Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it! 

Comments

Re: Request for tips on preaerving tomatos

[(Anonymous)]

For paste tomatoes, I do water bath canning. If I have a lot of time on my hands, I'll do them whole for maximum versatility, but usually what I'll do is run them through a food mill so they're somewhere between sauced and crushed (since usually what I'm using them for is sauces, bakes, and braises).

I cut Xes in the skin on the bottoms and blanch them in boiling water, then run them through the mill and put them up in quart-sized jars with 1/2 t. of citric acid and process them in a water bath for 45 mins.

Last year between the tomatoes we grew and bought at market, we put up 40 lbs in late September. We're currently down to our last couple jars with tomato season still 5 months out, so we'll probably try to do 60-80 lbs this year.