You have grown your own fruit and vegetables, defeating all that the elements, pests and diseases have thrown at you, and then you find that you cannot lay your hands on suitable recipes. This section hopes to give you the necessary ideas to bridge that gap.
PRESERVING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Bottling is one of the most useful ways of storing fruit or tomatoes and frees up the freezer for other things.
Freezing is one method of preserving food to eat later, but it is only suitable for those ingredients that do not have their texture destroyed by the freezing process.
Jam and Jelly making is really quite easy. Remember to save up and re-use any screw top bottles. Make sure that the metal bottle tops are still covered on the inside with a plastic coating. This prevents the fruit acids from corroding the bottle tops.
Pickles and chutneys are useful ways of preserving vegetables.
Most of us are trying to eat more healthily these days. To this end, I have re-formulated my recipes.
No saturated fats added; liquid vegetable oils used instead.
No hydrogenated fats used; liquid vegetable oils used instead.
Reduced total fat; more fruit content gives a moister end product.
No added salt; herbs, spices and natural flavourings used instead.
Reduced sugar; you soon get used to it, but be aware that you may have to keep cakes in the fridge, as sugar also is a preservative as well as a sweetener. If you decide to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners, be aware that “Aspartame” sweetener is alleged to be a cause of some heart problems in some people. Some manufacturers are removing it from their products as a result.
