August 2019 - Simply Me DIY

August 27, 2019April 1, 2021

Dehydrating Veggies

A few things in the garden exploded and we have tomatoes and banana peppers running out our ears. So, I’ve been dehydrating veggies, a lot of them.

The tomatoes

We planted a lot of tomato plants this year because we weren’t real sure they would all grow because the seeds were so old. We planted all these plants with the idea some wouldn’t make it.

We were wrong.

tomatoes to be cut up for dehydrating — Mortgage Lifter tomatoes

These Mortgage Lifters don’t get as big as I thought they would, but they made up for it in sheer volume.

They’re beautiful and really good, but there’s so many of them.

They’re called “salad sized” tomatoes. Too big to eat like a cherry tomato, small enough to cut up for salads, but too small for slicers.

And the perfect size for dehydrating.

We got some cherry tomatoes, but not as many as I expected. I’ve just been eating them from a bowl right off the counter like snack food. They just don’t last long here.

Banana Peppers

When we bought these banana peppers, we weren’t sure we liked them. I was pretty sure my husband would, but not too sure about me.

Like the rest of the garden it was an experiment.

After cooking several and just eating them right out of the garden, we both discovered, they’re really pretty good.

We like grilling them with what we’re having for supper.

The little plants look like they have Christmas light on them, there are so many little peppers on them.

They were slow to start, but once they got started….watch out! They went to town and we have quite a few of them now.

Dehydrating Veggies

My Dehydrator

If you remember from a post or two back my dear hubby got me the dehydrator of all dehydrators for my birthday. And I’ve been using it almost constantly since to dehydrate veggies.

A dehydrator full of tomatoes. — Getting ready to dehydrate my tomatoes.

I’ve dehydrated so many tomatoes and Lemon Balm leaves, I have enough to last several months.

Dehydrating veggies is so much easier than canning. The actual amount of time it takes is probably a little longer, but it’s much easier.

I turn on the dehydrator and walk away.

And it holds so much, I can get a lot done at one time.

Dehydrating Tomatoes

Dehydrated tomatoes. — Powdering my dehydrated tomatoes.

I slice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and filled all but 1 tray, using parchment paper on the trays to hold all the juice. This makes clean up a lot easier.

Once they’re dehydrated, they pop right off the parchment paper and are easy to grind up.

I was originally using my mortar and pestle, but couldn’t get them powered enough so I started using my spice grinder.

Peppers & Okra

I used the dehydrator from my dad for the banana peppers and a few okra. I was trying to do as much as I could all at once.

I sliced the banana peppers about 1/2 inch thick, the same with the okra.

The peppers and okra are pretty dry and don’t take very long to dry. Dehydrating the tomatoes took about twice as long because of all the liquid they contain. They’re really juicy.

Storing my Dehydrated Veggies

Dehydrating veggies takes up much less space in my opinion. You can seal the Seal-a-meal attachment in canning jars or in the sealing bags. Or you can crush or powder, like I did with the tomatoes.

I’ve dehydrated our garden goodies before, but only had four trays, so it took a while. Now I have 13. YAY!!

Next…

I’ll be canning the pink brandywine tomatoes this weekend. I like choices when I’m cooking.

I’ll be freezing a few things too, like breaded okra. Makes frying up okra this winter quick and easy.

I hope you got a couple of ideas here. There’s a lot of things you can dehydrate to help preserve your garden.

Just last weekend I found a book on dehydrating food and of course, I bought it.

I can’t wait to see what I’ve been missing.

If you have ideas or have tried something I didn’t mention, let me know. I’m always up for trying something new.

Until next time –

Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

August 20, 2019August 19, 2019

Homemade Catsup (or Ketchup)

Grilled burger with homemade catsup and grilled banana peppers. — Homemade catsup on my grilled burger with my homegrown grilled banana peppers.

Either way homemade catsup is really easy and really good.

Recently, I’ve been on this theme of trying almost everything I can find homemade. Hint – coming soon, mustard and crackers among other things.

My goal is to make as much as I can from scratch and buy as little as I can from the store.

Just like garden grown veggies have so much more flavor than their store bought counterpart, in my opinion so does homemade condiments like catsup and homemade sweet pickles.

