Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: July 3 ~ 9, 2022

[SouthernBreeze]

Last year we froze a bunch of tomatoes when they started coming in quickly. We just chopped them up and put in a gallon zip lock bag and kept adding to it. It was great to use in chili and goolash in the winter. Just thought I’d mention in case you don’t have time to can them.

I'm not planning to can any this year. I have several cases of home canned tomatoes from a few years back. We don't use a lot of canned ones. We have a steady supply of them coming in from the garden to eat fresh.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

A month or so ago our big upright freezer lost all the food, it still works, some reason the door was a jar. We've not turned it back on yet, silly me I though not using it would help keep the electric bill down and it may actually have, who knows. I'm thinking I need to plug it back up and transfer all the flour, beans and rice and that sort of thing from the other freezers so I can see what I actually do have in those freezers. Upright freezers are so much easier to keep organized. The main thing I regret losing in the freezer were several pork loins that we'd gotten in commodities over time. And even if they might have had a little freezer burn they cook up delicious, I used onion soup mix on them.

I hate that happened to you, Judy. My mom lost 2 large chest freezers that were full 2 summers ago. She went on one of her trips, and while she was gone, the power to her house accidently got turned off. That was one huge mess to have to get cleaned up. The electric company paid her for all her lost food, and bought her a new larger freezer. They also paid to have her laundry room and kitchen floors replaced, since the water leaked out and ruined them. My fear is that my old one will quit, and we won't catch it in time to save everything. It is really old, and the seal is about shot around the lid, so once it goes, I don't know if I want to replace it. We will still have the newer freezer, and that's enough for just me and Cary. Emptying it out is my goal for this summer. Once it's empty and unplugged, I plan to use it for a dry storage chest. Plus, I'm really enjoying canning most of our meat now, instead of freezing it.

 

[nomifyle]

SB, almost all of the meat in that freezer had a little age on it and we didn't eat it very often.

I freeze all of excess tomatoes, although I do give a few away, to my friends that live in town. When they come to visit we always load them down with what ever fresh stuff we have. Always eggs, and time before last honey, squash, etc. This time I gave her 5# of flour. I had 10# more pounds that I had gotten recently in commodities to my good friend that lives here, they always give us good stuff, so I share what I can.

I have realized that I rarely, like almost never, use tomato products. I used tomato paste all the time when I was raising my family. However, my now precious Dh doesn't like any of the food I cooked back then, and we don't even eat spaghetti all that often. so really it would do me no good to can tomatoes.

I have a good bit of dry beans and rice in the freezers. I've just got to get that all jarred up and put somewhere. I just thought, sometimes I'm slow to think of something. one of the reasons I've let it build up is because I have no where to put anymore cases of vacuum sealed foods in the pantry room are really in the house. Duh, there really is no reason i can't store it in the she shed, it is somewhat climate controlled.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I have a good bit of dry beans and rice in the freezers. I've just got to get that all jarred up and put somewhere. I just thought, sometimes I'm slow to think of something. one of the reasons I've let it build up is because I have no where to put anymore cases of vacuum sealed foods in the pantry room are really in the house. Duh, there really is no reason i can't store it in the she shed, it is somewhat climate controlled.

I realize that there is coming a time really soon where I will have to just stop buying, because I have no more room to store anything else. I don't want to store more than what I can safely take care of, or will ruin before we eat it all. It's too expensive to just let go to waste. I like to rotate everything out in a 2 year time frame, except for our 30 yr shelf life LTF.

 

[ioujc]

Well, did a lot of stuff this morning, but couldn't get myself going until almost too late!!

Watered the garden again, which is now doing better. Did some weeding and covered the weed free area with cardboard. Actually, it is GRASS that I am pulling up and not so much weeds.

Then, did laundry outside in a washtub as a trial run to see how hard it will be if there is no electricity. Not too hard....did about three BIG storage totes of dirty clothes. What I have noticed is it really hurts my hands when I wring the clothing out. My hands are REALLY ACHING right now, and I am sure they will be hurting tomorrow!! I need to get one of the wringers from Lehman's, but they are fairly expensive!

