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*HOT* New Zaycon Fresh Customers: 40lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts just $39.60!

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you probably know about Zaycon! If not, listen up and sign up quickly, this deal ends tomorrow 2/19/18!

They are offering first time Zaycon customers an amazing deal – the lowest price I’ve ever seen on boneless, skinless chicken breast. They are offering new members a whole 40lb case of chicken for just $39.60 – less than $1/lb! That’s pretty incredible! After signing up, use code 99FRESH at checkout.

Zaycon offers quality meats in bulk at excellent prices all over the country and many times a year. After you sign up, you can find a pick up location close to you and find a date that works for you as well. Keep in mind that they do often sell out so you’ll want to find a date and book ASAP (especially before this $39.60 offer ends!). You’ll drive up to the location, and they’ll load your meat in your car! Now you will have to go home that day and start processing all the meat. This is an excellent time to make up freezer meals, pressure cook some chicken, freeze soups/casseroles, cut and freeze for tenders and stir frys, and the list goes on. Making up easily meals for my freezer is my favorite part of all of this, it means less cooking I have to do in the evenings after work. If you can’t store 40lbs of chicken, feel free to go in with family and friends. I use easily 2-5lbs of chicken each week so this is no biggie for us!

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Instant Pot Recipe: Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

I’ve had an Instant Pot for over 2.5 years and I really do love it. There is certainly a learning curve and learning which kind of recipes work best for your family! I use mine weekly for plain white rice and/or soup! Rice is easy; I don’t have to worry about it boiling over or turning the stove off when done. And I really love white rice. But even better, is using the Instant Pot for soup. I can make a soup or chicken and dumplings taste like it has been cooking all afternoon. It really blends flavors together so quickly and it’s so easy!

My favorite Instant Pot soup is Chicken Tortilla Soup. I make it all the time. I like it because it’s yummy of course, but it’s so easy! I put this soup together in 15 minutes. I timed it. Tonight, I walked in from work at 5:54, I took off my jacket, washed hands, etc. and from 6-6:15, I got all the ingredients inside the pot and got it started! I did zero work beforehand. I just had to get canned goods from the pantry, spices from the cabinet, and chicken from the fridge.  I didn’t dirty a single thing except a fork to transfer raw chicken and a spoon to scoop in some minced garlic. How’s that for lack of dirty dishes?!

If you know me, I’m not a recipe follower when it comes to cooking dinner. I’ll follow a recipe when I have to for baking and canning, but for dinner, I don’t have time to measure things. I wouldn’t have gotten this in the pot in under 15 minutes had I taken time to measure. So, I do apologize for the lack of “recipe”, but I’ll tell you what I used this time around but it certainly changes every time. This soup is super flexible so use what you like and have on hand. No canned tomatoes? Use fresh! Have fresh onion/pepper to dice? Be my guest! Hate corn? Leave it out! Love beans? Add extra!

Ingredients I Used:

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • 4 cups of chicken stock
  • 1 can of black beans
  • 1 can of corn (could use frozen)
  • 1 quart of canned tomatoes (these are from my garden – You can also use 1-2 regular sized cans from the store)
  • Onion (I used dehydrated to save time)
  • Minced garlic (fresh, refrigerated, powdered, whatever!)
  • Cilantro (I had dried)
  • Chili powder (to taste)
  • Taco Seasoning and/or Cumin (to taste)
  • Salt/Pepper (to taste)
  1. The first thing I do is put the pot on Saute, add some oil, and add my chicken. I just slightly cook it so it’s a little golden on both sides. This isn’t necessary but I feel like it helps get things going while I get out my spices.
  2. Add all other ingredients (spices, chicken stock, beans (drained), corn (drained), garlic, onion, tomatoes).
  3. I use the “Soup” setting for 8 minutes.
  4. The soup did take 25 minutes to come to pressure in my Instant Pot. It seems like others online have much faster Instant Pots than I do, so if yours is slow too, don’t feel alone.
  5. I let the soup have a 10 minute natural release and then I opened the vent.
  6. I quickly shred the chicken, but it usually falls apart with ease.
  7. Serve with tortilla chips, avocado, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, etc – whatever you have on hand!
  8. I store leftovers in canning jars in the fridge. The pints are the perfect size for lunch, quarts are a good 2-person dinner. I also like to freeze my soups in Foodsaver bags for quick meals!

