PoorMusician

Just found this. Mine can make yogurt, but it says to do so 3 trays up. I imagine thats for temp management since its a 1 temp unit. So yes, I say. Now I'm wondering if I could do it and have the other trays dehydrating fruits at the same time...

I think I'll just make extra batches of jam this year and bake more Jam pies. Syrups are just too sweet for me. Thanks for setting me straight Violet!

I want to start canning pie fillings this year, but almost all the recipes I'm seeing use ClearJel. I'm allergic to corn, so cornstarch based products are out. Is there another thickener I can use? Maybe tapioca?

Ours is a mini grocery store. Each family is given a dollar amount based on the mouths they feed and their income. They can shop 1 time per week and spend their "money". We have such a wide range of donated items that it would be hard to create identical boxes for everyone, so we just put market prices on the items and let folks get what they want. It actually works well and allows people to get used to handling a grocery budget or work around allergies. We limit the number of people that are in the "store" section at any given time and that keeps the arguing or pushing to a min. We do make special boxes for Easter & Christmas dinner. Local churches provide us with those.

Mashed potatoes with greens. When I'm really poor I'll buy a bag of potatoes and celery. I chop potatoes and celery up and throw in boiling water. Boil for 30 mins and then mash them with a little butter, garlic, anything that I have. I'll even mix in chopped celery leaves for color. It also works with cabbage, and leafy greens. Then I use the leftover water for soup and/or breadmaking.

My husband and I are in the process of becoming foster parents and so while I agree with a lot that's been said here on both sides, I thought I'd add another perspective. We think of child abuse as kids not eating enough or being treated as slaves or being beaten. But the vast majority of the time, those are just the "see-able" offences. It's really even worse. And it takes a long time to find in a school environment. It's often not found in homeschooling cases until too late. It's not about parents being guilty until proven innocent. We're not talking about kids going without a meal once and a while - that's 20% of US kids right now. I don't think this is the best method, but it's gonna take hunting to find these people. And that will have to involve something the homeschooling community won't like, since it's that community that is being used as a shield.

The only thing that keeps us from living under 14K is the mortgage. We're paying that down as fast as we can because we're looking forward to a simpler life.

I think the lacto refers to the type of bacteria, but you're right. The only reason I even read the article was because I couldn't get my mind around the words "lacto-fermentation" and "soda" being used together. But I love a good rootbeer and a good ginger ale, so how can I resist? And the refrigeration is because these are naturally carbonating beverages. If you let them carbonate too much in a warm environment, they can explode beer bottles.

I may have a stash of screw cap wine bottles already :-) How do you know if a recipe is safe for them martianchick? Could I replace some of the sugar in the Fankhauser recipe with honey Armyof5? We had a rootbeer at Monticello that used honey and boy that was a delicious summer treat! I'm guessing yeast wouldn't care, but you never know. Thanks for the help!

This looks like fun. Thought I might give it a try, but I'd have to buy a capper first. Has anyone seen this before? Check it out

I currently can and freeze. I'm interested in dehydrating, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm making this too complicated. Does anybody use all three methods in their preps? Does each fill a particular purpose/role for you or is it more like canning until you're out of jars and then start dehydrating? Sorry, just have a tendency to over-think things beyond absurdity.

almost all food plastics are now PLA which is corn based. I'm lucky that I don't have skin reactions unless it has a chance to absorb into my skin (so I make my own shampoo / conditioner / lotions, etc). But it can be a problem for me if the food sat in a hot truck or is acidic. I do get grass-fed meats from a few places, but again, the packaging is usually made of corn and quite often they'll "finish" animals on corn feed for a little extra fat before slaughter. So I have trust issues with ranchers. :-) The ones that really shocked me were white vinegar, powdered sugar (to keep it from clumping) and brown sugar (caramel coloring). And American beers. Import a British Ale or Irish Stout and I'm good to go, but unless it's a microbrewery I've visited, I don't drink anything american brewed.

Thanks for letting me vent and then giving hugs. Daylily, That's pretty similar to my symptom list. I'll add haywire metabolism. I gain weight like crazy for the next few days. We're not vegan, but we're pretty close since so much meat is corn fed. Mind if I ask how you handle the B12 deficiency issue? That's really the only thing stopping me from living vegan. Amishway, chocolate! It's good to hear someone else recognize that the ingredients listings on products are not very helpful in many cases. It just boggles my mind that food makers aren't required to know what's in their product. I'll call a company and ask about the origins of specific ingredients and they won't know. Mostly I just get tired of people asking me "What do you eat?", "How do you live without ____?". I eat "real foods": meaning flavorful, healthy, delicious foods. I spent about 15 years of my life sick. I literally didn't know life could be better. This diagnosis was such a wonderful thing for me that the isolation frustrates me.

