Organizing your pantry

Having an organized pantry is important in your kitchen. It allows for less time during meal preparation and a much better feel in your kitchen. I know that I feel a whole lot better when I walk into my kitchen and know exactly what I have in my pantry.

We do dehydrate a TON of veggies and herbs from our garden that I use in a variety of cooking when I do not have fresh available. I know that if I bag them up in zipper bags, then I can’t always find what I was looking for when I need it. We also store all of our mixes in gallon sized jars.

In my pantry, I use mason jars in both pint and quart and recycled gallon size pickle jars work great for mixes and bulk food.I don’ t loose anything this way!!!

I also use chalkboard labels so that I can change the label on them if I need to (There are many out on the market. I posted a link to the least expensive that I found on amazon.com.) The changable labels come in handy with our homemade instant oatmeal container. The kids always know what flavor is available!!

It does not take a ton of money to make your pantry be usable. (Yes, those are milk crates as extra shelves as well!)

Home-made fruit leather

Berlyn gives his approval!

We have been recovering from upper respiratory infections and stomach flu… ARGH! It’s the pits when all 8 in our house get sick!! I have missed posting on my blog and other sites and am trying to get caught up finally!!!

There are a few things in my kitchen that I can not go without (at least now that I have them). They are my Excalibur Dehydrator and my Vitamix. Home-made fruit leather is so easy to make and there is no added sugar or dyes in them when you make them from scratch at home. (we even made home-made soup in my Vitamix yesterday for lunch – the Vitamix even “cooks” it for you!!!

I add fruit into the Vitamix (KILLER BLENDER if you ever want one and MADE in the USA!)  I added 8 pears, 1 pint of blackberries and 2 bananas along with juice from 1/2 of a lemon and a tsp of cinnamon… then blend until it is just pulp. You can choose any fruit that you like. Applesauce make YUMMY rolls too as does strawberries.

Then, just pour the contents onto the non-stick sheets and spread out evenly. Turn on the dehydrator for about 14 hours… and there you have it… Fruit leather!! I cut them into strips so now the kids have HEALTHY fruit by the foot! Store these in either jars or zipper bags

Beans in BULK! BBQ Recipe from Scratch

Canned beans can get expensive… since with 7+ at our house at any given time, we need 2 or more cans of beans as a side dish.

I have been buying my pinto beans in bulk for several years. They come dried and in 25 and 50 pound bags from Costco or Sam’s Club for less than $10. I store mine in recycled wheat buckets. (Another story… but I do grind my own wheat for flour)

After I make my beans, I freeze them in either mason jars or in zipper bags. (I will talk canning beans on another day!)

(THIS IS A LOT OF BEANS!!)  I add about 16 cups of dried beans to my stockpot and add water to just below the top of the pot to soak over night. The next morning, dump out the old water and refill the water to above the beans and cook on medium until tender.

8 5-cup bags of cooked plain pinto beans

This is where it gets FUN! You get to decide what kind of beans that you want.

Normally, I bag up half of them plain with no seasonings to use with tacos, in soups, etc.

Then the other half I add sauteed onions & garlic and italian herbs and BBQ Sauce, a can of tomato paste, a touch of brown sugar, salt and pepper. And stir is all in. (These remind me of “ranch” beans with onions.

For the BBQ Sauce, I get so many FREE off of the coupon list, buying them when they are 10 for $10 and having $1 coupons… But, you can easily make your own sauce as well.

My 16 cups of dried beans made 8 5-cup bags of pintos ready to use in tacos, etc. and 4 4-cup bags of beans with onions, garlic, tomato paste, BBQ sauce and salt and pepper.

Home-made BBQ Sauce(from foodnetwork):

Ingredients

Cooked Pinto Beans with BBQ Sauce mixture ready for the freezer.

• 1 (7-ounce) jar or can  tomato paste
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons spicy Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons BBQ seasoning mix
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 cups water

Directions

Buying in bulk – Zaycon Foods

Many times I am asked HOW I feed my crew on a TIGHT budget… COUPONS & BULK FOODS!! In October, a friend introduced me to ZAYCON FOODS and their Bulk Meat… I AM NEVER going back to store bought meat ever again.

HERE IS A LINK:

https://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf52795

Zaycon travels around and offers bulk meats (and other things). You do have to re-package to fit your needs… but the price  & QUALITY is AMAZING!!! They are all over the US (not just here in AZ)!! I have never seen chicken prices this low in all of the years that I have been coupon shopping either.

80 pounds of Zaycon foods BULK CHICKEN

I started off with their chicken – 80 pounds for about $140 (including tax)… Got it home and WOWWIE! Those are the BIGGEST chicken breasts (boneless & Skinless) that I have ever seen and they were so tasty.   Since then, we have bought their 93/7 ground beef, more chicken and bacon. I will let you know more about the bacon once we get it home in the next few weeks.

Here’s info on the Chicken:

• 100 % natural chicken with no added hormones, additives or artificial ingredients

• Comes directly from the processor and has never been frozen

• Sold by the case — 40 lbs in each case

Here’s into on the Ground Beef:

• Fresh, Premium, Fine Grind 93/7 Super* Lean Ground Beef

• Comes in a 40-lb case with four 10-lb chubs per case (approximate weight–see note below)

• No chemicals, additives or water added to meat during processing

• Processed at a USDA-inspected, state-of-the-art plant employing strict operating protocols (including HACCP) and the highest in food-safety standards

• Prior to processing, inspectors from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service randomly sample cattle under a monitoring plan and perform testing for antibiotic residues

They are all over the US, so make sure that you click the link above (and I do get a refer credit of $1 if you order – It helps me feed my family! ) https://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf52795