This made 6 pints/servings (12 cups). Feel free to add/decrease as needed.

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Frugal Idea: Buying and Cutting a Whole Boneless Pork Loin

Here’s a different post for you guys and I hope you find it helpful! We’re all looking for ways to be more frugal so I wanted to share what I finally did this week. ShopRite had their whole boneless pork loin on sale for $1.99/lb which is a good price, but with the in-ad coupon, you pay just $0.99/lb which is fantastic! I picked up the largest I could find and it was just over 7lbs. My mom also got one for 6.5lbs and I told her that I’d take hers home to cut and freeze while I was already getting my tools out and kitchen dirty.

These pieces of meat can be intimidating and a lot of people just pass over the deal. I mean, it’s a heavy, long piece of meat! How are you going to cook it?! But, if you bring it home and spend 20 minutes, you can make up so great cuts of meat for the fridge/freezer for a great price.

First, I simply prepared my work surface by placing some dishwasher-safe cutting boards down, getting a platter to put the cuts of meat, and paper towels accessible. I took the pork loin out of its package and laid it out on the cutting board. You’ll want a nice, sharp knife! I trimmed off each end to “square it off”, so my pork chops and pork loins would be pretty even. The pieces I cut off can be sliced or chunked for stir fry, kabobs, etc.

Then, I cut a few pork chops (I don’t think they are technically called pork chops, but that’s what I’m going with), about an inch thick, but you can obviously cut them the size you want. You can butterfly them, stuff them, or use a mallet to make them thin. It’s whatever you want!

Second, I cut 2 nice size pork roasts. Of course, cut them to the size your family needs. The only trimming I did was a tiny bit of excess fat. The amount of waste was very, very minimal. I was impressed. I was able to use at least 99% of the pork loin.

From each loin (about 7lbs), I got about 6 pork chops, 2 pork roasts, and some scraps for a recipe. That’s easily meat for 4 dinners (& leftovers too) for $7. I was impressed with the whole process and will not pass up a$0.99/lb pork loin again! Like I said, the amount of fat was very fair (you’ll want some fat on your pork for flavor!); I only trimmed a bit. There’s no bone and it’s a very easy cut. After I was done cutting, I used a FoodSaver to prepare the meat for the freezer. I froze 4 pork chops in a package, 1 pork roast per package, and all the slices of pork I’m saving for fried rice/stir fry.

I learned how to cut this by watching a video on Youtube. It’s really easy and really worth it in my opinion!

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DIY Plantain Salve (Common Yard Weed) for Itches and Burns

Making your own Plantain Salve is an easy way to make a natural relief salve for your family using a common yard weed! Plantain leaves (aka Plantago major) is found in North America, Europe and Asia! It’s very likely you have some in your yard or neighborhood right now. Plantain leaves have amazing medicinal benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant. They are even edible and can be eaten in a salad or made into tea. My favorite use for plantain leaves is to stop itchies from mosquito bites which are very common around here and this is where the salve comes in handy! I would rather use this natural salve than another product with yucky ingredients. Instead of making the salve, you can actually mash up some plantain leaves (maybe add some spit!) and rub it right on the bite while you’re outside. I found the salve to be a nicer alternative to leaves and spit. It’s a great project to do with the kids and it really comes in handy during the summer with bug bites and sunburns. You’ll want to pick your leaves from an area that has not been treated with pesticides. Plantain comes in wide leaf and thin leaf. I prefer the wide leaf if you can find it, but both will work!

Send your kids out on a mission to pick plantain leaves. Bring them inside (rinse if you want) and let dry. You’ll want to dehydrate them to avoid mold. Leaving them out on a cookie sheet on your covered porch for a few days would be perfect (give a stir daily), if not, dehydrate using your oven on its lowest temperature. After your leaves are free of moisture, they’ll be easy to break up and then put them in a mason jar. You’ll want at least half a pint jar of broken, dried leaves. The amount of leaves isn’t too important, you just need enough to infuse the oil. If you have a lot of leaves, use a quart jar! Fill the rest of the jar with oil (I use oil olive) and let sit for at least 2 weeks, but you can certainly let it go longer. This last batch infused for months as you can see from the dark green oil! After infusing, strain out your leaves and measure your oil.

