Preserving Fresh Produce {Finished Friday #49} Come and link up your finished projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.
Also be sure to check out our Early Learning Prize Pack Giveaway ($60 Value).

This week we've been overwhelmed with fresh produce from our garden. This definitely isn't a bad thing, but we have so much that we've decided to freeze most of it until we can get around to canning.

There's been lots of yellow squash that is easily sliced and frozen for making Creamy Summer Squash Soup later. We have even more stored in our extra freezer at my parents' home.

We've also had lots and lots of tomatoes, which we've blanched, peeled and frozen for making tomato sauce later. I like to freeze the gallon bags on a flat surface and then stand them upright so they take up less room. (You can also see a glimpse of a bag of chopped banana peppers and our veggie scrap bin that we store extra bits in until we have enough for a big batch of vegetable broth.)

We also have these tomatoes that were blanched and cooled before we peeled, bagged, smushed (the kids' favorite part) and froze. This filled another 2 1/2 gallon bags. We combined the last half with the half filled bag you see in the freezer above.

And the tomatoes in this 5 gallon bucket filled another 4 bags for a total of 12 bags of tomatoes in our freezer alone. (We have a few more bags in our extra freezer.)

Oh, and these green and yellow tomatoes that we picked off of a couple plants that had to be pulled up because the bugs were getting crazy. (Plus the big batch of Salsa Verde that is already in the fridge ~ thanks, Tim.)

We also have a bag of unexpected potatoes that I don't know what to do with yet.

So while we might have a lot done we still have a long way to go. Wish us luck!

While we enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors, we are also still enjoying many, many garden books together. Check out some of our favorite garden and plant books for kids with pictures and reviews.

Today's Questions: Have you preserved any fresh produce so far this summer?

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

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Real Life

Today Tim didn't have to leave for work until 10:30AM. 

I'd love to say we spent some great quality family time together...reading books...playing games with the kids...going for a walk. 

But instead Tim made breakfast, played with the kids and read stories while I folded and put away the three loads of laundry that had been piled in our bedroom all weekend. Then I washed, dried, folded and put away four more loads! 

Wow, was I behind on laundry!

I'm now happy to say that the hamper is empty and our closets and dressers are full...for now.

Note to self: The kids have way too many clothes!

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Shenzhen Knives Review

Tim and I have been wanting to get some new knives for a while now. We recently added a new 6 inch ceramic knife from Shenzhen Knives to our collection.

Shenzhen Knives is one of the leading online retailers of ceramic knives, ceramic knife sets and ceramic peelers. We can definitely understand why.  The knife we received to review is absolutely beautiful!  The handle is shaped nicely and allows for comfortable cutting a lot of food.  

The first time I used this knife was to slice tomatoes for a friend's barbecue. Tim and I were both amazed by how thin and perfect the slices turned out. This knife also does a great job with all vegetables, fruits and cheeses. Basically, any job that needed precision cutting can be done beautifully with a ceramic knife.

I love how professional I feel while I'm cutting with this ceramic knife. I'm sure our new ceramic knife from Shenzhen Knives will be getting quite comfortable as a staple in our kitchen.

Why ceramic knives?


:: Blade is made from zirconium oxide which is harder than ordinary steel and almost as hard as diamond.


:: Keeps its edge much longer than a steel blade. Resists wear. May go months or even years before needing to be sharpened.


:: Rust-proof, non-stick surface is easy to clean.


:: No metallic taste or smell that can interact with the food's taste.


:: Lightweight: easy and comfortable to use for precision cutting.

Buy It: You can purchase your own ceramic knives from Shenzhen Knives here. The three piece set pictured above is only $64.98 and comes with free shipping! This is a very affordable, quality ceramic knife set. You can also purchase individual knives and and peelers from Shenzhen Knives. All orders over $70 receive free shipping. Every knife purchase comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

Thank you to Shenzhen Knives for sending us the Chef's Knife to review! No other compensation was given for this review and all opinions expressed are our own.

Have you ever used ceramic knives? If so, what do you like about them? If not, are you interested in trying them now?

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Welcome to A Heart for Home! We'd love for you to subscribe

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Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Changing of the Guard Dilemma

Every spring and fall the kids' wardrobes go through major overhaul to weed out the seasonal clothing that needs to be stored for passing down and to bring out the clothing that has been graciously passed down.

While I absolutely love the fact that we've been able to clothe all three of our children (with more than enough) and have only had to purchase around 10 items of clothing ourselves, I do not love the inevitable changing of the guard that must happen at least twice each year. 

