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Discover How To Soften Strawberries & Save

William @ Plum Cookin' — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 17:47:06 +0000

Discover How To Soften Strawberries At Home And Stop Paying To Much

Once you discover how to soften strawberries at home and discover just how easy they are to make, storebought will just seem like you’re wasting your time and money.

Seriously, macerated strawberries are so easy to make that there is no reason to purchase sweetened and softened strawberries.

Making them yourself literally takes the same or even less time than thawing out a package of them from the grocery store.

What Your Going To Need

Strawberries. They can be fresh or frozen. As long as they are clean and the green stem and leaves have been removed, you’re ready to go.
Sugar
A bowl or two
A strainer (But only if you want to remove excess juice)

How To Put It Together

Add strawberries to a bowl.

Cover strawberries with sugar

Cover and let sit on the counter for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight.

Drain off and freeze for later use, any excess strawberry juice you don’t want to use in your recipe.

Dessert Ideas

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Cook The Best Dry Pinto Beans On The Stove

Karen and Denny's Kitchen — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 04:26:27 +0000

Dry Beans Save You Money

Every 15 or 16-ounce can of pinto beans equals about 1½ cups of cooked beans, drained.

2 cups of dry pinto beans = 1 pound of dry pinto beans.

1 pound of dry pinto beans = about six cups (or 4 cans) of cooked beans, drained.

The cost of 1 pound of dry pinto beans is roughly the same (or less) than that of a single can of cooked pinto beans.

Officially, dried pinto beans have a minimum shelf life of one to two years, according to the USDA. Unofficially, they keep pretty much forever. Dried beans are considered non-perishable

2 Ingredient Pinto Beans

All you really need are just two ingredients to cook pinto beans

Dry Pinto Beans

Water

Cooking pinto beans on the stove is easy to do, tastes so much better than canned beans from the store, and as a bonus, it’s cheaper as well.

There are literally hundreds of other ingredients you can add to this simple bean recipe to make your special dish but not only are they completely optional, but they also don’t have to be added right away.

Not only are beans easy to make, but they are also nutritious, filling, and incredibly versatile! They can be used as a side dish or added to other dinner recipes like burritos, tostadas, soups, stews, and so much more.

I have been making this very simple pinto bean recipe for years. Then once I have the beans cooked up and ready to go, I can use them later in other recipes. This way I have all the convenience of those canned beans from the supermarket but for a fraction of the cost.

Once you start getting into a routine of making and having pinto beans cooked up and ready to go, they will quickly become a staple around your kitchen.

Optional Seasonings

Of course, there are a number of seasonings you may want to routinely add to your basic pinto bean recipe, (especially if you plan to eat the pot of beans right away) the most obvious being salt.

Salt helps to bring out and enhance the natural flavors of just about any food but it is not necessary for this basic pinto bean recipe. They will cook up and store just fine without a single grain added. Then you can simply add salt according to your other recipes later.

But, You Could Add:

1 teaspoon of salt and then adjust as needed.

1/2 onion diced or minced

3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic

How To Cook Dry Pinto Beans

Start By Sorting Your Beans

The easiest way to sort your beans that I have ever found is to spread a towel across the countertop. A plain white tea towel is ideal for this but any towel will work.

Then spread your beans out into a single layer on the towel and pick out any rocks, shriveled up, or even split beans and discard them.

My simple rule is if it doesn’t look like the other 500 beans laying there, it’s out of there.

Rinse Your Beans

Pour your beans into a strainer or colander and rinse with cold water to remove any small unseen debris from the beans.

Soak your beans

Place your rinsed beans into a jar or bowl and cover them with at least two or three inches of water. Cover the jar and leave it on the counter in a cool place out of any direct sunlight for at least 8 hours. Overnight works great. If you prefer to soak them in your refrigerator you can but the soaking time will take longer.

Soaking your beans not only allows them to rehydrate, but soaking also helps them to cook more evenly and cuts down on the overall cooking time.

Discard The Soaking Water

Once your beans have been soaked overnight you will see that they have just about doubled in size. Pour them back into a strainer or colander and discard the water they soaked in. I usually give them a quick second rinse at this point.

To Cook Your Beans

Rinse your soaked pinto beans, place them into a large pot and cover them with add about 2 1/2 quarts of fresh clean water. (This is also the perfect time to add any of those additional seasonings if you’re just planning to eat them tonight.)

Bring the beans to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer, cover and cook for 2 or 3 hours checking the water level and stirring occasionally.

After about 2 hours give them a quick taste. They should be tender with a soft smooth texture. If not, let them cook for another 30 to 60 minutes or until they’ve cooked through to the level you are looking for.

Storing Cooked Pinto Beans

Short Term Storage

Your cooked pinto beans will keep for about 4 days in the refrigerator. For best results let beans cool completely and use an airtight container.

