salad dressing – Welcome to my backyard city homestead

September 30, 2021

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.

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

August 28, 2020July 2, 2023

Vinegars from the Garden

2020 was my experiment year for vinegars. I had tried a few vinegars from scratch in the past with varying degrees of success but I think I overthought it, or I simply didn’t know how to use them. Whatever it was, I got discouraged and backed away until that year when it seemed so easy to try again (and I had all the time in the world), I couldn’t resist. SO glad l did. These vinegars below are actually “INFUSED Vinegars” – meaning I started with an existing white vinegar and infused the flavours. So easy, you can make your own and be guaranteed an amazing result. The results have been spectacular and I am never going to be the same again. Infused Garden Vinegars and I are best-friends-forever now.

Sun Vinegars

A new fave way for me to use my fresh garden herbs (and especially to carry their wonderfulness into winter) is to make ‘sun vinegar’. So called because you set them out in the sun to ‘steep’. Use a quart jar, a 2 quart jar, or a gallon jar – depends how much you want to make.

recipe:
Chive Blossom Vinegar

Chive blossoms in white vinegar, less than 24 hours and already that gorgeous pink colour!

When the chive blossoms or garlic chive blossoms are in full bloom, pick them, shake off to ensure they’re free of insects or dust. Swish them in clean water and shake off excess moisture. Fill a clean glass jar without stuffing them in. Top up with white vinegar, making sure all are covered. Secure lid and place in a safe, sturdy spot where the sun with shine on it for about 2 weeks. You’ll watch the vinegar change colour into a beautiful pink/rose/mauve shade as the blossoms fade. When the blossoms have lost their colour your vinegar is ready. Strain through a cheese cloth into clean jar to store – discarding old blossoms. Store in pantry out of direct light to preserve it lovely colour. Plan to use within the year, just in time to make some more.

Basil – Oregano – Rosemary – Sage – Tarragon – Thyme

Basil vinegar just before straining. Colour transferred from leaves to vinegar.

Be adventurous. Try other garden herbs alone, or in combination to make other flavours. Use the same basic recipe as for the Chive Blossom Vinegar. They’ll all taste different depending on the herb. Keep everything clean and sterile, strain vinegar well to ensure a nice clear product.

using herb vinegars:

Herb vinegars can be used in a variety of salad dressings, sauces or marinades to add a fresh, delicious ‘herby’ flavour to a perfect garden salad, a bowl of steamed garden greens or fresh sliced cucumbers. Be brave, try different things.

Our very first venture was to use the Basil vinegar ALONE as a marinade for chicken breasts. Wow! Best grilled chicken I ever remember eating. The tangy basil flavour was in every single moist bite. Definitely remaking that one. We also used an herb vinegar to marinade thin strips of chicken and pork to grill on skewers. The meat absorbed too much of the vinegar and took on an almost ‘pickled’ taste, a disappointment. Won’t be revisiting that.

using fruit vinegars:

straining raspberries through jelly strainer

My first fruit vinegar was raspberry. I had a lot in my garden and was picking every other day, so it was a natural place to begin. And raspberries are SO good for you. They are a high antioxidant food and contain several phyto-nutrients that give raspberries their beautiful colour. Making a fruit vinegar is easy and extends the wonderfulness of summer into the non-growing seasons. You can make a refreshingly delicious raspberry vinegarette dressing for your salad in the summer, or long after fresh raspberries are only a fond memory. Whenever possible I try not to heat foods too high (or too long) in an effort to retain as much of the nutritional value as possible, other than the necessary hot water bath if I want to seal the jars. For this reason I opted for a ‘fresh’ uncooked raspberry vinegar. It was shockingly delicious. And because its so easy, there is no reason you cannot make some raspberry vinegar in the middle of winter using frozen berries. You froze your excess from last summer right? *See instructions to make the vinegar below. In the meantime, how to use it . . . .

Raspberry vinegar (scroll down to see recipe) can be used in a variety of salad dressings to add a fresh, delicious flavour, or add a couple of tablespoons to a glass of cold ice water. Oh my. Don’t judge until you try it. For a salad dressing, this vinegar is delicious enough to simply mix with a beautiful oil and shake, but if you’d like something a little more ‘reciped‘, try this one:

Double Raspberry Vinaigrette recipe: (to make in blender or food processor)
1 small onion coarsely chopped (or minced if you’re not using blender)
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, freeze dried raspberries or raspberry jam
2 T honey
1 t dry mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1 cup of your choice of oil (or combination of two: vegetable oil, olive oil, grapeseed, avocado etc)

add all ingredients except oil into blender. Puree till well combined, then turn the speed down and add oil in a steady stream. If you would like the texture of the whole or mashed raspberries (instead of pureed into a liquid), hold the jam out till after the blender part.
Stir in afterward.
If the vinegarette is too thick, thin it by whisking in a little water or apple juice.

Raspberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette recipe: BEST EVER and less than 5 minutes to make.
For more than a beautiful green salad. Use it as a sauce for grilled chicken breasts.
adapted from a recipe I developed almost 7 years ago – see original post here
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1-2 cloves of garlic minced (depending on size and taste)
1/4 minced fresh onion or 2 T THRIVE Freeze Dried Onion cause its so simple
1 tsp coarse salt
dash of black pepper
* 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or THRIVE Freeze Dried Raspberries (optional but very nice texture)
2/3 cup Canola oil – or your favourite vegetable oil
2 tsp poppy seeds

Directions:
Combine everything except the oil and poppy seeds into the small jar of a small blender. Blend till completely smooth. Or whisk well in a jar with a hand whisk. Not necessary to mince garlic or onion ahead of time if you are using the blender.
Slowly drizzle in oil continuing to whisk. Whisk in poppy seeds last.
Thats It! Super Simple. Super Quick. Super Delicious.
Can be made earlier. Letting it sit in the fridge for an hour or more will give the flavours time to blend better.

Raspberry Vinegar – or Sour Cherry, or Saskatoon, or Concord (Valiant) Grape, or Highbush Cranberry or Black or Red Current Vinegar. The sky is the limit.

Finished Raspberry, Cherry, Basil and Garlic Chive Vinegars.
Note the gorgeous deep colour of the fruit vinegars and the delicate rose’ of the herb vinegars.

basic recipe:
using a 2 quart glass jar
6 cups clean fresh raspberries
2 cup sugar (consider substituting honey or using half sugar / half honey)
6 cups white vinegar
Place raspberries into clean jar. Dissolve sugar or honey in vinegar over low to medium heat. When hot and sugar completely dissolved, pour the sweetened vinegar over top the raspberries, making sure they all get covered. Cover with a lid, and let it sit on the counter out of the sun for a minimum of two days or up to a week. Will turn a gorgeous deep red colour. Strain through jelly strainer or several layers of cheese cloth (to keep the vinegar clear) into a clean storage glass jar. Cover and store at room temperature.
* recommended to use within 6 months
* I love the unique flavour of honey, but don’t want the raspberry flavour overpowered by it so I use a combination of sugar and honey together.

They’ll all taste different depending on the fruit. Be brave and try new things. Keep everything clean and sterile, strain vinegar very well to ensure a nice clear product.

SO. The next question of course, is what to do with the fruit you strain out of the vinegar. . . .

While the herbs were pretty spent and I had no problem throwing them into the compost, there was no way I was gonna throw the fruit out. I first intended to combine it with some fresh and puree it for a fruit leather. I still might do that one day, but after tasting the strained fruit – Oh! My! Goodness! – it was so wonderful, that it deserved something better. It tasted like chutney to me. So that is what it became.

By definition, a chutney is a relish-type-of-sauce made up of sweet and sour flavours, usually with fruit as the base and seasoned with herbs and spices. A condiment. The origin is from India but the variation of flavours are as wide as the world, lending itself to anything you’ve got on hand. So with the ‘sweet’ of the sweetened cherries and raspberries, and the ‘sour’ of the vinegar – it was a match from the beginning. What do you do with a chutney? Topping for meat (think about cranberry sauce, its a sort of chutney), or any dish that is more mild flavoured (think about plum sauce on egg rolls, another type of chutney). Use it with cream cheese on crackers. Use it with roast beef, pork chops, any type of chicken, with a grilled cheese sandwich, with a cheese plate, with samosas, Asian dumplings, egg rolls . . . . etc.

recipe for CHUTNEY from strained vinegar fruit:

lame title I know, but what else should I call it? The thing to remember is that you can make this from whatever fruit you have leftover from whatever fruit vinegar you make. I added flavours that I thought would go well with cherries and raspberries, but there were lots of other flavour possibilities for another time. See below. Again, be adventurous and creative.

* 3 cups cherries and raspberries combined, strained from making fruit vinegar see below
(with the skin, cherries have more texture so I chopped them finely)
1 onion chopped finely
4 apples (the tarter the better) peeled and chopped
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
* 2 cups chopped cranberries (I always have freeze dried on hand, but you can use frozen or dried craisins if you have them. If you don’t, then use raisins.) see below
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T grated fresh ginger (I suppose if you don’t have it, try 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
*** other possibilities see below

Into the pot with everything on medium heat, stirring to mix well and heating to combine flavours. I prefer not to over-cook anything, and unless there is a good reason for more cooking, I opt for less heat where I can, so I never boil chutney for the length of time most recipes tell you to. That makes it mushy, and mushy is yucky to me. I just had the pot on the burner and added things as I measured them, stirring often. It eventually came to a natural simmer and I let it simmer for about five minutes.

