

What to include in your garden journal? 15 suggestions

  1. Date your entries and write down your answers to the three questions above. Every year. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. This will be your core.
  2. A pencil sketch of your garden layout with the year clearly marked. This is more important than you might think. You will want to ensure you rotate most crop areas, avoiding using the same spot year after year for the same vegetable.
  3. A list of the plants that worked out best, and the ones that did NOT.
  4. Dated sources for specific plants: greenhouses, nurseries or garden centres, seed companies, friends or neighbours.
  5. Planting times, ready times, harvest times. Maybe even a few recipes you discovered.
  6. Be more specific about times: dates you started seeds indoor, dates you transplanted them, and dates you planted seeds directly into the garden. Germination times. All these are things you THINK you’re gonna remember. Yeah right, you won’t. The information will come in handy for future years.
  7. Soil tests, soil amendments and subsequent assessments of that soil.
  8. Any problems with pests, diseases or other issues
  9. Approximate dates of harvests and the type of yield you got. I don’t have the patience to weigh, measure or count, but I know some do that. I think that’s great. Just not for me.
  10. Weather. I know right? But seriously, every year is unique, and not every season is good for every crop. So record your assessment on the weather trends by recording details, and make note of what crops are doing better than others. For instance, I have noticed that in our part of the city, we seem to be have less violence in the weather. The worst seems to go around us. I have also noted that other areas seem to get a frost quicker than we do, perhaps owing to our number of nearby trees creating a minor microclimate. You’ll be more likely to make note of weather patterns if you’re writing them down.
  11. New changes and experiments. How else are you gonna track what works?
  12. Suggestions, recommendations, and even recipes shared by other gardeners. I know, again with the recipes.
  13. Expenses: how much spent in greenhouses and garden centres, seed catalogues, garden paraphernalia, new builds, maintenance of raised beds etc, cold frames, lattices etc
  14. Hacks, suggestions, inspiration and ideas. Using your garden journal as the place to make quick notes about what they are, or where to find them, is the best way to keep them all in one spot for easy reference later
  15. Personal reflections, inspiration and musings . . . . . after all, it IS a journal. It is part of you. It is a record of yourself.

What plans do you have for your garden next season?

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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Thanksgiving is to pause and reflect . . .

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is always the second Monday in October for Canadians, about six weeks before our American neighbours celebrate the same holiday.  It is an important and very unique holiday for a number of reasons.  For one, it’s secular in origin, not religious like Christmas and Easter, and rather than celebrating an ‘event’, it celebrates gratitude, something society as a whole seems to have a hard time practicing in general.  Although it isn’t religious in origin, its roots lie with the very Christian American pilgrims who gave thanks to God for bounty at the end of a successful harvest in 1621. 

For 400 years North Americans have traditionally paused to give thanks at the conclusion of harvest.   Even though most of us no longer feel we’re connected to harvest, make no mistake, it is still a successful harvest that ensures a comfortable winter – for all of us.  Never in my life has that been more evident than in the year of 2020.  For the first time in memory, the planting of spring was in jeopardy across the nation due to supply chain issues and minimized seasonal foreign workers (upon which many market gardens, grain farmers and ranchers depend), and during the first few months, issues with social distancing caused many meat plants to shut down creating a problem for meat producers who depended on them to get their meat to market.  Over the months, we came to accept, and even expect in-store shortages and not being able to get what we order as soon as we were used to getting it.  True definition of a first world problem at the best of times, but a little more tangible recently. 

Bountiful harvests in 2020 and 2021 were questionable right from the onset of spring planting, and many people were worried.   Me included. It looked like we were in for desperate food shortages, and very high prices. But from the perspective of hindsight, we can say that the inconveniences of ‘out-of-stock’ items has been only that, an inconvenience.  Some prices rose, but the situation warranted that. Though frustrating at times, these inconveniences were only ever ‘lumps-in-our-oatmeal‘.  At least for the time being.  Other things were a little more impactful: special events that had to be altered, postponed or even cancelled, ill loved ones we couldn’t visit, funerals that sadly got missed, family gatherings that didn’t happen, loneliness – especially for the elderly or immune compromised, jobs that were affected, income reduced, businesses that suffered and some that couldn’t survive, dental care and other health related appointments that were set aside, as well as the loss of other services we enjoyed and upon which many jobs were dependent. Our economy was driven to its knees and we worried about the reliable availability of food and other necessities. 

