BASIL AND PEPPERS

I had a busy week at work so didn’t have much energy left for fun projects. I did get something done though!

First, I harvested some basil, washed it, and put it in the dehydrator. There’s not much that smells better in the house than basil being dehydrated!

Once it was finished, I stuffed it into 2 pint-sized jars and vacuum sealed them. Last year I found a vacuum sealer specifically for sealing canning jars. This was a game changer for me. Previously, I used the special attachment for my Food Saver to vaccum seal jars. However, that meant I would need to drag out the Food Saver, attach the attachment, seal a jar, and put everything away again. That was such a pain that usually I would just keep my dehydrated items in the freezer. With this inexpensive gadget, it’s no effort at all to seal a single jar or re-seal it after using a portion of the contents.

I harvested 12 green peppers from my garden this year. Processing those was the second project of the week.

I sliced and froze most of them. These will be great to use for fajitas.

With a few pieces, I put 2-3 tablespoons of diced peppers in a container, added a 1/4-cup or so of water and froze them.

These are super easy to thaw, and, because of the water, they retain their crunch so are great to use in pasta salads or to sauté with onions when making hash browns.

While I didn’t get a lot done this past week, I’m satisfied with what I did accomplish. Every bit counts after all!