Thanksgiving Leftover Ham... Bean & Ham soup

This recipe is an easy and satisfying way to transform leftover ham and a ham bone into a hearty meal. This was my first time making bean and ham soup, and I got to spend time with my mother in law who helped me make it. I love being able to mix "family time" and "restocking my canning closet time". Thanksgiving was wonderful, but to be sure we don't end up with food waist from all the leftovers I decided to can what I could!



Bean & Ham Soup

• 1 leftover ham bone 
• 1 1/2 lbs dried northern beans
• 1 lb dried pinto beans
• 3 tbls minced garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 bundle of celery
• 2 bags organic mini carrots (or equivalent in large carrots)
• 2-3 tbls dried basil
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• course black pepper (to taste)
• garlic salt (to taste)

1) Start this classic soup by simmering a ham bone or ham hocks with water to create a savory broth. I would allow this to simmer for several hours until you are confident that the bone is clean.  Remove the bone from the soup pot. (I put mine in the fridge overnight because the fat will solidify and float to the top. I then scooped the fat off and tossed it... This is optional)

2) In the meantime, saute onions, celery, carrots and  garlic in a pan until soft.
Once satisfied with your meaty soup broth, add your carrots, celery, onion, and  beans. Cook until softened.

3) Fill the jars with soup leaving about 3/4 inch of head space. Using a plastic spatula remove air bubbles from inside of jars. Wipe the top of your jar with a clean cloth and place the lid & ring on the jars.

4) Exhaust steam for about 10 minutes. Process in pints 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10lbs pressure (change according to your elevation as needed). Process in quarts for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with crusty bread for a simple lunch or dinner.

Raspberry Jam ~ Canning Recipe

Growing up in the Pacific North West we picked and ate a lot of berries as kids. I remember going out in the summer and filling bowls of assorted berries. Blackberries, Huckleberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Wild Strawberries (which are tiny but delicious), blueberries... so many different berries! My grandma Annie (aka "grandma in Washington") has always made canned jams and jelly's for holiday gifts (along with many other canned varieties I'm sure you will read about throughout this blog). Her Jam tastes better than anything I have ever bought in any store. I'm so grateful to have these recipe's handed down to me.

Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
4 cups Berries
6 cups Sugar
1 pack sure gel
dab of butter and sugar to berries (helps keep the foam down... and tastes delicious)

1) Wash jars and screw band inserts in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use.

2) For berries, crush 1 cup at a time with a potato masher for best results. If using a food processor, pulse to very fine chop. DO NOT PUREE. Jam should have bits of fruit.

3) Measure exact amount of prepared fruit (or juice) into a 6 - 8 quart saucepot. Measure exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl. Stir 1 box Sure-Jell Premium  Fruit Pectin into fruit or juice in saucepot. Add ½ teaspoon butter or margarine to reduce foaming, and a sprinkle of sugar.

4) Bring mixture to full rolling boil. (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar quickly. Return to full rolling and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.

5) Remove from heat, Skim off any foam. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Screw bands tightly and put your jars into your canning pot. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed.

6) Cover; bring to gentle boil. Process jams 10 minutes (don't forget to adjust processing time according to altitude). Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely.

After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.) Let stand at room temperature 24 hours (or time indicated on recipe). Store unopened jams in a cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year. Refrigerate open jams up to 3 weeks.

Peach Cherry Jam ~ Canning Recipe

Peaches and Cherry's in one jar? Probably sounds a little strange, but it turned out to be one of my most requested jelly's by my family members. Even if you aren't a huge fan of peaches or cherry's, something special happens when you combine them together. It makes this delicious sweet & tart jelly. It's perfect on a slice of homemade bread for breakfast. Or a snack. Or really, anytime. This makes a fun gift during the holidays because it is "different" so people are usually pretty eager to try it.