Long Term Storage

Your cooked pinto beans will easily keep in the freezer for at least 4 to 6 months. For best results in the freezer use freezer-safe containers or freezer bags removing as much air as possible.

A Few Ideas For Using Cooked Pinto Beans

Refried Beans

Add to Burritos

Taco Salads

Beans and Franks

Ham and Beans

Use as a side dish

Add To Salads

Add to Soups

Chili

More Side Dish Ideas

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Easiest Ways To Save Green Beans

Karen and Denny's Kitchen — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 14:47:32 +0000

The Easiest Ways To Save Green Beans

For Long-Term Storage

There are many ways to save green beans, but as long as you have the freezer space, freezing is probably the easiest way. Plus you have the convenience of just grabbing a few beans at a time if that is all you need when using them for soups, stews, stir fry, etc.

Whether you grow green beans in your garden, pick them up at a local farmer’s market, or even just find a great special on fresh green beans at your local market, you’re going to need to find ways to save green beans and freezing is one of the best ways to preserve green beans for future use.

Freezing green beans does more than just keep them for later use though. When done right, freezing is one of the best ways to save green beans because it will bring a level of convenience to your kitchen that is hard to beat.

To properly freeze green beans you need to blanch them before freezing. This helps to ensure that they retain nutrients, color, texture, and flavor throughout their life in your freezer.

To create convenience you’re going to want to freeze them in a two-step process. Start by flash-freezing them in a single layer after blanching, then move the frozen beans to a large bag.

Taking this step allows you to freeze large bags of beans that are not all stuck together. Then you can simply take out a few handfuls at a time or the amount you need for dinner, rather than having to deal with a large clump of frozen beans.

Prepare Your Green Beans Before You Blanch Them

It is best to work in small batches so start with about a pound of beans.

Place a gallon or so of water on the stove to boil and another gallon of ice water in a large bowl. “One side of a clean sink works well for this also.”

Wash the green beans and break the stem ends of the beans. Green beans sometimes have a tough stringy thing that runs down the side. When you snap off the stem ends also bull any string from the bean. See the video for more info.

You can leave the beans full length if you wish but if the beans ate long enough you may wish to break them up into inch-long pieces. “It’s just personal preference here”

Another great way to save green beans is by creating french style green beans.

Blanching Green Beans

One of the ways to save green beans is by blanching them with a steamer or you can boil them. Personally, I find blanching by boiling to be one of the easiest ways to save green beans. Simply drop the beans into a pot of rapidly boiling water, then return to a light boil and cook for about 3 minutes.

Pro Tip: “Work in small batches, no more than a pound of beans to a gallon of boiling water.”Your water should return to a light boil within about a minute, if not you are overcrowding the pot, and should try fewer beans on the next batch.

The goal here is not to cook them all the way through but lightly. This will stop the enzyme process which otherwise causes a loss of color, flavor, and texture.

Cool The Beans

Lift the beans out of the boiling water and drain the excess water. Immediately place them into your ice water and allow them to sit in the ice water for a good three or four minutes to stop any internal heat from continuing to cook the beans. Then lift them out into a strainer and let them drain in a strainer for a couple of minutes to remove excess water.

Flash Freeze – Single Layer

Spread the blanched, cooled, and drained green beans out on a sheet pan in a single layer. It doesn’t need to be perfect but the less crowded the beans are the better your results will be. Place the sheet pans of beans into the freezer, undisturbed for at least an hour or two.

Long Term Storage

Remove the pans from the freezer and place the beans into large freezer storage containers or large freezer bags. Squeeze out as much air as possible, seal, and label the packages with the month and year.

How Long Will They Keep

One great reason freezing is one of the best ways to save green beans is because frozen green beans will keep for a year no problem. Yes, they are still okay to eat after that but at that but at that point, their quality will begin to decline slowly.

More Preserving Recipes

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How To Freeze Zucchini For Zucchini Bread

Karen and Denny's Kitchen — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:00:41 +0000

How To Freeze Zucchini

For Making Zucchini Bread Later

Ever grow zucchini and walk out one morning to discover several giant zucchini that you did not pick when they were small? Or for that matter just suddenly discover that your zucchini is doing incredibly well and you have zucchini coming out your ears?

More Preserving Recipes

Local Farmers Markets

Easy Wrapped and Roasted Garlic Scapes

Karen and Denny's Kitchen — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 14:34:49 +0000

Roasted garlic scapes are a great way to use fresh garlic scapes are in season.

Wrapped And Roasted Garlic Scapes

Freshly roasted garlic scapesare easy to make and there are several ways to do it. When you make roasted garlic scaFes the flower head gets a kind of stringy texture to it, so you will want to trim those off and discard them or chop them up for use in a different recipe. Wash and clean the scapes placing them in a large bowl. Add your olive oil and massage the scapes with salt. Lay out a large piece of aluminum foil and wrap the garlic scapes tightly in the foil. You can toss them on the grill or lay the package on a sheet pan in a hot oven to roast them

Why Don’t They Sell Garlic Scapes In The Store

Of course you can’t make roasted garlic scapes if you can’t find garlic scapes.

