Every Bit Counts Challenge | Week 2 Preserving Food Every Day in August!

Welcome back to Week 2 of the Every Bit Counts Challenge! 🌱 This week, I’m preserving food every single day in August to stock up our pantry and create a more self-sufficient lifestyle. From canning and fermenting to freezing and dehydrating, every little bit really does count! #everybitcountschallenge

A HUGE thank you to Jessica at @threerivershomestead for hosting this incredible challenge and inspiring so many of us in the homestead and food preservation community. 🙌

✨ This Week’s Preserving Recipes:
Fajita Seasoning 🫑🧅
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for heat)

Fall Seasoning 🍂🍁
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon cloves
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 tablespoon sugar

Oregano Tincture (Documenting Simple Living)

How To Make Oregano Tincture (Simple Recipe)

Juice Gummies 🧸
Jessica’s Video on #gummybear – https://youtu.be/wfaYonG8ZW8?si=zEn29BlKujlJzPuL

Gummy Bear Molds – https://amzn.to/4oJ6LpG
Beef Gelatin from #azurestandard – https://tr.ee/avZ_raD3Nf CAYCEGUEST3 code

Grape JUICE Jelly 🫙🍇
https://www.bhg.com/recipe/grape-juice-jelly/

Egg Stock Up 🥚🍳
@OutOfAir Vacuum Bags – https://tr.ee/VaMdybXODQ. ORMSBYFARMS 10% code

Ham and Bean Soup 🍜🥣
​ ⁨#forjars #canning lids – https://tr.ee/f8XqzkyrL- ORMSBY10 10% code

Potatoes 🥔
​@forjars #canning lids – https://tr.ee/f8XqzkyrL- ORMSBY10 10% code

Ranch Powder Recipe 🧂
* 1C. buttermilk powder
* 2T. dried parsley
* 1T. garlic granules
* 1T. onion powder
* 1/2 tsp. black pepper
* 1T. dried dill weed

To Make Dip: Add 1/4c. mix to 1 pint of sour cream. Mix well and chill before serving.

To Make Dressing: Add 1/4c. mix to 8 oz. buttermilk AND 1c. mayonnaise. Mix well and chill before serving.

🔗 Check out my LinkTree for more resources, behind-the-scenes, and ways to connect with me:
https://linktr.ee/ormsbyfarmsthehalfwayhomestead

🛒 Affiliate Links (products & tools I use for preserving):
@OutOfAir Vacuum Bags – https://tr.ee/VaMdybXODQ. ORMSBYFARMS 10% code
@forjars Canning Lids – https://tr.ee/f8XqzkyrL- ORMSBY10 10% code
@azurestandard Link – https://tr.ee/avZ_raD3Nf CAYCEGUEST3. code

Ormsby Farms WishList
https://tr.ee/OiFxayBEUZ

@amazon Storefront
https://tr.ee/hZ0Hw6vZz1

Alicia @countrymamamusings7701 Video on Ranch Powder!

📢 Thank you to all my new subscribers – I’m so glad you’re here! Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss Week 3 and beyond of this challenge, plus all the tips, tricks, and inspiration for preserving food, canning, and building a self-reliant homestead.

