Homemade Grape Juice

After washing the grapes, place them in the strained pot at the top.
Here are the grapes when taken off the stems.


There is some discussion still in our family about whether or not
keeping the stems on the grapes matters when it comes to taste.
Whether or not it is a factor, the white grape juice turned out MUCH
better than the purple/red this time around.


This is what they look like all together.


This is the middle of the stacked pans - it's where the juice collects


This is the base pan - you must keep it at least 1/2 - 3/4ths full of water.


Here we go... Get all of the glass jars clean and ready.
You'll want them to be hot at the time the juice is placed in them so they don't crack.
I just usually keep them in the dishwasher as we are processing.


Use a small pan like this one to heat the rubber side of the lids.
About 5 minutes per lid. This makes for a nice seal. All you have to do is fill the jars,
place this on a clean top, screw on the ring and let the jars cool down overnight.
They will seal without further processing.

Set up a raised area that you can work on to fill jars.
We place a cheesecloth and a small strainer in place to
avoid a lot of settlement or debri in the jars.

Once there is enough juice, start filling the jars.
Sometimes it helps to use pliers so the clamp doesn't slip.


Be sure to use hot pads to move the hot jar from the stool to the counter.

Keep going, checking the water on the bottom level
and the grapes. You may need to add more or replace the entire
load of grapes. They'll look like watery plump raisins.




The jars will be very hot. Let them sit in one place and cool all night long.
Don't let them touch each other and try to keep things as clean as possible.
The jars can be washed once cooled if there's any extra stickiness
you need to clean before storing.


Many hours and dishes later, you've got wonderful grape juice.

Pie Recipes by Jenna McKinney: Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple

Wow. I can't believe I don't have my favorite pie recipes on here yet. I may be a little late for Thanksgiving this year, but they'll be here for whenever I want them in the future.

Pumpkin Pie 
2 eggs
1/2 tsp each: ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt
3/4 c sugar (brown or granulated)
1 3/4 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c water
1 c evaporated milk
1 unbaked pastry shell (see my recipe)

Mix eggs, sugar, spices, salt and pumpkin well. Add milk (see tip for homemade evaporated powdered milk) and water. Stir until mixture is smooth. Pour into shell(s).
I usually double this and split it between a large 9" pie pan and a smaller Marie Calendar sized one (those seem smaller than normal); placing more of the filling into the 9" one.
Bake at 400 F for 45-55 min (until crust is brown and middle isn't giggly).

Tip - mix up your own powdered evaporated milk:
1 c water + 2/3 c powdered milk

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c lite corn syrup
3/4 c melted margarine
3 beaten eggs
1 1/2 c pecans
Blend all ingredients, stirring in pecans last. Pour into unbaked pie shell.
Bake at 350 F for 35-45 min.

Apple Pie - Round One

Apple Pie Round Two.... Apple filling

Apple Crumb Topping

Fresh Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Fresh Apple Pie
1/2 c brown sugar + 1/4 c granulated sugar
2 T each: quick tapioca or flour (or 4 T flour)
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
7 thinly sliced apples
1 T butter

Apple Pie Crumb Topping: 1/2 c brown sugar, 3/4 c flour, 1/3 c margarine
Place apples, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into pie crust.
In a small bowl, mix flour and tapioca together. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture on top of apples and other ingredients already in pie crust. Bake for 50 min at 400 F.

Alma's first homemade pie crust

Oat flour

I've found that making oat flour isn't too bad if I do it in two steps.
First, I blend the flour in my small blender attachment.



Then I grind those smaller oat pieces in my wheat grinder. This tends to be easier on my grinder.

Planning meals

This is the way I have planned meals for awhile. I have cards with menus and place them on the calendar, based on ingredients and who is making the meal. If there's a recipe to refer to, the name of the book and the page it's on is also listed on the front. Main ingredients are on the back.



I've gotten lazy lately and put all of the optional cards on the bottom two rows - based on ingredients we have. Then we just plan for two weeks out based on who is cooking and what they want to make.

Oct 2015 Stocking up - food, garden and storage

In October of 2015 when I decided to do a shopping free month, I put together a few things to help out as the month progressed. I was worried about milk and fresh fruits and veggies. I made up this veggie stock, froze some milk, and got some fresh apples. That helped a lot.


Continuing a garden as long as possible was a blessing too. Herbs in a pot were nice to use.
Then I didn't have to worry about the frost getting to them. The strawberries were still producing just a little - enjoying the cooler weather.

 . 



Yes - even the candy and snacks... Gotta have a few of those around, right?

Other storage areas were stocked and ready to go.....



This is not your usual situation when you realize you have to live on food storage for awhile, but it helped us get our minds around the fact that we could go without shopping.

Things my GF guy can eat

Here is a photo of the basic things I grabbed for Dave when we found out he had to go Gluten Free. It's not as hard as it used to be to find things. It may get boring to eat the same things everyday, but he's not complaining.

Gluten Free Pancakes

I only took time to make one recipe for pancakes this week, but it was so good, I don't think I need to look elsewhere for now. If it turns out we're doing this for more than 6 weeks, then we'll have to get a variety.
We did a half of a batch to try them out. This made 10.  I put all of the dry ingredients in a container and stored that int he pantry overnight. Then I put all of the wet ingredients in my blender attachment in the fridge overnight. So much easier in the morning. I got them out, blended the wet, then added it to the dry in my 4 c. pyrex (it has an easy spout for cleaning) and cooked them up on a griddle.
The shapes (gingerbread man and cat) were made by using metal cookie cutters. After spraying them so the batter doesn't stick, pour pancake mix into each - filling about 1/6th full. You want these to be about the same thickness as the other pancakes. Flip over and gently loosen with a knife. The pancake will fall onto the griddle and you can take the cookie cutter away or make more.