Peach Cherry Jam
Ingredients:
*1 orange (peeled)
*6 lbs Peaches (peeled and pitted)
*6 cups Sugar
*12 oz real or Maraschino cherries (cut up reserving juice)


Directions
1) Put peaches and orange in food processor. Pulse a few times so  its broken down but still chunky.
2) Boil peach pulp with sugar for 45 minutes. Then add the cherries and boil 15 minutes longer.
3) Pour into warm prepared jars. Wipe edges with clean cloth and carefully twist the lids on.
4) Cover and process about 10 minutes in a boiling water bath (adjust as needed for altitude).

Cinnamon Peach Jam Recipe

I told you I had peach jam recipe's coming for you. I like to take recipes and transform them into something different, add a little touch to them to make them my own.  When I made Peach Jam, I thought "hmm, what can I add to this to make it better?". Over the holidays a friend brought peach pie which in tasting a bite I realized had spices in it (cinnamon, nutmeg ect).  That's it!!!   I added just enough cinnamon that it's not overpowering, but adds enough flavor to taste it. This recipe can be altered to make regular "Peach Jam" without the cinnamon, but I loved the addition of cinnamon to the peach jam.

If you make it, let me know what you think! I love hearing about alterations to change recipe's or make them better. In the meantime,  Enjoy!


Cinnamon Peach Jam 

Ingredients
*3 1/2 pounds peaches (8 to 10), peeled, halved, pitted, and cut into chunks
*3 cups Sugar
*1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
*2 tbls Cinnamon
*1 tsp Allspice
*Coarse salt




Directions
1) Working in batches, pulse peaches in a food processor until chunky.
2) Transfer to a small saucepan, and add sugar, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3) Boil, continuing to stir, until bubbles slow, foam subsides, fruit rises to the top, and jam sticks to a spoon when lifted, about 12 minutes.
4) Fill your prepared cans 1/2 inch from the top, remove air bubbles and put your lids on.
5) Process for 10 minutes (adjust for your altitude). When they're done, carefully take them out and let them rest on a towel on your counter for 5 minutes and listen for the "ping". Success!

Peach Crazy! Canning peaches recipe

PEACHES!

In August, peaches start to ripen. Whether you pick your own or buy them from your local farmers market or produce stand, fresh peaches are a delicious summertime treat. They are one of my kids favorites, so much so that we recently planted our own peach tree. In just a couple short years and we will have our own home-grown peaches!

I went to Harry and David a when they had peaches on sale for $0.10/pound. Naturally I bought 50 pounds of peaches - for $5!! Can you believe that? In retrospect I wish I had bought more... Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda!

So as you probably guessed, my next few blogs will be recipes involving peaches! I will be canning sliced peaches today. Then I have two great peach jelly recipe's to share as well in upcoming blogs so stay tuned for those!

For now, I canned sliced peaches. I use these in all size jars, small ones that I send to school with my kids for their lunch or snack time (their teachers help open them), and large ones that I can open and use for peach cobbler, or when I have a lot of kids over there is a larger quantity of peaches to share. I don't use added sugar to my canned peaches, I feel like fruit has enough natural sugar in it, and is sweet enough that adding more is just unnecessary. (If you chose to add more for lite syrup you would use a ratio of 3 cups water/1 cup sugar).

It takes about 5 good sizes peaches or nectarines (or about 10 plums) to fill one quart jar. An average of 17½ pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts — an average of 2½ pounds per quart.

Canning Sliced (or halved) Peaches
Ingredients
*5 pounds peaches
*Canning supplies

Preparing your peaches and jars
1) Carefully wash and rinse your jars. I used both pint and quart jars this time, just make sure you process for the correct times.
2) Put the "caps" in a small pan of water on the stove and bring to just below simmer. Let them sit there, keeping hot, while you get ready to use them.
3) Bring a large saucepan filled 3/4 with water to a boil and fill the sink with cold water. This is to remove the peach skins.
4) Carefully put some peaches into the boiling water and leave the heat on high for about 20 seconds. I take mine out with a  slotted spoon. It seems to work the best. Put them into the cold sink.
5) Using your paring knife to help, slip the skins off the peaches. If the skins don't slip off easily, either the peaches are not ripe enough, or you need to scald them a little longer.