Now, in the autumn of 2021, we’ve learned many things. We’ve learned to continue on, keeping a bigger distance between each other, washing our hands more often, masks have become part of our outer clothing, and technology has become our connection with the world outside our front door.   We’re still seeing results of the global upset, and it is affecting our food supply, promising to be more than an inconvenience in the near future.

But we have SO much to be grateful for, and it is more important than ever to not only acknowledge these blessings, but to focus on them.  Yes, in some ways its been tough, but there are many good things that came out of our unwilling courtship with covid.  I am so grateful that THANKSGIVING gives me pause to reflect and appreciate the specifics of my bigger picture. 

If I were to get into details, the things I am grateful for, are innumerable.   Though I try to consciously “count my many blessings, and name them one by one“, to do so takes a long time. Those are better left for personal reflection and my journal, for me to review from time to time with my Heavenly Father. But more generally, I can summarize many of them in these broader points.

1. Jesus Christ
The gospel of Jesus Christ blesses my life in every way.  Through it, I understand where I came from, where I am going, and what I am doing here.  It provides a clearer vision of what I want, it helps me appreciate the many roles I play and helps me define my core values.  I am grateful for His atoning sacrifice that paid the price for my sins, and swallows up my sorrows.  I am grateful for the example He set, the unconditional love and the gate through which He walked which points the way to my Heavenly Father.   I am thankful for His gospel which continues to be a beacon in my life, helping me to let go of the past, overcome weaknesses and to focus on becoming the person I want to be.  I am grateful for scriptures that teach of Him, and for prayer that is the means of communication He makes available to me.

2. My family
Those who produced me, and those I had a hand in producing and in whose lives I had influence – I hope I did enough.  For siblings and cousins with whom I walked in my formative years, and who are still in my life.  For nieces and nephews who choose to continue to stay in my life.   For those of my family who have gone on before me – I appreciate so much, the choices you’ve made to bring me to this place and time.   I will do what I can for you.  And for those who have yet to be born – I feel some accountability to leave you a better world, and a faithful family in which to grow.  

3. Dan
The man I share this life with, and with whom I share all these children and now grandchildren.   For the growing experiences we’ve had together both good and bad – they’ve made us who we are. I am grateful for love in my life.  And as time goes on, I am increasingly grateful for the future we still have before us. I am grateful with confidence that we will grow old together – sealed for this life and the next.

4. The church I belong to
which provides doctrine to help me understand my relationship with God, and my responsibility to my fellow human beings.  It provides community to me, of like minded people who I love and respect; a community of people I can rely on, people I can reach out to, and people I can help, serve with and learn from. It has been the village that helped raise my children. It is the vehicle through which I make sacred covenants with my Heavenly Father, which sustain me, bringing me comfort and confidence as I walk that covenant path. It provides me with meaningful service opportunities which allow me to put myself and my perspective aside from time to time, to focus on a bigger, all inclusive picture.

5. Good health
and strength to accomplish the things that are most important to me.   As an extension of this, I am grateful for a good medical system that serves my community.  Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacies, and all those who work in the medical field, that I most often take for granted. 

6. Good nutrition
which is the building block of good health.   For many of our early years, we lived from month to month, not being able to afford a lot of extras, and many times not even buying much in the way of groceries in any given month, but through it all because of gardens, food storage, tithing and careful management, there has always been healthy food on our table. That blessing was always appreciated.

7. Friends. 
We’ve been blessed with dear friends over our lifetime.   We don’t get together in the same way of course, we don’t sit for hours and chat face to face like we used to, we don’t go to movies or out to lunch as we have in the past, but we do what we can in these covid times.   We’re still in each other’s lives and we’ve found ways to be creative. The important thing is that when we do get together its as if there’s never been an absence. How I appreciate the love of good friends.   