What you need:

  • Dried plantain leaves
  • Oil (I use Olive Oil – infused with leaves!)
  • Beeswax
  • Essential Oil (optional)
  • Jar or tins for storage

 

In a pot, I mix 4 parts infused oil with 1 part beeswax. So if you have 8 ounces of oil, use 2 ounces of beeswax. Turn on low heat and stir until beeswax is melted. You could also use a double boiler to melt the beeswax and then mix with oil. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. If you want to add essential oil, now is the time. I used Tea Tree oil because of its benefits as an antiseptic and treating wounds. You can use other essential oils of your choice for added benefit and scent. I usually use one drop of oil per ounce of oil/beeswax. For instance, for 8 ounces of oil and 2 ounces of beeswax, I would use about 10 drops of EO, but you can add more or less to your liking. Stir in your essential oil and slowly pour into a jar or small tins. It’ll quickly harden and you’ll have a beautiful salve! It’s ready to use as soon as it cools. Just get some on your finger and rub it on your itch or ouchie.

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Easy Homemade Peasant Bread in Pyrex Bowls

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I finally had a not-so-busy weekend 2 weekends ago and was able to make this recipe that I’ve been eyeing up for years. It seems like everyone in the Pyrex groups always makes this bread (since Pyrex bowls really work perfect for it) and I wanted to give it a try too, finally!

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After the first rise

Before the second rise

The recipe that gets shared around is from AlexandraCooks.com and I’m sure it’s one of her popular posts!

I’m not really a huge fan of baking because I feel like it’s time consuming and you have to follow the recipe exactly. I’m more of a grab and throw in whatever we have on hand type of gal. But, this bread is really easy and I had every ingredient on hand, aside from yeast, which I grabbed at my weekly Aldi run. Flour, salt, water, sugar, yeast and butter. That’s it! I followed the recipe and had the dough in the bowl ready to rise in minutes. It literally was so quick (of course I had to give my Kitchenaid Mixer some love!), I had the dough rising in the oven and everything cleaned up in like 10 minutes. My dough was actually really wet originally and didn’t look like her picture, so I (probably) miscounted flour cups or something. I just added more flour until it looked like her picture and it was perfect!

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She mentioned used the Pyrex 441 size bowl (which was the smaller, orange bowl, which made the taller loaf on the right). 441 definitely worked better, so I’ll be sure to use two 441 bowls next time! If you don’t have these exact bowls on hand, check to see if you have any oven-safe bowls about 1.5 pints each.

Don’t forget, you can join the Facebook Group here to stay in touch!

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Saving Money and Time by Freezer Cooking!

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In our household, we run very busy lives. Between our normal day jobs (which sometimes involve night work for both of us), our own businesses at home, and daily life (including trying to hit the gym 3 times a week), we’re rarely free to make dinner in the evenings. If I get home from work at 6 (which is early, if I go to the grocery store or gym, it’s around 8 when I’m getting home), by the time I work on orders Etsy and/or eBay, it’s too late to even make a dinner. We both love to cook and we have some amazing cookware thanks to my great thrifting and our lovely wedding presents, so cooking is really enjoyable for both of us, we just don’t have the hours in the day.

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A few times so far in 2017, including just last Sunday, we’ve had freezer cooking bursts where I or both of us, cook up the meat I’ve purchased that week and make meals for the coming week and also for the freezer. It really only takes a couple hours and we get about 5-10 meals each time, depending on how much meat I’ve bought. Instead of freezing whole meals, we really only freeze meat. Thanks to Aldi, I’m almost ALWAYS have fresh produce in the fridge which takes about 5 minutes to steam and thanks to the Instant Pot, if we want rice, I can knock it out in about 20 minutes. So that’s less than a 30 minute meal which is about all I have time for, plus so much less mess when the meat/stove portion is already cooked! Most of our meats thaw so quickly that even if I forget to take one out before work, that frozen taco meat can be heated in a pan or microwave in such a short time.

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I stock up on meats, #1 when we need meat, and #2 when it’s at a great price. My “buy” prices for meats are currently: Less than $2/lb for boneless skinless chicken breasts, less than $2.89/lb ground beef, $2/lb or less for ground turkey, and $0.69 chicken legs/thighs. Of course your prices are going to vary based off of prices in your area and the type of meat you’re buying. We don’t do much pork, but that’s another great addition.

Our favorite freezer meat recipes are listed below. These are simply ideas and you’ll want to pick ones that your family loves. These are our favorites and we are happy to eat them every week, usually it’s about every other week as we don’t cook dinner every single night.

