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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Using pomona pectin to make low sugar or no sugar jams and jellies!



One of the reasons I first started canning was control. Control over the food we eat. I wanted it! I wanted to know what was in it, who handled it, how much sugar, was in it, and how that food was handled. And mostly I was hoping to be able to make our foods fit into my new standards for food, (no MSG, no artificial food color, and no HFCS, no fake fats) to begin with. Then as I canned happily, blissfully, and sugarfully I realized-
"yikes, there is a ton of sugar in this jam and what's that in the boxed pectin -- icky fructose, dextrose, etc.. isn't that exactly what I'm trying to avoid in prepackaged foods?"
So I switched to using "low sugar pectin" thinking I was improving our standards--until I glanced at the box ingredients while waiting for things to jell.
"Dang -- this has the same things in it!"
My childhood experience of eating way too much chokecherry jelly that had gone wrong and was now syrup (not that I'm complaining mind you- but Mom didn't love the sugar either - bless her wise heart). I knew that when you fiddle with the sugar amounts in jelled products they don't jell. Yes you can use homemade pectin..( a laborious process of boiling apples or other high pectin fruits to make pectin) but man that sounded too much like work. Grrrrrr........

And then there was pomona pectin http://www.pomonapectin.com/ And the angels sung in harmony and all was good with the world.

No seriously -- it's one of the most versatile and seriously adaptable products on the market. No dextrose, no sucrose, no sucralose, no aspartame, just food! And just what I had been looking for. Hearing good things about it on a canning yahoo group I decided to order some and try it for myself.

Here is what I've found:

It Works!
Beautifully, in most cases.

Using this basic guide and some basic knowledge.. http://pomonapectin.com/PDF/Recipe_Card_1.pdf I've successfully made all kinds of wonderful goodies using no sugar, low sugar, only natural sugars, stevia and a tiny bit of regular sugar, honey.. well whatever strikes my fancy really!!

Pomona Pectin is a two part product :
(don't ask me how it works -I never said I was a scientist.)

1. A pectin powder which you put into a small portion of whatever you are sweetening your jelly, jam or syrup with.

2. Another powder (a special calcium) which you dissolve in water and add to your fruit base before heating. (above is the pic of the liquid calcium - I store the excess in the fridge in a jar.)


You can convert any conventional recipe to fit pomona pectin or -- you can make up your own recipe. Here is the basic process. Take for example a simple strawberry jam:

On the pomona chart you find the section for cooked recipes - low sugar or honey. It calls for 4 cups of mashed fruit, 1/2- 1 cup of honey and 2 tsp. of pectin powder and 2 tsp. of calcium water.

So-- you would take the strawberries -mashed up, measure them out put them into your stockpot, add in 2tsp. of calcium water (calcium powder that you dissolve in water according to the package directions).

Then you dissolve (or in this case stir in) 2tsp. of pectin powder into 1/2 cup of honey-- you can add more after you taste it at any time in the process.

Heat the fruit and cook for the appropriate time, add the honey and pectin and taste it. Add more of whatever sweetener you want to your own tastes-- you have your minimum 1/2 cup of honey so you can add stevia, more honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, whatever.... you can add any extract or lemon juice or citrus peel, whatever to make it your own. then you continue to cook it according to the directions, as long as you don't increase the liquid too much that is.

It will thicken considerably as it cools-- it may not appear done like those other commercial jelling agents, so - to check this you can take a small spoonful of the jam and put it into the freezer. If after a few minutes it cools down and it is jelled enough for you -- jar it and can it like you would any other product using the approved methods by the canning police or USDA.
Now that you understand how the process works, let's start the fun!

To convert an existing recipe so you can fiddle with the sugars.. I would do it something like this


Blueberry Jam (original recipe)
1 1/2 qt. fresh blueberries, crush to equal 4 1/2 c.
2 tbsp. lemon juice
7 c. sugar
2 pouches Certo fruit pectin
1 tsp. butter

Pomona's recipe for a Cooked blueberry jam looks something like this:

Version 1:

4C mashed berries
2t Pectin powder
2t Calcium water
1/4C lemon or lime juice
1/2 - 1 cup of honey or other sweetener



In this case I would use the 4c of mashed blueberries so the ratio is right with the pectin


*Note I'm using a cooked recipe and comparing that to a cooked recipe -- you can also do freezer jam if you don't want to cook your jam, but the ratios are very different, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm using their information in regards to blueberries -- keep in mind different fruits have very different natural pectin amounts in them and so compare like fruits with like fruits so you get a properly gelled product. Apples will not jell the same as berries would.