8. Tradition. 
Traditions are a critical part of our culture. In many ways they are the building blocks of what brings us together, and holds us together. They connect us to our history and provide clues about why we are the way we are.  They separate us from others in a good way, providing unique similarities that bind cultural identities, and family units.   They provide context for those who came before us, acknowledging the contribution they’ve made to the quality of our lives and the way we understand our world.   They are an important thread in the tapestry of what makes us unique – providing a sense of comfort and belonging.  Traditions don’t have to be old, handed down from generations before.   We can develop new meaningful traditions that have the power to bless our lives in the future, and to create a legacy that will enhance the quality of life of those who come after us.   Truth is, we are all creating a legacy of one sort or another – consciously or not.  How much better it could be if we focused on what that legacy will look like to those we’re leaving it to.  

Not all traditions are good.  Part of our responsibility to our family is not only to pass on healthy traditions, the ones that connect and edify, that strengthen and uplift – but to break the cycle of unhealthy traditions, the ones that foster hate and prejudice, division, unhappiness and abuse.  

9.  Technology
Never thought I’d ever say it, but I am grateful for technology.  Even to the degree that I understand it, and the terrifying learning curve that is repeatedly before me, I must concede that it has enhanced my life. It has kept me connected with the people I love and care for, the information I need, the community I want, and a multitude of opportunities to serve those around me.  Mobile phones, tablets, desk top computers, televisions, the internet that makes them all friends, and yes even social media avenues that help me reach beyond my own immediate circle.  Without technology this year, it would have been a lot lonelier than it was.

10. Our Garden

For many years while I managed our family business, an LDS Bookstore – I didn’t have time to fully enjoy my garden.  It was a chore that somehow compelled me from spring to fall.  I put in the work, and while I can admit I often found solace losing myself for hours in the distraction of it, I confess that I hardly ever harvested it in those busy years.  Some years I was tempted to let it go, reasoning that because the store kept me so busy every fall, the final satisfaction of harvest alluded me.  But one day I realized that it wasn’t the harvest that soothed me during the calm peaceful summer hours that I quietly weeded with only the birds and squirrels.   It wasn’t the harvest that distracted me from business worries and stress in the spring while I planted flowers and potatoes.   It wasn’t the harvest that took me on pleasant greenhouse excursions looking for evening scented stock and some new herb that I hadn’t yet grown.  I realized that my garden was therapy, and though one day I hoped it would become a-year-long therapy, I would be making a terrible mistake if I stopped the process simply because one portion of it wasn’t working for me.
From this vantage point, I am very glad for that decision long ago.  My garden has paid me back many times over for the hours I devoted to it these many years. It has been good for me.    

I am grateful for continual clean water, electricity, furnaces and fireplaces, hardwood floors, meaningful employment, vacuum cleaners, brooms, chickens, cherries, kale, dill and sunny days.  I am grateful for Vitamin D and aloe vera plants, books, movies and this blog that gives me an outlet of expression.   I am grateful for the constant drive to improve and learn new things.  I am grateful for Santa and teddy bears and quilts and clotheslines. 

Being grateful makes us happier.   It really does.  Because it helps us develop a more positive outlook, it promotes optimism, lowers stress, depression and anxiety.   There is growing scientific evidence that demonstrates expressing genuine gratitude improves our physical health as well as emotional.   It improves our quality of sleep and even enhances our immune system.  

Thanksgiving is a gift.   It is the opportunity we often neglect to take without a reminder, that is to pause, take a few minutes, reflect on what we’re really grateful for.  I hope you take this time to do exactly that. I’d love to see your list.   No doubt you’ll remind me of many more things I too am grateful for.  

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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Zucchini for the Win

So I’m a big fan of zucchini, but not such a big fan of it when it becomes monster zucchini. I like it when its small and tender and you don’t have to peel it. But no matter how diligent a gardener thinks she is, there’s always a few zucchinis that hide out and grow too big while you were hanging clothes on the line. (and that’s almost as long as it seems to take) What to do? There’s really only so much zucchini cake anyone should make in a lifetime.

WHO KNEW? Some interesting facts about zucchini . . . .

*While we think of, and use it as a vegetable, like the tomato zucchini is technically a fruit.

*Zucchini, and all other squash are native to Central America and Mexico, and started making an appearance in European kitchens in the 1600’s. From Europe, it spread to the rest of North America. The scenic route.