Directions
1) Slice the peaches in half and twist the two halves apart and remove the pit. You can then slice your peaches (or leave them as halves). I like to cut mine in slices because that's how my kids prefer to eat them. You can also cut them in halve, or diced in chunks, then place them into your clean jars.
2) When it is filled up to the bottom of the jar threads with water, carefully wipe off the rim of the jar with a damp clean cloth, put on the cap and screw on the ring firmly. Not too tight!
3) When the water is boiling in the water bath canner, then start counting the time. They need 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts. Here they are after coming out of the canner.
4) Incidentally, leaving the sugar syrup out has advantages. It's less expensive to do, healthier  and they really do taste amazing. Peaches are so sweet by themselves you don't really need to add all that extra sugar. You will love it! It is also much easier and quicker to do.

I have found that when canning anything, once you get your "system" set up, it's easy. Think it through carefully, prepare everything you'll need and proceed. Enjoy!

Canned Dilly Beans (pickled green beans)

Every year for Christmas my grandma in Washington sends us grand kids a jar of homemade jam, and a jar of dilly beans (along with other homemade gifts). Her dilly beans (pickled green beans) are so yummy. In fact,  I'd say they are the best!  It's a recipe I debated whether or not to share, because as it is my grandmothers recipe, it is special to me and I wanted to be selfish with it. The more I thought about it, I decided maybe someone else will be able to make it special, a recipe they can hand down to their kids and grand kids. It's pretty simple, but Oh. So. Good.

I hope you enjoy it.

Gramma Annie's Dilly Beans
yield: 8 pints

Ingredients
4-5 lbs fresh green beans
12-16 heads of fresh dill (2 per jar)
1-2 clovers Garlic (per jar)
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar (5% acidity)
4 cups water
1/2 cup pickling salt
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes  (1-2 flakes per jar)

Directions
1) Wash and trim ends from the green beans and cut them into 4 inch length.
2) In a 3-4 quart saucepan, combine vinegar water and salt. Bring it to a boil.
3) Meanwhile, take your sanitized hot jars and place 1-2 sprigs of dill, 1 garlic clove and your 1-2 red pepper flakes into each jar.
4) Pack beans in jars, firmly.
5) Pour hot vinegar (brine) into each jar, leaving 1/2 inch  of headspace.
6) Carefully run a non-metallic utensil down the sides of the jars to remove trapped air bubbles.Wipe the jar tops clean and place hot lids on them. Screw the lids and bands on them and place in water bath.
7) Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

3 Month Garden Update

3 Month Garden Update

My oh my has my garden been growing!! My Cherry Tomato plant is over 6 feet tall and growing up my fence.We get about a bowls worth of cherry tomatoes every day. My kids are LOVING it.They are allowed to pick them and eat them anytime they want for a snack. They think it's pretty cool to be able to have a snack anytime they want. They help me pick the tomato fruitworm (caterpillars/inch worms) off every day. There are also a lot of cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, roma tomatoes growing too. I've been averaging about 1 tomato per day. We had a serious problem with blight in one of my tomato beds and I lost 4 plants from it. I quickly pulled them once I realized what it was and tilled my garden up really good. I also blended up some egg shells and mixed them throughout the soil because I read that could help cure the dirt so I can replant in it. In addition to the blight we deal with these "fruit worms" on a daily basis on all my tomato plants.

My kids enjoy helping me "pick them off" in the mornings and evenings. They won't touch them of course the pull the whole leaf off, but I guess that works!  We are also using an organic tomato pesticide occasionally. Even though it's organic I still don't like the idea of using it. So we continue picking them off one at a time!

I also have several watermelons growing (oh my goodness I never thought a watermelon could be soo small, they're so cute), lemon cucumbers (which you have seen in my past posts), and my bell pepper plants are growing so well.  My largest ones are about 3 ft tall and producing pretty large bell peppers so far. I have some smaller pepper plants in the 10 inch range of height as well. I planted corn about 2 weeks ago and they are already over a foot tall! Fast growing and loving the heat they're getting.

