EVERYDAY FOOD STORAGE » Instructional/How-To/Tips

How to make gardening fun for kids!

Crystal — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:41:19 +0000

Okay, so time for my most frequently asked question for Belinda. How can I make gardening fun for my kids? If you’ve asked yourself this question-you’re not alone! Gardening is great for kids-it teaches them work, responsibility, how to care for living things, and how to eat healthier. However, it can be hard for kids to have fun while they are learning all of that-which is pretty much all they care about, right? Well Belinda with Home Gardens to Go is back to share some great ideas on how to get kids involved and enjoying gardening….oh yeah and we have a fun little giveaway AND SALE as well. I have to make it fun for you too, right?

MAKING GARDENING FUN FOR KIDS

Number one: Give them a little space to call their own! Belinda has great 2×4 boxes perfect for little kids (the smaller size helps them be able to reach everything in the garden!) To see Belinda’s kid boxes, click HERE (and don’t forget to use the code ST9GN17261G6F to get 20% off your kid boxes, this weekend only!). I got one for each of my kids (see those cute kids in the picture above…yeah those are mine…and they LOVE playing in their garden-especially now that their plants are popping up!)

GARDENING WITH KIDS SALE-THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

USE CODE “ST9GN17261G6F” at check out to receive the 20% off!

MORE GARDENING IDEAS FOR KIDS

Mrs. Green Beans: Turn your garden into a person! Your kids will love watching Mrs. Green Beans take form with living hair and a climbing skirt!

Making your own Wind Chime: Help your kids decorate your garden space with a wind chime made from things right in your kitchen!

Plant Pals: Make your own Chia Pets for your kids to admire in the kitchen window!

Make Homemade Seed Envelopes to Save this year’s seeds for NEXT YEAR!

10 MORE ways to make Gardening Fun! Tips on how to make weeding a game and how your kids can earn a little extra money this summer (hint: it doesn’t involve you making any lemonade either!)

GARDENING WITH KIDS GIVEAWAY

Gardening with kids just got a lot easier! These great (and super cute) accessories for kids are bound to get kids to love gardening. I even have them for my own kids and it makes their garden so bright, cheery, and kid friendly! Leave a comment to enter one of four (2 boy kits and 2 girl kits) gardening kits for kids.

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Need more help with your garden? (Like me!) Belinda would love to help! Check out all she has to offer to help you set up your garden correctly. I personally had her come set up all of my boxes since I a) wanted to make sure it was done correctly and b) my husband works a lot of nights and Saturdays and didn’t have the time to dedicate to building and setting up boxes.

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Kid Boxes
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

Day One: Basics of Square Foot Gardening
Day Two: Secrets for Planning a Successful Garden
Day Three: The Boxes! Learn how to make them, buy them, and some secret benefits!
Day Four: Mixing Your Soil: Mel’s Mix!
Day Five: Composting-learn everything you need to know about efficient and effective composting
Day Six: Watering
Day Seven: Seeds with bonus videos on how to start your seeds indoors!
Day Eight: Planting!
Harvesting Spinach with out the Grit!
Growing with the vertical trellis
See what Belinda did in my own yard!

Tips Making (Delicious!) Bread Machine Bread for Sandwiches

Crystal — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Everyone knows that a bread machine can be THE TICKET to have bread in a hurry, with no mess, and while you are off having fun. However, if you ate bread machine bread growing up, you probably know that it can be dry, hard to cut with a thick crust, and a mess to make. Well it can be that way or it can be the most DELICIOUS bread you’ve ever eaten and take no time at all to do. Making bread is definitely more nutritious and MUCH, MUCH cheaper then buying the equivalent bread at a super market. If you don’t have a bread machine, check your local second hand store. I know mine had at least 4 today when I went. You can always do a Google search for instructions on a particular machine.