From this amount, I got three pints. Two pints I processed in a hot water bath (15 minutes) for winter use, and the other one I put in the fridge for immediate use. Obviously the ones processed are going to be a softer texture than the pint in the fridge.

* 3 cups is simply what I happened to have, if I had more or less I might have adjusted the other ingredient amounts. I am sure it would change every time I made vinegar.
** Cranberries are very important in this recipe because of their colour. Raspberries will fade in the heat to a dark pinky colour which I don’t like (so I always add cranberries to raspberry jam). They also seem to have a natural pectin that thickens on its own so I never have to add pectin to raspberry or rhubarb jam if using cranberries. For this chutney, I noticed right away that the raspberries were fading so I added cranberries.
My first choice would always be freeze dried because of their superior nutrition and bright colour, and of course the ease of storage. Always ‘ready’. Second choice would be frozen cranberries that I buy lots of at Thanksgiving to keep on hand. Might want to chop them for this chutney. Third choice is dried cranberries. These are usually very sugared so I don’t buy them as a general rule, but they still have that wonderful cranberry taste and of course the colour which is very important when canning.

*** other ingredients to consider adding are numerous. I didn’t want to lose the distinctness of any of the flavours by adding too many, but to consider for another time:
Garlic minced – a natural for anything savory
Cloves and or cinnamon – preferably whole and in a cheesecloth bag for easy removal later
Red pepper flakes for some heat – I almost added it this time but wanted to know what it would be like without first. The ginger has some natural heat too, so that worked
Dry mustard – always a great flavour enhancer and a natural emulsifier if using more liquids
Lemon or lime – didn’t need it this time with the apple cider vinegar and the strong cherry and raspberry tastes, but I love a citrus zing when suitable.
Again, be adventurous with what you have on hand, and flavours you like.

Have fun making your vinegars and in coming up with your own flavours depending on what you have on hand. Necessity is the mother-of-invention right?
I’d love to hear your stories with your own flavours.
Please leave me a comment.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

Welcome to our Home. No matter what your reasons are for visiting, we’re so happy to have you.

If you think you’d like to live a homesteading life, I’m here to tell you – you can DO IT. Anywhere! You might have to fine tune a few things to suit your circumstances of course. But that’s part of being you!

If you’re not much interested in living it, kinda want to be an armchair homesteader – hey that’s fine too.

If you’re somewhere in between, just wanna take a look and maybe use a few ideas, then great! No matter where you are in your journey, its simply a series of steps. You just gotta keep one foot in front of the other.

Lets take this journey together.

In the beginning, pre-internet days, when I wanted to learn a new skill, I did it the old fashioned way. I asked. Problem was, it was kinda hard sometimes to find people who knew how to do what I wanted to learn. Sometimes I had to figure it out on my own using trial and error. That always took a long time, and was sometimes painful. Sure would have been simpler if I could have just ‘seen it done’, and what it was supposed to look like. You know, like some live youtube video or something. Wouldn’t that have blown or minds way back in the day? Wow. It’s so much easier to learn how to do things now. You can bet that whenever I found someone willing to share, I took advantage of their offer. And if there were classes offered in my area, I took them.
We read a lot and experimented a lot, and made a lotta mistakes, and learned a lot, and we’re still learning. We sure don’t regard ourselves as experts at anything we do. Just like you – we’re still trying to do the best we know how. In some areas, we just might be a little further along the road in is all.

I have a motto that I live by. It is a quote from Maya Angelou and it is stenciled in big black letters in my kitchen. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, DO better.” So simple. So straightforward. And so absolutely profound. Just DO better. Don’t beat yourself up over what you didn’t know before. Don’t live in a life of regrets. You did the best you knew how, but now you know better, and you can move forward. I love the principle taught in the quote.

My purpose with this blog site, is to make your journey a little easier than mine was by offering some short cuts, some hands on instruction, and maybe even some suggestions. Everyone who wants to, can achieve a new level of self sufficiency, and everything I teach can be (and should be) tailored to your own home and situation. There is no complete right way, and no complete wrong way. Just all sorts of ideas that might work for you and are worth trying out.

Whether you live in an apartment, a townhouse with a small yard, a home with a big yard, or a farm on the prairie – you can make it better than it is, and become more self sufficient in it. Here, we will touch on a little of this and that – from the kitchen to the laundry room to the garden out back, to the feelings that are intertwined with this kind of lifestyle, and probably several places in between. Kinda where the wind blows us I guess. We’ll see. This is a new experience for me too. Looking forward to it.

I’d love if you’d take the time to comment when you read a post. Let me know what you think about the thoughts shared therein, let me know your own personal tips and hints for doing better. We can learn from eacy other.

– Cindy