Homemade Baby Foods

After many months of no posts, finally a few minutes to get back to recording a few of the things we have been doing over the past few months. It has been a busy few months with moving, having a baby, and the holidays, I was most often in a Daze. But life is starting to fall into a more consistent routine, if such a thing exists, and we feel a bit more settled in our new home. Today I am going to share something I have been working on over the past few weeks as our new little one is starting to love solid foods. At first she protested, but now she loves everything we are feeding her. There is no doubt that jarred baby food is expensive, crazy expensive, right up there with formula. I have always breast fed my babies, but I have always bought the jarred baby foods to introduce them to solids. This time I decided to try my hand at making my own. It is so easy, so inexpensive, and really quite yummy! I have enjoyed sampling them all. Check out how simple it is:

Choose your fruit or veggie.

We have done bananas, strawberry- banana, mixed veggies, sweet potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Cook your veggies until soft. I steamed most of mine.

Place your fruit and veggies in your super awesome blender.

 We are so happy with our Blendtec that we purchased about a year ago. It is amazing, but you could go with any type of blender or food processor.

Add liquid to get things rolling and to obtain desired thickness. My liquid of choice was breast milk.

Pour or Spoon (depends on the thickness) into ice cube trays.

Freeze!

 Once they are completely frozen they pop right out if you stick a knife down the edge. Don't let them sit out long or they thaw and precious bits stick to the bottom. Pop them right out and put them into zipper bags or your freezer container of choice.

Homemade Baby Food

To serve I just pull out a couple of cubes and heat them for about 30 seconds in the microwave. A few of the thicker ones, like my sweet potatoes, I add a bit more liquid to thin them out. Baby girl, loves, loves, loves them. We now have a stock pile in the freezer and we continue to add more variety day by day. I plan to do some fruit and veggie combos, like spinach with bananas, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Cool huh! Now let's look at a cost comparison:

Homemade VS. Store Bought Baby Food

Homemade Carrots - 4 oz. = $.09

Store Bought - 4 oz. = $0.63

Homemade Sweet Potato - 4 oz. = $0.31

Store Bought - 4 oz.= $0.63

Homemade Bananas - 4 oz. = $0.10

Store Bought - 4 oz. = $0.63

I think you get the idea. Super cheap, super yummy. I think even if you bought organic fruits and veggies you would save some money. Plus you know what your baby is eating and it can be super fresh, think of putting all those garden veggies you are going to grow this spring to work helping your baby to grow healthy and strong.

In the near future I will be posting about how to can homemade applesauce. We did a bunch this fall and I even canned some for baby girl with no sugar added. It turned out super yummy. Not only does she love it so does the rest of the family. 

Garden Totals for 2012

456 Pounds of Produce

The grand total for all of our 2012 garden harvests adds up to 456 lbs of delicious top quality fresh food.  We preserved (bottled) a lot of our surplus for later eating, lots of tomatoes, beets, pickles, salsa etc.  We actually had some great bottled beets tonight for dinner, they add a nice color and variety to the dinner plate.  The kids loved how it turned their rice purple.

$861.71 Worth in Produce

So when we add up what all our garden goodness would cost in the store, we come up with $861.71!
That's over $71 per month in fresh off the vine and straight to the table fruit and veggies.

We used normal everyday pricing gathered througout the year.  We did not collect the organic pricing, which our food would stack up well against.  When you look at organic produce, you see a very high premium.

I would place our food above organic, we used beyond organic methods and techniques.  We are learning and progressing in our understanding of permaculture and other beyond organic methods. 

Soil

We have already started to plant our spring gardens.  We are amazed at how great our soil is, its rich, moist and dark.  It is a dream to dig and plant in.  We have used zero fertilizer and have built up our beds with worm castings (from our worm bins), leaves and grass clippings.  We also have incorporated Woody Beds (hugelculture) into most of our beds reducing water demands.  We are also amazed at how much life we find in the soil, its full of great insect life.

2013: Looking Forward

We look forward to this year, we hope to grow far more than last year in the same space.  We also are expanding our gardens out into the field behind us, planting in swales and contour beds.  We hope to greatly expand our harvest with this small area, we also plan to plant some pumpkins, squash and goards for market too. 