Before I came inside, I went to my "mint patch" and picked a 5 gallon bucket of mint....especially the tops, where the majority of the "icy" flavor is I even washed some, crushed it, and put it in my soda......MINT COKE!! DELICIOUS!! It is now soaking in the sink so it will be clean and ready to dry by hanging it in the house.

One thing I am getting concerned about is the headaches I am getting everyday. I am sure it is from the sun, and I need to wear a baseball cap, but I can't seem to keep up with them!!

Well, it is nap time after working outside for about 3 & 1/2 hours, I'm pretty wiped out!! So I usually nap for an hour or two after lunch.

LATER!!

 

[summerthyme]

I hate that happened to you, Judy. My mom lost 2 large chest freezers that were full 2 summers ago. She went on one of her trips, and while she was gone, the power to her house accidently got turned off. That was one huge mess to have to get cleaned up. The electric company paid her for all her lost food, and bought her a new larger freezer. They also paid to have her laundry room and kitchen floors replaced, since the water leaked out and ruined them. My fear is that my old one will quit, and we won't catch it in time to save everything. It is really old, and the seal is about shot around the lid, so once it goes, I don't know if I want to replace it. We will still have the newer freezer, and that's enough for just me and Cary. Emptying it out is my goal for this summer. Once it's empty and unplugged, I plan to use it for a dry storage chest. Plus, I'm really enjoying canning most of our meat now, instead of freezing it.

Get a freezer alarm from Amazon! There are some which will alarm if the freezer temp goes above a preset limit (20 degrees F?) They are worth every penny!

Summerthyme

 

[summerthyme]

Well, did a lot of stuff this morning, but couldn't get myself going until almost too late!!

Watered the garden again, which is now doing better. Did some weeding and covered the weed free area with cardboard. Actually, it is GRASS that I am pulling up and not so much weeds.

Then, did laundry outside in a washtub as a trail run to see how hard it will be if there is no electricity. Not too hard....did about three BIG storage totes of dirty clothes. What I have noticed is it really hurts my hands when I wring the clothing out. My hands are REALLY ACHING right now, and I am sure they will be hurting tomorrow!! I need to get one of the wringers from Lehman's, but they are fairly expensive!

Before I came inside, I went to my "mint patch" and picked a 5 gallon bucket of mint....especially the tops, where the majority of the "icy" flavor is I even washed some, crushed it, and put it in my soda......MINT COKE!! DELICIOUS!! It is now soaking in the sink so it will be clean and ready to dry by hanging it in the house.

One thing I am getting concerned about is the headaches I am getting everyday. I am sure it is from the sun, and I need to wear a baseball cap, but I can't seem to keep up with them!!

Well, it is nap time after working outside for about 3 & 1/2 hours, I'm pretty wiped out!! So I usually nap for an hour or two after lunch.

LATER!!

Dedicated laundry wringers ARE expensive. For a cheaper option, get a wringer mop bucket at Sam's Club or any store that sells commercial cleaning products.

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Get a freezer alarm from Amazon! There are some which will alarm if the freezer temp goes above a preset limit (20 degrees F?) They are worth every penny!

Summerthyme

Thanks. We don't have an Amazon account, but DDIL does. I'll have her order us, 2.

 

[ioujc]

Well, did a lot of stuff this morning, but couldn't get myself going until almost too late!!

Watered the garden again, which is now doing better. Did some weeding and covered the weed free area with cardboard. Actually, it is GRASS that I am pulling up and not so much weeds.

Then, did laundry outside in a washtub as a trial run to see how hard it will be if there is no electricity. Not too hard....did about three BIG storage totes of dirty clothes. What I have noticed is it really hurts my hands when I wring the clothing out. My hands are REALLY ACHING right now, and I am sure they will be hurting tomorrow!! I need to get one of the wringers from Lehman's, but they are fairly expensive!

Before I came inside, I went to my "mint patch" and picked a 5 gallon bucket of mint....especially the tops, where the majority of the "icy" flavor is I even washed some, crushed it, and put it in my soda......MINT COKE!! DELICIOUS!! It is now soaking in the sink so it will be clean and ready to dry by hanging it in the house.

