Tidbits ~ Freezing Celery vs. Dehydrating ~ From Pile to File Recipe

Yesterday's sunrise.

I came across some broad leaf plantain in my flower garden yesterday.  You know me.  I had to stop weeding, pick some leaves, and prepare them for drying.

  

I managed to finish weeding the herb garden, and most of the flower beds, despite aches and pains.  I have a few more flower beds left to do, then the rose bed.  Once those are once again tidy, I get the joy of sorting barn boards.  First, I'm picking out a few for my signs for myself.  Hubby said he'd rather not mess with driving the 2 1/2 hours to try and sell barn signs, so we'll just make some fun things for ourselves.

While he's at work, I'll be loading a cart to haul the bad boards to the burn pile.  Where I'll be singing some Johnny Cash.  "Burn, burn, burn...."

I got the night off last night, so I am rested up.  Hubby had an appointment after work, which put a day's delay on the barn, but I was okay with that.  There was no complaining on my end.

I'm posting the recipe exactly as it is printed, and you can adapt to homegrown/organic with it.  I'll be honest.  I did not use chicken broth as stated.  I had some vegetable blanch water from last year that I froze, and used that.  It tasted great too.  I still have some canned tomato paste from 2014 as well.  Oh, and I used frozen tomatoes from the garden vs. buying them canned from the store (you could use home canned tomatoes too). 

Remember the celery I froze?  I dehydrated some too.  I think I am a better estimator with frozen when cooking, but either way, they come in handy.  With the frozen you maintain the water.  With dehydrated celery you just need to re-hydrate it again before using it.

I still had celery in the freezer that I needed to use up, and I had no fresh celery on hand.  They say it is good up to 3 months, but it's been six months and it tasted fine.  I just put a few of my celery cubes right into the crock pot. 

I did not add the sugar. 

Chicken Vegetable Soup
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 cup frozen corn
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/4 cup dry lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried marjoram

In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until vegetables are tender.  Yield: 8 servings.