Easy Ways to Preserve and Prepare Produce {Extreme Couponing Education}

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We have been talking about how one of the myths of couponing is that coupons are only for processed foods, junk food or food my family does not eat. I also told you we were featured in the New York Times Magazine and many of the people writing in the comments accused us of only eating junk foods. All of this brought me to the conclusion that some people just need to be educated in the way we save money on food and still eat healthy. This week I am going to talk about how we prepare and preserve the produce that we buy.

Preserving and Preparing Produce

I do not want you to be overwhelmed with the task of preserving or using your fruit when you get it on a good sale, or when it takes over your garden. I used to feel like I was not domestic enough to can and make jam so I did not have many options besides my freezer for preserving my produce. I have listed 5 easy ways to use your produce that do not take much time at all!

5 Easy Ways to Preserve Produce

1. Eat it fresh -

We love to eat produce fresh for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. If you can not eat all of your produce that way we have some more easy options.

2. Make Fruit Leather -

I am in love with my food dehydrator. My kids and husband love it when I make fruit rolls. My fruit roll recipe is so easy to follow and does not take very much time at all. My kids and I used to love to eat store bought Fruit Roll ups. I have been able to get them free with coupons in the past. I started to notice that the artificial colors were turning my kids poop green. That just does not seem right to me. I was also discovering that red dyes can contribute to children having a hard time focusing in school. For myself I found that I would get a headache from the sugar and additives any time I ate a store bought Fruit Roll Up.  When I make homemade fruit rolls I control the amount of sugar they have. In fact I do not even use sugar I use Xylitol or pineapple juice or honey. All the ingredients are simple and natural and the fruit rolls taste soooo good!

• Tutorial for making Fruit Rolls

3. Dehydrating Food -

Did I say, I am in love with my food dehydrator? Dehydrating food is so easy. You can dehydrate only one tray if you are short on time or limited on food. Or you can dehydrate 10 trays at one time if you are really stocked up on produce. I find that when I have some fruit that is getting a little old on the counter and no one wants to eat it. I can dehydrate it and it will be gobbled up.

• Tutorial for dehydrating apples.

4. Fruit Smoothies -

My family loves fruit smoothies. All you need is a little juice, some fruit, a sweetener and ice! Three easy fruit smoothie recipes:

• Peach Banana Smoothi Recipe
• Strawberry Smoothie Recipe
• Homemade Orange Julius Recipe

I never made smoothies until I got my Vitamix super blender! Now making smoothies is so easy.  Cathy loves the Blendtec super blender.

5. Homemade Fruit Popsicles -

I love feed my children real fruit popsicles.  I can control the sugar and I know they are getting real fruit. I usually just make fruit popsicles with left over smoothies. You can get popsicle molds online. We have also had success making popsicles in old yogurt cups. We simply put the lid back over the top and pop a popsicle stick through the center.

• Read more tips to answer your couponing questions or get more Extreme Couponing Education tips.
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