SAVE TIME: Make Bread Mixes! This is the same idea behind making a lot of sandwiches at once. If you make your own bread mixes and store them in the fridge, then it is one mess and takes about 1 minute to make a loaf of bread. Nice, right? (To make a bread mix, combine all dry ingredients from your favorite recipe (except for yeast) in a ziploc bag and store in the refrigerator)

This is a whole loaf.

As you can see it is thinly sliced.

In fact it looks so good (and tastes so great with butter & honey) you could serve it at a brunch!

It also makes the most delicious sandwiches!

My tips for making DELICIOUS homemade bread in your bread machine.

1) Use white wheat (it’s taste is more subtle) and always use the wheat setting (whole wheat needs to rise longer than bleached white flour).

2) Add potato flakes to your bread machine recipe to add the soft texture of a store bought bread. I add 1/2 C. to mine. This is extra great since the cannery just started carrying potato flakes! (This trick has been used since the olden days when women would use the water used from cooking potatoes in their bread to make it soft. )

3) Allow bread to cool in a closed Ziploc bag (or towel) to make the crust soft. Somehow, and I’m not sure of the science behind it, the moisture goes back into the bread and makes the crust VERY soft. My bread doesn’t get moldie or dry out as quickly as before. A softer crust makes the bread much easier to cut. CAUTION: I was told me that before store bought bread a crunchy crust was the way to tell the bread was fresh…so I guess if you like the fresh crunch to your bread continue to air cool.

4) Experiment with Gluten. I add 1 T. of gluten to my bread. Gluten makes the bubbles in your bread strong so that your bread doesn’t sink from the bubbles popping too early.

5) High Altitude dwellers should cut down the amount of yeast called for in the recipe because bread rises faster in high altitude areas and since the bread machine is a timed process it doesn’t know to bake when the dough has doubled in size. For reference, I halfed my yeast from what it called for in my recipe.

5) Make the process easy by filling Ziploc bags with all dry ingredients minus the yeast and placing in your fridge. This way you always have fresh homemade bread ready and waiting to begin for you with no mess!

Just as a side note, I’ve tried using other people’s very delicious whole wheat bread machine recipes in my bread maker and they never turn out (because of the high altitude problem) so don’t be discouraged if this happens to you! Just try to make your bread machine’s recipe to how you like it.

Here are a few of my favorite bread machines!

The Cuisinart Programmable Bread Maker-It does EVERYTHING including quick breads…you know like banana bread, pumpkin bread. VERY COOL!

Zojirushi Breach Machine: This is the Cadillac of bread machines! It actually makes the loaf like a store bought loaf of bread and the baking is unparalleled! My mom has a Zojirushi and when I made my EZ Wheat bread in it, it tasted exactly the same as if I had made it myself the old fashioned way. VERY IMPRESSIVE!

HUGE SUN OVEN SALE!

Don’t forget about the HUGE Global Sun Oven sale going on right now! If you don’t have one-this is the time to get it along with all of the accessories for FREE! Get more information HERE.

2 for 1-Breadsticks OR Pizza in under 30 minutes from ONE easy recipe: Food Storage Recipes

Crystal — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:13:00 +0000

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite recipe and ever since I got it from my sister-in-law we haven’t bought pizza (contrary to what my husband says on the video . The other great thing about making this as pizza is that you can make the crust in the morning and then top it with your toppings in the evening and have dinner ready in under 10 minutes! I love meals you can make most of earlier in the day when life isn’t so busy. It is so easy, makes NO mess (okay well, just a little mess), and is DELICIOUS. Kids love it (especially when you let them pick the toppings and add them to the pizza)! Everytime I make these breadsticks for company it is a HUGE hit and they always ask for the recipe, so who better to share it with than all of you!!

