The holiday season 2008 is here. That’s right. November 1st has rung in the starting bell for the two months some of us wait for around the year.

Join me in making this a green and natural holiday. My kids and I are really making a push for this. There are so many great opportunites that I will be sharing with you in the next 60 or so days. This will be tips on how to make you and your family a happy natural family during this holiday season.

Topics will include, but are not limited to, cooking, decorating, home care, kid projects and old traditions that we are going to “green” up.

Thanks for joining natural from home on this green holiday season!

This year I am trying something a bit different. Since I learned to can I have always done that when it comes to tomatoes. This year I do not have a garden so I do not have a large amount to can. I have decided I would like to freeze this year.

The first tip I came across when looking for freezing help was this. It may sound simple, but I had never thought about it. Using electricity for our freezers we have all been told to keep our freezers full. It helps to keep it colder and run more efficiently. But did you know that where your freezer is located will also help you save electricity? Parking your freezer next to your dryer would not be a good thing. Mine now resides out in the garage. Here in Wisconsin I don’t think this will be a problem. Let Mother Nature help keep your freezer cold.

Next purchase some high quality freezer bags or containers. I was in Walmart the other day and was impressed with the wide variety of containers that are out now, just for this purpose. I use a vacuum bag sealer. The bags are heavy duty, and removing the air lowers the chance of freezer burn.

Now that you have the freezer and the containers you need the tomatoes. I purchased mine from a local farmers market. The more you buy usually the cheaper they are.

We often associate canning, pickling and freezing with something our grandmothers or mothers did. All that time in the kitchen, over a hot stove, making sure it was just right so there was no spoilage. We have all heard the stories of the pressure cookers exploding and the walls being covered with tomato sauce.

But does this help us stay green in anyway? Is this something that has been “modernized” to become more effiecent and worth our effort and time?

The answer is yes!

I even read in the local paper on Sunday how using our freezers to preserve food was becoming the in thing with the economy headed the way that it is.

So how does one go about this? How do we can or freeze or pickle? Well if you were like me and didn’t learn at Grandma’s knee, then you start your research. There are many good sources on the internet for all sorts of food preserving.

My all time favorite and probably the American Standard is Ball Blue Book of Preserving This is the book put out by the people who make the canning jars. It never fails that I always make my way back to this handy reference. It covers from pickles to jams and just about everything in between.