Produce & Pantry

Eggplant seeds may be removed prior to using in recipes that call for eggplant, or removed and stored for planting during the local growing season. Removing eggplant seeds carefully following the...

Preserving peppers, whether they are sweet peppers or hot peppers is a good way to store excess produce from the garden. By preserving your own peppers, you will be able to avoid the high cost of...

Growing your own tomatoes, or buying tomatoes in bulk, can save money and provide you with the freshest, best vegetables. However, having so many tomatoes lying around can cause a problem if you...

We all know that fresh fruit and vegetables are part of a healthy diet, but fear of foodborne illnesses and pesticide residue has made some of us hesitant to buy and consume them. Proper food...

Beets are a type of root vegetable that grows in cool temperatures, especially the fall and spring. Although canned beets are available in grocery stores all year long, they don't have the same...

Roasted bell peppers make a nice addition to salads and pastas, and are a healthy snack too. You can buy roasted bell peppers by the jar at many grocery stores. But you can also roast bell peppers...

Yellow split peas are full of protein and other nutrients, making them a nutritious ingredient to add to soups and other savory recipes. A soaking period is not required for yellow split peas;...

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"---remember that? There's a lot of truth in that simple phrase. According to the George Mateljan Foundation for the World's Healthiest Foods, apples are...

It doesn't take very many pole bean plants to produce more beans than your family can eat fresh. There are three ways to preserve excess pole beans; freezing, canning and drying. All three...

I will show you in three easy steps the easiest and fastest way to peel your potatoes, white or red. This is the best, no more messy peels falling to the floor. No more red hands. I wish I have...

When using apples, you might have noticed that the fruit turns an unappetizing brown after cutting. This results from oxygen reacting with enzymes in the apple to create a brown or grayish hue....

Love the simplicity of using pumpkins for decorations - but feel guilty about letting food go to waste? Save your pumpkin for baking! Follow these simple directions for keeping your pumpkin all...

Growing sprouts from alfalfa seeds is not only entertaining, but the seeds are exceptionally nutritious as well. With only a few household items and materials, you can successfully sprout and grow...

Fava beans, also known as broad beans, are vividly green legumes with a nutty flavor and smooth, buttery texture. Although they gained notoriety in the 1991 hit "The Silence of the Lambs" as one...

If you like fresh okra but have too many pods to use in one meal, you can use your Foodsaver to freeze them. A little preparation is all that is needed to ensure you retain your okra's color,...

If you love the taste of fresh raspberries, preserve their deliciousness by dehydrating the berries in your conventional oven. Dehydrate raspberries to store them for a long time. The raspberries...

Learning how to preserve food the old-fashioned way will save money on your grocery bill and also may help you feel a bond with the generations before you who preserved their own food after...

Green snap beans are one of many bean varieties that are often frozen for use long after the gardening season has ended. Preparing green snap beans for the freezer takes a bit of time, but the end...

Asparagus is a vegetable that grows in thin stalks and is available in green, white or purple varieties. If you purchase fresh asparagus, it must be cooked and eaten within two days or it will...

Half of the enjoyment of a vegetable garden is being able to eat your own home-grown vegetables. The other half of the enjoyment is preserving your harvest so you can enjoy those vegetables all...

Apple picking season is a delight. Fragrant wafts of Macintosh, Granny Smith, Delicious and Honey Crisp apples fill the air. It’s tempting to pick every last globe on the tree – but then you have...

Leeks are a close relative of the onions that resemble scallions except they are larger. When harvesting or selecting them from the produce section, choose leeks that are smaller than 2.5 inches...

Also known as green beans or string beans, snap beans are grown in gardens across the world. Their name derives from the sound they make when broken or snapped. Fresh snap beans are cooked in a...

Growing more than two summer squash plants in your garden will leave you with a harvest that will need to be preserved as squash plants are very prolific. Summer squashes turn to mush in the...

Dehydrating, or drying, food is a process of removing most of the water from food to prolong its storage life. Many dried foods, especially vegetables, must be rehydrated before eating. ...

Two fun harvest items from the summer garden are pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Both of these garden plants are enjoyable to watch as the summer progresses. Pumpkins grow large and turn orange...

Mushrooms are porous in nature, because of this, they will absorb water like a paper towel. Once water seeps in the mushrooms, they will lose flavor and texture. This article will show you how to...

Green beans taste best when they are fresh from the garden, but you can't always find fresh beans. If you can green beans when you first pick them out of your garden, you'll have the next best...

Dill pickles and the boiling water bath canning method go hand in hand and are often a cook's first foray into preserving and canning the harvest. A boiling water bath canner can be an extra...

Zucchini is a type of summer squash that is extremely versatile. It can be eaten raw, baked into breads and casseroles, tossed into salads or a stir-fry, or simply sauteed with a little butter and...

Everyone likes corn on the cob. The problem, though, is that when you harvest your corn you have an abundance, but the rest of the year you have none. This problem can be overcome by freezing...

What is a pantry shelf without freshly home-canned fruits like peaches pears, apples, cherries or plums. These fruits are some of the most available and the easiest to can.

I always notice how many people are crowded around the corn on the cob produce stand and are busy pulling away the husks to find the best ears of corn. You probably noticed this, too. This is...

Honey naturally tends towards crystallization. It is primarily a mixture of water and a variety of sugars, mostly glucose and fructose. In fact, there is more sugar in honey than the water can...

When fruits and berries are in season, visit your local farmers' market and pick up a supply. In addition to enjoying these luscious treats now, you can also preserve them to eat during the long,...

In this article I am going to give you tips on how to keep your cilantro fresh for longer, and how to save money too!

The red currant is proof that bigger is not always better. Under optimal conditions, each 4-foot bush can produce up to 12 pounds of tart red berries which can be served raw, as a salad...

Carrots are a wonderful and healthy meal any time of the year. As summer ends, what can be better than fresh carrots from the garden? Freezing your carrots for use throughout the year is a great...

You can enjoy fresh corn all year round by reading this article for simple instructions.

Are you ready to take that sweet corn and save some for the middle of winter?

You can easily can your own tomatoes and you will be able to savor the wonderful flavor of summer throughout the entire year. The uses for canned tomatoes are limitless. Tomatoes are very acidic...

Almost nothing is as gratifying as preserving your own vegetables from the garden. Sweet pickles are one of the easiest and tastiest things you can make. It's very satisfying to serve them to...

Locating five-gallon water jugs to buy takes a bit of effort, but plastic water jugs can be found in most communities for very little money. Once purchased, the jugs can be reused as needed or...

Most green salad vegetables such as lettuce, cress, green onions, cucumber and radishes are not suitable for freezing. And there are other vegetables upon defrosting making them unsuitable for us...

If you're a fan of the zucchini, which is also known as "summer squash," then you'll likely want to find a way to store it after bringing some home from the grocery store or picking it from your...

Sugar snap peas are a delicious vegetable chock full or nutrients, flavor and few calories. Besides being used fresh in salads, stir frys and many other types of dishes, you can freeze them to...

Very often when making a new recipe, the ingredients will call for a milk product you do not have. That can be a problem unless you have a box of dry milk on your pantry shelf. In many cases you...

Potassium sorbate is a common preservative. When you buy it from a store, it will likely be in a concentrated powdered form. To use it, you must first dilute it to a 25 percent solution, but since...

Nectarines are smooth-skinned cultivars of peaches, but are usually smaller and slightly sweeter than most peaches. Although most nectarines appear reddish in color, there are also white and...

Yellow squash is a favorite vegetable of many people and is commonly referred to as summer squash. Also known as a constricted necked squash because the end where it attaches to the stem of the...