Regardless of what it is if it’s homegrown or homemade, it’s always so much better than what you get in the stores.

And if it’s homemade it’s a bonus, or maybe it’s the point of it, that you know what every single ingredient is you put into it.

Store bought tomatoes or home grown

In this spirit, every homemade catsup recipe I came across called for tomato paste. I rarely have tomato paste since you usually only use a tablespoon or 2 and I end up throwing it away.

But, this year I have a garden and I’m beginning to get a TON of tomatoes.

A batch of tomatoes getting ready to dehydrate. — Tomatoes that I’m getting ready to slice and dehydrate.

And, this year for my birthday, my awesome husband bought me the Cadillac of dehydrators, an Excalibur Dehydrator. I’ve wanted this thing for years, but it costs so much I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

Anyway, this means I’ve been dehydrating tomatoes. I knew there had to be a way to use those for this recipe.

So I searched the net and finally found a ratio method for mixing dehydrated tomatoes to water for paste and for sauce.

Just so you know…..it’s a 1:1 ratio for paste and a 2:1 water to dehydrated tomatoes for sauce.

So now I’m excited. Dehydrated tomatoes take up WAY less space than canned tomatoes. And this means I don’t have to can so many tomatoes….BONUS!!

Okay, back on track for homemade catsup.

To ferment or not to ferment

A jar of catsup with a fermenting lid. — My jar of homemade catsup with one of my new fermenting lid.

Most of the recipes I found said I could ferment them or not. As a general rule, we don’t use a lot of catsup, so I kinda wanted to ferment just so it would last longer.

Recently, I also bought myself some fermenting lids so I could ferment more. So since I had those I thought I would go ahead and give the fermented catsup a try.

From what I was reading, the recipe is no different either way. So, that made it easy.

Homemade Catsup

Making homemade catsup truly is one of the easiest things you could ever make. And best of all it can be made to suit your tastes. As you mix the ingredients, all you have to do is continue to taste it and adjust it to what you like best.

Although I read through about 3 or 4 different recipes, this is the one I settled on. First because I liked the ingredients and second, because I’ve liked most of the recipes I’ve found on her site so I trusted it would be good.

This recipe comes from theprairiehomestead.com. If you haven’t been there yet, you should check it out. She had a ton of great stuff there.

Ingredients:

12 oz or 1.5 cups of tomato paste
3 TBL of maple syrup or raw honey
3 TBL of raw vinegar
2 TBLS of whey or brine from an existing ferment***
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp allspice**

*** You only need this ingredient if you plan on fermenting your catsup. I had just made some sauerkraut, so I used some of the brine from that.

**I didn’t have allspice, so I found a mixture you can use to make a homemade version. To make 1 tsp of allspice you use 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground clove and a pinch of ground nutmeg.

Instructions:

Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl. If you are not going to ferment it, then put it in the refrigerator and your done. I’d let it sit for a few days just so all the flavors blend well.

A bowl full of ingredients to make catsup. — Mix all of your ingredients into your bowl and mix well.

If you’re going to ferment, then put your catsup in a pint jar, cover it with a fermenting lid, an airlock or a regular lid. If you use a regular lid, you need to remember to burp it either daily or a few times a day to let the fermenting gases escape.

Let it sit on your counter for about 3 days and then put a regular lid on it and move it to your refrigerator.

That’s it. It just doesn’t get any easier.

Another thing you’ll notice with this recipe is there is no sugar. I suppose you could use sugar if you wanted to in place of the honey or maple syrup. I wouldn’t know why, but you could if you wanted to.

You can adjust these spices to whatever taste you like. You could even add a touch of hot sauce if that’s something you might like. The possibilities of the different tastes you could come up with are endless.

So there you have it, really easy homemade catsup. I hope you give it a try. I know I’ll not be buying it from the store anymore. You may decide the same thing.

If you find you want to make your own catsup, let me know in the comments below how it turns out. If you change up the recipe, I’d love to hear how. I’d love it if you would post pictures of what you make.

Be sure to subscribe to get something new in your inbox every week. Canning season is coming up, I have a new dehydrator and I have several new recipes I’m itching to make, you won’t want to miss what’s coming.

