The other day I was able to get my hands on about 16 pounds of strawberries. I decided to get busy in my kitchen and see what all I could do with them.
First, I washed them all up (it's suggested to wash them just before using them to help them stay fresh longer). I added a few drops of lemon essential oil (food safe) to some water, soaked them for 2ish min (be sure you don't soak them too long or they will get mushy). Then I put a paper towel in the bottom of a few half-gallon jars to store the strawberries in the fridge. The remaining berries went into a lined drawer in the fridge (because I ran out of my large jars). This helped to preserve them for use the next day.
When I was ready to use the strawberries, I cut the tops off, but I DIDN'T THROW THEM AWAY. My rabbits nibbled on a few of them (but just as a special treat), the rest I put aside in an airy container. I'll come back to what I did with the tops later.
I measured out the strawberries I needed to make some jam, I used about 16 cups chopped and mashed. 
The rest went either in the freezer or back into the fridge.
The rest went either in the freezer or back into the fridge.I used this recipe for the jam. It uses the pectin from the fruit, so it has very minimal ingredients. I'll admit, this was a day-long event for me...not the hour and a half it claims. There's a few reasons for that. One being that I'm super slow in the kitchen. I don't know why, but it always takes me at least twice as long as a recipe says. But also, I don't make a lot of jam. My family tries to stay away from foods high in sugar. But we do use jam from time to time (like when I make my sourdough discard poptarts), so I wanted to make my own...with minimal ingredients! I also had to take a break after I cooked my jam to make a store run and be a mom taxi, this ended up being about a 3 hour break.
But, before that break, I really should have had my jars in the canner already. However, like I said above, I don't make a lot of jam. So it was a bit of a learning experience and my jam wasn't setting up quite right. So after I got back home and did some trouble-shooting, bam! My jam was ready to can!! (NOTE: make sure your fruit is either blended or in super small pieces to help extract the pectin).
When it was all said and done, I had about 16 1/2 half-pint jars of jam. Yummy!
BUT, that's NOT ALL I got from these strawberries. Remember those tops I didn't throw away? 
Well, the next day I took the tops from the remaining strawberries, made sure everything was nice and clean, then I made some strawberry syrup. Who knew?! I used this recipe. I had about 12 cups of tops, which gave me about 8 cups of liquid to use for the syrup. Once I cooked and reduced it, I had 11 1/2 half-pint jars of syrup to use. This had a mild flavor, but since it was part of my waste-not, want-not kitchen, I was pleased with the flavor. Next time I may throw in a few actual chunks of the strawberries, but overall I'm pleased with the results.
Well, the next day I took the tops from the remaining strawberries, made sure everything was nice and clean, then I made some strawberry syrup. Who knew?! I used this recipe. I had about 12 cups of tops, which gave me about 8 cups of liquid to use for the syrup. Once I cooked and reduced it, I had 11 1/2 half-pint jars of syrup to use. This had a mild flavor, but since it was part of my waste-not, want-not kitchen, I was pleased with the flavor. Next time I may throw in a few actual chunks of the strawberries, but overall I'm pleased with the results.But, that's STILL NOT ALL I did with these amazing strawberries.
I happened to have one from the bunch that had a chunk taken out of it. Instead of tossing it, I used a peeler and peeled off the skin with the seeds. I then dried the skins. What will I do with them? I'll plant the seed and attempt to grow my own strawberries. The results of this is yet to be seen. So stay tuned!
I happened to have one from the bunch that had a chunk taken out of it. Instead of tossing it, I used a peeler and peeled off the skin with the seeds. I then dried the skins. What will I do with them? I'll plant the seed and attempt to grow my own strawberries. The results of this is yet to be seen. So stay tuned!🌸 From my homestead heart to yours —
If you’re walking this same journey of homemaking, decluttering, and creating a peaceful, faith-filled home, you’re not alone.
I’d love to share encouragement, simple living inspiration, and homestead wisdom with you — right to your inbox.
If you’re walking this same journey of homemaking, decluttering, and creating a peaceful, faith-filled home, you’re not alone.
I’d love to share encouragement, simple living inspiration, and homestead wisdom with you — right to your inbox.
– Amanda | The HomeGrown Mom 🌾
It's that time of year where we have big meals, fully bellies, and lots of left overs. A few years ago I started making turkey bone broth with the left over carcass. I have also canned turkey soup from the left over turkey meat. There have been a few years where we had an extra turkey that we just stored in the freezer, with the intent of pulling it out later and having a few more turkey meals. But, the reality is that it never happens that way. Every year I end up with another turkey in the freezer just waiting to be cooked. So this year I had the idea of just cooking them all...which happened to be almost 2 1/2 turkeys' worth of meat, bones, the works!
Yes, at one point I wondered what I was thinking with this brilliant idea I had. But now that it's all said and done, I'm glad I chose to just do it all at once. One big mess, then 3 rounds of canning, and I'm officially done with dealing with all that turkey!
Here's the breakdown of how that all worked:
We used 2 roasters. Each one had a full turkey in it (15ish pounds or more) and then one of them also had a turkey breast with the bone, so roughly another 1/2 turkey. We made our regular Thanksgiving day meal. Then we took all the meat off the bones to store in the fridge. With the carcasses, we used both roasters and made a few gallons worth of bone broth. I like to let mine brew at least 24 hours, usually closer to 48 hrs. I then take the broth and strain it into jars. Once the jars are cooled, I place them in the refrigerator for a day or so, so that the fat can rise to the top and I can easily scrape it off. I store the fat in another jar in the fridge to use in other meals.
While I'm waiting for my broth to chill, I usually make up a large batch of turkey soup (no noodles) and can it up for use throughout the year. This year I had about 3 canners worth of turkey soup. 19 quarts and 14 pints to be exact. And that's just the ones that canned properly. I ended up with 1 quart and 1 pint size jar that didn't seal properly. So they went into the fridge and we had them as a meal on another night.
Next up was canning the broth. I usually can it all in pint size jars because I rarely need more than 2 cups worth at a time. It's so concentrated that I usually dilute it and still have plenty of flavor. This year I decided to can both pint and half-pint sizes. I had 8 jars of each.
That may seem like a LOT of canned goods of the same thing, but I like to share! So my mom will get some, my daughter will have some to enjoy, and I'll probably even take a small jar of soup to my Granny. That's the joy of canning...everyone can benefit and enjoy it! And very little food has to go to waste! I love having a want not-waste not kitchen!
🌸 From my homestead heart to yours —
If you’re walking this same journey of homemaking, decluttering, and creating a peaceful, faith-filled home, you’re not alone.
I’d love to share encouragement, simple living inspiration, and homestead wisdom with you — right to your inbox.
If you’re walking this same journey of homemaking, decluttering, and creating a peaceful, faith-filled home, you’re not alone.
I’d love to share encouragement, simple living inspiration, and homestead wisdom with you — right to your inbox.
– Amanda | The HomeGrown Mom 🌾