*We generally eat zucchini when it is young and immature, while the rind is tender and the seeds are undeveloped, . . . . or at least that’s the goal.

*Zucchini is a surprising source of calcium, making it valuable in maintaining good bone and teeth health. Calcium also helps your nervous system function properly.

*Zucchini contains the carotenoid known as Beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A, making it important to a healthy immune system and good eye health. That, in combination with the other antioxidants present, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, protect the eye’s cells and are helpful in preventing macular degeneration.

*Because of a good amount of potassium and magnesium, zucchini is good for regulating your blood pressure and keeping your heartbeat at a normal rate. Moderate levels of folate in zucchini contribute to good heart health by breaking down amino acids like homocysteine, which would increase our chances of heart disease and stroke.

*Zucchini is a good source of zinc which helps with immune function and healthy hair growth. Being rich in fiber, zucchini aids in digestion.

*Zucchini is a good source of vitamin C, so eating it fresh and uncooked as much as possible is extremely beneficial. Good thing its so delicious straight from the garden. The anti-inflammatory properties that come from the beta-carotene and vitamin C in zucchini, address symptoms of osteoarthritis, as well as asthma and other respiratory ailments.

*Since it is packed with so much goodness, and not very many calories, it only makes sense that eating zucchini will promote good health and help prevent disease. It should be a welcome guest at your dinner table.

preparing monster zucchini for the dehydrator

Best way to eat zucchini? Straight outta the garden. Preferably while you’re still standing IN the garden. Snap it off its stem and enjoy the crispness as you bite into it. It’s flavour is so mild that it cannot possibly offend anyone, and it has a slight sweetness to it. The peel is very tender, and adds to the body and texture (and nutrition), so don’t ever peel it when its young. I love the experience of picking a nice tender zucchini with a grandchild in tow so that we can share the experience. I hope they remember those garden moments.

But what do you do with those ripened zucchini’s that are as big as a child’s torso? Well, you can scoop out the seeds, fill it with a stuffing and bake it for supper. I don’t mind doing that once a year, but usually Dan just eats the stuffing and not the zucchini anyway. You can shred it and make zucchini cake, but that’s another once-a-year thing for me too. Seriously – how much zucchini cake do you or all your friends want? In its shredded form, you can add it to stir fries, add it to spaghetti sauce (it disappears and no one will be the wiser), soups, and omelettes. This appeals to me a lot more, and I love putting it to good use in dishes that are made more nutritious because of it. But still, . . . . you have a LOT of zucchini.

DEHYDRATE it!

What on earth would you do with dehydrated zucchini later? Well, you could throw them into those same soups, stews, stir fries, cakes and sauces of course. Yes, I know you can shred it and freeze it, but my freezer space is limited at the best of times, and even more so at the end of summer. One of my favourite ways to use dehydrated zucchini is in a seasoning mix that I call “Taste of the Mediterranean“. See recipe below.

To dehydrate:
Peel large zucchini, cut in half and scrape out the seeds.
Cube the white flesh into pieces about an inch square.
I also shred some.
Spread out in your dehydrator in a single layer. Over night should be sufficient time to dehydrate, but test it by pinching and tasting. The shredded zucchini takes a lot less time than the cubed. I recommend not leaving it for more than an hour or two without checking. You don’t have to babysit it, just don’t go to bed.
When it is good a dry, store in a glass jar in your pantry out of direct light.

zucchini dehydrated and in the jar

recipe: TASTE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

This taste of the Mediterranean is a valuable part of my kitchen. Add it to your meatballs or meatloaf. Add it to your spaghetti sauce, or your lasagna. Add it to a thick cream sauce for pizza. Add it to your alfredo sauce to go on pasta. Add it to your cream soup, or your Italian Wedding Soup. Make a hearty vegetable dip, buttermilk salad dressing, or a cheese spread. . . . . . . be creative, the sky’s the limit.