Jess has found 3 green beans on her green bean stalk which surprised me considering it is only about 18 inches tall!! I couldn't believe it had veggies growing on it. I think once this heat dies down some everything will really take off!

Lastly, strawberries, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and blueberries aren't doing as well, still growing (very slowly) but I think the heat as stunted their growth.

This picture is of my tomato "cemetery" from not picking yesterday. How sad! All those wasted tomatoes that we missed out on eating! My tip for today would be don't forget to pick your harvest every day so you don't miss out!

Anyway, keep following my blog, feel free to comment any questions or comments you might have. Thanks for reading :)

Pickled Lemon Cucumber Slices

How to Make Lemon Cucumber Pickles

What to do with all these cucumbers and lemon cucumbers in my garden? When you grow cucumbers or zucchini it seams like you always have such an abundance  and I never am quite sure what to do with it all... now I know! For my cucumbers I am learning the art of pickling! This is new for me, I have never pickled anything before. I got this recipe from my Aunt Roxy who is also an avid canner and am so excited to share it with you. I made one batch of these in the fridge (only requires 3 days of waiting before I can enjoy them!) while I canned the rest of them. The beauty of canning cucumbers (pickles) is you don't need the pressure canner. This project only requires a water bath and 10 minutes of processing. Talk about a quick and easy canning project!


Makes 2 pint jars
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Lemon  Cucumbers
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons dill seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, (optional)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt or kosher salt

Equipment
Chefs knife
Cutting board
2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids
Large pot for canning

Instructions
1) Prepare the jars: If you are planning to can your pickles for long-term storage, bring a large pot of water to a boil and sterilize the jars and their lids. If you are planning to make refrigerator pickles, simply washing the jars and lids is fine.

2) Prepare the cucumbers: Wash and dry the cucumbers. Trim away the blossom end of the cucumber, which contains enzymes that can lead to limp pickles. Leave the pickles whole, cut them into spears, or slice them into coins, as preferred.

3) Add the spices to the jars: Divide the garlic, dill seed, and red pepper flakes (if using) between the pint jars: 2 smashed cloves, 1 teaspoon dill seed, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes per jar.
Pack the pickles into the jars: Pack the pickles into the jars. Trim the ends if they stand more than 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing the cucumbers.

4) Bring the pickling brine to a boil: Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a small sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil. Pour the brine over the pickles, filling each jar to within 1/2-inch of the top. You may not use all the brine.

5) Remove air bubbles: You can use a non metallic utensil to wipe around the inner edges of the jar, or gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more pickling brine if necessary.

6) Tighten the lids: Place the lids over the jars and screw on the rings until tight.

Processing
1) Place jars into canner with water JUST to the necks of the jars.

2) Bring water to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes **Don't forget to adjust cook time for your altitude or if using a different size jar**

3) Remove jars, set on a dish towel on the kitchen counter, cover with another dish towel & let cool. Check for seal (indented lid), label jars or lids, store in cool dark cellar or cupboard.

4) You can eat them right away, but they taste best after a couple weeks of absorbing flavor!

NOTES: When washing/scrubbing cukes, sort them into piles by size. This really helps make your jars look nicer, if you have uniform sizes (and this impresses the judges too!). And makes for easier packing, too.

Lemon Cucumbers in my Garden

I (accidentally) started growing an heirloom called Lemon Cucumbers this spring. Some of my seeds got mixed up but I planted pickling cucumbers because I wanted to make my own pickles. Well, that was my intention anyway. In the last month, my cucumber plants have been going wild with flowers and these yellow tennis balls have been emerging. I kept waiting, thinking that they will eventually turn green and elongate, so I left them on the vine.

Week after week, they got bigger and bigger but never really turned green. Clearly, these were not regular cucumber.  I posted pictures around asking if anyone knew what kind of cucumbers they were. Maybe squash? 

Now, they have been identified as lemon cucumbers. So after doing some research I discovered a few things.  I let my little lemon cucumbers stay on the vine too long, they don't taste anything like lemon-not even a hint, and I CAN still pickle them! You can guess what blog will be next right...pickled lemon cucumbers! 

