The Natural Canning Resources Book

I just learned about this book, Natural Canning Resources Book, through the Cultures for Health website and I just had to take a look! I'm fascinated with food preservation and enjoy eating the fruits of my canning labors (though the process itself is not as fun, especially doing it all by yourself!).

Just one look inside and I could tell that this book is special. It's hard to tell, but I believe there are recipes. What struck me about this book though, was that it has information not usually found in the standard Ball Blue Book like how to replace conventional sugar and corn syrup with healthier alternatives in canning like honey or maple syrup, the nutrient changes in canned food, an explanation of the PH scale, and the science of what lies behind the USDA's regulations for canning. It also has information on unsafe canning methods and things that do not have safe home canning guidelines.

Here is what it says about the book on Cultures for Health:

Details

Lisa Rayner, 2010, softcover

The local foods movement has made home canning popular once again! Farmer’s markets, Community Supported Agriculture projects, urban foraging collectives, permaculture guilds and community gardens are popping up like mushrooms. People who never learned how to preserve food growing up are teaching themselves and learning from old-timers how to can in boiling water baths and pressure canners.

The Natural Canning Resource Book fills a major gap in the canning literature.  Most published canning recipes require the use of non-organic, refined ingredients like distilled while vinegar, white sugar, corn syrup or commercial pectin containing chemical preservatives.  This book explains the science behind USDA canning guidelines and explores how to can foods using healthy, natural ingredients you'll find at your local farmer's mart, CSA, natural foods grocery, buying club or cooperative.

Learn how to:

• Can fruit & pickles without sugar or sweetened with raw honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, barley malt, evaporated cane juice or other unrefined cane sugars.
• Pickle vegetables with organic, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or homemade vinegar.
• Can wild and tropical fruits like Oregon grape, Juneberries, elderberries, paw paw & guava.
• Gel jams and jellies with homemade pectin extracted from locally grown fruit.
• Create your own jam, jelly, fruit butter, pickle, relish, chutney & salsa recipes.
• Can foods using a solar cooker.
• Create a community canning project or start a community kitchen.
• Save money & energy with home canning.
• Use European-style canning jars with glass lids & rubber gaskets.
• Sell your canned goods at your local farmer’s market or CSA.

This looks like an exciting book, especially if you enjoy or depend on canning to fill your cupboards!

The Homemade Pantry

When I saw this book, I knew it was written just for me! It really pacifies the "made from scratch" side of me and answers all sorts of curiosities about what we can stop buying and start making ourselves. I also like that  the author is not afraid to say she buys her butter because it is cheaper to buy it than to make it, especially if you don't have a milk cow. (Finally, someone admits it!) I haven't read the entire book, just skimmed the preview on Amazon, but it's at the top of my priority list! Why can't I stop buying cookbooks?!?!? Aaaaack! I think this one is worth it though.

The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making

Healthy Eats for Kids

In recent years, I'll admit, I've developed a new soap box. What is it this time, you ask? Well, it's the kids' options on a restaurant menu. It's always the same: mac & cheese, pizza, or chicken nuggets. Yes, restaurants need to make money and feel they are forced to offer these things because kids are picky eaters. And YES my kids are some of the pickiest eaters that I know. But part of the skill of a chef is to take something people know and love and make it into something new and different right? Why can't they sneak in butternut squash with that mac & cheese?? Put spinach or zucchini on the pizza and offer fresh, homemade, whole chicken nuggets????? Don't answer those questions. Just let it stew. I've heard a good option is to order a lunch-sized portion of something off the menu for your kids. I just might do that next time. My son actually loves baked fish, non-breaded with just butter and some herbs. And this was a kid who it's taken 5 years for him to willingly eat chicken!