So.. my "recipe" based on the original recipe would be like this.

Version 2:
4 c mashed berries- mix in 2 tsp. calcium water
2 T. - a bit shy lemon juice because we aren't using exactly the same amount of blueberries
1 tsp butter -- this is to prevent foaming at the end.. optional IMHO
and again I'd dissolve 2 tsp pectin powder in the 1/2 cup honey, maple syrup, whatever...**to start with and add as needed more sweetener of any kind.

TASTE AS YOU GO... that way you know you have a product that is meeting your needs.

** I've found when using stevia, if I keep some other natural sweetener in there too-sucanat, honey, whatever, and sub out 1 tiny tsp (tiny one that comes in the jar of stevia) per 1 cup of fruit I'm usually spot on for sweetness level.. that said I would ALWAYS start shy of that-- and work my way up testing as I go because if you get too much stevia, you get a nasty, nasty aftertaste. .. ick. So-- if I were to do this recipe I would start with 3 tiny tsp of stevia, and about 1/4 cup of honey, then add as needed. Tart fruits obviously will require more sweeteners.

Now let's say you wanted to make a lemon blueberry jam.. which as I'm writing this I'm wondering to myself-- "hmm, wonder if I have enough blueberries in the freezer to make some?" Anyway, it might look like this:

Version 3:
4 c mashed blueberries
1/2 cup lemon
1 tsp lemon zest
2 T. limoncello
1/2 cup agave nectar ( I like that it doesn't alter the flavor of things it sweetens)
stevia to taste
2 1/4 tsp. pomona pectin powder
2 1/4 tsp. calcium water

I increased the amount of the pectin and calcium water a bit because I added some liquid in there.

Perhaps you want to make a blueberry syrup... take the original recipe we came up with and the only change you would make is to use half the pectin and half the calcium water.

Want to double it, triple it, quadruple it.. as long as your pan is big enough you can do it!!

The other spectacular thing about Pomona Pectin is that you can double and even triple or quadruple recipes successfully. Try THAT with your boxed sure-jell!! I know I've done both. Sure-jell doesn't work, Pomona Does!!

As long as you keep in mind the natural pectin levels of what you are using and match them similarly to the chart-- you are golden.

If it doesn't gel up when you do the spoon test I suggested above you can simply add more calcium water to your base and dissolve some pectin powder into a smaller portion of your base or more sweetener. I advise against adding more pectin powder straight into your jam without first integrating it into something else -- it globs up and you will be whisking your brains out to get it dissolved if you do.. not that I know this from experience or anything..lol

2 other important things to think about
1. I've had to start canning my jams, jellies, etc in only jelly jars or smaller because I've found that once open these items don't last nearly as long in the fridge as their full sugar counterparts. So keep em from sliding to the back of the fridge. (previously I canned jelly in pint jars)

2. Because there is no sugar or very low sugar in these jams and jellies I also would not fiddle with using low acid items in my jellies or jams as sugar can act as a preservative. That's my own personal take on things -- you may differ, but I would consider it an added risk of botulism and would compensate by using high acid like citrus juice or vinegar or keep the sugar closer to what the original recipe calls for, while sugar won't appreciably change the acid level it will act as a preservative.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about using pomona pectin or canning with low or no sugar. I have no training in canning safety, nor am I a safety expert, but since most jams and jellies are high acid and because they use fruit I feel comfortable with the safety of altering the sugar content.

**I don't advocate using Splenda as it's chemically based and toxic IMHO, but I suppose you could if you wanted to, I just couldn't begin to tell you how to do it.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

What does 438 jars look like?


Not to toot my own horn! But....

I've had a busy summer, apparently I've been more busy than I thought. Here's the proof. I've canned over 438 jars of goodies this year.
Stored in front of this shelf to the right are my boxes for empty jars-- once they are full of empties they get stored with my empties elsewhere. I also have shown my basket for carrying things up and down the stairs that I will use when I do my canning.



Here they are! Well at least this is part of them.


These are full cases -- green chili -under the stockpot, applesauce, peaches in white grape juice, pancake syrup-apple maple, tomato soup in pints, and out of view to the left of the green chili is a stack of 2 cases of apple butter and a case of apricot pancake syrup.