One thing I am getting concerned about is the headaches I am getting everyday. I am sure it is from the sun, and I need to wear a baseball cap, but I can't seem to keep up with them!!

Well, it is nap time after working outside for about 3 & 1/2 hours, I'm pretty wiped out!! So I usually nap for an hour or two after lunch.

LATER!!

I KNEW IT!!

Of course, I did laundry as I noted above.......went out to check if clothes were dry about an hour ago.....nope. I had washed blankets and sweat shirts. I will take them in the house tomorrow and put then through a rinse and dry in the dryer.....supposed to rain tomorrow again......yeah!!

But wait.....now it is POURING DOWN RAIN!! I don't care ...if I have to do that a few times a week to break this heat and FINALLY get some rain...I will!!

 

[ReneeT]

You can also find a carboy cleaner brush at places that sell winemaking equipment ...

Summerthyme

Sorry, I went missing for a bit due to work.

We have carboy brushes that Hubby used when he used to make wine - I'm afraid to go dig them out because then he'll decide he wants to start making wine again I buy new toilet brushes to use cleaning canning jars that I buy at auction. I buy the ones that have a rounded brush; and also the ones that you can bend, but that type is getting harder to find. They do a pretty good job of cleaning the jars, but every once in a while there is that one spot that just won't come off...

Well, my hours of watering gardens Tuesday morning paid off - we got a quarter inch of rain on Tuesday evening; then when I got home from work this morning, I found a bit over 2" of rain in the rain gauge! Everything is looking good in the gardens - except the weeds lol! I don't care for the way they look at all! At least they are still very small, so will be easy to take out by way of tilling as soon as it dries up enough.

I've got a small gap in the row of zinnias in the front of the front garden, so I'm going to go out tomorrow morning when I get home from work and dig up a few of the zinna plants that came up a bit thick in the back garden so I can transplant them in the gap - it's supposed to be rainy and relatively cool, so they should transplant okay.

Well, I've lollygagged around doing other stuff, so I guess I'd better post this, drag on some scrubs, and head out the door. One more night; I can do this...

Take care all; stay safe!

 

[Cag3db1rd]

the door was a jar.

No, it's a door.

I understand. When Son was 2, he played with the cool knobby thing on the front bottom of my chest freezer. I found it b4 all the meat was ruined, but it was melted, all on about 100# of rice. It was a few years b4 I turned the freezer back on. In the meantime I stored empty canning jars in it. I put a layer of frozen 2ltrs in the bottom this time, just in case.

 

[ReneeT]

I dumped the rain gauge when I left for work last evening - just got home a bit ago and dumped another 4.5 inches of rain water out of the gauge

I don't know whether I need to go find my hip waders, or if I should call Home Depot to see if they carry Gopher wood and then start gathering up critters...

All of the field corn around here is tasseling out - I sure hope the rain doesn't cause problems with it getting pollinated.

It was raining pretty hard when I left work, so I didn't even try to go to the Farmer's Market this morning; my favorite seller lives only a few miles away from my home so I won't have to go without veggies. I was planning to get some cucumbers and cherry tomatoes to add to a pasta salad.

Found a surprise on the kitchen table when I got home - our property tax bill. They came around and reassessed all the properties in the area so I was expecting a big jump in the taxes - instead, ours went down by a third! I'll have to thank the lady when I take the check over to the courthouse on Monday. I reckon I'm glad I voted for her after all (it was her, or the Democrat, so it wasn't like it was a tough decision...)

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I wish we could get some of that rain, Renee. It's so hot, here, that we're not even getting the benefit of those afternoon humidity showers. 101, today, with heat index of 112, again. No breeze blowing at all. Everything and everyone has come to a stand still. Temps could go even higher tomorrow. No rain in our forecast.

Needless to say, we're trying to keep the gardens/flowers/shrubs all watered, but the heat is beginning to do damage. I had to pull some bell peppers this morning that were sorta small, because of sun scald. Even with a shade cloth the sun is brutal on them.