ingredients layered in before I mix it all together

1 cup dehydrated zucchini or 2 cups freeze dried zucchini
(I often find myself running out of this mix mid year, when I don’t have any dried zucchini left. No problem, when I have another can of THRIVE LIFE freeze dried Zucchini on hand. )
1 cup dehydrated mixed bell peppers, or 1 cup freeze dried green pepper + 1/2 cup freeze dried red peppers
Blend the above into a coarse powder using the pulse option on your blender. Only a few seconds, so that you still have a little texture but mostly powder.
Add 1 cup freeze dried chopped Spinach
Pulse it in the blender a few more seconds.
Add:
1 cup freeze dried chopped onions
1/3 cup Tomato powder (I use THRIVE LIFE Tomato Powder, but if you have dehydrated tomatoes, powder your own)
1-2 Tablespoons garlic powder (I usually use freeze dried, crushed in a mortar & pestle)
1/2 cup mixed dried Italian herbs: oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil (or your favourite Italian or Greek Seasoning mix) hand crumbled
1/2+ cup dried parmesan cheese (I use THRIVE LIFE freeze dried Parmesan)

Stir with a fork to fully incorporate all the colours. Pour into a clean quart jar with a tight fitting lid. If you’re not using freeze dried cheese, you might want to store it in the fridge, or simply leave the cheese out so that you can add it separately whenever you use the mix later.

Mediterranean Meatloaf or meatballs : add 1/2 – 1 cup to your favourite ground meat mixture, and form as usual.
Mediterranean White Pasta Sauce : add 1/2 cup to your favourite alfredo sauce. You might need to add a little bit more liquid to compensate for rehydration.
Mediterranean Tomato Pasta Sauce: same thing – just add to your favourite tomato sauce. Adjust liquid if necessary.
Mediterranean Omelotte: add to beaten eggs, allow two or three minutes to refresh. Cook eggs as usual.
Mediterranean Vegetable Spread: Cream mixture into cream cheese. Start with 2 tablespoons, and then add more if desired. Stir in a little mayo and sour cream, creaming with mixer or spoon after each addition. Let it sit for 15 minutes to ensure all is rehydrated. Test for desired consistency, adding more liquid if necessary. For spreading on crackers, serving with fresh bread, or using as a sandwich base.
Mediterranean Vegetable Dip: Same method as above, but use mayo and sour cream. Maybe a little cream cheese for body and richness.
Mediterranean Buttermilk Salad Dressing: Same method for Dip, but stir in buttermilk to desired consistency.

I’d love to hear your ideas for eating zucchini – especially when it gets too big.
If you decide to try this recipe – I’d love to hear ways you incorporated it into your meals. Its great to learn from each other.

Warmly,

Cindy

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Fruit Leather

Fruit leather! Apple leather – rhubarb leather – any kind of fruit leather. Mix it up. Apple pear. Rhubarb raspberry. Plum! Whatever you’ve got on hand that needs to be used up, turn it into a delicious, nutritious snack to grab all winter long.

Rhubarb-raspberry-cranberry leather. Adding cranberries to fruit sauce makes the colour gorgeous! Apple leather behind it. Apple sauce for leather is so dependable in the late summer because they’re usually so plentiful. Its wonderful to use by itself, or as a base with pears, plums, rhubarb, berries, or whatever you might have on hand.

I first learned about Fruit Leather when my oldest was just a baby. I never tried it or even saw it, just read about it. In a library book. I loved the idea of it, and that very week, made some of my own, using our oven. I dried it at the lowest temperature I could get on my oven, and was hooked from that day on. Over time, I’ve progressed to the convenience of the counter top dehydrator I use today, but seriously, one doesn’t need a dehydrator. This is something people have made for many many years before dehydrators made everything easy

When you have access to your own fruit trees or a friend’s, you often have a lot of fruit that needs to be used or preserved – RIGHT NOW. We wait all summer long for fruits to ripen, and then when they do, every hour counts as we eat, juice, can, freeze, dehydrate, make jams or jellies, flavour vinegars, pickle, ferment, bake, and do anything else we can think of to continue to enjoy them for months to come.

It is a fun goal of mine to make valuable use of everything the Lord has blessed me with, or to pass it on to someone else who will, but just because I said it was a ‘fun’ goal, doesn’t mean its not without a lotta work. Usually it means many hours of hard work. Fruit leather is one of those results. It’s where excess fruit goes to find purpose and meaning to its existence. Fruit leather isn’t prejudiced against fruit that isn’t pretty enough to make it to the produce department, or the glass canning jars. Perhaps it wasn’t the ‘prettiest’ peach in the box, or perhaps the apples hit the ground and receive bruises, fruit leather is non-discriminatory.