Pressure Canning Pulled Pork

When it comes to Pulled Pork, look for either Pork  Shoulder or Pork Butt (pork butt is actually part of the shoulder, not the butt. The actual butt of the pig is the "ham"). I had to read a lot about pork before committing to buy because I always used to buy center cut pork chops and cook them/shred them. That was really expensive and a lot of work lol. Now I opt for the pork shoulder/pork butt. Bone-in or boneless will work, whichever you prefer. Bone-in shoulders take a little longer to cook, but can make the meat more flavorful and succulent. Boneless cuts can be sliced into smaller chunks for easier handling and quicker cooking. I've done both many times and find bone-in or boneless fairly interchangeable. I usually go for 4 to 6 pounds boneless or 4 to 7 pounds bone-in. This will give you about 10 cups of shredded meat, which is enough to feed a crowd or plenty for a week's worth of meals. Cooking a pork shoulder takes quite a lot of time, so I tend to roast as much as I can at once and pressure can what I don't think I'll use right away for future meals.

Making all that BBQ sauce a couple weeks ago, I thought it'd be a perfect time to make some Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Of  course, I can't just make a small portion I need to make enough to can some! Pulled pork is a summer favorite for most down here in the south, and I technically lie in the south so that is fun to say! Now, I will be able to whip it out with little preparation and have amazing pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce. A dish that would normally take all day to cook you can have ready in minutes after canning it!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Yield: 4 pints 1 quart
Ingredients
4lbs Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt
1 Onion sliced
BBQ sauce
**optional** 2 tbls Dry Rub Spice (mixture from BBQ sauce recipe)

(Cooking the Pork)
1) Place the Onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with your pork and if desired a couple tablespoons of the "Dry Rub Spice Mix" (I gave in my BBQ sauce recipe last week).

2) Turn the crock pot on medium and cook the pork shoulder all day.

3) Once the pork is tender enough, take a fork and start pulling it apart.

4) Add more BBQ sauce until you get the consistency you want for your pulled pork. I mixed my sauce in with the pulled pork but it still seemed a little dry for canning and I wanted my pork to be completely submerged in the sauce so I added some water until I got the consistency I was looking for (I added about 1 cup of water, broth would also work).

5) Bring your meat/sauce mixture to a simmer. You want it to be a little saucy because the canning process absorbs a lot of the liquid.

(Pressure canning process)
1) Prepare your canning jars by boiling them in water and put the lids in simmering water to sterilize and kept them all hot until your ready for them.
2) Ladle the Pulled Pork into your jars, and wipe the rims clean (I always use distilled white vinegar to get all the bacteria and extra grease off before lidding them).
3) Remove the lids from the simmering water using your handy dandy magnetic lid wand, tightening them onto the jars to a fingertip tightness.
4) Processed the pint jars in my pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 70 minutes (90 minutes for quart jars). **Don't forget to adjust cook pressure according to your elevation**.
5) After processing, I removed the canner from the heat and let it cool, and allowing the pressure to drop naturally. 
6)  Removed the jars from the canner using your handy dandy jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool. I love to sit and listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

Real BBQ anytime you want it :)

BBQ Sauce Recipe

With summer finally "officially" here what a perfect time to refill my BBQ sauce inventory! There is nothing like a good homemade BBQ sauce, and it is fairly cheap and easy to make. I have made a few recipe's over the years, but I think this is one of my favorites. 