And just a close up view of the metal shelving unit where I store my soups-out of view above these shelves, juices - for making jelly and syrup later, and peaches, apples and oddball items leftover from last year's canning that need to be used up soon.

And possibly the best part is-- it's ALL REAL FOOD! Most of it organic, or at least very little chemicals in the growing process, and all local. No additives, MSG, mystery "spice mixes", refined sugars, icky mystery starches, and convenient to boot!

This is all just part of what I do to save us money and ensure that our food is the highest quality possible! This year most of it's been done without any refined sugar or miniscule amounts. I hope to blog more about using pomona pectin, and avoiding refined sugars in canning in the future as I know there are lots of folks out there hoping to avoid or remove those things from their diet. You may be asking what can you can? Besides just jelly and jam-- well check this out. I made a list of what is in my "inventory" so you can see the variety. Things with low or no sugar are starred. Much of this was gleaned-- pears, plums, crabapples, billberries, apples, apricots, chokecherries- making it all that much more affordable!! I did buy a box of apricots, a box of pears and 2 boxes of peaches from a local grower- but the remainder is what I've gleaned or grew myself.

Home Canned since summer of 2010.
December 27, 2010

Jellies and Jams: (69 jelly)
6 jelly jars peach preserves
6 jelly jars orange jalapeno jelly
12 jelly jars apricot jam*
8 jelly jars chokecherry jam*
14 jelly jars apple pie jam*
11 jelly jars plum crabapple jam
6 jelly jars cranberry jam*
6 jelly jars sugar free strawberry jam*

Butters: (76 jelly) (3 pts)
6 jelly jars pear butter*
60 jelly jars and 3 pints apple butter*
10 jelly jars ginger plum butter *

Sauces: (49 jelly)
11 jelly jars asian plum sauce
18 jelly jars maple apple syrup*
21 jelly jars apricot syrup*

Other : (3 jelly) (110 pts) (16 qts)
3 pints pickled jalapenos*
4 pints of zuchinni corn salsa*
6 pints and 3 jelly jars peach salsa*
14 quarts and 8 pints chicken stock*
72 pints green chili smother*
17 pints and 2 quarts tomato soup*

Canned Fruits: (43 pts) (46 qts)
4 pints spirited apricots in amaretto
6 quarts sliced apples in juice*
9 pints pearsauce*
30 pints applesauce*
18 quarts canned pears in white grape juice*
22 quarts canned peaches in white grape juice *

Canned Juice: (2pts) (21 qts)**no sugar here-- I will use these to make syrups and jellies once I have available jars.
7 qts crabapple juice
2 qts and 1 pt bilberry juice
12 quarts and 1 pt. chokecherry juice


197 jelly jars, 158 pints, 83 quarts
438 jars total

This post is my contribution to Real Food Wednesdays which can be found here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-122910.html

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Dairy Free Fudge!

Normally I am the anti sugar advocate of my house- rationing, and waging war on sugar for my masses. But around the holidays I soften and want to share and enjoy some of the vices and traditions of the past. Making fudge is one of those allowable evils this time of year. Other than the sugar for the most part fudge isn't completely void of nutrients and life isn't much fun without the occaisional treat here and there.

Making fudge has never been my strongest suit. I can't tell you how many grainy or rocklike fudges I've made in my life. Oh yes, I know there are many intracacies of making fudge and it's a technique that requires all sorts of precision and proper timing. Don't scrape the sides with the spatula, don't over heat it, don't under heat it, blah, blah blah.. Enter reality, enter distracting kids, enter my personality which is so NOT precise, or timed in any way shape or fashion and you get -- welll, less than great fudge. My mother makes fantastic fudge- yummy, perfect fudge, she even made up her own recipe and when she makes it, it's delightful! I use her recipe and it's well.. dissapointing at best. This year I decided to venture out of the family recipe book, off the back of the package and into the internet for my recipe. I found this one http://www.skaarupfudge.com/CrazyMamieRecipe.html-- and low and behold it worked!! It even appeals to my use what you have nature and offers both a recipe using creme and one with marshmellows in case that's what you have. I had creme so that is what I used and I left out the artificial butter flavor-ick. I used the paranoid version and cooked it for a minute before adding the creme and cooked it 8 minutes but think I might cook it longer next time as I like a more firm fudge in general-- but it was good, not grainy, not solid, dry and cracking-- just fudge! It was perfect, lovely and it even tastes very similar to my mother's fudge-which is also made with both semisweet and milk chocolate chips. The technique allows for some fudging with-- which is of course right up my alley.

