Frugal Friday: Kitchen Tip/Tutorial - Freezing Fresh Corn

Busy time of year! The garden is still producing like crazy and I'm rushing around trying to keep up with it. I've learned so many new things this year from some wonderful people and I'm excited to share it all with you. I wish I had 4 more hours in each day or a clone to help me. But I'll just do my best. 

We just picked our last crop of corn. We usually plant the corn spaced out about 2-4 weeks so that we can harvest corn for a couple of months. Fresh sweet corn is one of our favorite treats from the garden. 

Today I'm going to show you how to freeze corn off the cob. You can also freeze the actual cobs, but this is my preferred method because it takes less freezer space and we all know how precious freezer space is this time of year. 

How to Freeze Corn

Printable Tutorial

Step 1: Pick or buy sweet corn. The fresher the better. Corn will lose its flavor and sweetness really quickly. Fill up a big pot with water. I like to use a water bath canner because it holds a lot. Heat to boiling on the stove. While water is heating, husk corn. Remove silks and wash. 

Step 2: Once the water has started boiling, submerge ears of corn in the boiling water (being careful not to overcrowd) and cook for 5 minutes. Start the timer immediately after placing the corn ears in the boiling water. This is called blanching. Blanching is important in freezing most vegetables because it's stops the enzyme action, which can cause a loss of flavor, color, and texture.

 Step 3: When 5 minutes is up, remove the corn from the pot and immediately place corn ears in cold ice water to stop them from cooking anymore. 

Step 4: When corn has cooled for about 5 minutes, hold cob upright resting one end on a cutting board. Then with a sharp knife cut off the kernals from the cob. 

Step 5: Pack corn in freezer bags, label and date. Frozen corn should last for at least a year in the freezer. 

Growing your own food and then preserving it such a satisfying and frugal thing to do. It also helps you eat healthier because healthy food is available and convenient. Happy Frugal Friday!

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Pressure Cooker Sweet Pork

You know every now and again you find some food that's like the hallelujah chorus for food. It just sings with your soul and you could eat it every day. This recipe is one of those for me. We love to eat this served over brown rice and topped with fresh salsa. Mmmmh. I've adapted the original recipe (given to me by my sister-in-law) quite a bit to make it pressure cooker friendly and sugar free.

Pressure Cooker Sweet Pork
Printable Recipe

*The original recipe was actually made in a crockpot. You can still make it that way if you want. I haven't tried it since my sugar-free adaptations, but I'm sure it would work just fine. Brown in a separate frying pan and then cook it in the crock until meat is fall off the bone tender - about 6-8 hours.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 Cup Canola or Olive oil
4 lb. Pork Butt Roast, bone-in
1/2 Cup Wonder Flour (or other whole-grain flour)
1 Cup Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 Cups honey
10-oz. can red enchilada sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
Garlic powder
Onion powder
pepper
Cooked brown rice, for serving
Fresh Salsa, for serving

DIRECTIONS:
In electric pressure cooker pot, heat oil on brown setting. Dredge pork roast in flour and place in pressure cooker, browning on all sides. Add Worcestershire sauce, honey, enchilada sauce, salt, chili powder and a sprinkle of garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Pressure on high pressure for 30 minutes, then release the pressure naturally. Remove the roast, discard the fat, and shred the meat. Return meat to the cooker and heat on brown setting with the lid removed for 15-20 minutes until sauce has thickened up *See Note. Serve over cooked brown rice topped with fresh salsa, if desired. This is also good served with black beans.

*Note: Alternatively you can heat the mixture on medium heat in a large pan on the stove until it thickens (about 15-20 minutes) while you are cooking brown rice in the pressure cooker to serve it over. This is what I usually do so that it all gets done at roughly the same time.

Recipe Source: Adapted significantly from a recipe given to my by my sister-in-law Lisa (she may not recognize it anymore...) 

