Jul 26 | Household Tips, Gardening
When you put all that hard work into your garden it can be really depressing to watch the fruits of your labor rot away. With some planning and a bit of work, you can preserve your garden harvest and have fresh from your garden fruits and veggies all year long. These three easy ways to preserve the food in your garden will do the trick.
Three Easy Ways to Preserve the Food From Your Garden
Freezing to preserve your garden
Freezing the produce from your garden is the easiest way to preserve your harvest. Wash your fresh produce and lay it out in a single layer on a cookie sheet in your freezer. This will allow each piece to freeze individually making it easier to get the produce from the freezer bags that you will place them in after the initial cookie sheet freeze. A great way to save time later is to prep your fruits for your favorite smoothies and freeze in single serving packs. Chop your veggies for soups and stews, freezing them together and label well so you can grab and go for a meal on a busy weekday. A food saver is a great way to prevent freezer burn and make your frozen produce last longer.
Drying to preserve your garden
Drying produce takes up less space than the other popular preserving options. when drying your fruits and veggies you are taking out the water and much of the bulk of the food. A good dehydrator is a great way to make your food last longer, make treats for your family, and prep for long term storage. Fruits make a great snack dehydrated while veggies reconstruct better for soups and stews than eating as a side dish. It is vital you are sure all water is out before storing. To check this, place in a plastic baggy and let it cool. If there is condensation in the bag, your food is not ready to store.
Canning to preserve your garden
Canning is one of the most traditional ways to preserve food from your garden. While it takes up more space than drying, canned foods have a longer shelf life than frozen foods. Many of us have fond childhood memories of watching our grandmothers can produce from the garden but never really thought about doing it ourselves. The good news is, canning is easy to start, inexpensive and costs less with each round you do when you reuse the glass jars over and over. Quality jars are a great investment.
Which method should I use to preserve my garden?
When choosing which preservation method you must consider:
- Space you have for storage.
- What the end use of the food will be.
- How long you need to store the food.
- Supplies you have on hand.
Protecting your food storage from pests and environmental issues is vital to make preserving your garden worth your time and money. Make sure all stored food is air tight and sealed in rodent-proof containers. For most families, combining these methods of food storage gets the best results across the board and leads to more stability. Canning fruits and veggies so they are ready to go, freezing produce prepped for meals, and drying fruits and meats for snacking is a great way to balance it out.
Jul 22 | Household Tips, Links Worth Sharing
I’ve been posting a bunch of life happenings over on Instagram, if you care to follow me over there! Often pictures are better than words, especially when life is just the ins and outs of daily life!
Here are the interesting links I came across on my travels around the web this week! Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Here is a post you may have missed from Simply Frugal this week:
Here are some deals that landed in my email inbox this week that I know you’ll enjoy:
Jul 1 | Household Tips, Links Worth Sharing
Happy Canada Day! How/where will you be celebrating?
Well, I’m about to embark on my two month hiatus. I’m not quite sure how I’m feeling. Excited for all the time I’ll spend with my family and all the projects I will be able to finish. Yet, daily posting has been such a huge part of my life for the last 8 years that I’m not quite sure if I’ll know what to do with myself! It’s silly really. 🙂
Anyways, here are the interesting links I came across on my travels around the web this week! Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Here are some things you may have missed from Simply Frugal this week:
Jun 21 | Household Tips, Organization
How to Organize Paper Clutter
Nothing can make a room look messier than piles of paper. Somehow dining room tables, desks, kitchen counter tops, and dressers become magnets to all things paper in a family’s home! Bills, magazines, children’s artwork, and product manuals just pile up, creating “organized confusion” even for those of us who swear we have a system. It’s not only messy-looking; paper collects dust and can attract bugs. It’s not exactly environmentally friendly, either. So what’s the solution? Here are a few tips for how to organize paper clutter.
Create paper-free zones.
Regardless of what fantastic method you put into place, you’re bound to drop a piece of paper somewhere when you’re in a hurry. Tell yourself right off the bat that there are certain areas this is simply not allowed to happen. In the past, my dining room table often became a drop zone, making my otherwise (semi) clean home look disheveled. My new rule is no paper clutter on the table or in the living room. At least this way, I always feel ready for company and always have room to eat and play with my kids.
Deal with it right away.
Put paper clutter in its proper place as soon as it enters your home. Open the mail, recycle what you can, shred what you can’t, and file bills, receipts and children’s paperwork away immediately. Rip out the articles or recipes from magazines you are saving and put them into plastic sleeves in a binder. Drop your collection of magazines and catalogues off at the hair salon, gym, doctor’s office or schools. Whether you hang it on the fridge, utilize an inbox, or stick it in your planner, get into the habit of sorting incoming paper right away.
Go digital.
Opt for e-billing statements and invoices when you can. Minimize the flow of paper that comes in to begin with by opting out of all mailings you have control over. Save documents as PDF’s instead of printing them. Take digital photos of your children’s two-dimensional art projects, and recycle the originals. (Admit it: not everything is worth saving, and no, they will not want it when they’re adults…unless it’s hilarious!)
Make a filing box or cabinet your best friend.
For the remaining paper you absolutely have to keep, purchase a filing cabinet or box, depending on how much you have. A single person can often get away with a simple, file box. These days, you can find a lot of Pinterest tutorials on how to give the larger, metal, filing cabinets some personality. You can even get colorful folders for inside. (Do whatever you have to do to encourage yourself to use this thing once you’ve got it!) Create specific categories for the folders, such as yearly tax folders versus a single folder, overflowing with general tax documents. Designate a folder for each child and pet in your home. Separate everyone’s medical records and school papers. Don’t forget to go through periodically and shred outdated documents. Toss product warranties and instruction manuals for items you no longer have.
I’d love to know, how do you keep your paper clutter under control? Let us know in the comments below!
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