Thoughtful mother that I am, I can't imagine making fudge and not having anything to offer to my wee dairy free ones that resembles what we are eating. I've seen some recipes for dairy free versions -- using bags of dairy free chocolate chips-- OUCH! Those things are $3.79 a bag and only have something like 9 oz. in them... so trying a recipe using two bags and some super expensive dairy free products in addition to that and having it fail gets pretty pricey. In all likelihood just about anything chocolate that I would make they would happily devour even it was horribly inedible or quite ugly in appearance, but at some level I'd like to have something presentable AND affordable and somewhat close to my nutritional standards so when I stumbled across this cheater fudge recipe I was elated! The original recipe uses butter and real milk -- but I think the coconut oil is the perfect substitution in it and the milk is easily subbed out and better yet-- making it doesn't use large quantities of terrbily expensive products! Nothing weird or extensively toxic, so even better.. (ok, I'm not saying that powdered sugar is health food perse, but at least it isn't super modified soy and chemicals-- this is fudge afterall, not breakfast..) And even better it's EASY to make-really, REALLY EASY!

Super Quickie Fudge
Based losely off a recipe in - Colorado Cache
Made with my alterations to make it dairy free!!

1 pound of powdered sugar (3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk ( I used coconut milk -- sure soy, almond or rice would also work)
1/2 cup of coconut oil (original recipe called for butter or margarine here)
1 T. of vanilla extract

Mix powdered sugar and cocoa in a 8x8 in dish. (Next time I would do this in a bowl --then scrape it into a wax paper lined 8x8 dish so I could pull it out and cut it easier.)Pour in milk and place coconut milk on top. Cook in the microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and stir every thing together. Add vanilla -(could add 1/2 cup of nuts here too). Stir until blended. Place in fridge or freezer until it cools --then cut and serve!

Is that easy or WHAT? AND it tastes great.. I don't even have to feel quilty about "making" the wee ones eat the less yummy fudge!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Sausage for the freezer!

Sausage making comes once a year at our house(some years twice if we are really lucky-once for deer and once for elk). Much to the joy of the household predator (our dog) and the sighs of the children, and our aching muscles. While I dread the amount of hours spent slaving over the kitchen aid and all the work involved, I can honestly say that I wouldn't do it any other way.



The frugal side of me loves that others pay to have someone else make their sausage but we do it and it doesn't cost us anything except for spices, bags to package and the meat to mix in, and the cost of the grinder and the scale -- which have long since paid for themselves. I love knowing that there is no mystery "spices-code for MSG", no nitrates, no refined sugar, no dairy, no soy, no hydrolyzed soy anything .. it's terrific! Just food in our food! That's by far the best part, and it's perfectly seasoned to our palates!




My recipes are designed for use as a frozen bulk sausage, not for smoking, etc.. that's a whole different type of thing. We don't make them into links because well -- I'm lazy and the sausage tastes the same to me in links or in chunks. We could of course do that with a larger sized casing- I prefer the natural casings-they tear less, IMHO. And then of course they would be frozen once stuffed into the casings. (one more step, again, lazy!) And the other downside to casings is that it's an additional cost (not much mind you, but still-cheap and lazy that's me), and they take up more space in my all ready stuffed freezer.





To start you need really clean elk or deer meat, (no hairs, etc..)and a selection of other items to help in the process, other than the spices and basic ingredients here are some tools you will need.







  • good food scale (what foodies kitchen isn't complete without one anyway)


  • food grinder (we use the kitchen aid attachment)


  • several large bowls-at least three, more is better


  • saran wrap


  • lots of latex or rubber gloves


  • clean working surfaces (empty all counters around the grinder and cover the wall facing the grinder with newspaper for easy cleanup)


  • small bowls for mixing spices (check to make sure you have enough of everything, sausage uses large quantities and you won't want to run out)


  • small skillet for frying sample batches


  • good sharp knives


  • cutting boards


  • plenty of fridge space or a cooler full of ice to keep ground meat cool while grinding.


  • box of saltine style crackers


  • packaging materials and sharpie permanent markers or good sticky stickers or masking tape.