Taking advantage of fruit that would otherwise go to waste.
Apple pie, apple crisp, apple muffins, apple juice, apple jelly, apple sauce, apple butter, apple leather, . . . . . Apple is the base for so many late summer edibles, and the perfect fruit to preserve for all winter long.

In fact, sometimes it even takes biproducts from other projects and makes them valuable again. For instance, apple pulp left over from steam juicing, can be strained to separate the apple sauce. And apple sauce makes wonderful fruit leather all by itself, and a beautiful base for many other mixes.

I think its impossible to have an exact recipe when you’re true the ‘spirit of fruit leather’. When you are using excess, you just don’t measure in ounces or cups. So the ‘recipe’ below is only a guideline to begin with. You can vary it depending on whatever happens to be in season and accessible.

I like to at least heat the fruit through for a few minutes to arrest any alteration in colour or flavour, and also to kill any bacteria. Lightly simmering the fruit, softens it and makes it easier to smooth. Either mash the softened fruit with a potato masher, or puree it in a blender, of half and half to have a more interesting texture.

Sour cherries make amazing fruit leather, alone or in combination with other fruits. They are also terrific dehydrated by themselves. Pitted of course.

Often times a combination of fruits, using the apple sauce first, opens up to a whole new world of textures and flavours. Starting with a base of apple sauce, consider these variations:
* apple sauce – straight, all by itself, only sweetened if necessary, and nothing else
* apple sauce with pear sauce mashed, skins removed, (trust me on this, pear skins when really ripe are tough and unpleasant). If you puree it, then you can leave the skins on.
* apple berry blend – your choice. Whatever’s in season. I love using raspberries,
* apple plum blend
* apple peach blend
* apple pie – apples with cinnamon for apple-pie fruit leather
* apple grape – puree the grapes if they have seed in them.


* Sour cherries. Pureed or mashed for added texture, sweetened to taste. By themselves, or in combination with other fruits, always a winner.
* Plums. In my climate, there are many varieties of plums that grow well. And they’re not only delicious to eat straight off the tree, but great for canning, dehydrating, making into jams or plum sauce, and of course fruit leather alone or in combination with other fruits. Their sweetness is the perfect companion to the tartness of rhubarb.
* Peaches – alone, or mixed with anything you like are always an all time favourite of mine. However, peaches don’t grow in my climate so I always have to buy them, and mashing up fruit I purchased hurts my feelings. So the only time I would ever make peach jam or peach leather is when I got a steal of a deal, or they got away from me, past their prime, and I would otherwise lose them. That’s what makes fruit leather so great – it prevents waste.
* Apricots. I don’t often have a lotta fresh apricots that I wouldn’t mind cooking up. Kinda in the same category as peaches. But in the rare instance that I have had access to some, I’d make a TON of apricot leather. I LOVE the flavour and unique ‘tart sweetness’ of apricots, and they’re a powerhouse of nutrition.

alone, or in combination with the tartness of rhubarb, the beautiful colour and natural sweetness of plums is a perfect choice for fruit leather

*Be brave and experiment. If it sounds good, and it tastes good together, then it might be the perfect marriage. Its all about making use of what you have on hand.

* Rhubarb is the perfect base for fruit leather. Beautifully tart, it is great alone, or mixed with berries or apple sauce. And its ever-plentiful, hardy in our climate. That’s hard to beat. If I’m looking for a beautiful red colour, I’ll add frozen or freeze dried cranberries. Sweeten only to taste, being careful not to loose the tartness that sets rhubarb apart.

Additional ingredients and what they’re used for:

Sugar or other sweetener: to personal taste. I am not normally a white sugar girl, but for fruit leather I find it is preferable to other sweeteners like stevia or brown sugars. Besides, sugar has preservative benefits too. Just be responsible with ‘how much’. Honey is great, but it adds its unique flavour to the fruit sauce, so make sure you like that flavour blend before you decide to use it.

rhubarb, the northern gardener’s best friend

Water or other liquid: to give it enough liquid to steam itself. Just enough, not too much. Remember, you’re dehydrating this. The more liquid to add, the more you need to dry out.