First, they typically have to cut the garlic scape off the plant by hand, but you can find garlic scapes in some markets, especially farmer’s markets.
You’ll have to be quick about purchasing your garlic scapes because garlic scapes are a very short-season crop. If you find them at all, it will likely be in the last few weeks of June.

The First Problem, store-bought sour cream is cheaper because they reduce the cost of making the sour cream by adding regular milk instead of cream along with a lot of thickening agents, starches, and gums, among other more artificial ingredients.

The Second Problem is, When you find a quality store-bought sour cream that doesn’t contain all the added junk, the price tends to become prohibitive. Therefore you do not save any money by making it yourself, so unless you’re just experimenting, you may as well have just purchased the cultured butter.

When, Where, and How To Plant Garlic

One great solution for having freshly roasted garlic scapes is to grow your own garlic.

While you can plant garlic in the early spring, garlic, people will usually plant it during the cool of fall as temperatures begin to come down.

Zones 1-4 plant bulbs in late October – November.
Zones 5-7 September – October
Zones 8-9 November – December(In Zone 8-9) You’ll need to store your garlic bulbs in the refrigerator for at least a couple of months before planting them, allowing the garlic to go through the vernalization process of a cold winter.

To grow garlic in 1 year, you will want to plant garlic cloves instead of seeds.

You can plant 4-9 garlic gloves per sq. foot in a garden bed, raised bed, planter boxes, or even in pots, and the bulbs will grow throughout the fall, winter, and spring. I usually plant 5 leaving plenty of room for the bulbs to grow. Cover them with a few inches of leaves or straw for the winter and rake most of that back in the spring.

Buy garlic for planting here

Easy Homemade Yellow Mustard

Karen and Denny's Kitchen — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 16:44:10 +0000

A Very Easy Homemade Yellow Mustard Recipe

Who in America didn’t grow up with that classic mild yellow mustard spread across a hot dog?

The surprising thing is, once you’ve made yellow mustard yourself and discovered just how simple it is to do: you’re probably never going to be happy with that store-bought stuff again.

Homemade Yellow Mustard

The best part is when you make homemade yellow mustard, you’re in control of the ingredients, so you know what’s in it. Better still, homemade yellow mustard will keep in the refrigerator for up to a year. That’s right, a year. No need to add any additional or artificial preservatives or other ingredients you’re not sure how to pronounce. Just like when making homemade pickles, both the vinegar and salt help to preserve food. So let them do their thing in your homemade mustard as well.

If you’re going to start making things like homemade yellow mustard, you’re going to need to break a very bad habit most of us in America do every time we go grocery shopping. Simply put, we need to stop buying things in such small quantities. All that does is increase the price you pay per oz for the products you purchase.

Whether you call it ground mustard, mustard powder, dry mustard, or mustard flour, as long as you keep it dry, it will easily keep for 3 to 4 years and as long as you do things like make your own yellow mustard, you will go through it. So instead of buying those little bitty containers, buy mustard flour by the pound. You will save quite a bit of money compared to what you would spend on those tiny containers, and you’ll always have mustard flour around for other recipes that call for it as well.

When you first mix up a batch of mustard, the taste is quite hot. The secret steps to creating a bold yet milder homemade yellow mustard, by comparison, is cooking it for several minutes and then letting it age a bit. In fact, you’ll want to allow your mustard to age several days before its first use and the longer your mustard ages the milder it will become.

What Else Would I Use Mustard Flour Used For

Other Than Making Mustard

You can use it to make any other type of mustard you can imagine, including Hot mustard for things like egg rolls, and mustard sauce for ham or bbq, mustard flour is typically found in mayonnaise, salad dressings, and so much more.

FAQ’s

How long will it keep?

The best if used by date on the dry mustard package, (as well as other packaged foods) is the manufacturer’s suggestion for peak quality, not food safety. When stored properly, dry mustard flour is fine long after the best if used by date and, as long as you keep your mustard flour dry, in an airtight container, and preferably out of direct sunlight, it should keep for 3 to 4 years.

Homemade yellow mustard will keep in the refrigerator for up to one year.
If you want to store the yellow mustard at room temperature until opening the jar, leave a 1/4-inch headspace when filling the jar and process it in a water-bath canner for 5 minutes to seal the jar.

How can you tell if mustard flour is bad or spoiled?

Our senses are the best judge. The best way to tell is to look at and smell mustard flour. If insects appear in the flour or the mustard flour loses flavor, it should be discarded. The best rule of thumb is simple when in doubt throw it out.

For more information on the length of storage, check with our friends at StillTasty

If you are looking for some of the best airtight containers for seasonings to store your yellow mustard in, I would highly recommend you check here.

Once you’ve become a pro at this recipe, Why not try your luck at homemade mayonnaise?