***** Remember you will be working with raw meat, and something you and your family will be consuming so cleanliness is important. Floors, your hands, all tools, and kitchen counters should be immaculately clean. and kept clean. When handling the raw meat we use latex or rubber gloves. Keep your hair tied back, etc.. Keep your meat in the cooler unless you are working with it, and keep it covered.




Here is the step by step:

1. Once everything is assembled and cleaned, put together the grinder and glove up. Have your bowls handy. Cut the meat in small enough pieces to fit easily into your grinder. Keep the kinds of meat separate. We grind all of our deer meat first then grind our pork meat. No need to clean the grinder in between uses because you will be mixing it all in the end.





2. Once everything is ground we measure out batches of meat with the scale. Then we mix the spices in a small bowl or mug for each batch. We label the bowls with what kind of sausage they are and how many batches are in the bowl, if we are doing more than just one batch at a time.





3. Gently mix the meat in each batch together a bit without the spices added, then run it through the grinder again with the finer attachment. While it grinds have someone gently shake the spices into the catch bowl over the meat to evenly distribute them throughout the batch - this makes the job of combining later much easier. Also if you have seeds in your sausage it keeps them whole -- if you grind them the flavor can get stronger as they get crushed.





4. When you are done grinding the meat clean out your grinder with crackers -- run the crushed up crackers through your grinder-- if you want to make a gluten free product figure for some loss on the last batch and grind the cracker mess into a small bowl separate from your bowls with your batches in them.





5. Once all your batches are ground twice and your grinder parts are clean, mix -- use clean gloves for this for each type of sausage.





6. Once each batch is mixed try cooking a tiny patty of it in your fry pan. Don't skip this step! Trust me you don't want 13 pounds of really really nasty chorizo in the freezer taking up space for the next two years... (ask me how I know this!) It's much easier to add some salt, or garlic or whatever, or fix a salty batch, or a batch with WAYY too much of something now--than later after it's all packed up and in your freezer. I usually save back a bit of meat to mix in just in case.. even using TNT recipes I've made a few times, there are always some adjustments needed.





7. Make and label your packages and bags. Labels are easier to do before the meat is in your bags.





8. Using your scale pack the sausage into bags and lay as flat as possible. If you squish everything nice and flat it's very easy to store them once they are frozen solid. I use a box or cookie sheet to flatten and freeze the meat then once it's frozen solid I store it like old vinyl LP records upright in boxes in my chest freezer. I can easily fit 40-60 pounds of sausage in our freezer along with everything else if I use this method. (We pack our meat now in 1 1/2 # packages due to feeding 8 on a regular basis)






If you need to walk away from the grinder for a short amount of time, cover it with a big plastic bag to keep any contaminates (interested pets,insects, or toddlers) out.





** For safety when you are not sitting next to your grinder -- UNPLUG IT. Curious kids and pets have gotten their arms, etc.. stuck in running grinders-don't let that happen to the ones you love. Even for a minute UNPLUG IT!





In our house one of us grinds while the other mixes and measures spices by batch. Normally we make about 3-5 batches of the breakfast sausage, and about the same of Italian sausage, some andouille sausage (Emerril has a good recipe), some brats, some chorizo, some plain ground meat, and whatever else strikes our fancy. Last year it was jalapeno garlic sausage. Of course this all depends on how much meat we have, but the possibilities are endless and if you don't hunt-- you could still make your own all pork, chicken, beef or other meat sausage!






Basic Breakfast Sausage

7 lbs of lean meat (venison) & 1 1/2 lbs of pork butt


(We do around 7 1/2 -8 pounds of meat total (mixed pork and deer) per batch.) If you get the spices/ratio right on this recipe it is out of sight, but if you use too much meat and not enough spices it's not nearly as good.



4 T. salt
1 3/4 tsp pepper
3 1/2 tsp. dry sage
2 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
2 1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 tsp ground dry ginger
1 tsp crushed red chili pepper flakes- you can of course add more or less- this seems to be the right mix for us though.





**If you plan to put this in casings you may want to add a little water to make the texture better for stuffing. Grind your meat once, then combine meats & grind again. Combine all spices and as you grind the meat-sprinkle on the spices in layers, then it's very easy to mix up with gloves, and package for freezing.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

16 pounds of carrots!