Okay, off the soap box now. This post is about finding alternatives for the same ol' same ol' that are healthy and delicious for kids. Every kid is different, and you know your kids best. These are some options that I have found that I am excited to try out. But first, here are a few tips I've learned:

1. Help your children grow some food.

My son was so much more excited to try basil on his pizza and as a pesto on pasta when he knew we had grown it ourselves and he had watched it sprout from a tiny seed and flourish as a wonderful smelling, beautiful plant. Also, my son has learned that there is nothing like picking your very own sun-warmed tomatoes or strawberries and popping into your mouth straight off the plant. Mmmm!

2. Involve your children in making their own food.

My son loves smelling all the herbs and spices I put into what I'm cooking or baking. Both my son and daughter love to measure and stir. Children naturally love to help and when they're able to stir, and knead, and make a mess (I've had to work really hard at putting my mess anxiety on the back burner!), they can take pride in having done something as big and important as creating their own snack or putting dinner on the table that the whole family enjoys. It's also fun bonding time with mom or dad in the kitchen which is usually the center of the home.

3. Have your food rules and stick with them.

It's taken my husband and I our entire son's life to develop rules for eating at the table. We're still working on it, and it's been a challenge with picky eaters. Some parents have the theory of "you have to eat everything on your plate" while others are more into experimentation on the child's part and they'll eat when they're hungry. I think we're somewhere in the middle. Lately, we've been having our son help with how much is going on his plate, so that he feels that he has some decision-making power there, but he doesn't get to choose what goes on his plate. I think educating him on what our bodies need for strength and energy has helped him understand that veggies, fruit, and proteins are more important than the dessert that may follow. It's a work in progress though. :-)

Whatever your feeding philosophy, I think when your kids know what is expected at the table, then meal times will probably go smoother.

Here are some great posts I found for kids' snack ideas:

45 Real Food Snacks for Kids

10 On-the-Go Healthy Snacks for Toddlers

25 Healthy Snacks for Little Ones

Also, I think having a few cookbooks in your arsenal can be a huge help. Here are two of my favorites:

Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies & Toddlers

Healthy Meals for Babies & Toddlers

One of my favorite ideas from the book Healthy Meals for Babies & Toddlers is for ready-made sandwich filling ideas. Most kids love sandwiches, heck, I love sandwiches and would try these super cool fillings any day:

Hummus
heaping 1/3 cup hummus
1 small cooked carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp chopped cucumber (you could substitute zucchini too)

Fruity Cheese Spread
heaping 1/3 cup lowfat soft cheese or ricotta cheese (I used neufchatal)
1 Tbsp. chopped pitted dates
2 Tbsp. chopped plumped dried apricots

Egg & Bacon
2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and mashed
1 Tbsp mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip if you have my more refined taste buds haha!)
2 crisp-cooked slices bacon, chopped

A twist on the sandwich: my son loves a tortilla (white or whole wheat) with peanut butter and jam or honey and rolled up into a burrito. It's pretty good!

Book to Recommend: Confederates in the Attic

I did an independent study on museums and museum work when I was in college. Strangely, one of the books my professor required me to read was Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. What did that have to do with museums? It's a book about the author's journey to discover the exploding interest and allure of the American Civil War, why people are obsessed with reenacting it and why it's being kept alive. This book was one of the most fascinating books I'd read in a long time. It might have helped that I, myself, was a Civil War reenactor for about 9 years.

I did finally get why my professor required me to read this book. The interesting thing about homesteading is that a lot of the skills associated with it are ones that have been handed down for generations. These skills are an important part of our culture and heritage and reenacting our history is just one way that people help keep it fresh, real, and poignant in our minds. Museums, whether living history or not, seek to accomplish that very thing - to bring history alive for all of us and help us relate to the people who went before us and to remember and value what they did.

Confederates in the Attic helps us discover what those Civil War soldiers did for us and why a long gone war still affects people today.

Rating: I'd rate this book a PG-13 for language, suggestive language, and some violence.

A Book To Recommend: Put 'Em Up!