Wrapping Things Up

I remember my grandparents would always give gifts wrapped up in the colored comic section of the newspaper and as a child I thought that was the neatest wrapping paper. Gift wrap is one of those things at Christmas time that we don't put a whole lot of thought into, especially how much it costs. But the cost for gift wrap, like many of the other small things, can really make a dent in our Holiday budgets. But with a little extra time and some creativity you can come up with some very inexpensive and unique ways to package your Christmas gifts. I always make lots of candy for Christmas and one of the ways I have found to give away my treats is to recycle empty food containers. I use nut cans, bread crumb containers, cereal and pasta boxes, the list is endless. You can clean out these types of containers and then dress them up with a piece of holiday scrapbook paper applied with Mod Podge or spray paint them and then punch holes in each side and add a ribbon for a handle. Brown paper bags offer a perfect canvas for you to decorate and add a little of your own personal touch to. If you look around there are many inexpensive and more personal possibilities for wrapping up your Christmas gifts.

For a few of our gifts this year I took several of the #10 Cans that we have cluttering up the garage and spray painted them silver. I just used what we had on hand. Then I took some scrapbook paper and some ModPodge and applied it to the can. I poked a hole in each side of my can and added a wire handle. They turned out really cute and it only took me about 1/2 hour to make 4 of them. I didn't spend any money because I just used supplies I had on hand. They worked perfectly for the gifts I needed them for.

Spray Painted #10 Can with ModPodged Decoration

Unique Gift Wrap Idea: Spray Painted and Decorated Cans

Keep in mind that a great time to buy gift wrap is right after Christmas when it is 50% to 75% off. I always snatch up a few rolls and put them away for the next year.


With the Christmas Season upon us and this year coming to a close, Jacob and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We celebrate this time of year with joy and gratitude for the Birth and Life of our Savior Jesus Christ. We love Him and we are thankful for the bounteous blessings that have been poured out upon our family because of Him. We look forward to the New Year with anticipation for the things that will be able to learn about living our life more providently. We also can't wait to share these things with you so we hope you will continue to learn along with us.

Homemade Christmas: Jammies and Skirts

I always love for the kids to have a new outfit for church for Christmas. Last year I made my 6 year old a really detailed, time consuming dress that she still wears all the time. It turned out great and only cost me $12. I probably would have spent $150 if I had bought it. This year I went a little more simple and made both the girls skirts that they can wear with the black shirts they already have. And for my little man a matching tie.

Homemade Gifts: Simple Skirts and Matching Tie

They turned out super cute and didn't take much time at all. The best part was I made them from fabric I already had on hand. So my only cost was for some elastic.

One thing that we always do for Christmas Eve is give Pajamas and of course they are always homemade. I have done various types of jammies. Last year I made some super cute Scrubs for them. This year I lucked out and picked up these really cool tie dyed tees on clearance for $1.00 each. I couldn't beat that so all I had to do was re-size the tee for my 18 month old and sew up some matching fleece pajama pants. I spent $6 total for all three pair. Easy and they will love them.

Homemade Christmas

As always December has been a very busy month for me and the reason why I haven't posted anything yet this month. I have been wanted to write a post about all the things that have been keeping me so busy this month. I can probably sum it up in two words, "Homemade Christmas."  This is the reason I always find myself so busy the end of November and into December, we always try to give a lot of homemade Christmas gifts. This year we have even done more and I would say about 90% of our gifts are homemade. Which means we have been very, very busy. And although this isn't a crafting blog, I do love to do crafty things, so I am looking forward to sharing with you some of the things I have been making and the reasons why we love to give homemade gifts. 

The following is a post taken from my sister's blog dated September of 2011:

"I know how sad does this pillow case look?!  But I LOVE it!!  My cute sister Shaun-ta' made us pillow cases for Christmas in 1992 and I have used this pillow case almost 24/7 since.  It is soft and gets cold while you sleep so you don't get to hot in the night.  It is honestly the perfect one.  I always lay down at night and smile because I know my mom would cringe seeing the thread bear and "very loved" pillow case on my bed. It also makes me smile because I'm pretty sure Shaun-ta' has forgotten all about it or if she hasn't won't believe I'm still using it.  I need to Thank Ta' for making this for me so long ago!  It honestly was the best most used present I have ever gotten!"

