Olden Oasis

Dehydrating broccoli Most recipes tell you that broccoli will hold its beautiful green color better if you steam the spears for six to eight minutes first. However, that's not how I do mine. I prefer to dehydrate it while it is still at its peak freshness by simply laying it out on my dehydrator trays and dehydrating it. I do nothing more or less than that and it keeps its lovely green color just the same. How to dehydrate broccoli First, make sure that the broccoli is washed well. Then separate the florets and chop up the tender part of the stalks. The florets need to be broken apart so that they'll dehydrate well. Plus, so that your dehydrating trays will close properly. Place the florets and the stalk pieces onto the trays, leaving spaces in between them.  Set the dehydrator at 140 degrees F and dry for about eight hours. Some pieces may be ready before eight hours. I always check the trays about midway through and I turn the pieces of broccoli over during that time. Whateve...

Dehydrated Vegetables and Fruit Chips Snack time can be such a fun time, especially when you've done all the work preparing your dehydrated chips! When I prepare my fruit and vegetable chips, I never peel any of them, and I never remove the seeds (unless I am dehydrating apples, citrus fruits, grapes, or fruit with pits). Why? Both the seeds and vegetable peels are loaded with antioxidants, and they contain digestive fiber. Both are loaded with vitamins, among other needed nutrients. Plus, eating the skins and seeds also helps to improve your metabolism and gut health. For this recipe, I am using tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, and butternut squash. I don't soak the slices of tomatoes or any of the squash in citrus juice or citric acid solution. If you're concerned about browning, you can soak yours before dehydrating. My fruit and veggie chips never last long. However, if I was planning to make the chips for a gift or to put them away for long-term storage, I most certa...

Homemade sugar-free ketchup It's been a saucy past couple of days! I have prepared tomato sauce, spicy barbecue sauce, original barbecue sauce, and today I am making another one of my favorite condiments, which happens to be sugar-free ketchup. (If you prefer to use regular sugar instead, you can.) This is such a delicious ketchup, it's thick and tangy, with a slight hint of sweetness.  Ingredients: 2 cups of tomatoes, chopped (fresh or canned) 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon of minced garlic ½ teaspoon of yellow mustard 1 teaspoon of onion powder ½ teaspoon of seasoning salt  ¼ teaspoon of soul seasoning ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon of Splenda, or granulated monk fruit Instructions: Wash and rinse your tomatoes with fresh water. Then coarsely chop them. (Remove the seeds and tomato skins if you prefer, I do not.) Now, add the tomatoes into a blender and blend them until they're smooth. Pour the tomato purée into a saucepan, add the...

Original flavored barbecue sauce The weather has been so nasty here for the past week. It's been freezing rain, sleeting, and it's so very cold and yucky outside. So, I am in my comfy kitchen preparing various sauces using tomatoes. My recipe is for refrigerated original flavored barbecue sauce. I'm not processing my sauce in a canner, but you can if that's your preference. If you don't have any fresh tomatoes, you can make this sauce using canned tomatoes. Ingredients: 10 tomatoes, or 28-ounce can of tomatoes 1 cup of onion, finely diced 2-½ teaspoons of garlic powder 1-½ teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt 1 cup of Splenda brown sugar, or regular brown sugar 1 can of tomato paste, to be used as a thickener Instructions: If you're using fresh tomatoes, wash and rinse your tomatoes well. Slice them in half. (If you prefer seedless sauce, take the seeds out by squeezing each half.) Then chop each of them coarsely.  Now, transfer ...

Homemade spicy barbecue sauce I hope y'all enjoy homemade sauces. Today, I prepared a spicy barbecue sauce that's one of my family's favorites. If you don't have ripe tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes for this recipe. I used ten large ripe tomatoes, but a twenty-eight ounce can of tomatoes equals two pounds of ripe tomatoes, which averages about ten tomatoes. For my spicy barbecue sauce, I used cayenne pepper flakes, because that's the type that I had on hand. You can use fresh jalapeno, habanero, chilies, or whatever type of hot peppers that you prefer. Ingredients: 10 large tomatoes, or 28-ounce can of tomatoes 1 cup of onion, finely diced 2-½ teaspoons of garlic powder 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper flakes ½ cup of hot sauce 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt ½ cup to 1 cup of Splenda brown sugar, or regular brown sugar (amount depends on your taste) 1 can of tomato paste, to be used as a thic...

Water bath canning tomato sauce Yesterday, I canned about 55 pounds of tomatoes. I know, that's a lot of tomatoes! So, I broke my recipe down to make it more manageable for my article today. Each quart jar, on average, will hold about 6 1/2 pounds of tomatoes when you're making tomato sauce. To make my sauce recipe, you'll need a water bath canner or a large enough stockpot that the quart jars can be submerged in. Note also that the water will need to cover the jars by about an inch. This is one of the simplest ways to make homemade tomato sauce because you do not peel, take the seeds, or the core out of the tomatoes. You'll only want to cut the stem portion off the tops of each one. Ingredients: Tomatoes, an average of 6 1/2 pounds, will be needed per quart. 4 tablespoons of 5 percent white vinegar per quart You can also use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart, or use a dash of citric acid per quart, if you prefer. Spices of your preference (I didn't add any to ...

Growing tomatoes indoors Is it possible to grow tomato plants successfully indoors? While growing tomatoes isn't one of the basic (easiest) plants to grow inside, it certainly isn't completely impossible. With the right conditions, it's absolutely possible to grow tomatoes all year long indoors. Today, I will walk you through the steps that work for me. If you want to start growing tomato plants from seed indoors, before buying your seeds, you might want to consider purchasing dwarf tomato seeds (or plants). Dwarf tomatoes won't require as much indoor space and they will still produce plenty of fruit.  In my quest to grow this specific fruit indoors, I have found that tomato plants require a lot of indoor lighting (much like planting them outdoors). The plants need to be placed in an area where they'll receive at least ten hours of full light a day, whether it's natural sunlight or artificial light. Eighteen hours is optimal. If you don't have a greenhouse, ...

Homemade vegetable juice Today, I will be making a homemade vegetable juice that tastes similar to the original V-8 juice. However, unlike V-8 juice, I do not use beet juice or watercress lettuce in my recipe. You can use frozen or canned tomatoes, carrots, and spinach if you don't have any fresh vegetables, and you can use dried parsley flakes if you don't have fresh parsley. This juice isn't just delicious; it's also very healthy and can be used as a meal or snack replacement for those of you who are watching your calories. Ingredients: 4 cups of tomato, diced 1 cup of carrots, diced 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup of spinach 1 tablespoon of parsley 1 tablespoon of celery flakes 1 cup of water, divided To double the recipe, you'll need the following ingredients: 8 cups of tomato, diced 2 cups of carrots, diced 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt 2 t...

Homemade, no-cook tomato juice The amazing benefits of drinking tomato juice are well worth the effort it takes to prepare it at home. Tomato juice contains a good source of vitamins and minerals. Such as: vitamin A, vitamin K, and B vitamins, as well as magnesium, iron, and phosphorus, are naturally in it. The facts are that drinking a glass of tomato juice every day can help improve digestion and even aid in good gut health and weight loss, among so many other things. Ingredients: 8-10 large tomatoes 1 teaspoon of celery flakes (optional) 1/4 teaspoon of seasoning salt 1-1/4 cups of cold water Instructions: First, wash your tomatoes in fresh water. Then cut the tomatoes into large pieces. Add the chopped tomatoes to a blender. Add 1 cup of water. Blend on high for about a minute. I prefer drinking my tomato juice just as it is at this stage, after it's been chilled. However, if you prefer your juice not to have any tomato pulp or seeds, continue by pouring the fresh blended tomat...

Vacuum sealing dried foods in mason jars If you're trying to stock your pantry full for whatever reasons, were you aware that you can vacuum-seal dried (dehydrated) food in jars to preserve it longer? If not, then continue reading and I will walk you through the steps on how I vacuum-seal my dried goods in mason jars.  Storing food items such as dry oats, dried beans, dried pasta, dried rice, dried fruit, etc. will last longer when stored in mason jars with lids. However did you know that these food items can last even longer if you were to vacuum-seal the jars? Before I go into the details about vacuum sealing jars, the first obvious step is to fill clean jars with your dried foods, leaving at least a half inch to one inch of headspace in the jars. Use a clean cloth to make sure that the rims on the jars are clean before placing the flat canning lids on. Jars can be vacuum sealed with a mason jar sealer such as the DAIKA jar sealer or the FoodSaver jar sealer . They're really...

Peppered beef jerky If you like spicy jerky, my peppered jerky will be right up your alley. Today, I used lean cut organic Angus beef round steak for this recipe, with a dry rub marinade. The jerky was completely done in about five hours; some of the pieces were done dehydrating in three hours. So you can start the beef jerky early in the morning and it will be done some time before lunch. Beef jerky is a wonderful meat snack to have on hand. It can simplify your meals when you're going hiking, camping, fishing, traveling, working, or when you're just sitting home relaxing. It's also nice to have on hand should the power go off and you get the munchies, but have no way to cook.  My peppered jerky recipe is very simple to make and the best part is that it doesn't take an entire day to prepare it.  Ingredients: 2 pounds of lean beef, cut into slices (I used round steak) 2 teaspoons of cumin powder 4 teaspoons of ground black pepper 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon...

Pork Loin Jerky Although I used pork loin chops to make homemade jerky this weekend, you can prepare jerky using lean cuts of beef, chicken, turkey, duck, and venison using my recipe. You'll just need to make a jerky marinade using tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, seasoning salt, molasses, mustard, freshly ground black pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Then follow each step pretty much in the same fashion as I do my pork jerky. Ingredients: 8 to 10 pork loin chops Marinade Ingredients: 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste 1 cup of water 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup of soy sauce 1/4 cup of molasses or honey 2 teaspoons of yellow mustard 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt 4 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons of onion powder 2 teaspoons of garlic powder 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper powder or flakes 1 1/2 tablespoons of smoked paprika Instructions: In a large container, add 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste, 1 cup of...

Homemade peppered pork jerky Here’s how you can make homemade peppered pork jerky using your dehydrator. It will take you just a few hours, and it will come out very delicious.  First, I sliced and marinated the meat. Then I pre-cooked the pork until it was at an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees F. This isn't a step that has to be done if your dehydrator has the higher settings to dehydrate meat safely when making pork or beef jerky. However, I do this step just to ensure that any and all bacteria in the meat are killed. Plus, today I made this jerky out of a Boston butt. So precooking it also helped with cooking some excess fat out of the meat first, before dehydrating it.  The absolute best cut of pork to dehydrate is pork tenderloin. However, any cuts of meat can be dehydrated and made into jerky, or be rehydrated for use in stews, soups, and various other meals later on. Ingredients: 2 pounds of preheated pork (tenderloin works best, but I used part of a Boston butt...

Zucchini Jerky If you haven't ever considered making zucchini jerky, I hope that you will try my recipe for it at least once. It's such a delicious snack to have on hand. Plus, it's so nutritious! Ingredients: Zucchinis (about 4-6, depending on their size) 4 tablespoons of vegetable, beef, or chicken bouillon granules or powder 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke 1/4 cup of water 1 teaspoon of onion powder 1 teaspoon of garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika Instructions: In a large saucepan, add 4 tablespoons of beef bouillon granules or powder, 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke, 1/4 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn off the burner. Stir well. Set aside. Wash and scrub the zucchini well. Slice into half-inch slices lengthwise. Then place the slices in the marinade. Try to get as much of the marinade on each slice. Marinate for a few hours. I don't cook my zucchin...