Put 'Em Up: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook was another awesome find at the Mother Earth News Fair. Yes, it's a canning book, but it's nothing like your average Ball Blue Book. The book is filled with beautiful photos of canned food with endearing hand-labeled tags. And the recipes are interesting and unique. Vinton covers the canning basics at the beginning of the book and then launches into the recipes. The book is organized by ingredient in alphabetical order. This is a unique way of organizing a recipe book, but it makes sense to me! You can choose whatever ingredient is in season and try all her recipes. For example: for beets she has Pickled Beets with Cumin and Cloves, Pickled Beets with Dill, Beet Relish. Vinton also has a simple picture key that shows at a quick glance the various ways an ingredient can be preserved.

The only downside is that there aren't enough recipes per ingredient. Only 3 recipes for beets! I'd love to see more of what can be done in canning some of these things. Below is what you can find inside:

Table of Contents

Part One: Techniques

-Food Preparation Methods

-Food Preservation Methods

-Working in Groups

- Things That Will Get You Into Trouble

- Things That Look Bad But Aren't Dangerous

Part Two: Recipes

- Apples

- Asparagus

- Beans

- Beets

- Berries

- Cabbage

- Cantaloupe

- Carrots

- Cauliflower

- Cherries

- Chilies

- Citrus

- Corn

- Cucumber

- Fennel

- Figs

- Garlic

- Grapes

- Herbs

- Mushrooms

- Onions

- Peaches

- Pears

- Plums

- Radishes

- Ramps and Scapes

- Rhubarb

- Strawberries

- Summer Squash and Zucchini

- Sweet Peppers

- Tomatillos and Green Tomatoes

- Tomatoes

- Watermelon

Overall, this book is a great adventure into canning, whether for the beginner or for someone more experienced. You just might find a new favorite recipe!

A Book to Recommend: Don't Throw It, Grow It!: 68 windowsill plants from kitchen scraps

When I was looking around at books for sale at the MEN Fair, this book just sucked me in. It was the quirkiest, weirdest book about growing that I'd ever seen. I had to get it, especially with the fun growing potential with my kids.

This book teaches you how to grow everything from peanuts to pomagranates to pineapples all from the seeds and roots and tops that you would normally throw away. (Did you know you can grow new leeks from the rooty ends you cut off?)

Each plant entry features the common name, the Latin name, plant type, growth rate, method of growing, light requirements, a detailed description of what the plant looks like, how to grow it and what the fruit tastes like. Throughout the book there are also interesting, related origin facts. The book is filled with fun, retro art drawings of the plants and the easiest plants to grow are marked with an "EASY" starburst. The text print is green with accents of darker green and bright orange used in the artwork. The green text is rather soothing on the eyes. A helpful index is also located in the back.

Chapters:

1. nitty-gritty growing techniques

2. plants from common vegetables

3. plants from fruits and nuts

4. plants from herbs and spices

5. plants from latin america

6. plants from asia

The only downside is that leeks aren't mentioned in the book. I think it's got a good overview of a lot of plants, fruits, and seeds you can grow from scraps, but obviously not all are mentioned. Some plants I've never heard of are mentioned, so while I don't know if I'll ever grow or eat them, they are interesting to read about. It would be nice if the book was spiral-bound as well so the book can be laid flat for easier reading-while-doing.

Overall, this book is a fun, funky read that gets me really excited about growing something on my windowsill this winter. It helps bring exotic plants to your own home and trying the plants described in its pages is an adventure waiting to happen! I think it would make a great gift for gardeners at any skill or age level. Check it out!

A Book to Recommend: This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader

About a year ago, I found this book at my university library and read it sometime during the semester. (When did I have the time??) I really get into memoirs every now and again and this one really intrigued me. It's about a woman who is determined to get 100% of her food from her garden and from local sources. That's it. It made me wonder if I could make such a commitment - living without oranges? Ever?? Or coconut or pineapple? Hmm...

Anyway, this story is about her journey to local eating with some yummy sounding recipes that she shares along the way. It's an interesting read that really gets you to think about where your own food comes from. There's a lot of talk about gardening, vegetables, preserving and ways to eat locally.