Homemade Christmas Gift - Pillowcase given in 1992 still well loved today.

To the right is the photo of that well loved pillowcase and my sister was right, I had long forgotten about the pillowcases I made for Christmas in 1992. It made me so happy to know that hers is still loved and treasured. It is a great reminder to me that sometimes simple is the best.

So why is it that we like to do homemade Christmas gifts? Well, I think the first reason will come as no surprise to anyone, it saves us tons of money. I am always looking for ways to stretch our monthly income and we really don't have any extra for Christmas. I am always shocked at the thousands of dollars that families spend on Christmas every year. Although, I don't have an exact number I estimate that we have spent somewhere between $150 - $200 for our family of 5 for Christmas this year and we don't plan to spend anymore. That amount also includes gifts for our extended family, teachers, and friends and a chunk of that money was for shipping costs.  The second reason we do homemade gifts is the meaning and sentiment that comes along with the gift. As I have spent countless hours working on gifts for my children and other loved ones I have felt the joy that comes from giving something that really comes from my heart. As I finish each gift I can't wipe the smile off my face thinking of the joy that gift is going to bring someone else. I believe that things that come from our hands really do have more of our heart in them because they require us to sacrifice some of our time and talents to bless others.

If you have never taken the opportunity to give homemade gifts for Christmas give it a try one year and see if it doesn't bring more of the true meaning of Christmas into your home and heart. There are so many ideas out there, the possibilities are really endless. I had a hard time deciding what to make, so I already have a list of things I want to make for birthdays, Easter, and next Christmas!

Over the next few days I will share with you some of the things that I have been making this year. Hopefully they will inspire you  and give you some ideas for your own "Homemade Christmas."

Canning 101: Pumpkin

Be sure to save your seeds for roasting or planting.

We can't go through pumpkin week without a post on canning pumpkin at home. Store bought pumpkin is so expensive and I love, love, love pumpkin dishes. I have been canning pumpkin for several years now and up until this year I always pureed my pumpkin for canning. Last year I came across some research from the National Center for Home Food Preservation stating that it is not recommended to mash or puree pumpkin for home canning. You can find out more about the science behind it here. So because we always want to do things as safely as possible this year I am canning my pumpkin in cubes. Here is the method I use.

Use an ice cream scoop to depulp your pumpkin.

First cut your pumpkin in half. Look at all the seeds this one had. I was very excited and since this was a farmer's market pie pumpkin I collected the seeds for my garden next year. Yay! Clean out the pumpkin pulp, an ice cream scoop works great for this.

Remove the rind from the pumpkin.

Peel your pumpkin, I just used a vegetable peeler to get all of the rind off.

Cut into 1 inch cubes.

Cut your pumpkin into cubes (about 1 inch in size). Put into a large saucepan.

Par Boil your pumpkin, for 2 minutes.

Fill your saucepan with water enough to cover the pumpkin. Bring to a boil and allow it to simmer for 2 minutes.

Put pumpkin along with cooking liquid into jars.

Fill your prepared jars (clean and sterile) with your pumpkin and cooking liquid, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. Wipe off rims and place prepared lids and rings onto each jar.

Process in a Pressure Cooker - Home Canned Pumpkin

Process your pumpkin in a pressure cooker (pints 55 minutes and quarts 90 minutes). Check here to find the appropriate amount of pressure to use for your altitude.

When you are ready to use your pumpkin simply drain off the canning liquid and mash or puree.

Pumpkin also freezes well so if you want to mash or puree your pumpkin you can and simply stick it into suitable freezer containers.

Growing Hamburgers

So a few weeks back we had hamburgers for dinner, our 4 year old son looking intently at the sesame seeds on the bun, he looked up and asked, "Dad, if we plant these seeds will they grow hamburgers?"  Cute kid, huh.  Well we had a good discussion about where the hamburger bun came from and what it's made of and where the seeds on top came from.

We are trying to teach our kids about the food they eat, where it comes from, what went into making it.  We want them to understand the importance of eating good healthy food.  We want  them to know that someone somewhere grew or raised their food, that it doesn't just come from a box at the store.  We are trying to instill in them the love of good and healthful food.

