Fresh Garden Tomato Soup Recipe: Preserving Nature's Bounty

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One of my favorite things about the summertime is the opportunity to enjoy some fresh tomatoes from the garden. I've always been partial to the tomato, which seems to be a trait that I had handed down to me honestly. One of my clearest memories of childhood were tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches being enjoyed by both my mother and grandmother, and I have always loved that meal as a warmer weather treat myself even into adulthood.

One thing that I have found to be frustrating in the process of attempting to master old world homesteading skills, however, has revolved around being able to hang on to the excess of a fruitful tomato harvest throughout the rest of the year. Canning comes to mind, obviously, but there's one glaring issue with that plan: despite our fervent love of the tomato when it's fresh, the majority of my family turns our noses up at cooked tomato in just about any form. I believe I have come up with a probable solution, though, in the form of simply canning homemade tomato soup. Most of us do enjoy that dish during the colder months. In fact, I'm not really a soup person at all, except when it comes to both tomato and homemade potato soup. I suppose it's my Irish roots showing.

The following is a recipe I pieced together by combining those of several other people who graciously shared theirs with me. Rather than simply use someone else's recipe, I took a little something from each and made it my own. Also, as always and in keeping in line with the idea that this is supposed to be a blog about simple living in a homesteading situation (possibly even including having to get by during a TEOTWAWKI societal collapse), what you're going to see here will not be some very fancy and complicated gourmet recipe. Rather, this will be the recipe I'm going to be using myself this next year. It's another example of what I like to call a "quick and dirty solution" that will provide you and yours with some hearty tomato soup you can store in your cellar to enjoy over the cold winter:

Fresh Garden Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
Chopped fresh garden tomatoes (enough to equal 8 cups)
2 whole onions, sliced or chopped (your preference) 4 cups of chicken broth 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine 4 tablespoons of flour 2 teaspoons of salt
4 teaspoons of sugar, either regular or brown (again, your preference)
Preparation:

- Combine tomatoes, onion, and broth over medium heat and bring to a boil for around 20 minutes or so. This is meant to mingle the flavors.

- Remove it from the heat and run it all through a processor or food mill into a large bowl or pot.

- Reusing the original pot where you boiled the mixture previously, use medium heat to melt the butter/margarine

- Slowly stir your flour into the butter/margarine, cooking it until it is a brown of a medium shade.

- Slowly stir in the tomato/onion/broth mixture, taking care to make sure not to allow any noticeable lumps to form.

- Lastly, stir in the sugar and salt to season your soup to taste.


This is supposed to only take a little over a half an hour to prepare and should make enough for 5-6 people to get a hearty, meal-sized bowl of soup from this recipe. Sorry that I can't tell you how many quarts or pints for canning purposes, but as I said before this is going to be a recipe that will be new to me this next year as well. I guess we'll all just need to play it by ear, but I'll be sure to post an article about it when I make it, including pictures of the process.




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Non-Fiction Writing Contest (Feb. 2013): "Prepping and Survival" by Harold D.

Wow!  Have you been prepping for survival longer than you think?  Before you answer that question, let's think about it for a minute.

Prepping: make ready, one self for an event

Preparing: make ready, get something ready for use

Survival: is the struggle to stay alive and living

Now, knowing the definition, stop and think about it for a minute.  Well, remember when we went to our grandmother's house in the summer.  They were up at the crack of dawn milking the cows, gathering the eggs, and then into the garden to pick the fresh veggies.  Then they maybe would take a short brake for cookies and milk, and then it was time to start getting the veggies ready to be canned.  We would take them out to the wash table and wash and trim them.  After that we would take all the trimmings and water and put it back into the garden, and then we would take a break for lunch.  After lunch, we started the canning process and boy was that a hot job too.  We would, most of the time, spend the rest of the day canning all the fresh veggies.  Now that was a day's work on the farm.  Oh, how different it is today than it was yesterday.  With all that work we never had time to get in trouble, because we were always doing something around the farm and the same went for when we were at home.

That was preparing for survival.  We were doing it for different reasons than we are preparing for in today's world.  Back then, it was just a normal life.  They started out in the spring planting a big garden and some of their gardens were more than an acre, depending on how big the family was.  They planted just about everything that they ate back in those days.  It's not like in today's world; if we can't open a can or take it out of the freezer, we typically don't eat it.  Oh, how things are changing now.  People that never canned in their lives are doing it now, along with a lot of other things that they thought they would never do.  They're learning how to grow a garden and some are even learning to raise chickens and other livestock.  Wow, how times have changed in just a few short years.  Can you believe what is going on today?

See, our grandparents had to prepare their crops so they would have food to last the winter and then some.  Back then, a whole lot of folks did not have freezers, nor could they afford one.  So, in order for them to survive the winter and spring, they had to do a lot of canning to preserve their foods.  In their world, they had what they needed, if not always what they wanted.  In our world, we have what we need and then most of us have what we want too.

Well, back in those days, prepping was a way of life for our grandparents and today it is something that we have to do to be prepare for what the future is going to bring us.  What will that be?  I do not think anybody knows, but there is a lot of guessing going on out there.

Now we are prepping for what the future is not going to bring us.  I think we need to make the best of what we have and just keep looking forward and not backwards.  Oh sure, I would like to see time go back, at least we would not have all the turmoil we have today.  People are going off their rocker shooting people for no reason, and no matter what kind of laws they want to put in place. it will not help.  The bad will always find some way to get the job done.

