Elderberry Jelly

I just made a couple of batches of elderberry jelly last week.  We love how it tastes and it turns out it's good for you too! 

Elderberry Jelly

Makes 6 half-pints

3 cup elderberry juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box powdered pectin


4 1/2 cups of sugar
 
 

Sterilize your jars in simmering water.  Put your lids in a small saucepan and pour boiling water over them off the heat. 
Meanwhile, begin heating your water bath canner to a boil.  Have a teapot with boiling water ready as well.
 
In a tall stockpot, mix the elderberry juice, lemon juice and pectin.  Heat until at a rolling boil (which cannot be stirred down).  Add the sugar and bring back to a hard boil for 1 minute.  Watch carefully, as it foams a lot.
 
Ladle the jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.  Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a soft towel.  Place lids and rings, and process in water bath canner for 5 minutes.  Remove and let cool.  You should hear a "ping" as the jars cool and seal.  Leave undisturbed for 24 hours.

Check for a good seal.  Remove rings and gently wash and dry the jars.  Label and store in a cool, dark place.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Lemon-Herb Chicken

We've enjoyed this recipe a lot this summer, so I thought I would share it.

Lemon Herb Chicken
Serves 2

2 chicken breasts
Linguine pasta
1 lemon
Real Salt
4 yellow squash
1 cup fresh green beans
Rosemary, Thyme, Sage & Basil (fresh or dried), Chopped

Cook the pasta in a medium saucepan until tender.  Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and saute in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet with a tsp. of coconut oil.  Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon over the breasts when they are about half way done.  Sprinkle some herbs over the chicken.

Cook the squash and green beans in a non-stick skillet with a dab of butter until tender.

To serve, plate the pasta with the chicken on top and sprinkle the vegetables around.  Squeeze the other 1/2 lemon over the plates and sprinkle with the rest of the herbs.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

This is fast, easy and delish!

Making Homemade Yogurt

One word - delicious!  If you've never tried homemade yogurt, you don't know what you're missing.

I've made a few batches now and it's really a simple process:

1 quart whole milk (you can use pasteurized or raw, but not ultra pasteurized)
1 tablespoon organic yogurt (from the store) or 1 packet of yogurt culture starter
1 teaspoon gelatin
1/2 cup white sugar, sucanat, or honey (your choice)

Heat the milk to 180 degrees on the stove in a stainless steel pan.  Use a candy thermometer to watch the temperature.  Stir frequently.
When it reaches 180, remove from the heat and let it cool back down to 105 degrees.  Tip:  Place your pan in a sink of cold water.  This speeds up the cooling process a LOT. 

Add the gelatin and whisk in vigorously.  Make sure the gelatin is completely dissolved.  Add 2 tablespoons of organic plain yogurt (or 1 packet of yogurt starter) and gently stir.  (You want to be less vigorous with the cultures).  Add the sugar, sucanat or honey and stir well.

I strain this mixture through a sieve into a large measuring cup and then pour into 6 half-pint jars.  Cap the jars and place in your dehydrator.  (Preheat the dehydrator a few minutes at 115 degrees). 

Six hours in the dehydrator seems to be the perfect time for my yogurt.  Remove from dehydrator and refridgerate.  Enjoy!

Making Granola

Homemade granola can't be beat.  I found this recipe on Homestead Revival.  And for the past couple of months, we haven't been without it.  I usually make a batch about every two weeks, changing it up a little each time.  Most of the time I use walnuts, but occasionally it may be pecans.  This last batch was macadamia nuts.  I change the dried fruits as well - usually there are raisins & cranberries, but I've also added blueberries, cherries, apricots and banana chips.  Since we have our dehydrator, I'm anxious to dry more fruits myself and add them to the granola.  I'm planning to do some apple slices this week.

Try some!

Food Dehydrator

We just got a food dehydrator in our house.  I'd been reading about all the things you can do with one, not just drying herbs and whatnot.  You can, of course, dry your own herbs.  But you can also dry vegetables, fruit, beef jerky.  You can dry soaked grains and nuts.  You can make yogurt.  It's great for letting bread dough rise, and I'm sure there are lots of other things I'm not aware of.

We gave ours a test run with some banana chips.  They don't need any pre-treatment, other than a little spritz of lemon juice to keep them from discoloring.  And even that's not necessary, it's just for looks.

I got my bananas with some green on them.  I sliced up 4 bananas, which filled about 3 trays in the dehydrator.  They dried for about 8 hours, and they were done.  About 2/3 of a quart jar.  And yum!  Very concentrated flavor.

I can't wait to try some yogurt!

A Change in Attitude

I'm starting fresh with a new blog, here. Sometimes it is easier to start with a clean slate. I'm leaving my old blog Lamplight and beginning a new start here.

I'm drawn more and more to cooking and gardening these days. I'm sure there will still be some sewing and knitting around here, just not as the main focus anymore. And of course, everyone I know is interested in helping the budget go further!

So, let's go!