Making Raspberry Ice Cubes

One of the many ways I use my raspberries is to make Raspberry Ice Cubes.  I have so many raspberries this year - so many! 

I run my raspberries through my food strainer attachment on my kitchen aide because I don't like seeds in my smoothies or raspberry ice tea.  Then you can just ladle the juice into ice cube trays or you can sweeten it a little first with the sweetener of your choice.  When they are frozen, I just pop them out and store them in a baggie in the freezer. 

They are so easy to use to make smoothies or to add to your ice tea instead of regular ice cubes.  My son likes to suck on them like a Popsicle.

How to Freeeze Brocolli

First cut brocolli up into bite size pieces.



Don't forget to save the stems for juicing.


Bring a pot of water to a boil.


Add brocolli and when it comes back to a boil, time for 3 minutes.


Quickly drain the brocolli and then plunge it into an ice water bath to quickly cool it and stop the cooking.

This process of partially cooking and then quickly cooling is called blanching.


When brocolli has cooled, drain, pack and label.

My Garden will continue to sustain me throughout the winter

I belong to a bargain hunting board on the internet and the ladies love to post pictures of their stashes that they got for next to nothing. Well, this is along the same lines - but this is my gardening stash. But it wasn't free - it cost me a lot of labor and love - but I know that every bite of it is 100% pure and natural and exactly where it came from. Is it enough to keep me from having to buy fruits and veggies all winter long? No - but it all helps.


Here are 11 dozen jars of jelly and jam. They are not full dozens as we have taken some out to enjoy and share with friends - but they were all full. And we won't eat all of this - much of this will make it's way into gift baskets this holiday season.


This section contains stewed tomatoes, salsa, green chilis, applesauce and catsup.


Here are dried apples, more applesauce, tomato sauce and apple pie filling.


A look inside my freezer.


A glance into the bottom of my freezer.


And my dried herbs.

Cooking with dried chilis from your garden

As gardening winds down for the season, it's time to start cooking with the produce we have preserved. Many people only use fresh chilis because they aren't sure how to work with dried chilis. I took pictures as I made an enchilada sauce this weekend.



First you want to wash the dried chilis to remove any dust that may have settled on them, break the tops off and remove the seeds. Make sure you wear rubber gloves while you are doing this. Then place in a pot and cover with water with several cloves of garlic. How much water to use depends on the heat of your chilis and how hot you want the finished sauce. If you have really hot chilis - use more water for a milder sauce and less for a really hot sauce. If your chilis are not as hot, use less water - you really need to experiment to find the right taste since tastes vary so much. I have a young child in the household so I make a more mild sauce. My chilis were pretty hot and I used 12 chilis and 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil.


When it comes to a boil, cover and turn off. Allow to sit and steep for several hours.


The next step is another one that varies by how hot you want the finished product. I am going for a very mild sauce so I use a slotted spoon and remove the chilis and garlic from the water and I'm left with a milder chili sauce. Before I had a child in the household I made a hotter sauce by putting on rubber gloves and putting my hands into the water (make sure it has cooled!) and squishing the chilis to remove lots of hot goodness into the water. You can also use a blender or a food processor. The way I do it provides a very mild sauce.


At this point, freeze the extra chili water that you aren't going to use right away. I prefer to freeze in glass - if you do, make sure you leave enough headroom - they will expand and you don't want the jars to break.


To make red sauce - melt lard or shortening in a skillet.


Add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the lard (I used gf flour since we are a gluten free household).


Stir like you would if you were making a brown gravy.


Add the chili water and whisk until smooth and cook until thick.

You can use the sauce now for enchiladas or tamales or anything that calls for a red chili sauce.

When I'm making enchiladas I stir (fake) sour cream (we're also dairy free) into the sauce before pouring it over the enchiladas.


Here is my son's plate with a finished enchilada on it. They were super yummy even if they were mild.

To make enchiladas - just soften corn tortillas in hot oil. Fill with your choice of filling (I used shredded chicken, onions and fake cheese) and roll up. Place in pan and spoon enchilada sauce over them. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through.

Freezing Green Beans

Freezing green beans (or any veggie) is very easy to do. It is an economical way to be able to enjoy your garden in the dead of winter. So don't let those extra beans spoil and don't give them to the neighbors - freeze them!


Chop beans into uniform pieces.


Blanch in steamer for 3 minutes.


As soon as the 3 minutes is up, plunge into an ice water bath.


When cold, drain and spread out on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer. You can skip this step and just pack into a freezer container, but I like to do this so they are frozen individually and not in a clump - that way you can pour out how much you want at a time.


Pack into freezer containers, label and put in freezer. You can use Freezer Bags or sturdy plastic containers, but I am trying to avoid all use of plastics - so I freeze in glass canning jars.

My garden survived while I was on vacation

The currants ripened nicely this past week

Here is a close up of the currants.

Gee - I don't remember planting dill - nor did I plant any last year, but it comes up every year. You gotta love mother nature taking care of things naturally.

The beans are starting to trail up the strings.

The cabbage and brussels sprouts have totally recovered from the hail now and looking good.

The tomatoes are growing like weeds.

3 quart bags of currants ready for the freezer. They will eventually be made into jelly, but I don't have the time right now so I just freeze them and then thaw them on jelly making day.

It's good to be back home in my garden. We had a great time on vacation and it was nice to get away, but I always miss my garden when I'm gone.

In my garden today 5/29/07

The apple tree is loaded with little apples

I transplanted the pepper plants today - now everything is in the ground

Strawberries are ripening

The black raspberries I transplanted in the spring are flowering so maybe I'll get some fruit from them this year - I thought I might lose a year with a transplant.

The pole beans are all up. The green beans on the right came up before the yellow beans on the left even though they were planted at the same time.

I don't know how well you can see with my cheap camera (my nice one died), but the carrots are all up in nice little rows.

The potatoes are looking good

The currant bushes are loaded.

The sunflower fort has been planted, but this year we put mulch in the middle so prickly weeds don't grow - the boys didn't like playing in there much last year because of the weeds!

7 quarts of rhubarb ready for the freezer. Rhubarb is real easy to freeze - just cut up and put in bags and stick in the freezer - nothing to it!

I have some flowers blooming as well. I don't pay attention to the names of the flowers as I do to the veggies - so I can't even think of what kind of flowers they are right now.

The Minnesota peaches are growing bigger. I just hope I can keep the boys from picking them green. Andy and Vinny (the neighbor) picked quite a few green apples over the weekend - I have told them not to touch the peaches, but they don't always listen.

The tomatoes are bouncing back from transplant shock.

The cabbage and brussels sprouts are loving this cool weather.

Freezing Excess

Garden Produce ready for the freezer. If you have just a little extra each week, it is better to freeze the produce rather than can. To successfully freeze vegies you need to first blanch them in boiling water for a specific amount of time and then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Then pack in freezer bags or rigid freezer containters. Greens require 2 minutes in boiling water, green beans 3 minutes and beets are just cooked until tender. Then in the middle of winter, yum - vegies from your garden!