Until next time-

Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

August 13, 2019August 13, 2019

Making Bead Sun Catchers

So, these Bead Sun Catchers turned out way better than I expected.

Pony beads used for project. — I got these beads from Hobby Lobby. They had glitter in them that looked great when they melted.

I these sun catchers on Pinterest several times and thought it looked like something Zoey would enjoy. She loves bright pretty colors and being crafty.

So I got the beads some time ago, thinking we would get to this pretty quickly. That was probably 2 months ago.

This weekend I had both grandkids and one of the cousins over to spend the weekend. It seemed like the perfect time.

I told the girls about the bead sun catchers and pulled out the bag of beads. Showed them the muffin tin I planned to use and told them to create whatever design they liked. They were thrilled.

Then I remembered some aluminum pans I had in the cabinet. You know the kind you buy 3 or 4 in a pack that can be thrown away after you use them? I had 8 inch square pans. But they have several different shapes and sizes to choose from.

Girls designing their bead sun catchers. — Working hard at their designs.

The girls had a ton of fun creating and re-creating. They mixed the beads and then separated them and then mixed them again.

They made designs and then dumped them then made new designs, until they finally came up with something they liked.

Once they had the first batch done, they had a better idea of what they would look like. Then it became easier for them to come up with new designs.

Heating the sun catchers outside instead of in the oven was a better idea.

When I got ready to melt the beads for the sun catchers I used the gas grill. I’d read in a few articles of people using the oven inside and it turning out bad. I decided I didn’t want to try that.

Completed sun catchers. — As you can see, we don’t even have to make a hole to hang them with in a few of them.

I tried to find what temp they needed to “cook” at looking at different websites to find a temp. I couldn’t find anything.

So I faked it and started at 450F. One article I read said it took about 10 minutes. At 450F it took about 30 min. I figured I was doing it wrong so for the second batch I let the grill get to 550F.

That worked much better. It still took longer than 10 minutes, but was still much faster.

Once they’re melted, just set them to the side to cool. I was worried about getting them out of the pan, but didn’t need to be. They popped out real easy.

There are a few things to remember next time.

I did discover, however, that while all the scalloped edges of the pan were a cool part of the design, the writing on the bottom of the pan also transferred. Not the cool design I was hoping for. I’ll have to figure a way to make that not show up.

Square pan sun catcher. — Here’s the square sun catcher. Can you see the writing in the center?

If you can think of a way to get rid of the raised writing in the bottom of those pans, please let me know in the comments. I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.

Some of them melted smooth and a few didn’t. The ones that still had a little texture from the lump of the bead looked really cool I thought.

But those all came out of the same batch, so I’m not sure what the difference was so we can recreate the effect. Next time I’ll try and pay more attention to that to figure it out.

Give this one a try when you get a chance. I guarantee your kids or grandkids will enjoy it. Share your creations here and post your pictures in the comments. I’d love to see them.

Until next time-

Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

August 6, 2019June 14, 2021

The Virtues of Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm is one of the easiest plants you’ll ever grow with a bonus of the awesome lemony smell. It’s the Balm! (Yeah, that was a bad one I know, but I couldn’t resist).

Lemon balm tea blend. — Lemon balm and lavender tea blend.

The plant itself and the essential oil have many uses and all of them are enjoyable.

Lemon balm tea has a soothing, mild taste that I love. Because of this, I add lemon balm to a lot of my tea blends. Don’t miss my article on making your own homemade herbal teas here.

Another good way to enjoy the taste of lemon balm is to crush the leaves up, which releases the essential oils, then add them to your ice water. This gives the water an ever so slight lemon flavor that’s really good, plus you get the benefits of the herb too.

A little Lemon Balm history.

This herb dates back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, with one of its first recorded uses being a wine infused liniment.

The Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541) believed that Lemon Balm was the “Elixir of Life” and that it would increase strength and lengthen life.

The botanical name for Lemon Balm is Melissa Officinalis.

The word Melissa comes from the Greek word for honeybee. Lemon balm was given this name because bees love this plant.

“Melissai” was the name for a group of nymphs in ancient times, known as the nymphs of honey bees. They were credited with the discovery and use of honey and were believed to be able to morph into bees.