30 Minute Breadsticks OR No-Fail Deep Dish Pizza Crust

(If it is too thick for your family, you can either half the recipe or put one full recipe onto two cookie sheets)

2 1/2 C. Medium Hot Water
5 tsp. SAF Instant Yeast*
2 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp. Oil
1 tsp. Salt
6 C. Flour (you can do half all-purpose and half white wheat or 100% whole wheat)
1 to 2 Cubes of Butter

Directions:
1. Pour medium hot water in mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to dissolve.
2. Add sugar, salt, and oil. Gradually add approximately 6 cups of flour.
3. Melt 1-2 cubes butter on cookie sheet in oven as it is heating to 400 degrees and melt in oven. 4. Place dough on cookie sheet and press to fill pan, make sure butter gets on top of the dough.
5. Allow to double in size (About 10-15 minutes)
6. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until desired browning is accomplished.
7. Cut into strips or top with favorite pizza toppings.

* When using regular yeast change amount to 2 Tbsp.

For more tips and tricks for using food storage in your everyday recipes, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET

Ask Belinda! How to protect your garden from pests, critters, heat and chill!

Crystal — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:36:57 +0000

You may be surprised how easy it actually can be to protect your garden. Amelia (and plenty of others) have emailed me wanting Belinda to show how to protect their garden from all sorts of different things: pets, critters, bugs, heat and chill. Well good for you, Belinda is back teaching us how to easily protect our gardens this year! If you have a question you’d like Belinda to answer, email me at everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com.

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING 101: Protecting your garden from critters, pests, pets, chill and heat!

HAVE QUESTIONS?: Belinda will be around all summer answering your gardening questions. Email questions to everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

Day Six: Watering

Day Seven: Seeds with bonus videos on how to start your seeds indoors!

Day Eight: Planting!

Harvesting Spinach with out the Grit!

Growing with the vertical trellis

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)
Critter Cage (featured in the video)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.

The Latest from Studio 5 with a working link!: Making your own Rhodes Rolls!

Crystal — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:00:50 +0000

Yes, for the next few weeks, I’m going to share tips on how to make bread in a hurry and today is the first of my tips. Making your own freezer dough (think your very own homemade Rhode’s Rolls) is awesome! You can make dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, baked doughnuts in a cinch plus since you’re making it you can add in as much food storage as you’d like! I’m telling you this is one of the biggest tips for being a super mom! Now anytime I’m going to a potluck or dinner with friends, I always bring rolls because let’s face it, no one-not no one- doesn’t love warm rolls fresh from the oven. And there is nothing more than I love than pulling this all off with a spotless kitchen and little effort on my part! I shared it all on Studio 5 today so here is the link where you can get caught up on it all too-plus, my most requested recipe (Orange rolls) and a new recipe for Whole wheat herbed rolls. Both I brought to different functions this weekend and both were gobbled up before I could hardly blink!

DIRECTIONS FOR TURNING YOUR FAVORITE ROLL RECIPE INTO RHODE’S ROLLS!

Method:

1. Make dough according to recipe. Allow for one rise (optional) and shape dough into rolls. 2. Place rolls on lightly floured baking sheet and freeze for 2 hours. 3. Remove rolls and store in gallon sized freezer bag. Baking Freezer Rolls: 1. Remove rolls and allow to thaw and rise on counter for 90 minutes to 2 hours. (You can also remove rolls the night before and place in fridge to thaw, then allow to rise in warm area for about 30 minutes) 2. Bake according to directions.

Orange Rolls

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 t. yeast)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling (3 T. non instant milk powder OR 1/3 c. instant
milk powder + 1 C. water-I added my water to the 1/4 c. water mentioned above for
dissolving my east)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening (or 1/2 C. bean puree)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten (2 T. dry egg powder and NO WATER)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
5 1/2 cups flour, sifted (I used 3/4 c. whole WHITE wheat flour and the rest bread flour)
Plain Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 teaspoon butter
Orange Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 c. orange juice, 1 teaspoon butter, and 1 t.
grated orange peel
Method:

1. Sprinkle yeast in the warm water and set aside.
2. In another bowl, blend milk, sugar, shortening, and salt. Cool until lukewarm, then add eggs, water with yeast, orange juice, and orange peel.
3. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Knead dough 5-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.
5. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 3 sections. Roll dough into circle and then cut into 16 pieces (like a pizza). Starting at thickest part of wedge roll up (will look like a crescent roll).
6. Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until nearly double in size.
Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12-15 minutes.
7. For the glaze, stir powdered sugar, water, and butter together. Frost rolls with the glaze while they are still warm.

