PICKLES .... Anyone????

I am super excited about canning my first pickles. I made up 4 jars, but we kinda of already started eating one before I got the picture:) These are Bread and Butter pickles from the Complete book of Home Preserving Book recipe. Here is the recipe:
BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES
10 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers
4 medium onions, thinly sliced(I only used 2)
1/2 cup pickling or canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric

1. In a bowl combine cucumbers, onions, and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink, rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.

2. Meanwhile prepare canner, jars, and lids.

3. In a large saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to boil.

4. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch head-space. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

5. Place jars in canner, insuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Since I use pint jars I also added 1/8 tsp of pickle crisp to each jar, because we like crispier pickles. Have you canned anything so far this season??

Garden update!!!

My garden is growing wonderfully:) Look here at when we first planted. What a difference??





We had our first "mini" harvest today. It was only 4 cucumbers and one little cherry tomato, but there are lots more tomatoes that need to ripen, and more cucumbers.


We are in awe of gardening and can't wait to do a BIGGER one next year:) Does anyone have any garden tips for me??

How Does Your Refrigerator LOOK!!!

We are trying to eat more healthier. So I went shopping at the Farmers Market, Earth Fare, and The Fresh Market. Of course it is more expensive to eat Whole foods and organics, but we are trying to eat healthier. Our goal is to eat 80% raw, but with that said we are taking it slow. We will first just try to eat one salad a day and work our way up. As far as organics go, one rule of thumb is if it is peeled, it doesn't have to be organic(bananas, avacodas a favorite here, onions, cantaloupe, etc.). Some things are definitely organic(carrots, celery, apples, especially because we juice). After watching Food, inc. and King corn, it really made me think "where my food came from!!" As far as meats, we are trying to cut down, but I have started buying from the farmers market from local farmers, only grass-fed organic ground beef and free range organic chickens(of caourse I still have some chicken and meats that was in my stockpile that we will use first, so you will see those in there:). We are doing it slow so that it is not a big hit in our budget, but it is worth it. Here is a look into my refrigerator and freezer and I would love to see everyone's too. Blessings, and have a great day.

HERE IS AN OVERALL LOOK


HERE IS A LOOK AT THE SIDE STORAGE(MOST ARE ORGANICS AND NATURAL SAUCES



HERE IS A CLOSER VIEW OF THE TOP TWO SHELVES




HERE IS A VIEW OF THE BOTTOM TWO SHELVES




HERE IS THE "GREEN DRAWER"




IN THE FREEZER

FROZEN FRUIT FOR SMOOTHIES



FROZEN VEGETABLES



BEEF

My garden!!!

(my first tomato)



My garden is not very big, but it is my first year. Even so, I am still excited about it. I have a raised garden because our yard is so flat, it floods. I mostly have tomatoes and cucumbers, but also some lettuce and peppers too. Do any of you have any good garden tips for me???