  • Korean Beef (I’ll steam broccoli and make rice)
  • Taco meat (use for tacos, nachos, taco salads, etc)
  • Chicken tenders/nuggets *raw* (I’ll slice the large breasts into smaller pieces before freezing because it makes it faster to cook and I prefer the smaller pieces for stir frys)
  • Hamburgers (I’ll steam a veggie and it’s a great night for frozen fries or potatoes!)
  • Plain cooked ground meat (use for spaghetti and meat sauce, baked ziti, or any casserole meal that calls for ground meat)
  • Shredded BBQ Chicken/Pork (I fill a crockpot or Instant Pot with chicken or pork, add BBQ sauce, some water, and seasonings – let cook, shred, freeze)

We always store in freezer bags (quart size works well, gallon if you need bigger). You could use a foodsaver as well! We label each bag with a Sharpie. We freeze enough so at least one person, if not both of us gets leftovers for the next day. It’s really hard in my opinion to portion out how much meat should go in one bag, but sometimes I’ll grab a dinner plate and actually put the meat on my plate to get an idea of what my typical serving is, then I’ll eyeball and multiple by 4.

It’s so nice to come home from work and not having to make a huge meal and mess, but have a great dinner on the table! I always try to keep our favorite fresh veggies on hand for steaming, like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus. I’m also a huge fan of canned green beans 😉 If we’re going to be eating rice more than once that week, I’ll make a double batch and refrigerate the half for another dinner. We aren’t the healthiest eaters ever but we try to be mindful and avoid as many processed foods as possible, but usually after grocery shopping after a long day at work, I’ll come home and put a frozen pizza in the oven. It happens 😉 We try not to overload on carbs (rice is our favorite though) and I ALWAYS make sure to have veggies on hand. At the moment, with our busy lifestyles, this is what works best for us! I hope this motivates you to spend a few hours one night or Sunday afternoon cooking up some of your family’s favorite meals!

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My Review of Home Chef (Dinner Delivery Service)

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Update from 12/27 (below was written weeks ago): we’ve had quite a few of these meals now and they have all been fantastic. I love the recipes and food choices. Totally delicious and easy! I will gladly pay around $5-7 a serving for these meals. I do think that at $10 a serving isn’t something we’d do all the time, but I do think it’s worth it, especially for the busy couples!

If you guys are members of my Facebook Group, Savvy Shoppers, you probably took advantage of the great Home Chef deal I posted a few months ago. I wanted to review my 3 meals and service overall! But first, if you find yourself interested in a dinner delivery service, if you sign up here you’ll receive a $30 credit! It’s also very possible an additional $10 credit pop-up will come up while you’re making your account, saving you $40 (this is random though but most of us got it!).  You’ll pay as low as $2.50-$5/serving shipped and that’s pretty awesome because these meals are great and I really enjoyed the service. If you order 3 meals, your shipping should be free, so play around to get the best price per meal for your family.

Without the credits, which you’ll receive when you sign up, the original price is $9.95 per serving. There is a $10 delivery charge. So for 2 meals for 2 people (4 servings all together), the cost is 49.80 shipped. Cheaper than going on to a nice dinner, definitely, but it is expensive for most of us who are couponing or budgeting the grocery budget. I love that they offer the credit though and it’s definitely worth trying for that!

With the promotion I took advantage of, I was able to score 3 meals for 2 people (6 servings total) for a fantastic price and I wanted to share my experience with you!

First, you choose your delivery day. I chose Wednesday. Your order must be finalized before noon the Friday before. The delivery period was Wednesday from 8am – 8pm. Unfortunately, FedEx was delayed (nothing to do with Home Chef) and our meal wasn’t delivered until after 10:30pm that night and it got left on our porch until morning. (Note: our next week’s delivery was delivered before dinner on Wednesday, no problems!). Due to how well the meals are packed, all of our food was still fine the following morning. Meals are surrounded by insulation and included are a bunch of ice packs! Each meal is packaged in a labeled bag (every 2 servings in a bag) and lasts for about 5-6 days in your fridge. A few of our items got a little smashed during delivery (tomato and jalapeno), I’d like them to offer a bit more protection for soft produce. Another complaint that I’ve heard about these services is that there is a lot of waste. I took a picture of what was left after one of our meals. It is a lot of plastic waste, but a lot could be reused and/or recycled so it didn’t bother me too much!