I hope whoever reads this, and takes note of what I have said, keeps going forward with their plans.  Just remember, when we were growing up, we hardly knew what a door lock was.  We were not afraid to go out at night and sit on the front porch.  I remember when my Dad use to take me to the river at twelve years old and let me fish all night and come back in the morning to pick me up.  There is no way of doing that today.  If you do want to go to the river and stay overnight you need to be packing a firearm, just in case.  You never know what is going on out there.  They can pass all the laws they want, but there will always be some type of violent crimes around.  If it is not guns, it might be knives and then they will want to take our knives away too.

I think to beat what is going on today, we all need to stick together and form block colonies and take care of each other and help one another.  For God said He would not forsake us nor put on us more than we could handle.  Are you ready for what might be coming?  I am prepared for either way because He is my Lord and Savior.  Do not worry about yesterday, because it has come and gone.  Just give God all the glory, and he will take care of us.

---------- The preceding article is an entry in the Non-Fiction Writing Contest for February 2013. Interested in entering? Email your article to backwoodssurvivalblog@gmail.com. See here for the list of prizes and here for the contest rules.

WHY Can’t I *Can* That?

WHY Can’t I *Can* that? - American Preppers Network: I feel we (as preppers) are all on the same team working towards a common goal. This article is somewhat aggressive to get the point across, but it is also full of facts and backed up with research – I wrote it because someone on the internet NEEDED to be very clear about safe canning practices. I presented this information just as everyone else who posts canning articles presents their information, and I have left it up to you, the readers, to make up your own minds. I feel you need all of the information to do that – not just the feel good stuff. At no point do I claim to be an expert in this article which is why I thoroughly cited all of the information and provided links where you could locate and get in touch with canning and food experts...

Dry Canning the Easy Way

Dry Canning the Easy Way - American Preppers Network: The easiest, cheapest and fastest way to dry can food is to use oxygen absorbers. This technique is nearly fool-proof, and requires no electricity, fancy equipment, and it does not expose your dry food to heat. The true beauty to this technique is that you can break the seal on a jar, use some of the contents, close it up with the absorber still inside…..and it magically reseals itself! SO it works not only for long-term storage but short-term as well!...

Earthquake Precautions for Your Home Canned Goods

Earthquake Precautions - YouTube

Assemble a Canning Kit

Assemble a Canning Kit - YouTube

Ten Tips That Will Guarantee You Have Food if SHTF

Ten Tips That Will Guarantee You Have Food if SHTF: Some of the most popular web articles on emergency preparedness have to do with food. This is also a widely discussed topic in print and on forums. And it is no wonder. In today’s society eating is no longer just for sustenance. It is a social form, a source of family bonding and togetherness and for many, a hobby. And, with rising costs, it is a significant part of almost everyone’s household budget.


Today I would like to share ten tips for securing your food supply so that in the event of a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or civil disobedience on a massive scale, you will be able to eat and to thrive – no matter what...

[Tips at Link]

Guest Post: "Emergency Preparedness : Start Canning Now"

Canning is a great way to store food long-term. It also helps you to create nutritious and whole foods for your family without all the preservatives and chemicals that you are exposed to with store-bought canned goods. When you grow your own food, canning also gives you a great option for storing your food so that large harvests do not go to waste. However, those who have never canned before may find the process intimidating, thinking it overly complicated. Getting started with canning is actually quite simple once you know a bit about the basics. Here's some simple information to help get you started:

Stock Up on Jars

Glass canning jars are economical and easy to find. You can buy them in various sizes to suit your individual project needs. Every jar will come with a lid and ring. You can easily reuse jars, either from previous canning projects or from used food containers, such as jelly jars, nut butter jars, and soup jars. Rings can be reused for future projects, but lids should be purchased new each time. A reused lid may not seal properly, which can caused your canned goods to sour or go bad, destroying hours of effort and wasting food.

Get the Right Equipment

Besides basic equipment such as pots, knives and ladles used to prepare your canned foods, you will also need either a water bath or a pressure canner, depending on what types of items you are hoping to can. Typically, water bath canners are used for high-acid foods such as fruits, tomatoes, pickles, jams and jellies. Pressure canners are used for foods that have to be heated at higher temperatures for longer periods of time, such as meats or low-acid vegetables. A third type of canner, a steam canner, is sometimes used for simple jams and jellies. All of the canners help to prepare the foods and to properly seal the jars. The type of canner you use and the temperature and time used for each project will depend upon the individual recipe.

Process Your Jars

The procedure for processing your jars will depend upon the specific recipe you are making, and there are multiple recipe books available to help you can whatever you would like. In general, processing will require that you place filled jars inside the water bath or canner and are then covered with hot, boiled lids. After the specified processing time has passed, the jars are lifted out and placed on a flat surface to cool, typically overnight. The cooling allows the jars to properly seal, and you will hear a "pop" when the sealing has taken place. Proper sealing ensures that no harmful bacteria can spoil the contents inside the jar.

Other Important Tips

Canning procedures will vary according to the recipe you make, but there are some important steps you should make for each recipe. Be sure that jars are sterilized before you use them so that harmful bacteria cannot proliferate inside the sealed jar. Be sure that excess air is removed from the jars before they are sealed by running a knife or spatula around the inside edges of the jar. Once jars are processed, proper labeling with dates, times, and contents will help to ensure that food is not allowed to spoil. Jars should always be stored in a cool, dry, and dark place such as a pantry.
There will be a bit of a learning curve when you get started with canning, but with the right information, the process is easy. Once you get started, you will have a valuable skill that will help you provide fresh, healthy food for your family in the long term, both to preserve your own harvests and to store food for emergency preparedness.

About the author:
Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor's degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on grants for college women and grants for adult students .