The order Cary sent off to AZO finally came. Now, we're really stocked up on our urinary tract meds and products. Once my Sam's order arrives, I'll have over a year's supply of all my vitamins and supplement's, too. All I need to do now is to stock up on my relaxation and sleeping meds for a year. I'm working on those now. I've replenished all of our OTC medical supplies, so I feel comfortable with what I have on hand for whatever might come along. As much as anyone can be, that is.......

I finished off another case of 1/2 gal canning jars with pasta, yesterday. Finally used up the last case. I don't have anymore room, so I won't be buying anymore. What room I do have left for food storage will be for all the meat I'm canning from the freezer. It will just be, "replace as I use", from now on. Now if S actually HTF, that might change.

 

[WanderLore]

Back home yesterday. Doing some of the to do stuff. Have to put some of the cats/kittens in the big pen as they are trashing my cabin and they are plenty big enough, 12 weeks.
Rain comes and goes so everything is doing well.
Except...they found about 30 worms on peppers. Not grubs. Does anyone know how to treat those so they don't eat our crops?

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Back home yesterday. Doing some of the to do stuff. Have to put some of the cats/kittens in the big pen as they are trashing my cabin and they are plenty big enough, 12 weeks.
Rain comes and goes so everything is doing well.
Except...they found about 30 worms on peppers. Not grubs. Does anyone know how to treat those so they don't eat our crops?

It's not organic, but we keep our gardens dusted with Sevin dust. It works for us.

 

[nomifyle]

Our temps are about the same as yours SB. Hot and hotter, no rain in sight. It probably won't be long before DH comes in for the day because of the heat and its just one of those days he feels blah. There is nothing pressing that he needs to do, he usually does what ever he wants to do anyway

The beans and rice that was in one freezer has warmed up for two days so that should be fine to put them in jars. I was going to put everything in quarts but DH said to put the beans in pints. One pint will hold enough beans for the two of us for a meal. I'll put some of the rice in quart jars and I may dig out some plastic drink bottles for the 10# bag of rice I had in the freezer. 02 in that container and vacuum sealing the jars. After I complete that I'll start pulling beans and rice out of the other freezers, no telling how much freezer space they have been taking up.

 

[summerthyme]

Back home yesterday. Doing some of the to do stuff. Have to put some of the cats/kittens in the big pen as they are trashing my cabin and they are plenty big enough, 12 weeks.
Rain comes and goes so everything is doing well.
Except...they found about 30 worms on peppers. Not grubs. Does anyone know how to treat those so they don't eat our crops?

Try Bt... they sell it for cabbage worms, but it kills the larvae of any butterfly or moth. It's a bacteria that infects their gut... they stop eating within a few hours and then die. It's harmless to any other species.

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Our temps are about the same as yours SB. Hot and hotter, no rain in sight. It probably won't be long before DH comes in for the day because of the heat and its just one of those days he feels blah. There is nothing pressing that he needs to do, he usually does what ever he wants to do anyway

Cary mowed the yard while I watered the gardens this morning at daylight! We're done outside for the day.

 

[WanderLore]

Try Bt... they sell it for cabbage worms, but it kills the larvae of any butterfly or moth. It's a bacteria that infects their gut... they stop eating within a few hours and then die. It's harmless to any other species.

Summerthyme

That's exactly what hubs said. Now where to get it.

Daughter is very much against me putting anything on garden. I can barely spray the fence line.

 

[moldy]

Ya know....there is a bumper sticker on one of our tractors that says something to the effect of " Number one reason for pesticides: Hunger". Sometimes chemicals are a necessary evil.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Our temps are about the same as yours SB. Hot and hotter, no rain in sight. It probably won't be long before DH comes in for the day because of the heat and its just one of those days he feels blah. There is nothing pressing that he needs to do, he usually does what ever he wants to do anyway

The beans and rice that was in one freezer has warmed up for two days so that should be fine to put them in jars. I was going to put everything in quarts but DH said to put the beans in pints. One pint will hold enough beans for the two of us for a meal. I'll put some of the rice in quart jars and I may dig out some plastic drink bottles for the 10# bag of rice I had in the freezer. 02 in that container and vacuum sealing the jars. After I complete that I'll start pulling beans and rice out of the other freezers, no telling how much freezer space they have been taking up.