Lemon balm was traditionally used to uplift the spirits and used in spells to heal broken hearts and attract romantic love. It was said to balance feelings and emotions.

Ancient texts recount folk medicine practices using lemon balm tea as a support for heart health, and to promote healthy skin. It was common practice to use lemon balm externally or internally for it’s relaxing effects.

Today, many of its uses are the same.

Just running your hands through the plant and inhaling that scent will make any day more relaxing.

If you’re just looking at it, it looks like any mint plant. But run your hand through it and you’ll know the difference immediately.

Some of Lemon Balm’s relaxing qualities.

Once known as an herbal cure all, Lemon Balm supports the body in several different ways.

It’s most known for it’s relaxing properties. It’s used to help reduce stress, anxiety and depression because of its uplifting, yet calming tendencies.

Lemon balm and lavender tea. — A cup of lemon balm and lavender tea.

It’ll help reduce anxiety and promote sleep when insomnia is an issue.

Of course, this virtue is also going to help the support the body in reducing all the effects of anxiety and stress like headaches and nervous stomach issues.

The vasodilating properties, properties that allow the relaxing of blood vessels, allows for good blood flow. Another reason it’s good for headaches and migraines. Constricted blood vessels are usually the root cause for throbbing headaches.

Some of Lemon Balm’s “anti” properties.

Lemon Balm has a lot of “anti” properties.

It’s known as a mild anti-spasmodic helping to reduce muscle spasms. This includes things like leg or stomach muscles as well as bronchial tubes where asthma is an issue.

It’s anti-viral properties are good for helping to heal or prevent cold sores, among other things. And it’s considered an anti-oxidant, helping to prevent free-radicals from floating around in your body.

Now, this isn’t to say that Lemon Balm is going to cure any of these issues. But what it does say is that it may lessen the affect of these issues in duration and intensity.

A few unusual uses I ran across.

One thing I found, that I HAVE to try is making jelly. I’m not sure why, but this is something I wouldn’t have thought of.

It sounds awesome. And after trying dandelion jelly, this is something I have to try. I also read you could use it as a substitute for lemon in jams and jellies. This would be for the flavor only as there is no citrus acid in Lemon Balm. I haven’t done this either, but I’m sure I will now.

It was used to polish furniture in Europe. I’m sure this was a long time ago. But, can you just imagine how good your house would smell? Not sure how they did that, but it might be worth a try just because it would smell so good. I can see making a tea from it and using it as an ingredient in a cleaner or freshener.

It was also tossed on the floors, in the old days, to help freshen rooms. Can’t say I blame them. I’m guessing you needed a lot of smell good to cover all the other everyday odors of yesteryear.

Pollination is another thing lemon balm is good for.

A bunch of lemon balm. — A bunch of lemon balm

We read earlier how bees are really attracted to it. So plant it near where you need lots of pollinators, like a veggie garden or a flower garden.

BUT BEWARE–It is part of the mint family, so make sure you plant it in a container. As great as it is, it literally grows like a weed. So unless you have plenty of space for this plant to grow, you’ll want to contain it or it’ll take over everything.

I hope you found something useful and enjoyable here. Let me know if you’ve used lemon balm before. If you have, how did you use it? What did you think? Did you like it?

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe. There will be more herbal information coming in the future. Information for learning about the herbs and how to use them and to build your own personalized tea blends.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time –

Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

Disclaimer

The article above is written using my research and how I’ve seen this herb work for me. It is for informational purposes only.
As I said above, every person is different. So just like anything else, herbs will react differently from person to person. What works for one, will not necessarily work for another, or it will work to different degrees. So don’t relay just on what one person says. Try each herb in small amounts and give it time to work or give your body time to react. Make sure it’s doing what you want it to do. Also remember that herbs are not like modern medicine. It’s not an instant result. Some times it just takes time and for other herbs it takes several doses (or several cups of tea) before you will notice anything.
If you have any medical conditions, always check with your doctor before using herbs as a medicine.
Drinking herbal tea for the enjoyment of it, is generally no big deal, unless you have an allergy. But if you are attempting to get some kind of bodily reaction from it, you should do your own research. The FDA hasn’t approved any of these statements regarding the use of herbs as medicine. So it’s up to you as to how and when you use an herb(s) for a specific purpose.