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Tip Store: Cooking: Preserving

​Use a Free Calendar to Track Your Preserving and Pantry Preparedness

I was recently given a free calendar at Kaisercraft. With the year almost half over and new stock likely due soon, they were giving the older calendars away. At first, I had no idea what to do with it. My planner is already my diary, so I didn’t need another calendar for appointments. Then I realised it could be exactly what I had been wanting: a simple way to track everything I was preserving and putting away as part of my pantry preparedness. I have been using it for a fortnight now, and most of the daily squares have something written in them, even on the days I work. It might be a batch of preserves, something added to the freezer, pantry staples put away, or another small task that helps build food security at home. The best part is that this simple tracker has changed my mindset. Instead of thinking I’m not doing enough, I can look back over the calendar and see a completely different story. All those small efforts add up, and the tracker is a lovely reminder of just how much progress I am really making. A free calendar, a pen and a few seconds each day have become an encouraging and practical tool for building my prepared pantry.
Contributed by Sharon

Turning Vegetable Peels into Meals: No-Waste Cooking That Saves Money

Usually my vegetable peels either go into the compost or into the freezer to make homemade stock, but recently I found another way to use them up. While pressure canning potatoes, I ended up with a large pile of potato peels. They had already been washed, so instead of wasting them, I turned them into soup. I sautéed some onions and carrots, added the potato peels, homemade chicken broth and a few herbs, then let it all cook until tender. Once it was done, I blitzed it into a smooth, creamy, warming soup. It was delicious, and made from something that could so easily have been thrown away. My next bottling project was carrots, so I saved those peels too. This time I dehydrated them in the oven, then blitzed them into powder and added it to my jar of homemade green vegetable powder. It’s such a good feeling to make every bit of our food count. Less waste, more meals, and money saved in the process.
Contributed by Jennifer

Preserving Garlic

​I grow garlic and each year am inundated. I use both of these methods to preserve it much longer than leaving it to hang in the shed.
You could do either or both of the following.
Method 1. Peel each clove. Pace in labelled & dated ziplock/freezer bags and freeze. Thaw and use as needed. 

Method 2. Peel each clove and place in labelled & dated glass jars. Completely cover cloves with white vinegar. Store in the fridge and use as required. NB. This method may result in bluish coloured cloves, but they are completely safe to eat. Vinegar leaves no taste!
I use both of these methods for my home grown garlic.
Contributed by Denise Fulton

Making Jam with Tart Fruit

Fix acidic or under ripe fruit by adding a tiny bit of bicarb soda to the cooked fruit. Do it before adding the sugar to neutralise the acid. Go light on the bicarb soda: 1/2-1 teaspoon to 1- 1.5kg of fruit should be plenty. Add a bit at a time because too much has an aftertaste. I recently did this to home-grown blackberries that were really tart even though they were ripe. Added the usual amount of sugar and it worked out fine. Save $ and don't toss that tart fruit out!
Contributed by Valeria Coscini 

Making the Most of Homegrown Produce

​I just had to share. I have had an abundance of tomatoes, nectarines, eggplants , lemons etc and even though I have been a cheapskate member off and on for years I never really put anything into practice until about six months ago. I make the Miracle Spray and Cheapskates Washing Powder, but this year have surprised myself and have made lemon butter, nectarine jams, moussaka and other things with the eggplants and have now just finished making the yummiest tomato relish. I just Google anything I don't know. How to steralise jars, tomato chutney recipes etc. and how to seal jars. I cannot believe how easy it has been. It keeps me occupied and using up all our produce. Definitely recommend it. I am an extremely busy working person but did this with little effort. Proud of myself!
Contributed by Brenda Dawson