I have been repackaging my rice in 1 pint Food Saver bags - 1 pound per bag. I had several 20 pound bags of rice that I did that way, so now the rice should last longer.

As for dried beans, my family is from New Orleans, so we consider bean dishes - especially red beans and rice - to be a gourmet meal.

So I have been packaging dried red, pinto and great northern beans in one pint Food Saver bags too - 1 pound per bag. But before I vacuum pack the beans, I place solid cubes of beef or chicken boullion, a few individual salt and pepper packets, and one packet of that ham flavoring that Doc1 recommended a few months back into the Food Saver bag. Then I fill it with a pound of dry beans. Only then do I vacuum pack the beans.

This way, I have some flavoring for my beans stored up too. I figure, if fresh spices aren’t available, then the stuff I included in the vacuum packed beans will do.

 

[summerthyme]

That's exactly what hubs said. Now where to get it.

Daughter is very much against me putting anything on garden. I can barely spray the fence line.

I understand.... but bT is approved for organic gardens...it's one of the only pesticides we use. Amazon and eBay should have it.

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

So I have been packaging dried red, pinto and great northern beans in one pint Food Saver bags too - 1 pound per bag. But before I vacuum pack the beans, I place solid cubes of beef or chicken boullion, a few individual salt and pepper packets, and one packet of that ham flavoring that Doc1 recommended a few months back into the Food Saver bag. Then I fill it with a pound of dry beans. Only then do I vacuum pack the beans.

That is a great idea, Barry! Too bad Cary doesn't like any type of dried bean or peas, or I would do the same. I'd just vacuum seal mine in jars, though. I don't store a lot of dry beans for that reason, and cooking them takes a lot of water that might be hard for us to have on hand in an emergency type of situation.

 

[WanderLore]

Thanks Summertime!

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

That is a great idea, Barry! Too bad Cary doesn't like any type of dried bean or peas, or I would do the same. I'd just vacuum seal mine in jars, though. I don't store a lot of dry beans for that reason, and cooking them takes a lot of water that might be hard for us to have on hand in an emergency type of situation.

Uhhh... if my wife didn’t love beans as much as I do, I don’t know what I would do.

I’m not sure I could live with somebody who did not honor the two century old, New Orleans ritual of serving red beans and rice on Monday... EVERY Monday...

 

[moldy]

Better day today. I managed to work 8 hours (I"m still working from home) and even ate a few slices of fried zucchini.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Uhhh... if my wife didn’t love beans as much as I do, I don’t know what I would do.

I’m not sure I could live with somebody who did not honor the two century old, New Orleans ritual of serving red beans and rice on Monday... EVERY Monday...

I hope you plan on sharing your recipe for red beans and rice!

 

[drafter]

Went to the auction tonight. Picked up a box of around 30 long shank spade drill bits for $25. Picked up a blackpowder Philadelphia Derringer in .45 cal for $45!!! The kits alone run over $200. Also picked up a walnut cracker since I’ve got walnuts falling out of the trees already and needed basically an industrial cracker. They run for as much as $200 on amazon and i got one for $25. Also got some steel ramps for my trailer. It was a productive night.

 

[ioujc]

Back home yesterday. Doing some of the to do stuff. Have to put some of the cats/kittens in the big pen as they are trashing my cabin and they are plenty big enough, 12 weeks.
Rain comes and goes so everything is doing well.
Except...they found about 30 worms on peppers. Not grubs. Does anyone know how to treat those so they don't eat our crops?

BACILLUS THURINGUS is the "go to" for any type of worm eating your plants. This bacteria causes the worm's intestines to malfunction and it kills the worms!! GREAT STUFF!!

Edited to add.....I see Summerthyme already talked about this.......you can also get it at Home Depot and Menards, places like that.....

 

[briches]

I hope you plan on sharing your recipe for red beans and rice!