INGREDIENTS:
6 tbls Dark brown sugar
1 tbls molassis (or sub 1 extra tbls brown sugar) 
1 cup cider vinegar (white vinegar will work) 
7 tbls Worcestershire sauce
3 tbls Yellow Mustard

5 tbls honey

6 cups ketchup

7 tbls dry rub spice mix (1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1/8 cup seasoned salt, 1/4 cup paprika, 1/4 cup smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon garlic powder,  2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 tablespoon celery salt, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 1 tablespoon rubbed dried sage, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne)
**optional - liquid smoke 1/2 tsp per 1 cup sauce (so should be roughly 4 1/2 tsp)**
**optional - a pinch of cayenne pepper to add a little more kick**

DIRECTIONS:
1) Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. 
2) Stir well over medium heat, slowly bringing to boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 60 minutes.
3) Stir occasionally as it cooks.
4) Once it's thoroughly mixed and cooked for an hour, you can either store it in the refrigerator (it keeps for several weeks) or, of course, you can "can it". Because why would I be giving you a recipe for something if you couldn't can it? 

TO CAN IT: 
1) This recipe is suitable for water-process canning as long as you don't decrease the ratio of vinegar to other ingredients. 
2) Ladle your hot barbecue sauce into your hot prepared (sterilized) jars leaving  about 1/4" head space. 
3) Process half and full pints for 20 minutes in boiling water canner.

I always taste and tweak it according to what I am in the mood for when I am cooking it, but this is my base recipe. Taste as you go and you can change this recipe easy by adding more or less spices, sweets ect to suit your preferences!

Homemade fruit roll-ups (Fruit Leather)

I posted this on one of my other blogs but thought it was appropriate for this one as well! It was so easy my just-turned-4-year-old-daughter Jessalynne was able to help me make it. She added all the berries into the food processor, with my help "pulsed" the berries, then I poured it into the prepared pans, let her press the oven buttons and "bam!" then we just waited!

4 easy steps, Puree, Taste, Spead & Cook!

Puree: Puree all ingredients in a food processor. One amazing combination is raspberries with a touch of agave and almond extract. Holy heaven-in-a-food-processor. I froze all of our extra fruits from our garden (strawberries, blueberries and blackberries) so we pulled those out to make this delicious snack. We made two different kinds mixed berry (with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and rasperries) and one with just strawberry & blackberry. I added about 1-2 tsp of organic agave as well for a little sweetness.

Taste the mixture after it’s smooth and add more sweetener if you need to. You need to be able to pour this mixture, so if you puree your fruit and it’s pretty thick, just add a little liquid. You can add water, or fruit juice. Both silicone and plastic wrap work the best other materials cause the fruit to stick.

Spread Puree: Use an offset spatula to gently spread the mixture in an even layer. The more evenly you spread, the more evenly it cooks. You’ll want it about 1/8″ thick. Your puree should be thin enough that it pours, but thick enough to stay put where you spread it.

Cook: Set your oven temperature to the lowest setting. Mine is 170, many ovens will go down to 140. 170 works great, and it will be a little faster than 140. You’re basically just warming the air, helping the fruit dry faster. This is where you will have to be patient. It takes about 6-8 hours, sometimes longer, for it to dry. If you aren’t going to be at home and you don’t want to leave your oven on, just keep the oven door shut and turn it off while you’re gone. Turn it back on when you get back and it will just keep on drying. II made my batch in the evening So when I was ready to go to bed, I turned the oven off and turned it back on in the morning until it’s done.  (or you can cook it in a food dehydrator in about 1/2 the time).

You can test it by touching the center of the fruit mixture- it should not stick to your finger, and not indent when you touch it.The edges will cook faster than the center; if the edges look like they’re getting crispy, you can cut those off later, or brush them with a little water or juice during the baking process to rehydrate. Or if you overbake the entire pan, you can also brush with a little water until it’s pliable again.Most of the little rolls will stay rolled, but if they need help, you can always attach a little piece of tape, or a twist tie to keep them all bundled up.

They make yummy little treats in lunch boxes... Or healthy snacks (for Mom and Dad too!)

Since the drying process is long, fit as many pans in your oven as you can! We love to do all different colors and flavors and experiment with flavor combinations. It’s also a good idea to make lots because these will be gone in a heart beat.

Pressure Canning Refried Beans

Ok so last post I showed you how to pressure can whole beans, this week we are going to take it one step farther and make refried beans! Making and canning your own refried beans ends up costing you around $0.25 per jar rather than the $1.34 that they are at my local grocery store. Amazing savings by taking just a little time and doing it yourself, and they taste so good.