Cute questions like this opens up a dialog with the kids, our son had thought about it and was interested in the answer.  He listened and learned from our discussion.  Had I just started to ramble on about the origins of his food that night he might of listened.  He show interest and really wanted to understand, we helped him to understand.  It would have been easy too just laugh at the comment, though Shaun-ta' and I did share a smile.  We then chatted with him about it.

We have given our kids their own area of the garden to plant last year, they could plant what ever they wanted to, it's fun for them but they are learning in the process.  Just as we learn from gardening they are learning earlier in life.  We can hep them lay out their garden, what works and help them process what is happening throughout the season.  They take ownership and want to learn.  This year they are much more involved in planting the garden, our oldest has helped Shaun-ta' plant a lot of it, especially as we are planting for our fall garden.

Kids want to learn, they want to spend time with their parents.  We are their hero's, they look up to us and want to be like us.  It is up to us to be people they can look up to, and learn from.  It is also vital that we teach them proper principles so that when they are on their own they will make correct choices.

Why Whole Grain?

Millet

We have all heard that Whole Grain is good for us. There are studies showing that whole grain helps with weight loss, glucose control, heart disease, certain types of cancer, hypertension, etc. Everyday there is new information and studies being done about the health benefits of whole grain. So what exactly is whole grain? I think the best way to describe it is, whole grain is the grain in its natural state or the way God made it.  Each kernel of grain contains three parts: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. When grains are refined the bran and the germ are stripped, leaving only the endosperm. This also strips the grain of about 25% or its protein and at least seventeen of its key nutrients. Some of these nutrients are added back in by processors to enrich them, but whole grains are by far healthier containing more protein, fiber, and valuable vitamins and minerals. It is so important for us to implement and eat more whole grains into our diet.

Whole Grain Wheat Bread

As with all things that are more healthy for us, whole grains are often more expensive to buy at the grocery store than those that are refined. We try very hard to eat mostly whole grain. In order for us to do this we don't eat a lot of store bought breads, because we simply can't afford to buy whole wheat and multi-grain breads at the store. We make homemade breads, including bagels, pitas, hamburger buns, rolls, etc. We also make a lot of our own snacks including homemade granola bars and cereal bars. We grind our own wheat, this saves money, and helps us to utilize and incorporate our long term food storage into our everyday cooking. We use a lot of whole wheat, whole oats, and brown rice and we also enjoy experimenting and using other grains we are not as familiar with or use less often like quinoa and barley. I am always trying out the alternative white flour, which is made from whole grains, in different recipes to see how it works and if it is successful.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Not only does grinding your own wheat, making your own bread, etc. save you money and help you to live more providently, it also helps you to become self sufficient in yet another area. In future posts, we will be sharing with you some of our recipes for whole grains, things we have tried and loved and things we have tried that we probably won't try again. We hope you will look forward to these posts and that they will help you to bring more whole grains into your diet and help you live life a bit healthier. 

To learn more about whole grain and its health benefits check out this site:

http://wholegrainscouncil.org 

Shaun-ta's Bottled Salsa

One thing that we really love at our house is salsa. We eat a lot of it, especially when we bottle our own, because it is good! Last year we didn't get enough tomatoes to can salsa, but this year with our garden expanded and our tomatoes rocking, I went on a mission to replenish our supply of salsa.  This is my own recipe that I came up with as I played around with and experimented with a few recipes. Several years ago, as I was learning more about canning, I wondered why I couldn't just can the fresh salsa that I always made and loved. You might have the same question and here is a good resource for you to go to learn more about safe canning methods and the reason why you can't just can some of your favorite family recipes. When you are canning it is important that you follow recipes that have been properly researched and tested for safety.

The only changes you can safely make in these salsa recipes are to substitute bottled lemon or lime juice for 
vinegar and to change the amount of spices and herbs. You should never alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe. With that being said, it was using this method that I developed my salsa recipe and I would encourage you to do the same. Choose an approved recipe and make it your own by adding the spices and herbs that your family enjoys. There are lots of approved recipes out there, here are a few places you can get them:
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/pnw0395/pnw0395.pdf
http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/b3570.pdf
http://nchfp.uga.edu/

I haven't been able to find the approved recipe that I developed my recipe from, it has been such a long time, and I have been using my recipe for years. So I will share with you the recipe that I use and the method I use for canning my salsa. It might give you some ideas of how to develop your own recipe.

