Vegie Pasta Sauce your kids will love to eat

I love to make food from scratch that everyone in my family love to eat. I have been working on this recipe for a long time to make it the perfect mixture of healthy and fresh but also delicious.

You will need:
2 Large tomato's
1 Zucchini
Crushed garlic
Italian herbs
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons of tomato paste

Step 1
Dice Tomato's and Zucchini into cubes

Step 2

Place Tomato's, Zucchini and 1/4 of a cup of water into a small saucepan

Step 3

Add in the rest of the ingredients

2 cloves of crushed garlic

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

Salt to taste

Sprinkle of Italian herbs

Step 4

Mix everything together and bring to the boil.

Once everything is cooked through serve over pasta

I was planning to take a photo of the end result but it didn't last long enough.

 

Micro Farminng - The basics

Micro farming is the basically the process of growing a large amount of produce or livestock on a small area. It can be any size from growing greens on your balcony to raising 50 pigs on 10 acres. The point of micro farming is the ability to be able to grow your own food.

The first thing that you need to consider before you get started on your micro farm, is planning! Planning how you plan to lay the your block out, to achieve the best results from the space you have. The next thing to plan is your planting roster and a marketing plan. This is often the first mistake people make they fail to plan and end up wasting money and time.

When considering animals please don't forget to consider time! Animals take a lot of time and work also its hard to nip off for a mini break with pigs and chickens that need feeding. However animals make an amazing addition to any micro farm by not only providing meat but also manure for the compost.

If animals aren't your thing then maybe consider cropping, before planting anything do as much research as you can this will help you to achieve the best possible results. Also you may want to consider organics with a smaller crop organic farming is much easier and organic produce can sell for as much as 20% higher then standard grown produce.

 Options for selling your produce, Its easy to sell your produce and cut out the middle man. There are a few options for selling your produce particularly in a technology driven world. A couple of options are Facebook more and more people are turning to Facebook to purchase everything. There has also been a couple of websites that have been cropping up my personal favorite is www.ripenear.me Its designed particularly for selling and buying fresh produce. A market stall is another great option for selling fresh produce and products that you have made such as jams and spreads.

 

Country Classic: Chicken Pie

This is an absolute family favorite of ours. Its super easy from ingredients that you have already have in your cupboard.

Serves 4

You Will Need:
500 grams of chicken Mince or thigh fillets
2 cups of Chicken Stock
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Flour
2 Cups of Vegies
1 Tablespoon of garlic
Puff Pastry Sheets

In a frying pan add a small amount of oil, then add chicken and fry until brown.
Scope out chicken leaving behind the fat.
Add Chicken stock and milk stir until combined.
Add half the flour mix all together then return the chicken to the pan
Slowly add the rest of the flour until it makes a watery paste.
Add vegies and mix together
Remove from heat.
Line a baking dish with puff pastry
Add chicken mixture to baking dish and add more pastry to create a lid.

Place in oven for 30 Minutes at 200 degrees

Apricot Nectar

I love making Apricot Nectar, its a great activity to do with the kids on a Saturday afternoon. Its super easy for those who have never preserved before.

You will need:

A large supply of apricots (2 cups will fill a jar)
Sugar
Lemon juice

A slow cooker
A pot for sealing
A funnel
A jar graber
Measuring cup
Measuring Spoons.

Peel and remove the seed from each apricot. For every 4 cups add 1.5 cups of water.

Once all the apricots and water is in the slow cooker turn on high for about 5 hours.

When you are ready place your jars upside down in oven on a wire rack along with lids and bake for 20 mins at about 180 degrees.
This will ensure serialized jars.
Turn off oven and leave them in the oven.
When you are ready take your jars and in the bottom place 1/2 cup of sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Pour the water from the slow cooker into the jar.
Leave some room at the top for adding a bit of pulp if you wish.
Continue this until all the liquid is gone.
Optional
I like to mash the cooked apricots at bit and add some to the top of my jars.

Close the lid tight and seal using the large pot and boiling water.
Pop in the boiling water and wait for the click thingy in the middle of the lid pops back in.

Preserving for Beginners

Preserving is a cost effective and space saving way to keep your harvest all though the off season. It doesn't take a lot of equipment or outlay to get started. Its also a good idea to set up a swap with your neighbours. I have included all the information that you need to get started. Stay turned for my favourite easy recipes.

Equipment

A measuring cup (at least 2 cups in size)
Wooden Spoon
Measuring Spoons
A supply of clean jars
A large pot
A strainer
A funnel
A jar grabber like the one below

This will come in handy to pull the hot jars out. Save you from burning your fingers.

cleanliness is next to godliness

This is never more important as when you are making preserves.

Always wash your jars and dry with a clean tea towel before you begin. Jars and lids need to be sterilised, there is a few options to sterilise your jars I have found the best method is to place the jars on a wire oven rack upside down along with the lids, bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, after 20 minutes turn the oven off but do not remove the jars until the last minute.