Lemon juice: to retain vibrant colour, and to add some tartness. I love the taste of lemon, and the tartness of it. It is perfect in so many combinations, especially those where flavours are being combined.

Recipe (remember there are no real, hard defined measurements). The recipe below is ONLY A GUIDE. I’m gonna use RHUBARB as my example. You can personally adjust for any other fruit, according to your own tastes and preferences.

Rhubarb Leather

1. freshly picked rhubarb, washed, chopped, and lightly simmered over low heat, till its soft enough to mash. Use water only to keep it from scorching (maybe 1/2 cup for every 4 cups of fruit), and keep the heat low.
2. sprinkle sugar over top to taste.
3. add enough lemon juice to keep colours vibrant. Could be a couple of tablespoons to a full cup – depending on how big your pot of rhubarb is. Lemon juice will keep the integrity of the colour, and will add a little zing to your flavour, but is NOT necessary.
4. mash cooked rhubarb with a potato masher to a nice consistency. I prefer this to puree’ing in the blender, because the texture is more interesting.
5. If you feel like the colour is lacking, add some red raspberries if you have them.
6. For colour: I keep on hand a good supply of frozen and/or freeze dried cranberries for the purpose of adding a gorgeous stable RED colour to my red jams and even fruit leathers. If you want your rhubarb a nicer, pinker to reddish colour, add a cup or two cranberries, and simmer with rhubarb till tender. Mash or puree (your choice), to incorporate well.

Now to dry:
If you have a dehydrator, that’s my preference. If you do not, use the oven on VERY low, as low as your oven will allow. I’ll start with my first experience which was an oven.

OVEN –
You need a flat surface, like a cookie sheet. Spread the sheet with a layer of plastic wrap, like saran wrap (NOT waxed paper – you’ll be sorry), or parchment paper. The saran wrap likes to stick together and its very annoying to lay it flat, but do it anyway. If you rush the job, you’ll only get more frustrated. If you have a flat silicone sheet, all the better. Its reusable and lays flat. Pour your prepared fruit sauce over top of your lined surface, and gently spread it out with the back of a spoon. Spread to about an inch from the edges. How thin? Just thick enough that you cannot see through it, about 1/8-1/4 inch.

Place in a warm oven that is set to the lowest temperature you can – which will probably be between 150-200 degrees. You’re wanting to dry the fruit sauce for as long as it takes to become a leathery, slightly tacky finished product. There are so many variables that will determine how long that should take. Check every hour or two, moving the pan slightly to promote even heat distribution. Be patient. You can’t rush this stage. My guess is anywhere from 9-12 hours. Personally, I don’t recommend leaving it over night because you’re not able to monitor sufficiently. Turn the oven off when you go to bed, and start the process over again in the morning. It doesn’t have to be babysat, just don’t leave it unattended for too many hours.

When you see that it is drying, gently touch it to see how soft or tacky it is. You don’t want any soft spots. When you think that its almost done, I recommend peeling it off the plastic, parchment or silicone sheet and flipping it upside down on the oven rack itself, for another hour or so. This lets air get all around it, and allows it to more evenly dry.

HOMEMADE DEHYDRATOR –
In the height of my dehydrating days, when I had all the kids at home, Dan built me a large wooden dehydrator, almost as big as our freezer. He and our good friend Kevin Lamont worked together, as Kevin was also building one for his wife Diana. They heated them with in-car heaters which worked beautifully, moving just enough air and at a very suitable temperature. I used that dehydrator for many years, drying mostly fruits, fruit leather and herbs, but also experimenting with various vegetables. It was also a good place to make yogurt. By the time we moved to our present house, I was running our Bookstore fulltime and very busy in the early fall, getting ready for Christmas. I dehydrated less, and couldn’t justify the large floor space that my faithful dehydrator took. We found it another happy home, and moved on.

On a screened frame, lay out your plastic wrap, or parchment and pour your sauce over top spreading it with the back of a spoon. The nice thing about a big dehydrator is that you can do LOTS of fruit leather at one time. Check the progress every few hours, rotating racks to keep the heat and air more evenly distributed. My estimate is probably a good 12 – 24 hours, but again – so many variables. How full is the dehydrator? How wet and thick was your sauce? Heat and air flow? Be patient and don’t rush it. Just like with the oven, when you think its pretty much done, peel off the plastic wrap and flip it upside down on the screen for the last hour or so.

