Dehydrating Green Beans

This year has been an awesome year for growing green beans in our garden. We have eaten all the fresh beans that we have wanted to eat...and then some. We canned green beans, froze green beans, and the bushes are still producing so we are now dehydrating the beans..

Green beans are perhaps one of the easiest vegetables to dehydrate. Once dehydrated, you can easily add them to soups, stews, casseroles, or just eat them plain as is for a snack. While you will need to check with the manual for your dehydrator for specific instructions, this is how I dehydrate green beans:

 

After picking beans, carefully break off ends and break beans into desired lengths. Some people cut off the ends off with a knife rather than breaking them, but I was raised breaking them so that is how I do it. Either way is just fine.

Thoroughly rise off the beans to remove any residue left by insects or other kinds of dirt.

Place green beans into boiling water and boil for 2 minutes.

Immediately place beans into ice water to “shock” them to stop the cooking process.

Drain off beans and place beans onto trays and place into dehydrator.

Dry at 125°F for 6-11 hours or until beans are completely dry and brittle. Store in an air tight container.

To Use: To rehydrate beans, for every 1 cup of dehydrated beans, let soak in 2 ½ cups of water for at least 1 hour. Then, place onto stove and allow to simmer until the beans are tender.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)

Natural Mosquito and Flea Repellent Recipe

Where I live at, mosquito and fleas seem to be in abundance at this time of the year. While I don't like to get bit by them, I like even less the over-the-counter sprays filled with all sorts of chemicals. Lucky for me one of the best mosquito and flea repellents that I have found is also one that I can easily make with things that I normally have in my house.

The combination of the ingredients have been used for decades to ward off mosquitoes and fleas, but the recipe that I found for it, made up way more than I would ever use during the summer months....so I have somewhat changed the recipe. As with anything else like this, please try the product on a small patch of skin before slithering all over you in case you find that you are allergic to it.

Natural Mosquito and Flea Repellent Recipe

• whole cloves
• rubbing alcohol
• baby oil (equal amount as alcohol used)
• a container that can be tightly closed

Put as much or as little as you like of the cloves in the container and cover with the rubbing alcohol. Tightly cover and allow to marinate for 4 days, stirring (or swishing around) the contents both morning and night. After the 4 days, add the same amount of baby oil as what there is rubbing alcohol. There is no need to actually measure it...just eyeball it is good enough. Mix together and store in a covered container in a cool, dry, place .

To Use: Apply with a cotton ball to arms, legs, and throat area.

Thanks for visiting and reading my blog. :-)