Technically it's a food intolerance. I get sick when I eat it (no danger of dying, thank goodness) but it's a painful sick that is just completely incapacitating. Except for peppermint tea, I can't do anything to help it because modern drugs use corn starch as a filler. I can't eat out because hidden corn is everywhere. Friends insist on cooking me something "safe", but it almost never is. It's just plain alienating to sit there and watch everyone else eat. Or to spend the next two days sick because a hostess didn't take it seriously. My MIL has someone deathly allergic to corn in her family and will tell me about all the special food she cooks for her, but when I'm invited, it's a whole table I shouldn't eat. Heck, I don't even take Holy Communion anymore because the breads all use corn starches. But our whole society revolves around food. We've even been turned down as foster parents because we're so different from the norm. (Can't have our own kids - indirectly because of this intolerance). This has affected every single aspect of my life. I've been living like this for 2 years and I don't usually rant or rave about it, but tonight I'm horribly sick for the 3rd time this week and just feeling fed up. We accommodate, with grace, vegetarians, gluten intolerance, dairy allergies, nut allergies and grapefruit diets. Why do I get treated like some yuppie dieter or scientific anomaly? Just needed to get that out. Thanks!

I asked around some Latin American communities and one woman (who doesn't own a freezer at all!) said she water bath cans a salsa and pressure cans bell peppers. She uses both on their own, but when she wants sofrito, she takes some of each and blends them together. She showed me her salsa recipe and it was similar to this one. Apparently sofrito "must have" peppers, garlic and onions. Every family creates their own version by adding other flavors. So any safe canning recipe that's got those three in it can be thrown in the blender for sofrito!

So would this be cannable? (pressure obviously)

Clear plastic shower curtains help with insulation also. I made my winter living room curtains out of blankets and lined them with plastic shower curtains. The living room is way warmer now. Oooo That's a good one! Do they drape nicely with a heavy fabric or look stiff? (I ask because I've got an arch window to curtain)

You're not the last one CG! You've made my day with this post!

what's EE? or better worded perhaps, what's their website?

I use tight money times to do projects. When I have money I stock up on fabrics, foods, and other supplies for projects on my list. When the money is gone it's time to get it done! Right now I'm making insulated drapes using fabric scraps and old sheets as the insulation. And my husband and I will be building a water still out of collected items. I also shift my preps a bit - Take out some of my extra cans of single ingredients (meat, tomatoes, etc) and make a big batch of soup which I'll can and put up for busy days that need fast meals (aka meals my husband can cook).

Coffee Jelly? My husband loves a strong coffee flavor in sweets. Would I make this like jams or like a jello?

I can't eat corn. He does have it at a good price, but for me that would be similar to eating those barley husks! From what I've been reading, Barley has 2 different levels of "husking". There's the outer, indigestible husk. When you remove that you're left with whole grain barley. After another husking you get pearl barley. I found a guy who was rubbing unhulled rye against a metal mesh (with some force) and then using a fan to separate grain from chaff. But I have no clue if that would work with barley. Darn! I really thought I had a deal. I guess I'll keep asking around.

Oh! forgot to mention, I have access to a grain mill. Would that work for husking?

So the guy I buy my beef from also sells the grains they grow. The prices are great, so I keep thinking I'm going to jump in, but I want to make sure I understand what I'm getting. Here's what he's got: Unhulled Barley Unhulled Buckwheat Soft Red wheat Rye Cereal I am not familiar with grains in their grown state at all. I've read you can't use unhulled barley or buckwheat for anything except sprouting. So three questions, 1. why can't I hull them? 2. Can I sprout the unhulled stuff and then grind it for flour? 3. Can I store the unhulled stuff and then sprout what I need each week? This is a new adventure for me!

Anyone seen this? Seal jar with Foodsaver handheld I've been eyeing foodsavers, but I know I would only use them to seal my jars. The bags are cool, but I know me and I wouldn't use them much. But being able to use the handheld with the jar sealers would be awesome for my preps budget!