Stocking Up

What to stock up on in March



Things to buy Nov & Dec for your food storage
Watch for many baking items to go on sale such as white sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, flour, nuts and chocolate chips. Sugars if stored in cool, dry conditions can have a shelf-life of 30 years. Flour can be stored for at least 10 yrs. Chocolate will develop a white bloom but will still be perfectly fine to use for several years. Nuts should be put in freezer bags and kept in the freezer for long-term storage. If kept in other storage areas, they will go rancid. Buy these items when they are on sale and use
coupons to get them for even less. About a week before Thanksgiving turkey will be at the lowest price of the year. Buy an extra turkey to donate and one to cut up and freeze or pressure can for storage. Raw-pack pressure canning of meats is very easy and safe to do. Follow instructions in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving or in the instruction booklet that came with your pressure canner.

Freezing or canning fresh pumpkin
This is the perfect time to buy several fresh pumpkins for really cheap. Cut them into quarters and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 F until soft. Once they have cooled, scrape the meat of the pumpkin into a food processor or blender. Add a little bit of water and puree. Then you can measure and freeze in freezer bags. Or you can put into pint size canning jars and pressure can. This costs almost nothing and you will have plenty of pumpkin goodness for the next year.

Pumpkins-How Do You Choose A Pumpkin

How To Cook/Bake Pumpkin Seeds:

1. scrape the seeds out of the pumpkin
2. wash the seeds and let them dry overnight or at least several hours
3. get a cookie sheet and cover it with foil and grease with vegetable oil (so the pumpkin seeds can be removed easier after baking)

Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds:

1. heart healthy-1/4 cup of pumpkins seeds contains half of the recommended daily amount of magnesium. Helps prevent heart attacks, strokes and     high blood pressure
2. zinc-great immune system booster, helps with sleep, depression and mood swings
3. promotes a healthy prostate-because of the zinc in them
4. help with diabetes regulation-always check with your doctor
5. postmenopausal-helps with hot flashes, headaches and blood pressure
6. anti-inflammatory-great for those of us with arthritis issues

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