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Hey everyone, welcome back to Ormsby Farm, the halfway homestead. On today’s video, we are talking week two of every bit counts challenge. That’s a challenge hosted by Jessica over at Three Rivers Homestead. Um, and I’m really, really excited to do it. This is my third year doing it. So, for the second week, we did a lot of really, really fun recipes. So, make sure you haven’t already, go ahead and click that thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon because you’ll notified when new videos come out to my channel. But, let’s get into the intro. Hornsby Farms and the Halfway Homestead. [Music] All righty, y’all. So, it is day eight and I’m doing like a spice kind of stock up. This is my fajita seasoning. I will leave all of the recipes down below um because this it’s kind of hard to like scream it out to you on the video um in a one minute time that I have for each one of my recipes. So, it’s all your different spices that you would think you would need for a Mexican spice. Um, I use this fajita seasoning for fajitas, but I also use it for taco meat, for shredded chicken. I use it for black beans when I’m doing anything Mexican. It is absolutely wonderful. I’m doing a double batch, and that will last me uh probably the next couple of months um through the winter for fajita stuff. I’m also using a little bit of cane sugar. I know that sounds weird, but trust me, it works. What I’m going to do is I’m going to put it all on top of each other. Look how pretty it is like stacked on top of each other. Um, and then I’m going to put a lid on it and we’re going to shake it all the way up. You see? Beautiful. I’m doing a dissolvable label on there and I’m going to label what it is just in case it’s not me grabbing it out. And I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to put it on top. I’m going to give it a good sugar, sugar, sugar. And then it’s all nice and ready to go. This next one is my fall spice. I use this for pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, anything kind of fall flavored, apple pie, all of that kind of stuff. And all it is, it’s cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all of the little spices you think you would need during the fall. It smells very fall. Doing a double batch as well. I’m adding some cane sugar again in that. Um, and then we’re just going to do the same thing. Lid dissolvable label. Label what it is. And then we’re going to give it a good old shaky shaky shaky. And then that one’s done as well. I don’t use that one as much. Um, all right. This one is my I’m so excited cuz my oregano tincture has been sitting for a couple months and it’s ready to go. I am draining it. Um, and I’m going to put it in my bottles. Now, oregano tincture is an allnatural antibiotic. Oregano is great for that. You can also put it in an oil and have the antibiotic oil that you can add to your lotions or soaps or any of that kind of stuff. Um, and I’m putting it in the bottle so I can use it as a tincture and water if I need a good old antibiotic. So day nine, I wanted to use up some of my fruit juices that I had on my canning shelf. So I’m doing my apple pear juice and musketine grape juice and I’m doing a double batch. So two cups. I’m adding cane sugar in there um just to give it a little bit of a sweetness. And we’re going to make gummies. Um I’m really excited. I’ve never made gummies before. So I’m just mixing it all up. I’m bringing it up not really to a boil, but so it’s dissolved. I’m adding them together for a fruit punch. And that’s beef gelatin that I get from Azure Standard. Now, let me say I should have done it single batches because the beef gelatin does clump up really fast and you got to be on your game. Um, but I’ll put the recipe for how much down below. But you want to stir it till everything’s dissolved. You’re not really bringing it up to a boil. What you’re doing is just heating it up so everything is dissolved and incorporated. And we’re going to put them in these really cute gummy bear molds. Um, I’m going to put it in hot. Um, now let me tell you, some people use different molds and we’ll do like the elderberry syrup or we’ll do orange juice, anything so that the kids will take their vitamins or medicine, however you want to put it. Um, gummy form and they’re more than likely going to take it rather than from a spoon. Um, there’s lots of cute different ways. Basically, the recipe will be down below. It’s just that portion of juice, your beef gelatin. if you’re adding sugar, sugar, honey, whatever. Then you’re going to put it into the fridge, let it chill, and pop it out. Um, I’m putting it in an airtight tight container. Um, and I did try some. They are so good. I probably should have gotten the larger gummy bear ones cuz these are kind of little bitty, but it’s