Hello there and happy summer my friends of the internet! The time has come where we are midway through the gardening season in this neck of the woods which means a few things. Canning is upon us, green beans are full speed ahead, and I have more lettuce than I can fit in 3 salad spinners at once. How is your summer panning out? Did you decide on a garden this year? Or are you still in the research and planning stages for the year to come? Let’s talk about meal prepping with garden produce!

Balancing Canning, Harvesting, and Garden Upkeep

Gardening has always been a passion of mine, but the upkeep is a giant chore in itself. Hence why I huffed and puffed to my husband last week when we were canning because it is SO time consuming!!! I’m typically a few batches in when I start to lose patience on waiting to basically burn my fingers again and heat up the house unnecessarily. HOWEVER. Once the heat of summer and the overflow of veggies is gone for the season, I relish in the canned goods that we’d completed in the summer and am always eager to go to my canning cupboard instead of strolling the aisles at the grocery store. Homegrown goods are so much better for us and also gives us that sense of accomplishment, not to mention the fresh air and peace of mind you get from harvesting, weeding, and just being in the garden to begin with. I loathe weeding, but once I’m in the mix of it, I could literally be there for hours until my hands cramp up. It’s refreshing to not stare at a screen the entire day or to hear birds chirping instead of people talking. Weird, isn’t it? It’s still noise…just different. We talked earlier in the year about how we stuck with more root veggies this time around instead of more tomatoes and peppers, although we’ve had quite the batch of volunteers that I so hate to remove. Seriously, I feel bad about way too many things including plants. It’s a problem. Don’t be like me, thin your seedlings and let those babies breathe!! What’s your favorite thing to plant? Do you prefer harvesting more or maybe you actually enjoy canning (weirdo). I’ve come to realize that gardening overall takes a ton of patience and learning when to lean into what tasks should be spent more time on and what could be let go a little. Let’s talk about that next, shall we? Dive Into Our Autumn Gardening Like a Pile of Scattered Leaves

Streamlined Gardening: Meal Prepping with Garden Produce

I used to spend SO much time on every task. It would takes hours just to plant, then weed, then tend to, tie up, harvest, wash, can, label, date, organize, and repeat. Then, I realized, why am I doing all these things? Of course it would be different if I spent every day just spending time on my garden, but that’s just not realistic in todays world. We all have other things to accomplish in the day including a full time job, a side gig, a blog all about your journey through life, pets to take care of, a spouse or kids, parents to help, you get my point. Ain’t nobody got time for that. So, nowadays, I simply spend time on the things that matter most (in my opinion of course), and less on those that I deem well, not worthy of my magnificent minutes. Sure, you may disagree and that’s okay. Spending time on things you feel are most important will work for you, just as these things work for me and my family. Some of the things I’ve changed throughout the years include the following:  

1. 1. Investing in an electric fence because fixing holes in a normal fence 10x per season gets REALLY old.

 

1. 1. Letting my tomatoes thrive in their natural state. AKA, foregoing the tying up. Mine are growing beautifully so far and it’s WAY easier to harvest them when I’m not trying to squish my hand in between old tomatoes and 20 inches of vines.

 

1. 1. I used to spend a lot of money on pretty labels and taking time to write nicely on the jars once canning was finished. This may not seem like that much time but trust me, it adds up. Add your date and move on friends.

 

1. 1. Thinning. I know it’s proper gardening to thin your plants when they’re small, they grow better, bigger, etc. However I am not trying out for the Guinness World Record so I’m cool with letting them take up more space and harvesting when they’re smaller.

 

1. 1. When it comes to weeding, we put black plastic down this year and it’s been doing a great job. We also experimented with another section where we just use grass clippings. It takes way longer to weed that tiny section than the rest of the garden. Definitely not doing that again! Next year though, we’d like to try something more natural so that we’re not adding plastic to our garden that doesn’t need to be there.

 

1. Washing has become easier since dishwashers included a cycle for such, although I don’t have one of those, I do find that a quick rinse with vinegar water has done us just fine. I’ll fill up the sink and dip everything in, instead of washing them individually. Oh, and get yourself a MEGA salad spinner so you don’t spend oodles of time on one veggie.

     

Meal Prepping with Garden Goodies

One thing I started doing this year was adding meal prepping into our lives. I’ve attempted a million times but finally it’s starting to stick. Woo! I usually stick to meals that I can use my freshly picked veggies in, so I’m saving doll hairs from shopping at the market. AND guess what. When you’re waiting for eons to water bath those beautiful beans, prep your meals people! I’ve done this several times now and no time was wasted. I had just enough time in between to finish the canning and meal prepping for the week for the two of us. At the end of 3-4 hours or one afternoon, I had an entire week of meals ready to pop in the microwave or oven, PLUS a hefty helping of several canned goods that I can use in the fall and winter. Winning! If you’re into meal prepping, drop a comment! This can be a hard habit to begin but I’m loving it so far. (when I actually follow through!) But like everything, it takes time, planning, and consistency to finally get it right, so I’m interested to hear how your journey is going! A few meals that I prepped recently were:

1. Leftover rigatoni & pan-seared garlic chicken on a cast iron pan (totally forgot I had these and hella happy to be using them again!)


2. Freshly picked lettuce from the garden and baked chicken (while my canning took place!) Add in an onion and some tomatoes and you have a whole meal ready to eat on the go!


3. Chipotle style grilled chicken with flavored rice and fresh mixed peppers and onions from the garden.


4. Leftover veggie rice and Mexican-style chicken burritos. Great for handheld lunches for peeps that need to eat on their feet!

If you’re ever interested in any recipes drop a comment! Let’s share the love together and enjoy our fresh produce at its finest! Thanks for following along in this journey about meal prepping with garden produce and make sure to stop back to hear about more health and garden related topics to come. Happy picking, friends! More From the Habitual Balance Garden: Beauty and Beginnings, Rooted in Health: Starting Your Garden With Root Vegetables

Thank You For Reading “Utilizing Garden Veggies To Save Money While Meal Prepping”

Thank you for reading today’s post about meal prepping with garden produce. Have you considered planting your own vegetable garden?  Let me know in the comments. If you have a suggestion for our next post, let us know. Don’t forget to check out our sister site Rooted in Reselling.