Anglynn's Diary

[anglynn]

I'd like to join in, if I may. I found this site off of a post on Ilona's blog. I'm so happy to find like minded people. I live in Virginia in the US. It's a lovely area with relatively nice weather. That's not to say it ever gets cold, but on the whole I can grow winter veggies all year long.

I am frugal. By nature. I don't know how it happened because my family was not. It's difficult for me to see waste, but most importantly food waste. So I have discovered dehydrating foods.

In my area reduced foods are 'pink stickered'. I look for those items first and then sale with coupon items. On the list -at the end - is food on sale only. Since I am a widow on pension I will purchase large quantities, then dehydrate the food. The only thing I can no longer do is keep the house at a low temperature in the winter months. My age is catching up on me! Otherwise, I do what ever I can to save money and all other resources.

It's good to have found this site.

[anglynn]

Yesterday I made lasagna roll ups using items I had on hand. I have 5 meals from the batch I cooked. I will freeze 3 of them for later. I have also been working on pureeing 3 large pumpkins , two of them were at no cost to me. I have enough to make 16 loaves of bread and 3 pies. I consider that a good return on my investment.

[Scrambled]

Hello and welcome

Certainly sounds like you've been busy with those pumpkins - well done, you

What kind of foods do you dehydrate?

[anglynn]

Hi Scrambled. Thanks for the welcome.

I have only done veggies at this point. Mushrooms and spinach are my favorites. I have also done bell peppers, pumpkin, lettuces for soups, bread for crumbs, carrots and celery.

I powder the stems of the mushrooms to add flavor to soups and stews. I use the tops in recipes after I have rehydrated them in boiling water. The same with carrots and celery.

The pumpkin is also turned into a powder, then I add water to bring it back quickly.

The thing about dried veggies is the flavor is so intense that fewer are needed to add flavor.

Are you thinking about drying foods?

[Meanqueen]

How nice to see you on here, Anglynn. You certainly sound well organised with your food.
Ilona

[anglynn]

How nice to see you on here, Anglynn. You certainly sound well organised with your food.
Ilona

Thank you Ilona. I can't say how excited I am to find a spot where others are so helpful. I have found a few blogs from the UK, too. People in the US are having a rough time - economically. It comes out in their posts. So much anguish to be flexible. It's nice to find some oldens to exchange ideas with.

[Scrambled]

Are you thinking about drying foods?

To be honest, it's not something I know much about - I've heard about drying fruits, but didn't realise til reading your post (and looking on G...le) that you could do so much. It's not something I'd do in terms of bulk storage, because I'm lucky to have a couple of freezers, but I'm interested in what you say about the intensity of the flavours.

Sounds good

[anglynn]

Scrambled: If you find an interest, youtube has a great selection of videos to help you on your journey. There's a woman from Canada who is great with such things. Her name is Bev Volfie. Youtube will take you to other videos from there.

Today I need to call the tax department to let them know I'm up for the reduction for seniors in February.

I need to also call the doctor's office to change an appointment to after my birth date so I have less of a deductible to pay.

The active move for the day is going out to find 'batter's gloves' for my grandson's birthday on Saturday. (Gloves worn in baseball while at bat.) Normally I have 6 no spend days a week. I like to be home with my pup. There's so much here that peaks my interest.

A safe day, to all.

[anglynn]

I feel I need to be more specific about the pumpkin because I have gotten so much out of them.
1. Puree for 18 loaves of bread. (3 free pumpkins)
2. Enough powder for 3 pies.
3. Seeds with garlic and salt and pepper.
4. The inner strings dried and powdered to enrich the garden soil.
5. The water from the puree as an added treat for the dog on her dry food.

I wasted the skins. Next time I will dry them to add to the garden soil. It was an after thought. Dang it all!

I made up bread crumbs today, as well. If I had nothing else to eat I could mix the 2 and make a thick soup.

[Richard]

You're working well


Richard

[Spreckly]

Welcome to the Lane Anglynn. Interesting to read about your food storing. Best wishes for 2014.

[mrs boodles]

Hello Anglynn, welcome to the lane. Gosh you sound so organised. Do you do any canning of food.

[perchy]

Welcome to the lane, sounds really good look forward to reading more

[anglynn]

Hello Anglynn, welcome to the lane. Gosh you sound so organised. Do you do any canning of food.

When the kids were home I did quite a bit. No need then to dry foods as there were 4 of them as well as DH and I. Recently I have made only jams (strawberry and peach). Those are the 2 fruits that are prolific in our area. I like close to home foods. I grow a bit in my small garden and freeze or dry it after I eat as much as I want. I have only lived here 2 years, so I'm getting use to what grows well and how to care for it. I am originally from rural upstate NY where you can grow anything and it's yummy. Not so easy here.

[anglynn]

It's good for me to have this because instead of forgetting everything, I can refer to my posts. So forgive me if I put other things on here.

I scrubbed the kitchen this morning with bleach and suds. I think I broke the coffee pot because I cleaned it with vinegar - then noticed a note on the pot that said water only. I can't get it to work now. I figure keeping clean has a lot to do with keeping healthy. Hope I'm on the right track. Although this one might hit me in the wallet.

I'm eating from the freezer so I had a fish meal that I put in about a month ago. As you may have heard most of our food is GM (genetically modified) So I am becoming aware of the source of my food. I have never been one for packaged foods, but when I cooked a chicken I thought it was healthy. The chefs on the food channel don't say grab organic, they only say fresh. So it has taken me this long to figure out that my 'fresh' food is tainted. Even the baby formula is tainted with GM items. What a disgrace! Do you have this problem in your country?

I think I'll make some pumpkin bread this morning. Then a dessert for the week. For some reason I have been craving chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies. It's been weeks since I've had a cookie!

Stay safe!