okay. Um, they taste great. You see how squishy they are? They’re so wonderful. Um, and they’re going to last probably for about maybe two months. Not that long, cuz I’ll be eating them. But the next day, I actually used the last musketine grape juice, and I’m going to make some grape juice jelly. Now, let me just say, I will put the recipe for this down below. I found it online. I was not a super fan of it. It didn’t set like I really wanted it to. Um, but I wanted to find a recipe that I was using liquid pectin, but you’re bringing that uh sugar and juice mixture up to a boil. Once it comes up to a boil, then you’re going to add in your uh pectin. Stir it for a minute on a rolling boil. And then we’re going to pour it into our half pints up to a half inch head space. Um, and I have that nifty funnel. We’re going to wipe the rims because it is sticky and you don’t want anything prohibiting your seal. I’m using my four jar canning lids. They’re probably my most favorite. I have a link down below and you can also use OrmsB10 to get 10% off of your purchase. You’ll hear me say that a couple times during this video, but I truly truly recommend. It is such a great canning lid. I’m putting it in my uh Nesco electric pressure caner on the water bath steam function for 10 minutes. I’m going to let it go. Um it works wonderfully. Let it sit for 24 hours. So on day 11, I’ve had so many eggs that I needed to do an egg stock. So I needed to preserve those. I have a full video on all the stuff that I’ve done coming out tomorrow, so you won’t want to miss that. It’s five ways to preserve your eggs. But as you see, I did a couple casserles with potatoes and spinach and cheese. um like little single serve kind of ones. Probably for good enough for two. But I also did some with some feta and spinach and tomatoes as you see right there. They’re really, really good, y’all. And all you do is pop it out and you can put that whole thing in the oven and bake it. I even bake it from frozen, y’all. These right here are probably my favorite. This I can them I don’t can them up. I freeze them in pucks and then I have them for baking. So I have a single egg and I’m looking for the double egg you see in the video. Um, and I can use it for baking over the winter when the hens slow down, and they will slow down. Um, this right here I did for Chris and Tara. It’s the wrap and the hash brown. So, I did some more of that because they were really, really, really good. Um, so that’s what I did on day 11. Day 12 was such a beautiful day, y’all, that I wanted to go out to the garden and do something with my herbs. So, I let the chickens out to run um because it was pretty. It wasn’t rainy. And look at my oregano plant, y’all. It is still doing so wonderful. And that’s after pruning it back pretty heavily for my tincture. Um, so what I’m doing now is I’m going to prune it a little bit more and cut some more off cuz we’re going to dry that. You see, I’m giving her a nice little haircut. Um, probably about 3/4 of the plant. I’m cutting off so I can use it over the winter whether it’s in seasonings or I’m using those dried um oregano in oil to make that oregano oil that I was talking about before that I can put in solves and lotions and soaps. Um, oregano is such a great uh medicinal that you really need to have it in your garden. This right here is my stevia plant. It’s also doing really good. That one in the front was the one that I didn’t cut last time. It was kind of funny. Um, but I’m cutting it to dry it as well. Um, it’s really good to add into tea blends to sweeten your tea blend. I did a liquid stevia in one of my other videos. I will leave it up below if you want to see it. But I love my stevia plant. Doing it the same way, y’all. I just tied it, hung it on the wall. It smelled so good. Um, and once it’s dried, I’ll add it to my tea blends and use it the way I want to use it. But that was day 12. But day 13, we did some more soup. This is probably my favorite soup that mom makes. It’s a ham and bean. I like to put the beans and the ham, the meat in there before the liquid just so I know that there is enough in each of the quarts. And, uh, ham’s really fatty, y’all. But make sure you wipe down that rim to make sure there’s no grease or anything prohibiting the seal of your quartz on there. You see, I’m wiping it down. I’m checking for cracks. And I’m going to use again four dark canning lids because I love them. Um, use OrmsB10 get you 10% off. Uh, cuz you still want to pick you some up. I’m going to use my Nesco electric pressure caner. I’m actually going to pressure can this time. Now y’all, when you do soups with meats, it’s 90 minutes for quarts. It’s very important that you just keep that in mind. Okay? And if you want a full tutorial on how to use the Nesco electric pressure caner, whether it’s for water bath canning