Ingredients needed
1/2 onion, chopped small
 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
 2 tablespoons minced garlic
 2-3 tbls tomato sauce
 2 teaspoons salt
 2 teaspoons black pepper
 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Directions
1) Wash your bean. Sometimes beans have small rocks in them so I sort them in a colander or strainer, this is a good time to give them a good rinse while your at it.
2) Clean and sterilize your cans and lids.
3) For preparing your beans you have 2 options.           
           1) Place dry beans or peas in a large pot and cover with water. Soak 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Then drain. OR you can
           2) Cover beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat and soak 1 hour. Then drain.
**Then cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil 30 minutes.**
4) Fill your jars with the presoaked beans (and water) leaving about an 1-1 1/2 inches from the top. 
5) Mix everything (except the beans) in a small dish. Then distribute it a little at a time to all your jars.
6) Fill the rest of the jar with water leaving about 3/4 inch of head space. Wipe the top of your jar with a clean cloth and place the lid & ring on the jars.
7) Process at 10 pounds pressure - Pints 80 minutes and Quarts 95 minutes. (For processing above 1,000 feet altitude adjust your times as necessary). Allow the canner to cool naturally.  

Spices are added & the jars are getting ready to go into the canner

Once you are ready to open them and use them, pour them out and using a potato masher, mash them up real quick. they can be used making burritos, as the base for different dips. I like them right out of the jar (not mashed up) on my taco salad. Enjoy :)

Pressure Canning Whole Beans - recipe

If you have ever been interested in wanting to try pressure canning, beans are a good place to start! They are so easy. Buying dry beans is much cheaper than buying canned beans, and by canning them yourself you get the best of both worlds, convenience and money savings!

After you have all of your supplies ready, it's time to get the pinto beans ready. 

Canning BEANS!

1) Wash your bean. Sometimes beans have small rocks in them so I sort them in a colander or strainer, this is a good time to give them a good rinse while your at it.
2) Clean and sterilize your cans and lids.
3) For preparing your beans you have 2 options. 1) Place dry beans or peas in a large pot and cover with water. Soak 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Then drain. OR you can
2) Cover beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat and soak 1 hour. Then drain.
**Then cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil 30 minutes.**4) For pints use 3/4 cup of beans and 1/2 tsp of salt. For quarts use 1 1/4 cups of dry beans and 1 tsp of salt.
5) Fill the rest of the jar with water leaving about 3/4 inch of head space. Wipe the top of your jar with a clean cloth and place the lid & ring on the jars.
6) Process at 10 pounds pressure - Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. (For processing above 1,000 feet altitude adjust your times as necessary). Allow the canner to cool naturally.  

Do not rush the cooling process as beans have protein.  You should never rush a canner to cool quickly especially when canning proteins.

**Stay tuned - next week we will make and can homemade refried beans!**

Wasted space under the stairs = New Canning Closet

 Canning Closet
I have never lived in a 2-story house before, and we had no idea what to do with this wasted space under our stairs? It had a very low wall that you had to squat to get under, then very tall ceilings... it just didn't make sense! I decided to do a little home renovating. It cost about $100 for all the supplies (wire shelves, paint, new molding, saw to cut out the wall, blade to cut through the metal studs and the drywall).  We debated wood shelves vs wire shelves and decided wire shelves would be lighter and sturdier for what I need.

We cut the super low wall out so I could walk through it, then finished the wall and put molding up so it looks like a entry way. My grampa is an amazing help for these little projects I find (by help, I mean I come up with a plan, and buy the stuff and he does all the work). All  I need now is a little light to go in there because it is pretty dark.
 Overall it wasn't very expensive, or hard to do. I honestly couldn't be happier with the outcome. It is one of my favorite little rooms in the house!

It all started when I got my pressure canner for Christmas... I started my first pressure canning project in January and was immediately hooked. I have had so much fun learning about canning, and building up my little emergency supply. With hurricane season approaching, I know there is a chance we might be losing power at some point and I will be prepared! I have several different soups, stews, chili's, spaghetti sauce, salsa, bbq sauce, jelly, beans and refried beans... I'm hoping to start building up my vegetable supply with my garden harvest this summer. Yay!

1 month in - Garden update!

Remember all those little seeds I planted, then transplanted? They are growing well!

Some of my seedlings average heights so far:
Tomatoes 3 inches
Carrots 1-3 inchess
Broccoli 2 inches

The broccoli is not supposed to be growing at all because of the heat outside, but it seems to be doing well so far. I have been keeping the soil wet, and providing partial shade as much as I can to it to help keep it a little cooler.

My 2 starter tomato plants are producing green tomatoes, and a lot of them. They have grown over 2 feet since I planted them!

My blueberries are not yet blossoming, but I haven't researched much on when they blossom in Florida... I might have to do a little research on that soon :)

My 2 cucumber starter plants are doing well, one of them is over 10 inches tall, the other is about 8 inches.  They are also almost long enough to start climbing their trellis.

Our starter strawberries are growing and we have a few red strawberries on them as well! I don't know if they will ever get all the way red because my kids keep picking them all before they have a chance to fully ripen!  I love that my kids are so excited about helping out in the garden, and they run out there often to see if there are any red tomatoes or strawberries ready to be picked.


 

My celery is growing well in the window seal. It is about  inches tall already! I have 2 stalks "re-growing" from the base  (see previous blog on replanting celery). I have it indoors because it doesn't grow well in heat, and is a cold weather vegetable. It is growing great so far in my kitchen window. I have had to aerorate it frequently to avoid mold growing because it is growing indoors it needs a little extra treatment. I water it just enough to keep the soil moist, about every other day.

Vertical Cucumbers

Well a little about cucumbers to start with, they are very easy to grow and are very prolific. They need to be planted in a section of the garden that receives full sun and has an evenly moist, fertile soil. With that, success is almost guaranteed.

Like other summer vine crops, cucumbers are heavy feeders and demand a steady supply of water. Work plenty of organic matter (compost, well-rotted manure) into the soil before planting to help it retain moisture and to provide the nutrients the cucumber plants will need throughout the season. 

I read an article recently about growing vegetables vertically. I really like this idea because it keeps all the produce off the ground and according to research, it dramatically increases yields because the vines receive better air circulation and more sunlight than vines on the ground. I am trying this concept out with cucumbers. 

My grampa helped me make a trellis for them to climb. We decided 5" squares should work well. I'm hoping it will gives the cucumber plant a little more light by having more space, and plenty of room to fall through the holes for growing. (We also made one standing vertical for Jessalynne's green beans to climb and gave it a little extra support). If the cucumbers grow well, I am anxious to try the vertical gardening with some other fruit/vegetables like melon and tomatoes. I read that tomatoes grow really well vertical (or hanging). 

2014 is my garden guinea pig year. My year of trial and error. I am hoping to be successful as a new Floridian, but I know it will likely take a few years to workout all the kinks of what works, and what doesn't. My planting/harvest timing is also going to be a huge experiment this year!

RIP Vegetables (thanks to my son...) LOL

So most people plant their garden and worry about deer eating their plants, squirrels swiping their produce, bugs infesting, maybe even different molds growing... Well I planted my garden knowing I would have a constant and consistent fight with my son. He loves the dirt, and he loves to "help". Here's a funny little story about my son helping me with my garden.

I went out to water my garden the other day, and I found some of my plants were missing! They weren't eaten, or missing parts of the plant. They were literally dug up with a hole left in their place. "What on earth happened to my vegetables!?!?" I asked knowing immediately who the culprit was... Brixton, my 2 1/2 year old. Oh boy! He dug up several of my plants and put them back in the plastic containers we brought them home from the store in... Clever Brick, real clever! Unfortunately, they were not salvageable and didn't make the "re-transplant". I did promptly throw all the old containers out so he wouldn't try to replant any other plants in them again!


RIP banana peppers, tomatoes and marigolds, you will be missed!