Monday Message

"Can or bottle fruit and vegetables from your gardens and orchards. Learn how to preserve food through drying and possibly freezing. Make your storage a part of your budget. Store seeds and have sufficient tools on hand to do the job." (President Ezra Taft Benson) 

So today I did nine pints of salsa - yum! 

To do this I had to wash the tomatoes, blanch the tomatoes, remove and save the skins to dry them...

When the skins are dry, I will pulverize them and use as tomato powder.

Then the water I used to blanch with I put two tablespoons in the bathroom sink drain and the tub drain followed with vinegar (about the same amount) then the blanch water followed that because the drains were a little slow and this is how I clear them (only boiling water) but that was what the blanch water was...whew.

We had some really ripe bananas...

I made them into banana bread, two loaves and a cake.

BANANA BREAD 

1 3/4 c. Flour
1 1/4 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/3 c. Shortening
2/3 c. Sugar
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 c. Mashed bananas
Optional: I put in chopped walnuts

Mix the sugar and shortening together. When creamed, add the eggs and bananas. Mix well then add the dry ingredients. Once mixed I throw in walnuts, you don't have to though some put in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees. Start checking after thirty-five minutes by poking with toothpick. When it comes out clean it is done.

My tip: let the bread stay in the pan for five minutes then remove it, comes out way easier.

So this was a peek in at my morning.

It was a busy one for sure but the rewards for all that hard work are well worth it.

Little by little the things add up. We will enjoy that salsa in the winter but we will enjoy the banana yummies tonight with supper...one loaf is slated for giving away.

Keep working on your storage and on your skill building. This recipe today is from scratch so make it and there you go a yummy skill building homework and frugal too.