COUNTER TOP DEHYDRATOR –
You can have as few as two or three racks in a counter top dehydrator, or as many as you want. That means you can easily dehydrate a small batch, or a huge batch of whatever you’re doing, and the foot print stays the same. Nice. In August or September, my dehydrator lives in my kitchen, and is often running for days at a time. I have about a dozen racks so I often dehydrate more than one type of food at a time, being careful to monitor the different time requirements. *hint: don’t put fruit and herbs in the drier at the same time unless you want oregano tinted fruit leather. But herbs and zucchini in the dehydrator at the same time are good companions.

There are some beautiful counter top dehydrators nowadays, that are easy to use, easy to regulate temperature, and easy to keep clean. Those are winning features in my books. You can also purchase plastic fruit-leather liners and screens for berries and herbs. I love that flexibility. I have six or eight reusable fruit leather liners, perfect for my use this time of year. Using the same method, I simply pour my sauce onto the liner, spreading out with the back of a spoon to the desired thickness.

fold or roll the finished fruit leather and store in an airtight bag or container

I can expect it to take about 24 hours, but again so many variables. How many racks? How wet is the sauce? And how thickly did I spread it out? Even, how humid is the air? If I put the fruit sauce into the dehydrator at night, I have no problem going to sleep with it on, but if I start the process in the morning, I wouldn’t risk it leaving it unattended overnight. I’d turn the dehydrator off when I went to bed, and start it again the next morning, so that I can keep an eye on the progress. As with the other two methods, when the leather is almost ready in my opinion, I’ll peel it from the liner and return to the rack upside down, for another hour or two or three, finishing the drying process to my satisfaction.
*hint: when peeling the fruit leather from the plastic liner, it may be a little tricky. I use a firm plastic spatula to gently scrape the edges to get a good start.

Whichever method you use, the results will be very similar.

To store:

Do a final touch test to ensure the leather is dry enough – no sticky spots.
Fold or roll up, and place in an airtight bag or container.
Store in your pantry to have handy for regular use. Some store it in the fridge or freezer, but I’ve never done that. For one, my space is limited. And I am much more likely to lose it, and forget about it in the bottom of my freezer. LOL

packed away to store in the pantry within reach of little grandkid hands

When properly dried and package, you can expect your fruit leather to be optimum in your pantry for about a year. Preservation depends on their low moisture content of less than 25%, the natural acidity of the fruit and the sugar content. Don’t push it too long past a year though. It may appear the same, but the nutritional value will have been steadily diminishing from the time you made it. Though dehydrating may slow down the nutritional loss, it cannot prevent it. (Not even in the freezer)

I’ve known lots of people who cut their fruit leather into convenient strips to store. I think that’s great; I’ve just never done it. Mine is usually stored in the original size, and we just rip a piece off when we eat it.

The principle of food storage is sound and I wholely subscribe to it. I live by it. BUT the rule is simple: store what you eat, and eat what you store. Keeping your food storage rotated, means keeping it fresh, and that means keeping it nutritionally sound, and that should be important to us. So EAT the fruit leather you make. Give it to the kids as a healthy snack. Send it in their lunches. Bring it in the car for road trips. Don’t protect it in your pantry like some kind of rare treasure you’ll only bring to the light during some future zombie apocalypse. This is REAL life. And it tastes GOOD.

I hope this is of help to you. If you have yet to try your hand at making your own fruit leather, I really hope you’ll give it a try. You don’t need any special tools to begin, just an oven. The first time I made it (all those many years ago), I was excited to tell my sister about my new discovery. She asked how she’d be able to tell it was done, and I told her “when its dry, you just have to be your own judge”. She made it and then phoned and complained to me that it was terrible. It was like shoe leather. Who wanted to eat that? LOL *hint: stop drying it before it gets to the point of being so dry its like shoe leather. But its an experiment. You’re never gonna know till you try it yourself.

Have fun. I’d love to hear your experiences, your favourite ways of making fruit leather, and your favourite combinations.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle