Whether your #summer #garden has reached peak yields or you went overboard at the farmers market, you may find yourself with a lot of fresh #produce this season. Don’t let it go to #waste. There are easy ways to use up your favorite #vegetables, fruits and herbs before they turn to mush. Turn excess zucchini into lasagna or zucchini bread. Add vegetables to stews. Freeze extra berries and fruits for smoothies or cobblers. Make extra greens and herbs into a savory pesto to toss with pasta or use in marinades. And toss anything that goes bad into a #compost bin. “You’ll be saving your budget and the earth all at once,” says Better Homes & Gardens. #SummerGarden
Tag: cookout
When the Garden Yields More Than You Can Consume
#Gardens can be unpredictable. Some seasons, you’ll only get a taste of your favorite foodstuffs because of low yields, poor weather conditions or the local critters; others, you’ll be awash in so many #fruits and #vegetables you won’t know what to do with them all. This is a good problem to have! Don’t let your hard work go to waste — you can preserve the bounty for future feasts by canning, freezing or dehydrating, says Gingham Gardens, or stage a sidewalk-sale farmer’s market to sell surplus vegetables. Or you can give away those delicious foodstuffs to family, friends or a #food pantry. Who doesn’t appreciate a fresh tomato? #SummerGarden
Try Canning to Preserve Summer’s Bounty
Experiencing a glut of #summer #produce and unable to consume it all at your backyard #cookouts? Try your hand at #canning to (quite literally) preserve access to summer’s bounty for weeks and months. Start with the freshest fruits and vegetables and follow a recipe that meets USDA safety guidelines for preserving foods. You’ll need a selection of basic canning equipment including jars and a large pot or pressure canning device, as well as some quality time in the #kitchen. The payoff? You get better-than-bought flavor from your #summer #garden throughout the years. “The truth is, anyone who can boil a pot of water can make a pickle or a jar of jam.” Food Network says.
Food Safety and the Summer Cookout
Only a week in, this #summer is shaping up to be a hot one for much of the United States. It’s also prime time for family #cookouts, so the home chef would do well to review #food #safety practices for hot weather to head off any health issues that could ruin an otherwise festive event.
An estimated one in six people gets sick from a #foodborne illness each year. Granted, not every foodborne illness results from a #picnic or #cookout, but that seasonal combination of food, outdoor living, shared dishes, heat and pests makes them especially vulnerable.
Mayonnaise-based salads are notorious for spoiling in the sun. Limit cold foods’ potential to harbor harmful bacteria by keeping them indoors until needed, says Martha Stewart, use a cooler to maintain refrigeration, and serve foods such as shrimp over an ice bath.
Other common-sense tips apply whether you grill outdoors or prepare something in the kitchen. First and most obvious? Wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before preparing any foods — and wash them again after handling raw meat, fish and egg yolks.
Cross-contamination — the process in which bacteria spreads from food or poorly washed hands to other surfaces — is a problem, Consumer Reports says. Never use the same cutting board for meat and produce, and avoid reaching for the spices or condiments after handling raw meat.
#Clean your grill properly by scrubbing the grates with a grilling brush. Use a food thermometer to cook foods to the proper internal temperatures to ensure that any harmful bacteria burn off: Cook cuts of red meat and fish to a reading of at least 145°F, ground meats to 160°F, and pork and poultry to 165°F.
After the feast, food storage is just as important. Cooked foods should be refrigerated in less than two hours when the outdoor temperatures are under 90°F, and that limit drops to one hour when the temperatures soar. If you don’t know how long something has been sitting or it starts to look/smell a little suspect, throw it out.
Keep your summer cookouts fun for everyone! Protect yourself, your family and your guests from the potential of foodborne illnesses.
In Search of a Clutter-Free Summer
Memorial Day — the unofficial start of summer— has come and gone. If you’re anything like us at The Organizing Blog, you probably used the long weekend to plant some flowers, take a bike ride, visit with friends and/or have a cookout. Fine pursuits!
But do you know what can make one’s enjoyment of those pursuits (and most others) even better? #Organization! A #clutter-free environment knows no season — and it can provide you with the #clarity you need to truly live in the moment.
Think about it: A cluttered space demands attention. Maybe you waste a lot of time looking for things among the stacks of papers, piles of laundry and dusty gewgaws. Or maybe wrangling all that #stuff leaves you with little down time.
Summer is a great time to get those things under control. With good weather and a few hours each week, you can conquer that #clutter — and enjoy all of the seasons to come.
Start with the #garage. Has that #space attracted a lot of stuff that doesn’t have a home elsewhere ? Go through it and ask yourself why you hide #junk there and if you’ll ever really need those things again. Weed out what you don’t have a use for and set it aside.
Along the way, fine-tune your storage of the things that do have a purpose — even if that purpose is occasional, such as holiday decorations. Sort “like” items into labeled bins and boxes that you can find and access easily without a lot of hunting. Shelve or stack them thoughtfully, and you’ll be creating new space!
Next, do the same for the basement. Organizing your below-ground space likely will have the added benefit of helping you keep cool while you work. Set aside the things for which you don’t have a purpose or can’t find a place, and put them in boxes and bags.
See that growing pile of #junk? Slap some price tags on those things and have a quick #garage or #yard #sale. Or click though to ClothingDonations.org to arrange a #free #donation #pickup. You’ll be #helping the nation’s #veterans and be ready to enjoy the rest of the summer #clutter-free!