Random-ness

A big thank you to those leaving me comments.  They brighten my day.  Thank you to all who even visit my blog as well.

Wednesday was a strange day for me.  It was our daughter's (youngest) first day to school.  We were all up at 5:30am, and sitting on the porch awaiting the school bus.  The bus picks her up at 6:17am.  It felt very weird to be home alone.  Too quiet for me, so the music came on.

Before cleaning the kitchen, I had the washing machine going, and multi-tasked.

A handful of hot peppers were sliced and frozen, while I baked up a large breakfast egg/sausage/potato/sweet potato/hot pepper scramble.  It'll last the next few days, so we won't have to cook at 5:30am.

We needed tortillas for that scramble (needed more eggs, but I have slackers right now and needed two more eggs), so I whipped up some einkorn homemade tortillas.  I shared this a while back, but now the recipe is also online:  Einkorn Tortillas.

I also baked some Einkorn Snickerdoodles.  I knew our daughter would need some comfort food after her first nervous day at school, and my hard working husband would love a healthy treat.

I took down all the kitchen curtains, washed the windows and wood work, and put new curtains up.  They sort of look like bandannas and have a white back.  They will be perfect for keeping the kitchen warmer this winter, and blocking out the heat of the sun when necessary too.  I have odd shaped windows, so the valances will not fit, and are in storage for now.  I may use lighter curtains for spring and summer and just use these in the fall/winter.

Washed, dried and put away all my dirty dishes.  Counters were scrubbed clean and sanitized.  Stove top scrubbed.

How to Make Garlic Powder (Ground/Powdered Garlic) and Minced Garlic

First, if you are new to dehydrating, a book or booklet typically comes with one.  It has directions, times, temperatures, maybe recipes (depending on brand you buy), to guide you as well.  I apologize to all of you who already know how to do this.

Here is the one that came with mine.

 (This one is loaded with recipes on what to make with all your dehydrated goodies)

I also have these two books on my homesteading bookshelf as well, but plan to add more.

How to make garlic powder:

I chose a larger variety of garlic (Russian Giant) for this project.  Peel and slice the garlic thin and lay on the dehydrator trays.  I use gloves to do the slicing.  I follow the directions that came with my dehydrator, and dry until crisp.

Cool a bit after the dehydrator is turned off.

I use a small coffee grinder, place the dried garlic into it and grind it up to a powder.  Simply store in an airtight container with your other spices (out of light).

(dried)

To make minced garlic, mince fresh garlic onto parchment paper lined dehydrator trays.  Dehydrate, cool, and break it up.  Store in an airtight container.

The plan is to come back and share more books that you may find helpful with dehydrating in general.  If you do not grow a garden, most farmer's markets sell organic garlic.