Whole Wheat Herbed Rolls

Ingredients:

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2-3/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or 1/2 C. bean puree)
1/4 cup honey or molasses
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons garlic
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg, beaten (1 T. dry egg powder with NO water)4 cups whole wheat flour
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Method:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add the oil, honey, salt, seasonings, egg, whole wheat flour and remaining water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes (or use a kitchen mixer). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into three portions. Divide each into 16 pieces. Shape each into rolls. Cover and let rise until doubled, 20-25 minutes.
4. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Yield: 4 dozen.

Click HERE to view the recipes and my segment on Studio 5 today and learn how to make your own Rhode’s like rolls!

HUGE SUN OVEN SALE!

Don’t forget about the HUGE Global Sun Oven sale going on right now! If you don’t have one-this is the time to get it along with all of the accessories for FREE! Get more information HERE.

Ask Belinda! How to use the vertical trellis to grow peas!

Crystal — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:21:14 +0000

Remember, I told you Belinda would be back once a week answering your gardening questions! Today’s question is from Heather and it’s all about how to use grow peas on the trellis. I love that she asked this question because my peas have just popped up. How are your peas going? I hope they’ll be doing even better after you watch this video! If you have a question you’d like Belinda to answer, email me at everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com.

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING 101: Growing Peas using the Trellis!

HAVE QUESTIONS?: Belinda will be around all summer answering your gardening questions. Email questions to everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

Day Six: Watering

Day Seven: Seeds with bonus videos on how to start your seeds indoors!

Day Eight: Planting!

Harvesting Spinach with out the Grit!

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.

Graham Crackers-Whole Wheat Food Storage Recipes

Crystal — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:30:11 +0000

Who knew you could make such amazing graham crackers right at home? Karen from ID sent me a GREAT recipe (it tastes like a mix between graham crackers and Teddy Grahams). It’s easy to make and uses food storage so you know I’d love it! I went ahead and made a how-to video on how to make them so…enjoy!

Graham Crackers-from Karen in Chubbuck, ID
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup plus 1 T. sugar (I use brown sugar)
3 T. honey, warmed
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup plus 2 T. water
I add in 1-2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine shortening, sugar, honey and vanilla.
Blend until smooth. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and then
add dry mixture to the wet ingredients and blend well with electric mixer.
Slowly add water to the mixture while beating. You may have to mix by hand
until the mixture forms a large ball of dough.

Divide the dough in thirds and roll one third out on waxed paper till at
least 1/16″ thick. It should be very thin. Use a knife to trim into a
rectangle slightly smaller than the sheet pan you will be using. Grease
the baking pan with a light coating of shortening. Turn the dough over
onto the baking sheet and remove the wax paper.

Use a knife to score the dough into smaller crackers. Use a toothpick (or
fork) to poke holes over the entire surface of the dough. Bake for 22 to
24 minutes, or until the dough begins to turn light brown around the
edges. Turn the baking sheet around halfway through baking time for even
browning. Cool the crackers before breaking them apart along the scored
lines. Repeat process for remaining dough. If desired, you can sprinkle a
cinnamon/sugar mixture over the dough before baking to make cinnamon
grahams.