How, you may ask did you end up with 16 pounds of carrots?.. well, there is a food co-op type of thing I go to most weeks and we get an odd collection of food every week including lots of fresh produce. For $55 we get a wide selection of food and pay to support a local food bank and feed hundreds of Colorado families --keeping the ministry in business. What a great deal! Most of the time we get a wide array of great natural products and alot of organic produce, and even meats! I will most often come home with around $100 - $150 worth of food. The only catch is-- some of it needs to be used right away, and is sporatic at best as to what we get and don't get.
So-- 16 pounds of carrots. Here goes...

**I will be eating lots of this salad (which is my submission for Real Food Wednesdays)
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-121510.html

Carrot Salad
(dairy free)

6 carrots grated, peel if you like
2 or 3 oranges-- peeled and chopped
canned coconut milk -full fat and no sulfites(enough to
moisten the salad) *I mixed this in the blender first before adding to the salad
agave nectar or honey to sweeten to taste (used about a tsp.)
1/2 cup of raisins

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl,
and serve cold.


We will be eating carrots sticks for snacks and at dinner as side dishes

**I will be making bags of 2 c. shredded carrots and 1/2 c. of applesauce for the freezer to make these muffins

Carrot Raisin Muffins – dairy free

2 cups unbleached white flour (I use 3 cups of white whole wheat flour instead of ap, and pastry flour)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar -( I sub stevia and sucanat- 3-4 tiny tsp of stevia compound and 1/4 c. sucanat)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup raisins
2 eggs ( I add 3)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup rice, coconut or almond milk
½ cup applesauce
2 cups of grated carrot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add raisins. Make a well in the center and all the liquid ingredients. Stir just until blended. Pour batter into papered muffin cups. Bake 25-30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.


**I will be trying carrot ginger soup like this one.. ? http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gingered-Carrot-Soup-5811

I will be looking for a great, healthy (ww with low sugar) recipe for carrot bread or carrot cake and freezing bags of carrots to make that easily, with some alterations of course.
Maybe this one: http://www.food.com/recipe/whole-wheat-zucchini-or-carrot-bread-325250
this one looks perfectly suited to my vitamix-- vroom vroom.. http://twoheadsoflettuce.blogspot.com/2009/02/whole-wheat-carrot-bread.html

**I may try my hand at pickling carrots -- loving the lacto fermenting!! My saurkraut and pickles are the BOMB!
These recipes look yummy to me..
ginger pickled carrots http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/03/i-love-fermented-vegetables.html
or
dilly ones! http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/08/lacto-fermented-dilly-carrot-sticks.html

I may dehydrate some -- all though I allready have some dehydrated shreds in a jar, so this will likely be a last resort. (Easy, you just shred and dehydrate and add to anything with liquid)

Or this salad looks good too -- with nuts and oregano. http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/07/savory-carrot-salad-with-roasted-nuts.html

or for this one .. I know just the right balsamic vinegar that is in need of being used.. yumm...
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/02/savory-carrot-salad-2.html

I may vitamix them with an apple or some ginger to make carrot juice.

Or Alton Brown's firecracker recipe??
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/firecrackers-recipe/index.html
Nope -- too much sugar on second thought.. ick!

Or perhaps I'll break out the pressure canner and can some of these orange carrots.. allthough I'd likely use sucanat and stevia instead of the sugar

Oranged Carrots

Orange juice gives extra flavor to the carrots.
7 lb medium carrots
5 c orange juice
1 c water
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp grated orange peel
Salt as desired

Wash and scrub carrots gently. Peel or scrape carrots and cut into 1/4" slices.In a large saucepot combine orange juice, water, lemon juice, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.Add carrots and return to a boil. Boil 3 minutes.Pack carrots into prepared jars leaving a 1" headspace. Ad orange peel to jars, using 1 tsp for pints and 2 tsp for quarts. Add hot cooking syrup to cover. Add salt if desired, using 1/4 tsp per pint or 1/2 tsp per quart. Check for air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed.Process pints for 25 minutes and quarts for 30 minutes at 10 lb pressure. Adjust pressure according to altitude and style of canner.Makes: 6 pints or 3 quarts

oooo-- hadn't even thought of looking at 101 cookbooks.. this salad looks super yummy
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/carrot-dill-white-bean-salad-recipe.html

roasted carrots? http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001529.html

And -- I have yet to check my most favorite sugar free and LLL cookbooks for their mutations on carrots!!

Or-- there is always here ! http://www.plantea.com/carrot-recipes.htm

Silly me, and I thought I would have a hard time finding things to do with carrots.

Any other ideas !! I'd love to hear 'em..