I loved how organized the meals are with the exact measurements and fresh ingredients. Each herb is carefully packed and all you need to provide (usually) is salt, pepper, and olive oil. I’m really not a recipe follower, but when most of the hard part is done, it’s really fantastic! I timed the meals (most take 35-45 minutes) and my times were about 5-10 minutes more than their times but I was taking pictures (and multitasking with other things) at the same time.

The first meal we tried was:

Chicken Breast with Saffron Beurre Blanc

with roasted Brussels sprouts and red pepper

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It was really good! I loved all the fresh veggies and the chicken was good quality.

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Pictured here is the Saffron that came with the meal. My favorite part about this meal was that we got to use Saffron without having to buy a bottle from the grocery as it is VERY expensive.

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Here is the waste from this meal. Baggies could be reused. The small condiment bottles could be handy too! And the veggie scraps are all compostable.

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We really enjoyed this meal! I do think I overcooked the chicken, but that was my fault. I should have removed the chicken sooner so the veggies could cook by themselves, which the recipe mentioned. Portion size was great.

Our second meal:

Acapulco Steak Tacos

with pico de gallo and cilantro-lime rice

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We loved the tacos! They were our favorite. Again, love the fresh ingredients and the meat was great quality.

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Here’s our tomato and jalapeno that got a little smooshed. I just cut around the bad part, you don’t use all the jalapeno anyway. Our lime had brown spots though, but again, I zested around it. Nothing major and it didn’t hold anything up for us.

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I love my Le Creuset grill pan! Great for avoiding the outside grill if the weather isn’t great.

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My plating isn’t beautiful but these are delicious! It came with enough for 6 tacos. You could certainly stretch this one into 3 servings, especially if you add some beans!

And our last:

Healthy Takeout Orange Chicken

with snap peas and jasmine rice

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Another great meal with fresh ingredients! I love that it came with all the sauces.

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I actually packed mine right up for leftovers. I ate mine serving over 2 days so again, I was very happy with the portion size! I wish they would have made a bigger warning about the spiciness of this recipe. Recipe stated that you could crush the red peppers for more heat. I cut 2 of them in half and stirred them in (I never crushed and left most whole), but it was SO SPICY. I love spicy foods, but this was a little much, so I will definitely be more cautious next time hot peppers like this are included.

So if you want to give this service a try, be sure to sign up with Home Chef  to get your credit! Menus change every week and you get to pick which recipe you want from about 10 choices. I’ve been really enjoying the meals, the great quality, and just trying new stuff!

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Thanksgiving 101: Making Stock From Your Turkey

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My favorite part of the Thanksgiving turkey is the carcass! Making turkey stock is so easy, delicious, and nutritious! Do not ever throw out your carcass again! Even if you aren’t hosing Thanksgiving dinner, you can ask the host what they are doing with the carcass. Don’t let them go in the trash! You also don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to make stock, this can be done with any bones, so anytime you have a baked chicken or beef bones, don’t throw them out! If you don’t have time to make stock right now, just toss the carcass and all the drippings into the freezer.

In a large pot:

  • Carcass
  • Drippings, fat, veggies cooked with the turkey, etc.
  • Carrots (ends and peels work!)
  • Onions (ends and peels work!)
  • Celery (ends and leaves are great)
  • Herbs (I use thyme, parsley and bay leaves)
  • Other veggies of your choice
  • Salt and pepper
  • A tablespoon or 2 of Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Water to cover

As you cook during the week, save your veggie peels and ends for stock making. You can get a gallon size freezer bag and stick the veggies ends in until you’re ready to make stock. The apple cider vinegar helps draw out extra vitamins and minerals out of the bones. Bone broth is so good for you!

Let this cook for at least a few hours or you can even have it cook for a day or two. You can make it in a large crock pot or a large pot. Add more water if necessary. Be sure to keep taste testing to see if it needs anything. If it tastes too watery, let it cook down more. Keep in mind that bone broth will taste different than broth you make from a bouillon cube. Strain your stock. A tiny holed colander or some cheese cloth will do the trick. If you notice your stock is very oily/fatty, let the stock cool completely (put it in the fridge or outside if it’s cold enough). Skim off the fatty film and then bring the stock back to a boil.

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What to do with stock?