The sorting and organizing clothing that is too small or that may fit again next year is a time consuming process. Although I guess shopping for new clothing is also. And then there's the storing. Oh, the storing. Even with fairly decent sized closets and a little space in the spare room, we are quickly running out of storage space in our home. We have a storage space under the house, but the thought of mildew ruining the clothing and my hard work of sorting makes me leery to place any hand-me-down bins in there.

So, for now the dilemma continues...

...what works for you?

We'd love to hear your ideas.
Do you use hand-me-downs for your children?
How do you sort and store?

I'll be facing this project in the next few weeks and would love any ideas for making it easier!

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Welcome to A Heart for Home! We'd love for you to subscribe

to receive free updates through e-mail or our RSS feed.

Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Womanly Dominion" Giveaway at Passionate Homemaking

Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking is sponsoring a giveaway of 7 copies of Mark Chanski's book, Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit.

Click here for your chance to enter.

Mess Proof Hand Towel

One thing that drives me crazy in the bathroom is the never ending battle to keep the hand towel hanging nicely. Inevitably it gets thrown back onto the ring, tossed on the counter, or dropped on the floor. I decided that I needed to tackle this problem and find a quick fix solution.

After folding the towel and placing it neatly over the ring I grabbed a coordinating ponytail holder and threaded both ends of the towel through the holder.

Now the towel hangs neatly and securely on the ring until I remove the ponytail holder. It's also just as easy to dry your hands with the towel still hanging on the ring.

You could also make a matching scrunchie type holder with elastic and the fabric of your choice.


For now, this quick and frugal bathroom fix works for me!


This post contributed to:
Tackle-It Tuesday
Works for Me Wednesday
I Am Blissfully Domestic

Training a Toddler: Dish Washing & A Sink Full of Fun

This past week, we began teaching Emahry how to wash dishes. She's been "helping" with the dishes since she was about a year old. However, we want to make sure we take advantage of this age where she wants to help by teaching her how to wash dishes correctly.

We've started by simply filling the kitchen sink with about 2 inches of water and adding dish detergent. We them place a few unbreakable items in the sink for her to wash. These items normally consist of small metal bowls, measuring cups, and small plastic containers that need to be cleaned before put into the recycling bin.

We begin each training session by showing her how to use the dish cloth to wipe the dirty dishes. Then we show her where to place the washed dishes. For us, we place all the washed dishes in the second sink and then rinse them all at the end because we've found that we use less water this way.

Once we've demonstrated how we want her to wash the dishes, we step back and let her do it. For the first few dishes I normally stand beside her and offer verbal reminders, but after that I move on to some other work in the kitchen and just check on her every couple of minutes.

When Emahry has finished washing all of the dishes that we placed in the sink (or on the counter) we rinse them together and place them in the drying rack. We still have to help with this part because she can't reach the drying rack and she tends to get distracted wanting to play in the water.

When we are finished she is able to play in the sink water. If it's gotten pretty dirty we replace it with about an inch of new water and lots of bubbles. This is a reward for Emahry but it also allows me time to complete my kitchen tasks. This is a great time for me to work on meal preparations, take stock of the fridge, freezer, and cabinets in order to plan meals, prepare freezer meals, and complete general cleaning chores.

Here are a few more pictures for Emahry's sink time fun.

How do you involve or teach your children to help with household tasks. We're always looking for new ways to include and train our children, so please leave a comment with your input.

Here are some other posts you might enjoy:

Involving Our Children

Our Kitchen Helper & Oatmeal Pancakes

Getting Your Toddler to Clean the Toilet

This post contributed to I Am Blissfully Domestic.

Blitz It Friday ~ Clean Sweep

My mom was here all morning helping me complete a set of curtains for our bedroom. While it was great to finally have curtains up (thanks, Mom!) the rest of the house was looking a little neglected from lack of cleaning this morning and sewing supplies strewn everywhere.

The goals of my blitz were to:

1. Move clothes to dryer.

2. Put away all sewing supplies.

3. Wash dishes.

4. Wipe down kitchen counters.

5. Sweep kitchen floor.

6. Clean out rabbit cage & feed rabbits. (Did I mention we got rabbits, more on that later.)

7. Cover cold frame for the night.

8. Clean off table. Well, I got it straightened and all the papers in ONE pile.

9. Tidy Living room.

I feel much better about the house now. I'm heading to put the kids to bed and maybe fold some laundry (or maybe I'll just call it a night and go to bed myself).

Head over to Organized Everyday to see other Blitzes for this week.