Shaun-ta's Bottled Salsa

8 Cups Tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 & 1/2 Cups Chopped Onion
1 & 1/2 Cups Green Pepper, chopped
1 Cup Jalapeno, chopped
6 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
Cilantro, fresh or dried to taste
2 tsp. Cumin
2 tsp.  Black Pepper
1/8 Cup Salt
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Vinegar

The first step is to prep your tomatoes. I do a three bowl set up. You start by placed your tomatoes in boiling water to loosen the skins.

You will know when your tomatoes are ready because the skins will begin to split.

The skins on your tomatoes will peel right off at this point. Some people dip their hot tomatoes into ice water immediately after the boiling water, but I skip this step because I feel it is unnecessary. I just place them into my second bowl and let them cool for a second before coring and peeling them.

Next I dice my tomatoes and when I am making salsa I do this into a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the extra juice. Straining off the excess juice helps you to get a nice thick salsa that you don't have to cook forever.

I bottle the extra juice separately to use for chili or soups ( it wouldn't be good for drinking.) To bottle your juice follow my recipe for bottling diced tomatoes for the correct amounts of salt and lemon juice to add. Process the juice the same as you would your diced tomatoes.

Next chop up all of your veggies. You may or may not want to pull the seeds out of your jalapenos, it just depends on how spicy you want your salsa. I usually remove mine. I use the end of a spoon to remove them. You can wear gloves if you want, they can burn your skin and make sure not to touch your eyes.

Dump everything into a large pot. The larger the pot the faster your salsa will cook up and get nice and thick. I inherited this pan from my Grandmother. It is one of my cherished possessions and I use it for many things. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce your heat and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until you reach your desired thickness.

Here is the finished product. Nice and thick, just how we like it.

Pour your hot salsa into clean jars.  I did both pints and quarts, a few of each.

Clean jar rims and put on lids. Process your salsa in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and you have your own homemade bottled salsa, yum.

Learning a New Skill

Learning to crochet trim onto baby burp clothes.

As a young missionary at 21 years of age I remember sitting in a church meeting where they asked some of the women in the church to volunteer their talents and crochet some items to be used in the Palmyra Temple which was just about finished and would soon be dedicated. I remember thinking back to the few times that I had attempted to learn this art under the tutelage of both of my grandmothers. Our lessons often ended with me in tears and I was never  able to master it. At that moment I really wished that I had stuck with it and learned this skill, because I wanted to offer my service at that time and have the opportunity to crochet an item that would be used in this beautiful, sacred building. I have continued to have the desire to learn this skill as I have watched my Mother and Mother-in-law over the years crochet beautiful blankets, dresses, shoes, etc. for my children. I knew that my extended visit to Utah this summer would be a great time to learn. So this week my Mom sat down and taught me and my little 6 year old to crochet. This time I was able to pick it up right away, with very few tears. I am sure all my experience with sewing helped me to better understand the concept. I am so happy and excited that I can finally crochet, because it is something I have always wanted to learn, and I also wanted to be able to pass this skill and knowledge onto my own children and grandchildren.

My little 6 year old learning to crochet from her Grandma.

I believe that a very important part of becoming Self Reliant and living Providently is learning new skills and always striving to learn new things. Now I am not suggesting that everyone needs to learn to crochet, but I think it is always good for us to stretch ourselves, to increase our knowledge, and expand our talents. I know that our Heavenly Father expects this of us and rejoices with us when we do learn new skills that can help us better provide for our family and increases our capacity to serve others.

Harvesting Coriander

Cilantro plant that has gone to seed.

 You may or may not know that Coriander is the dried seed obtained from a Cilantro plant. I was successful at growing cilantro in my garden this past fall and I was so excited. We love using cilantro in our cooking. It is especially good in fresh and canned salsa and other Mexican style dishes. Coriander can also be using in cooking in either the whole or ground form. Jacob loves Coriander and so we let our cilantro go to seed in hopes of harvesting a bunch for him. It actually had a bunch of beautiful little white flowers on it when it seeded that the bees loved.