  • Make soup
  • Freeze the stock (ice cube trays work well for saving small amounts for cooking rice or flavoring other recipes)
  • Can the stock (I highly recommend the Presto 23 Quart Pressure canner)
  • Save the extra meat pieces for meals

 

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Happy Thanksgiving + Black Friday Amazon Deals!

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I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I love food, especially Thanksgiving food. Unlike many people, I go for the veggies! My plate is piled with string beans, corn, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes (kind of a veggie… right?). I’ll eat one slice of meat and I won’t touch the rolls or pies! To me, there’s nothing better than a can (or 4) of Del Monte string beans simmered with onions and bacon grease. I’d take that over cake/pie/cookies any day! I can’t wait for leftovers for breakfast tomorrow 🙂

Some of you are probably out Black Friday shopping now or you’ll be up early tomorrow for the sales! Don’t forget that Amazon has fantastic deals this time of year. The best deals will sell out in seconds, so you really need to be on top of these things! I’ll try to post some of the hot deals, so make sure you’re following along.

You can head over now and view the 2013 Black Friday deals from Amazon. Don’t forget, Cyber Monday is right around the corner! Amazon posts Deals of the Day and Lightening Deals all the time. You’ll want to keep them out!

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Don’t Cry Over Burnt Spaghetti Sauce

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This week has been one of my busiest weeks all summer. In addition to working outside the home for over 50 hours, I had 50lbs of peaches, 25lbs of tomatoes, and 10lbs of blackberries to can. On top of all that, I’ve been taking care of my chickens, trying to find time to blog, and shipping off some of the vintage goodies I’ve been picking up at flea markets and reselling online this summer.

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With the wonderful help of Savvy Momma and Nerdboy, we were able to put up 16 jars of blackberry jam, 4 jars of blackberry BBQ sauce, 24 quarts of peaches, 5 jars of pickles (it was 6 but 1 exploded), and 6 jars of peach honey. So you are probably wondering where the 25lbs of tomatoes ended up, right? They are in the trash. And not just 25 pounds of whole tomatoes, but 25lbs of hand picked, peeled, diced, cooked tomatoes with fresh herbs and garlic that my mom and I spent the entire day preparing. I was cooking it down on the stove (hotter than I should have) so I could quickly can it up before going to bed. I sat down for a minute at my laptop for the first time all day and that’s when I smelled it. The bottom of the pot (dang cheap, thin pots) scorched leaving my entire pot of tomato sauce smelling like smoke. It was awful. The smell was sickening all night long. I tried everything I could to save the sauce; I moved most of it to the crockpot, added a raw peeled potato, more seasonings, more garlic, sugar, lemon juice, wine… and even peanut butter (I read it online. I was desperate). Nothing helped. I let it cook in the crock pot some more in case some miracle would come in and save it. Finally, my mom pulled the cord of the crockpot, the sauce cooled down, and it was dumped outside. Are you shedding a tear with me yet?

It’s such a shame to waste all of those beautiful tomatoes and all that time we spent on them, but there was nothing I could do. We ended up with a lot of nice canned goods we’ll be able to use all year. It has already been a few days since the tomato sauce incident so I’m doing my best to forget it ever happened and to move on. I’ll be asking for a set of new big pots of Christmas. Nerdboy and I are tired of using an SOS pad to scrub the pots down after every.single.use. They are just so thin and don’t transfer the heat around the entire surface of the pot.

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Our next canning adventure might be apples if we feel like it in the Fall. I’m sure we’ll do a few more jars of stuff in between since I haven’t pulled out my Presto Pressure Canner in awhile (lets you can anything low acid, like soups, beans, and more!). I love that canning allows us a way to preserve food when it’s in season and then enjoy it all year. The peaches are so wonderful (though I wasn’t thrilled at the quality this year) you can eat them out of the jar with a fork, dump over vanilla ice cream, and of course, make a peach cobbler! To make peach honey, we made a “peach juice” from all the tossed peach skins and pits boiled in water. From that strained juice, I added some sugar and a little pectin for a thickener. It will make an excellent sweetener for hot tea and also a great sauce for pork or ham! I love using up the parts people normally trash to make a usable and delicious product! We did the same with apple skins and cores last year when we made apple jelly.

I’m off to grab some hot tea (with peach honey!) and maybe a brunch with eggies from my backyard. I have to go start yet another busy weekend! I need to sit down sometime soon and do some *gasp* school preparations that I have been waiting until the very last minute to complete.

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