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Homemade Vanilla Wafers (Sugar Free)

Now that it's back to school I'm once again on the lookout for healthy snack foods for after school and school lunches. I ran into this recipe a while back and it's been on my "to-try list" for a while. I finally decided to make it today and boy I'm glad I did. This is a wonderful, love-at-first bite type recipe.

I shouldn't even compare these to the vanilla wafer cookies that you buy in a box at the store because really there's no comparison. It's like comparing store bought rolls with homemade fresh from the oven rolls. These wafer cookies have a sweet, buttery vanilla flavor that resonates with my soul. The fact that they're whole-grain and sugar-free makes me happy to eat them and happy to share them with my family. And of course happy to share the recipe with you, my fabulous readers. I'm quite certain if there was a sugar-free snack heaven, these bite-size, crispy vanilla wafers would be there.

Homemade Vanilla Wafers (Sugar-Free)
Printable Recipe

*Makes 12-13 dozen wafers

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup raw honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/4 Cup wonder flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 F. In a medium mixing bowl cream butter and honey together until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix well until combined. Add wonder flour, sea salt, and baking powder and mix until smooth. Spoon mixture into a zip-lock sandwich bag and zip the top. Cut off a tiny bit of the corner and pipe the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet in nickel sized blobs about 1/2" apart. Bake for 8 minutes at 325 F. Then turn off oven and let sit in oven for another 5-10 minutes until wafers begin to turn golden brown. Be sure to watch carefully so they don't burn. Remove from oven and let cool until crispy and then remove from pans to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough, reusing the parchment paper. Cool completely and then store in an airtight container. They should fresh for a couple of weeks, but I doubt if they'll last that long.

Recipe Source: Adapted from a recipe at Heavenly Homemakers

The easiest way that I've found to make these is to fill up a zip lock bag with the dough. I like to put the bag in a glass so that it doesn't collapse as I'm filling it up.

Zip up the bag and then clip off a tiny corner of the bag to make an opening to pipe the dough out.

Squeeze the bag to pipe the dough into blobs. They don't have to look nice because the heat will melt them into pretty circles.

Here's all my nice dough blobs.

You can see what happens when you put them in the oven.

Now comes the best part: dig in!

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Upside Down Pizza (with garden fresh produce)

I realize I've posted a lot of pizza recipes recently. But I had to squeak this one in there with the others because of how much I love it this time of year. It uses so many wonderful garden vegetables and fresh herbs from the garden. Of course you can make it any time of the year and switch around the veggies and meats to your heart's content.

Our picky ones often have a hard time with casseroles so I must admit that I was a little nervous about making this the first time. I decided to change the name to "Upside Down Pizza" because I knew that our kids love pizza. To my great delight, after just a few bites this dish was given a thumbs up by all. And even the leftovers that I reheated in the oven two days later were gobbled up and very much enjoyed.

Upside Down Pizza
Printable Recipe

*Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. uncooked Italian Sausage links, sliced
1 Medium onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper (any color), diced finely
2 medium zucchini, chopped rough
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 Cups diced tomatoes, drained or 2 cans (14.5-oz. each) diced tomatoes, drained
16 oz. tomato sauce
a bunch of chopped fresh basil *(see note below) or 1/2 tsp. dried basil
some fresh chopped fresh oregano *(see note below) or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
some fresh chopped thyme *(see note below) or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 recipe homemade breadstick dough

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the sausage links and cook, stirring occasionally until meat is almost fully cooked. Add the onion and diced pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add the chopped zucchini and minced garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the drained tomatoes (fresh or canned), tomato sauce,basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the liquid is somewhat reduced. Add 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and stir into the mixture. Spoon half of the sauce mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese over the top. Spoon the other half of the sauce over the top of the cheese and sprinkle another 1/2 cup mozzarella over the top. Arrange breadstick dough in a lattice pattern over the sauce, trimming to fit, if necessary. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top of breadstick dough. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the breadsticks are golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

*Note: I don't measure the fresh herbs. Just pick some, chop them up and throw them in to taste.

Recipe Source: adapted from melskitchencafe.com to use fresh tomatoes and herbs

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