Updates from the Homestead

-
I have had a pause in blogging the last few days.. I’ve been dealing with some elbow pain that was diagnosed as bursitis. I’ve gone through all the normal treatments, including medication but so far it is still a bit swollen and a little painful. Has made some of the simple things in everyday life a bit more challenging! But, my youngest two have been a great help to me. Thankfully I am at the point where I can use it and that is good because my green beans were finally ripe enough for the first picking. 

Yesterday my kids and I got them picked and I cooked up garbonzo beans and red beans to make 3 bean salad for canning. I also ended up with enough beans left for canning a second batch and set aside enough for another batch of 3 bean salad. By the end of the day I had 6 quarts & 12 pints of 3 bean salad and 7 quarts of green beans…



My garden is growing, a bit behind schedule but I am hopeful! While down at the garden yesterday I took some pictures….













Today I have errands to run in the city and my daughter has an art class. When I get home I plan to can up the other batch of 3 bean salad. If you are interested in this recipe you can find it here: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/3beansalad.htm 

That is all the updates from the homestead for now.. Hope you have a great weekend! :)
 

Comments

  1. Carol J. AlexanderAugust 13, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    Thanks for the 3 bean salad recipe. We make that all the time and I never thought to can it ahead. Your garden looks great. Hope your elbow heals soon. Blessings, Carol

    ReplyDelete
  2. Farmgirl CynAugust 13, 2011 at 7:10 AM

    Your garden looks fabulous! I did very little gardening this season....knees are pretty bad, and bending down is getting harder and harder. Thankfully, the farmers market will fill in the void of anything I did not get to!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cassi LynAugust 13, 2011 at 7:22 AM

    I have experienced horrible tendinitis/bursitis in my shoulder, wrist, and neck. This is what cured it for me...

    www.tendonitisexpert.com/how-to-reduce-inflammation.html

    Ice....lots of ice to reduce the pain and swelling. It works within several days.

    Blessings,
    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  4. MonicaAugust 13, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    My husband likes the 3 bean salad but I have never made it for him. Now I have a recipe to try! Thank! Hope your elbow gets better soon. Where my garden has pretty much burned up or been eaten by the horn worm, yours looks spectacular!

    ReplyDelete
  5. RashelAugust 13, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Your garden looks absolutely wonderful! I do hope your elbow feels better soon, but I'm glad you were able to get all that canning done. Thank you for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Rashel

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Heritage FarmgirlAugust 13, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    I have spent the whole day gardening and now have a days worth of canning ahead of me. Thank-you so much for your three bean recipe. I make it a lot in the summer, but never thought to can it. Now I know I can. Thanks a bunch.

    ReplyDelete
  7. webbswayAugust 13, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    OOOO I agree - your garden looks like art, as it is so lovely. I know a lot of hard work was put in it.

    I am mad at mine-it was growing so good for the first time in many Years , but then over night the plants are dieing and the tomatoes had started to ripe, but not now . The tomatoes are rotting from the inside out. It is piteful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. njordanAugust 13, 2011 at 8:50 PM

    I would like to try this recipe, but I am concerned about processing green beans by water bath canning (which is the only type I do since I do not own a pressure canner). Should I be concerned? Do the other ingredients take care of the botulism risk?

    Also, do you grow your own garbanzo beans? Can you use beans from the store as seed? Same question with the red beans. If not, where do you get your bean/seed from?

    I am learning a lot from your webpage and blog. Made pizza using your recipe tonight and it worked great. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. CrystalAugust 13, 2011 at 9:06 PM

    Njordan, the recipe is a pickled recipe.. the vinegar and lemon juice provide enough acid so botulism is not a problem.. you do have to use a canner if you are canning just beans as they are low in acid.

    I buy dried garbonzo beans and dried red beans and cook them first. I buy my dried beans from my local food co-op.. You should be able to find them in most grocery stores or health food stores.

    Glad to hear you enjoyed the pizza!!

    Crystal :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sharon TAugust 14, 2011 at 12:58 PM

    Thank you for the recipe for the bean salad. We had a pretty good garden this year until dry spell hit and then had to run up our water bill to keep from losing all. How do you keep weeds at bay? Your garden does look great!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. A Woman that Fears the LordAugust 14, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    ouch! Is that the same as 'tennis elbow'? I increased my exercise a few years ago by swimming laps in the pool and ended up in horrible pain. Over time it healed as long as I was careful how I used it.

    I hope you recover quickly!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine to
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my
Read more