or steam or uh electric pressure canning, go ahead, leave me a comment down below and I’ll do a full tutorial because I really do enjoy my pressure caner. And yes, I lost one of my jars. I’ll tell you about it in a second. So now I’m doing my potatoes. Um I get these beautiful potatoes from Azure Standard. Um, now listen, I will say this while I’m putting the seasoning in, which I’ll leave down below for the recipe. I do can with my skins on. I feel comfortable doing it. I’ve been doing it for a while. If you don’t feel comfortable, then by all means, please go ahead and just peel your potatoes because that’s what canning is about. It’s whatever you feel comfortable doing for your family. So, um, with that being said, I’m putting in my seasonings. I’m using my funnel and I’m going to back fill with my washed and cut potatoes. I do wash them cuz I don’t want that little slime film that happens if you don’t really wash them um on your uh in your canning potato cans. Um so I’m filling it up to about an inch of a head space and I’m going to back fill with just lukewarm tap water, y’all. And we’re going to talk more about that tap water in a second. But you see I’m doing it. I’m making sure I have enough for all of them. And then I’m going to back fill back up to that inch head space. They look beautiful. I’m wiping the rims after I put the water in. Even though it’s just water, but you never know. You want to make sure you’re doing all this hard work. You want to make sure they seal. And to make sure they seal, you can definitely use your four jar canning lids because I have a 100% seal rate, y’all. I’m telling you, I’ve never had that with canning jars before. I’m putting my rings on fingertight. And we’re going to put it back in the Nesco electric pressure caner. Now, if you have lukewarm water inside of your canning products, you need to do the same thing for your water and your pressure caner. That is why I lost a jar yesterday. I was going too fast and I messed up. So, it was a user error. 40 minutes for the quartz. Let it come down. Let it sit for 24 hours. It’s wonderful. All right. Ranch powder. We’re going to do next. I got this recipe from my dear friend Alicia over at Country Mama Musings. I will leave her video down below and the recipe down below. But I’m using buttermilk powder that I got from Azure Standard. That’s the main base of this. I’m doing a double batch, but it’s a cup that you’re going to use for a single batch. Um, I use it for a lot of stuff. I use it for, um, the dips. I make a little dip for during football season. And of course, you need homemade ranch when you have chicken wings. Um, but tablespoon of pretty much all these different seasonings. I’m doing garlic uh, granulated, onion granulated. Um, you can use the powder, just don’t use the onion salt or garlic salt. I didn’t have parsley like she had in her recipe, so I used basil. It’s pretty close to the same thing. I’m going to put some chives in there, too, just to give it that little texture of the parsley. Um, but I’m adding in some dill. Same way. I’m doing a double batch. Recipes down below. But I’m also going to do some pink himalayan salt. A teaspoon of that, but two teaspoons cuz I’m doing double. And a half a teaspoon of the pepper. I already had my teaspoon out, so we just going to do one old fail swoop. Um, the funnel helps out a lot. And Four Jars has a wonderful funnel. Shake it all up till it’s all combined with a lid. And then I’m going to put one of my dissolvable labels on the top. But what I like to do with the ranch powder is also put the recipe on top. Now it’s going to be a four of a cup of the powder and a pint of sour cream if you want a dip, four of a cup of the powder, 8 oz of buttermilk, and a cup of mayonnaise if you want the dressing. And I’m telling you, look at that. How pretty it is. And y’all, I’m going to put that on my pantry shelf and I’m going to have it all through the winter. It’s going to be so wonderful. All righty, y’all. Thank you so much for tuning in to week two of Every Bit Counts Challenge. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you are subscribing because I have two more weeks of Every Bit Counts Challenge and you’re not going to want to miss any of the recipes that I put on there. Again, all of the stuff is down below. All the recipes, any links that I mentioned, all is going to be down below, plus any affiliate links that you may want. The four jars of my out of air seal bags, all of that’s going to be down below. But also guys, follow me on social media because every single day I put out what we did for the day before. Um, and just so much fun to join in on this collaboration and I appreciate again all of the new subscribers that have joined me. I really do appreciate y’all and I will see y’all on the next video. So, bye y’all. Be blessed. [Music]