One downside is that she gets a bit preachy and tedious now and again - to be taken with a big grain of salt if it rubs you the wrong way. She also doesn't go into how eating locally is easier in some areas than others and that there would need to be an adjustment in what we normally eat if we were to eat completely local - variances depending on the climate we live in, were rural, suburban, or urban, etc.

Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable book that helped me see that eating locally can be accomplished.

A Book to Recommend: Back to Basics

This is the book that started it all for me. My mom had this book when I was growing up. As a teenager I was fascinated with the concept of living off the land, making things myself, and immersing myself in nature through gardening and time spent outdoors. I spent literally hours of my teenaged life pouring over Back to Basics, planning my own future homestead. As my own tiny effort I had a mini container garden in my bedroom with carrots and I even started a spindly maple tree. In our backyard I planted more carrots and parsley. This book was my inspiration. It not only has gardening tips (like how to grow celery - a difficult plant to be sure), but it also shows you how to lay out your homestead, build a log cabin, and to make your own cheese. This is a fabulous reference book to pick up when you have a few spare minutes to peruse the various skills it teaches, or for a good in-depth read when you have more time.

There is a newer addition out, but I've read that it's pretty much the old book with a few updates. (The earlier version was published in 1981, so a few updates wouldn't hurt.) Either way, get ahold of this book. It's lots of fun and by learning the skills it teaches you are continuing important traditions and gaining a little more of that valuable self-reliance! Not to mention it's a wonderful book to help you dream about your own future homestead.

Here are the sections of this book:

Part One - Land: Buying It - Building on It

Part Two - Energy From Wood, Water, Wind, and Sun

Part Three - Raising Your Own Vegetables, Fruit, and Livestock

Part Four - Enjoying Your Harvest the Year Round

Part Five - Skills and Crafts for House and Homestead

Part Six - Recreation at Home and in the Wild

Excerpt from the introduction:

"Back to Basics is a book about the simple life. It is about old-fashioned ways of doing things, and old fashioned craftsmanship, and old-fashioned food, and old-fashioned fun. It is also about independence - the kind of down-home self-reliance that our grandparents and great grandparents took for granted, but that we moderns often think has vanished forever, along with supermarket tomatoes that taste good, packaged bread that does not have additives, and holidays that are not commercialized. At its heart, Back to Basics is a how-to book packed with hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, charts, tables, diagrams, and illustrations to help you and your family reestablish control over your day-to-day lives."

A Book to Recommend: Homemade

I'm going to start showcasing on my blog homesteading books that I've read. (See the side bar for a list) There are so many out there, but it's not very clear how helpful they are or how good they are to read. As I read them I'll let you know what I think. Here's my latest acquisition:

Homemade: How to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products You Would Otherwise Buy

This book is awesome! It has recipes for all sorts of things from food to cleaning products to pet care. It's a dream come true! haha!

Here are the chapters:

1 - Replacements for Pantry Staples

2 - Pickled, Preserved, and Frozen Foods

3 - Baked Goods You Can Make

4 - Snacks, Nibbles, and Drinks

5 - Make Your Own Take-Out Food

6 - Easy-to-Make Sweet Treats

7 - Your Own Beauty Products

8 - Healthy Home Remedies

9 - Wholesome Natural Pet Care Products

10 - Spit-and-Polish Cleaning Products

11 - Useful House and Garden Products

Some of the things in this book are more obvious like baking your own rolls or canning your own jam. But there were some surprises like making your own ketchup and mustard and even a cure for hiccups!

I think the only thing lacking in this book are more recipes for dry mixes. (They only have two.) From all my research, there are so many dry mixes out there that deserved to be in the book, like cornbread mix. The other thing to take note of, is that switching from store-bought to making things at home requires a little bit of investment up front just so you have the ingredients you need on hand - something the book doesn't really mention.

Overall, this book is a lot of fun to read through and I think you'll be surprised, like I was, by all the things you can actually make yourself.