The green seeds are the Coriander.

The little green seeds are the Coriander.  I left my cilantro plant in the ground until nearly all of the green coriander had turned a nice brown color and then I harvested it just like I did my dill seed.

Upside down in a paper bag for easier harvesting.

I simply cut it off and placed it upside down in a paper bag and then I let it dry for about a week longer in the bag. 

Brown seeds are dried coriander.

You can shake the bag and crunch it around a bit and remove a lot of seed, but some of it is still a little stubborn so we took most of it off by hand.

Removing the Coriander by hand.

I enlisted the help of my 4 year old. He is such a good sport to help his mom, especially when it comes to harvesting seed.

 After we pulled all of the seed off I used a couple of different sizes of colanders to remove as much of the leaves and stems as I could.

We were really able to get a lot of seed off of our plant, which makes us so happy. It was well worth the effort. This much coriander seed at the store would run you anywhere from $6 to $10.  Jacob is very excited and can't wait to make some Biltong with it. I am sure there will be a future post with photos of him hanging meat all over my house to dry.

Preserving the Harvest

Tomatoes and Cucumbers from our Garden.

For the past few weeks we have really been enjoying the harvest.  My kids love the fact that they can eat a whole cucumber by themselves for a snack. We have had tomato sandwiches almost everyday for lunch, tomato slices every night for dinner, and last night we had spaghetti with sauce made from all the yummy things from our garden. It has been amazing to eat all of these fresh things from our garden. I just love it!

Newly preserved Pickles and Beets.

My daughter and I were reading the story of Joseph of Egypt last night. I paid particular attention to a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis:

"Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: “Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

“And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. …

“And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: …

“And I saw in my dream … seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

“And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

“And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: …

“And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, … God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

“The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. …

“… What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

“Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

“And there shall arise after them seven years of famine;

“… And God will shortly bring it to pass” (Gen. 41:17–20, 22–26, 28–30, 32).

I was reminded of the importance of saving some of what you are given in times of plenty for the leaner times. This has always been an important principle of  Self Reliance and Provident Living taught to us by prophets of God.

Jacob and I both grew up in canning families. We learned to can and other methods of preservation from a young age. I remember helping my mom in the kitchen as she canned bottle upon bottle of peaches, beets, beans, tomatoes, etc. In this way we were able to enjoy the harvest throughout the unfruitful days of winter.  My growing family has relied heavily on my mother's abundance of canned fruits and veggies throughout the years and I have always enjoyed the ability that I have to do this as well. This harvest has been no exception, as much as we are enjoying eating all of the fresh veggies, I have also been canning to preserve these wonderful things for a time when they are not as abundant.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing my recipes and methods for canning some of the things I have been preserving.  It is important especially if you have never canned before to have some background knowledge of basic canning rules and methods.  Not all vegetables and fruits can be preserved in the same way and so to ensure the safety and health of your family it is important to follow properly researched methods for canning each item.  If you are just starting out as a  home canner here is a link to an excellent resource for good canning practices. I have used this resource from the Utah State University Extension often. Another excellent resource is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Good luck with your canning! And if you have any questions, comments, or ideas please send them my way.

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Minced Dried Onion

Onion harvested from my garden.

A couple of weeks ago, I harvested 16 large bulb green onions that had gone to seed. They were starting to get really woody and I didn't want them to go to waste. So I decided to pull them all and make some minced dried onion.  I actually use minced dry onion a lot, because I can use them without my kids knowing that what I have made has onion in it. They don't care very much for onion. But if they don't know it's there then I don't hear any complaints and I enjoy the flavor.

Sliced Onion ready to dehydrate.

So I cut all these wonderful onions up and threw them on to my food dehydrator. They took awhile to dry, about a day and a half, but it was well worth the effort.

Minced Dried Onion

After they were all completely dried, I threw them into my mini food chopper (only because I don't have a food processor - one of the items on my wish list). It did the trick and I had minced dried onion. Yum! I have since used it in a couple of dishes and it has great flavor.