Do you use vanilla extract in baking?  I know I use mine a lot for baking, homemade ice cream, and other things.  There are a lot of reasons why I choose to make my own extract for these purposes, which I will share with you.  And then I’ll get to the good part: how to do it!

Tomato sauce wasn’t even my first project, but it was the one that weighed most heavily on my mind. While friends were gathering up strawberries and other earlier crops to make jellies and jams and all sorts of things, I was just waiting. My family won’t eat jellies and jams so there was no reason to make any. But tomato sauce! We go through that like crazy! It was one of the biggest things I’ve planned to can and no, I am STILL not done! But I actually did this one in a few different stages so I “perfected” my technique a bit. I’ll share with you the way that I did it, and explain why some of the other ways are not my preferred way. Here we go…be prepared to get messy!

Butter.

It’s a wonderful fat. However, buying GOOD butter (grass-fed, organic) is expensive. We’re talking anywhere from $5 – $9 a pound. That can get expensive, especially if you go through butter like we do (about 1 – 1.5 lbs. per two weeks). However, making it yourself is MUCH cheaper! And it’s easy, too. Today I’m going to show you how.

Sprouted grains. I’ve mentioned them before, but I’ve never told you HOW to do it, have I? Hence, today’s tutorial. 🙂

Sprouted grains have a ton of health benefits.  They’re more easily digested and nutrients more readily absorbed, they are full of extra vitamins, especially B vitamins (did you know that’s why white flour is enriched with B vitamins?  Because manufacturers know they should and do contain these, but stripping the bran off gets rid of them), some gluten-sensitive individuals can eat them, they contain few to no anti-nutrients — they’re wonderful!  Of course, it’s best to reduce your intake of grains overall, but when you eat them, sprouted grains are the best you can get.

Jerky!

This is a really great snack for us on our new diet. But when you buy it, it’s expensive, made from factory-farmed meat (often, not always…but if not it’s even more expensive!), and can contain sodium nitrite. No thanks!