Assorted Food Preservation Projects

During August, the Three Rivers Homestead channel on YouTube tries to do some preserving every day called the "Every Bit Counts Challenge".  She's a stay at home, homeschooling mom with a mini farm, so a lot of these projects count as education for the kids.  I don't have that kind of time or energy.

But I have gotten into the habit since early this year of doing at least one preservation project per week.  It could be hanging herbs to dry one week and putting them away two weeks later.  Maybe dehydrating celery leaves or kale.  I even consider baking for the freezer to be a form of preservation, since I'm making something for a later date.  Not all preservation involves hauling out the pressure canner.

The easiest one was trimming the basil to dry on a cabinet handle.  The plant needed pruning, so up it went.  Basil doesn't take well to forced-heat dehydrating, so I always hang it.  Two weeks later, it was dry enough to put in the jar with the rest of the leaves.  The bonus is creating a healthier basil plant for fresh use.

My 13 tomato plants picked up their production, faster than I could put the cherry tomatoes (6 of the plants) in omelettes.  Those were cooked into confit and stored in the freezer until there was a meal to use it.  One of the Monster tomatoes split on the vine before it had finished ripening.  I salvaged it by turning it into pickles.  I was not about to waste a half-pound tomato if I could help it.

All the tomato peels and guts from canning day went through the food processor until smooth and were scooped out into one ounce portions to use as tomato paste, then frozen.  The larger portions in the silicone muffin cups will probably turn into tomato soup.  All a soup would need is water, seasonings, and a quick run through a strainer.  That got me roughly $10 in tomato products out of the "waste".  Remember, the case cost $15.  Today, that same case at the same store is $21.  Calling that a win.

I picked up some ground turkey at 30% off.  That became sausage patties to have for breakfast.  Sort of a mix of meal prep and freezer banking future meals.  I was able to make this from-scratch item, meaning far healthier than convenience sausage, as a do-ahead and for slightly less than buying it.  That counts as preserving.

Until about a hundred years ago, preserving the harvest and preparing for the scarcity of winter was an annual event.  Even in cities, certain foods were only available in season, so you had to figure out how to preserve it if you wanted it at other times.  Today, we have the advantage of reliable freezers and imported food.  It can still save money to preserve in season.  Plus, you know what's in it and get bragging rights.