Thursday, June 30, 2011

Homemade Ketchup

It is a tad spicey for my daughter's taste so later in the week I made a batch omitting the cayenne pepper...and it was DELISH!

The rest of the family LOVED the spicey flavor. My son said it was the best ketchup he's ever had!


It was a bit time consuming but, as with all other homemade goods, I know exactly what's in mine. to make 5 pints there was 1 cup of sugar, tomatoes, 1 onion, vinegar, & seasonings. 1 cup of sugar is not too bad when you figure that's divided among 5 pints. -Most ketchups contain lots more sugar and/or corn syrup along with loads of other un-pronouncables.

So homemade ketchup gets a big thumbs up. I now have 9 jars preserved and 1 in the fridge!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

1,2,3, Easy & Delicious Chicken Dinner

#1-Place some chicken in crockpot (bone in or out). Pour on a can of cream of chicken soup. Then sprinkle on some cajun seasoning (we use Tony's). Cover and cook for about 7 hours.
#2-When almost done, make some noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice to smother with the delicious gravy that this will make in the crockpot.
#3-Open a can of veggies and viola!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Ketchup



Going to attempt to make ketchup for the first time today!

Friday, June 24, 2011

A little of what I've been up to...



I made 17 jars of tomato juice today & 17 jars of tomato sauce. In the picture are some jars of pasta/spaghetti sauce I made a couple of days ago.

Tomorrow I've got a bushel of tomatoes & peppers waiting to be made into chunky salsa. Whew...



Thursday, June 23, 2011

How bad I am...

For supper tonight my daughter is cooking. Fish sticks and mac & cheese...
We will also be eating it around the tv... The Apple Dumpling Gang on dvd borrowed from the library.
Sure does sound good!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Meatball subs

Oven Meatball subs:

1lb ground beef or pork
1/2 cup oats
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder

Also need 1 jar spaghetti sauce, hotdog buns, & motzarella cheese.

Mix all in bowl. Place meatballs in a 9x13 casserole dish. Put in oven at 350* for about 30-40 minutes or until done.
Then pour on a jar of red pasta/spaghetti sauce.
Put back in oven for about 10 minutes or until bubbly.
Slice meatballs in half (or if you make smaller ones leave them whole). Lay on a hotdog bun & sprinkle with motzarella cheese.
Delish!
**As with almost all my recipes feel free to replace some ingredients with what you have. Use fresh garlic, spices, or onions. Use breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs in place of oats. Use cheddar cheese, or no cheese, whatever! lol This is just what we had tonight.

Monday, June 20, 2011

FLYing again

A few years ago I read a book by the flylady. I followed her guides and for about a year or so my home & house were running like a well-oiled machine. Then, I really don't know or remember why, but I got out of the routines. Many things have happened in our lives since then & I feel the need for more order around here. So...I checked the book out at the library & her we go again! I like to start things on Monday's so today is my first day back to doing the "baby steps."
Also today I've got laundry going & then after a little break in the pool I'll get back to making tomato sauce. We've got tomatoes galore! With prices being around $2 and up per pound I feel very greatful to have all of these tomatoes.

Friday, June 10, 2011

My Friday & Homeschool Planning

I've already got the tomatoes on the stove to boil for spaghetti sauce. I decided that since I've got the peppers & spices I'll go ahead and season this batch up. (The others I've done this year are plain)
Also today I think my mom, niece, & nephew are going to come over and swim. It looks to be in the high 90's again. The pool stays shaded about half through the day so that is nice. What's not nice is, and I do this almost every year, I swam & layed on my raft yesterday with my daughter & guess who's got a sunburn today??? Not too bad but I'm a pinky face, sholders, back, etc. Today the sunscreen will be loaded on!
While my sauce is simmering, I'm trying to plan out next year's homeschool curriculum. A little while back we changed some things & I think I've finally found a good balance of what we do. We are mostly of what I like to call "Real learning." We do a math curriculum (saxon) and then lots of reading, writing & practical "real" learning. Gardening, animal care, cooking, canning, caring for the home, shopping, budgeting, shopping, and of course we start our day off with devotions & Bible reading.
Things I am thinking of ordering this year are:
Apologia Botany
A good sketch pad (or the notebook thing that goes along with the botany book)
good colored pencils
LLATL
I already have everything else & more so unless something pops out at me as I'm browsing the RR & CBD websites that will probably be all we need.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Gateway Worship - Revelation Song - Kari Jobe

Gives me chills!
What a spirit filled night this must have been.

Tomato sauce








Making tomato sauce again today. Using my most favorite & easy recipe from heavenly homemaker.

Wash & core tomatoes. Put in blender & blend up. Put in pot and cook down to desired consistancy. Then waterbath for 25 minutes.

Perfect, yummy, fresh sauce everytime!

...today will make 10 pints jarred up!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Corn & Taters

We picked all of our corn & potatoes yesterday.
Wound up with 13 gallon bags full of corn on the cob. (cut small)
We also got approximately 150lbs. new red potatoes & 60lbs. white potatoes.
I thought I got idaho or brown skinned white potatoes but they are a golden color like a butter potato.
We should have had some more corn for us but we think we left it on the stalk a little too long. --That's ok though. The chickens & pigs will enjoy it.
I boiled up some small potatoes with green beans to go with our steaks for dinner yesterday and they were declicious!
I am so thankful to the Lord for providing us with a good harvest.

Country style green beans & potatoes

fresh green beans-washed & snapped
fresh little potatoes-washed well skins on or off doesn't matter
a couple tablespoons good lard OR a couple pieces of bacon OR a ham slice
salt & pepper
a little butter

Put lard, bacon, or ham (or all 3 if you're really into the meat) lol.
Melt or cook the meat. Then add the beans & taters. Fill up to just cover the veggies with water. Add a little salt & pepper. Stir & bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are done. Drain off most of the water & put in a little butter. Stir and serve.

*You can also make this with some extra ham & don't drain the water. It makes a good filling soup in the winter. You can also cook this in the crockpot.

Friday, June 3, 2011

More food storage

Today I've got some sad news...a gopher has killed one of my big yellow squash plants. -Stinker-
Also most of my cucumbers!!!

Anyhow, the good news is I picked a batch of green beans yesterday. Also our ton of potato plants will be harvested over the weekend so I'm hoping for a good crop of them. The fun/neat thing about potatoes is it's like you're digging up burried treasure. You never know what you've got until you dig!

Today I will be freezing squash & making a couple of squash casseroles to freeze for busy nights. Also more bell peppers to freeze. I'm going to make some stuffed bell peppers (the same recipe I shared here) to freeze as well.

This and a quick trip to the library & my mom's should keep us busy for the day.

Giveaway

There is a neat giveaway over at Raising Homemakers site. Check it out!!!