Tips from a friend I met online

I thank bingbing very much for the following tips. I learned a lot from her (and still learning). She has been living the same life I have for 10 years now. I thought other Filipinas with the same lifestyle might benefit from it too so I am posting it here.

SPINACH- have you tried it with mungo or soup bone? finely chopped them then add to ramen noodles with diced carrots pero cook it as dry as pancit as a side dish. we add that also to rice-a-roni. (my kids love spinach. they don't love vegetables but they have no choice but eat them or else no dessert).

PLANTING KAMOTE TOPS and KANGKONG- put stem in water to root then plant them in your garden or plant them in a pot, take them out during summer and bring in the house before winter. (when bringing plants from outside, make sure the temp. outside is as close as the temp. inside the house so the plant will not experience shock).

AMPALAYA -i tried planting this one summer and i have no luck. but i think you can put them straight in your garden. (my husband suggest that you soak them in water then when it begin to sprout then plant them. then you will know if seeds are good or not).

right now i have tomato in a pot (inside the house)and i will dig my eggplant and plant it in a pot so i can bring it inside.

i used to have malunggay in the house planted in the pot then every summer i plant that outside but died just this winter coz of the burrow worm (?).

CANNING- i canned salsa and apple sauce. canning tips i learn is after you are done processing or pressure cooking your can jars (with goodies in it) tip it upside down and leave it 24 hours to seal it really good. ( OUR GOVERNMENT CENTER HAVE EXTENSION OFFICE WHO GIVE OUT INFORMATION REGARDING PROPER CANNING, FREEZING AND COOKING OF FOODS. YOU MIGHT HAVE ONE ALSO. SOME UNIVERSITY DO HAVE THIS ALSO, PARANG U.P.).
i learned also that you can cut your vegetables, put them in your canning jars, add water and a teaspoon of salt on top (sugar if sweetcorn) then process it. i will try to do this on my corn and greenbeans this year.

FREEZING- i tried freezing sweetcorn and greenbeans but the taste deteriorates. i only freeze tomatoes, i dice, drip, then lay them in cookie sheet, let it freeze then store in ice cream pail or put them directly in ziploc bags, put enough to make it lie flat in the freezer. (i do freeze a lot of cookies, pies,cakes, muffins, breads. either whole or in slices).

DEHYDRATOR, VACUUM PACKING- you can buy a dehydrator or use your oven (200 degrees) for tomatoes (slice thinly then drip dry), leaves of onions, dill, chives and the likes. it has longer storage life if you store them in the freezer after dehydrating.
i don't have a vacuum packing gadget but you probably see them in ads, they say it prolong storage life.

MAKING KIDS EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES- i make zucchini bread, pumpkin bread (i use squash sometimes)or bars, carrot cake, apple muffin or cake, blueberry coffee cake, muffin or pancake. (i don't tell them what's in it just let them taste them first).

in our garden, we have peanuts (kids love boiled peanuts) and okra. tried munggo but all dead due to weather.