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Monday, February 27, 2012

Update

Ok it has been 9 days since I put the lettuce in the jars. One of the 2 darker ones---the green leaf or the romaine is not holding up. The Iceberg is great. I noticed there are a few of the darker greens that are turning dark and mushy even in the vacuumed sealed jars. Only sparsley so far. I ate salad yesterday for lunch and dinner and I had to take out about 8 little pieces that were turning of the dark greens. Next time i will do the romaine and green leaf lettuces separately to determine how long each one will last. I've had fresh salad now for a week whenever I've wanted without the dreaded work of preparing it each time. So all in all I am very happy with this experiment.On to another note....

I spent the day yesterday making  a toilet seat cover to match the valance over the shower curtain I had made a few years ago. I came across that same fabric while cleaning and had enough for that and towel accents and a small runner for the tank top. I quilted the fabric before I cut it out. I laid the fabric on the lid and cut around it. Then I cut some un-quilted fabric strips on the bias, made a 5/8" hem. Inserted 1/4" elastic, then sewed this right sides together to the quilted seat cover. I finished by making a small piece of double fold bias out of matching fabric and covered all across the back near the hinges of the seat where I inserted the elastic. Turned out great, I was quite pleased with it. What do you think? Thanks. Have a good week.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Happy Sunday, Fresh Salad Bar

Sunday is one of my busiest days of the week. I work online most all day at my website and my selling venues. I found a new place to sell my patterns and have been working on uploading those. It's called Craftsy, it has all kinds of pdf downloadable patterns. You should check it out.Craftsy
In between my work I take breaks to eat, throw in some laundry and do other chores. Well today I decided to do something with my  vacuum sealer I saw online somewhere. I'm sorry I do not remember who posted the picture but I saw it on Pinterest I believe. (I do a lot of surfing some nights.) My vacuum sealer is one of my favorite appliances in the kitchen. I have had one for about 10-15 years now. Actually wore the first one out and bought a new one a few years ago. 


 I vacuum seal my sugar, flour cornmeal, and oatmeal in 1/2 gallon size jars. All wide mouth jars. The round attachment is for the jars. The jar with the sugar in it has a plastic wide mouth screw on lid so it is not vacuum sealed. That's because I get into that jar almost everyday. And early in the morning when it's tea and coffee time I don't want to have to think about re-sealing the jar.When I use some of the other jars then I re-seal them after I get out the amount I need from the jar.


 Chocolate chips, still good and chocolatey 1 year later. (I've made a lot of sugar cookies this past year not chocolate chip.) They do not turn colors because the air has been removed. Nuts, chips, cereal, candy, cookies, fruits snacks, raisins, pretzels. You name it and I most likely seal it or have tried sealing it. I use the bags to seal meats and put in the freezer they last a good long time, much longer than wrapped in other ways. Hot dogs, I break up the pkg. into serving sizes and seal. Bacon same way. Cheese and lunch meat. As most know lunch meat freezes but I don't like it when it comes from the freezer. leftovers from big pots of soup seal well in bags then into the freezer they go. I have even vacuum sealed produce. Some worked some did not. The mixed greens or spring mix salad didn't do well, I had done it in bags. Well I saw someone had sealed lettuce in jars and thought why not? I seal almost everything else in jars. So I decided to do romaine, iceburg, and green leaf. They all seem to be hardy.  Now I have fresh salad whenever I want. Just open the jar and serve. I have to add the fixin's to it like celery, tomatoes, onions and such after I take it out of the jar because all produce seals and lasts at different rates. The biggest job is done though. I washed and chopped all the lettuce up the and sealed it in the jars. One quart sized jar makes three good sized salads. I've always wished I had a fresh salad bar in my house to eat from everyday. This is the next best thing. And the jars stand up in the vegetable  drawer of the fridge with no problem.





I hope this inspires someone else. Here's wishing everyone a good week.


Friday, February 17, 2012

This will be Primitive Prairie Flowers

Here sets the supplies I'm using for my newest pattern. I've decided to call it Primitive Prairie Flowers. Will post the finished products in a week when I get them done. Providing life doesn't get in the way.

Vanilla milk craving

                                 I've been craving this for over a month now. I finally located it! I used to buy it when my kids were little.