Ask Belinda! How to Harvest Spinach with out the Grit

Crystal — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:57:19 +0000

Remember, I told you Belinda would be back once a week answering your gardening questions! Today’s question is from Bree and it is actually going to change how I garden…in that I’ll grow spinach. She wanted to know how to harvest spinach (and lettuce for that matter) with out all of the grit. We all know there are not many worse things in this world than a rocky, sandy salad. Well have no fear! Belinda has opened my eyes (and yours) on how to successfully harvest your spinach and store it for up to TWO WEEKS in your refrigerator! So if you have a question you’d like Belinda to answer, email me at everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com.

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING 101: Harvesting Spinach-CORRECTLY!

HAVE QUESTIONS?: Belinda will be around all summer answering your gardening questions. Email questions to everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

Day Six: Watering

Day Seven: Seeds with bonus videos on how to start your seeds indoors!

Day Eight: Planting!

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.

Square Foot Gardening 101: WATERING

Crystal — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:41:04 +0000

It’s finally here! The week long class dedicated to Square Foot Gardening! Because I am no expert on gardening, I’ve enlisted the help of Belinda Jensen the Square Foot Gardening pro from Home Gardens To Go to teach us all how to have successful, virtually weed-free gardens this year! Belinda was trained under Mel Bartholomew (Mr. Square Foot Gardening, himself), teaches square foot gardening classes in Utah, and trains anyone who wants to become Square Foot Gardening certified! If you haven’t met Belinda yet, make sure you check out the first day of the class posted last Monday which introduces Belinda and goes over the basics and benefits of Square Foot Gardening. Remember, I’ve decided to dedicate all of this month to gardening and specifically this week long class with Belinda…because this is MY year and YOUR year to have a thriving hassle-free garden!

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING 101 DAY SIX: Watering!

It’s important before you do anything else that you decide HOW you are going to water your Square Foot Garden. You have a couple options which Belinda shows you in the video and remember the most important thing is to be consistent!

TOMORROWS VIDEO: All about seeds!

WANT THAT COOL DRIP SYSTEM BELINDA TALKS ABOUT?

I pretty much think these are the coolest things since sliced bread! I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to develop a drip system for my boxes until I was smart enough to look at Belinda’s accessories page on her website to see she had already solved this problem for me! It really makes gardening hassle free (especially if you plan on going out of town this summer and don’t want to find some one who will hopefully remember to water your precious garden! Head on over to Belinda’s website to get yours today!

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.

Square Foot Gardening 101: Composting!

Crystal — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:19:39 +0000

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING 101 DAY FIVE: Composting!

Composting is a great way to reuse and recycle items from your yard, garden, and kitchen! Compost is nutrient rich and GREAT for your plants! Belinda teaches us how to easily have your own compost pile and how to do it correctly!

TOMORROWS VIDEO: Watering your Square Foot Garden!

WANT THAT COOL COMPOSTING BIN OR LITTLE KITCHEN COMPOST KEEPER?

OUTDOOR COMPOST TUMBLER

This cool LIFETIME 65 gallon compost tumbler is the same that Belinda showed in the video. You can sometimes catch them at Costco or you can get one at Amazon for 30% off the regular price. Click HERE to get yours at Amazon today!

KITCHEN COMPOST KEEPER:

Wasn’t Belinda’s little kitchen compost keeper so cute? It’s a great way to collect your peels and items you need to get to your compost with out having a pile of waste sitting near your kitchen sink. You can pick up Belinda’s handy dandy kitchen compost keeper at Amazon. Click HERE to get it today! You can also find kitchen compost keepers at Lowe’s.

DID YOU MISS A DAY OF THE SQUARE FOOT GARDENING CLASS?

No problem! Click one of the links below to see what you’ve missed!

GET PRO HELP FOR YOUR GARDEN!

Local (Utah) Square Foot Garden Packages
Shipped Square Foot Garden Packages
Square Foot Gardening Accessories (Mel’s Mix Soil, Drip Irrigation Systems, Grids, etc.)

She is also offering all of you a FREE copy of Mel’s book The All NEW Square Foot Gardening with a garden package purchase-use the code “Q44I63MPGWH9Q” at check out.