I was thinking the same thing! Can you tell us what you do please?

I will admit it, I’ve never cooked dried beans. It’s (beyond) time I learn.

 

[ReneeT]

Better day today. I managed to work 8 hours (I"m still working from home) and even ate a few slices of fried zucchini.

Boost, Ensure?

 

[nomifyle]

Boost, Ensure?

I know a lot of people drink that stuff, but did you ever read the ingredients, nasty stuff.

 

[ReneeT]

I don't like it either, and it made me queasy when I was having chemo, but some nutrition is better than no nutrition; especially if you're trying to heal. A bendy straw stuck far enough in your mouth to get past the taste buds helps.

 

[ReneeT]

Well, I had my suspicions, and I found out for sure this morning - the stray kitty was calling and calling this morning; then I saw something under my van. She's got a fat little grey striped kitten that she is currently nursing on the shed porch. He's a fast little booger - zipped from the shed porch to under my van in a hot second when I walked out there with a plate of chicken. Now I've got two I need to get vetted - after I catch them, that is...

 

[WanderLore]

Walmart has the worm stuff too, and we're hoping we can get it in the small town hardware/garden store. Have to check today.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Uhhh... if my wife didn’t love beans as much as I do, I don’t know what I would do.

I’m not sure I could live with somebody who did not honor the two century old, New Orleans ritual of serving red beans and rice on Monday... EVERY Monday...

LOL. Cary just doesn't like dry beans. He does like red beans and rice, though. I have a quick cheater version that I make all the time. It's one of my food storage one pot/skillet pantry meals. I use canned red beans and Polish Kielbasa in my recipe. I'm sure it's not as good as the real thing you make.

 

[nomifyle]

LOL. Cary just doesn't like dry beans. He does like red beans and rice, though. I have a quick cheater version that I make all the time. It's one of my food storage one pot/skillet pantry meals. I use canned red beans and Polish Kielbasa in my recipe. I'm sure it's not as good as the real thing you make.

There are no beans as good and New Orleans red beans and rice. People around here make red beans and rice, but they are not the same. I did learn to cook them, but DH doesn't care for them that way, he likes the way they cook them in this neck of the woods. And actually he doesn't like much of anything I cooked when I was raising my family. He's so good in so many other ways it doesn't matter.

DH also does not like rice, but I suggested to him yesterday that we might need to include some rice in our meals. He said I could put some in his chili.

I saw this video yesterday about how to make rice lower on the glycemic index:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYD_3WBpgwU


4.24 minutes

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We love rice, and eat it regularly. I have many recipes, and it's a main part of my food storage. Dry beans, not so much. I store canned versions of black-eyed peas, pintos, and red beans. We don't like lentils at all, navy beans, or the dry green/split peas.

 

[nomifyle]

We love rice, and eat it regularly. I have many recipes, and it's a main part of my food storage. Dry beans, not so much. I store canned versions of black-eyed peas, pintos, and red beans. We don't like lentils at all, navy beans, or the dry green/split peas.

I love most beans, DH has a few favorites. I have canned beans and dried beans stored. DH definitely doesn't like lentils, black beans, chick peas and black eyed peas. Actually I can't think of any that I don't like, dried that is.

Purple hull peas that people around here can eat at just about meal I don't particularly care for, if there was nothing else to eat I would eat them. It may be the way they cook them. I like beans very soft, comes from living in New Orleans so long.

I miss a lot of things about New Orleans, but living there is not one of them.

 

[etdeb]

I love most beans, DH has a few favorites. I have canned beans and dried beans stored. DH definitely doesn't like lentils, black beans, chick peas and black eyed peas. Actually I can't think of any that I don't like, dried that is.

Purple hull peas that people around here can eat at just about meal I don't particularly care for, if there was nothing else to eat I would eat them. It may be the way they cook them. I like beans very soft, comes from living in New Orleans so long.

I miss a lot of things about New Orleans, but living there is not one of them.

I love fresh peas, pink eye purple hulls,cream peas and mine cook soft. I cook about 4 hrs and about 1 hr before finished i take out some and mash them to put back in and it thickens them.