 Even though there is a blizzard outside it's nice to enjoy some plum jam made in better weather. The hot cocoa is a nice treat with the blizzard howling at the windows.
#plumjam
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 Canned acorn squash tonight. Had a lot of seeds that looked too good to just throw away. So I looked up a way to roast them. This is the before picture: Directions: Rinse them off Put in a bowl and add 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp salt for every 1 cup of seeds. Bake in 275 degree oven 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. If you dry them first then you can shorten the baking time to around 15 minutes. I just threw them in wet. Or you can experiment with different spices to add a little pizzaz!  And this is the roasted after. Yummy and crunchy!
A very nutritious snack:) #roastedwintersquashseeds #roastedseeds #healthysnacks  Tonight I canned vegetable soup. A neighbor told me how she has done hers for years (she's in her 70's) so I tried it last year and we loved it. You can put whatever kind of veggies in the quantities you want. I used green beans, carrots, onion, zucchini, tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, parsley. I put everything in a pan and covered it with water and boiled it for about 5 minutes. Then sealed it in quart jars at 10 lbs pressure for 15 minutes.  Canning this soup is a real time saver. I just open it up pour it in a pan, add a jar of beef, add noodles, or barley or rice or whatever I want and it's done in a few minutes. #vegetablesoup #canningsoup  Not bad for a night's work! 21 quarts of soup and 10 pints of sweet pickles and 7 more quarts of green beans.
 OK so I hate waste. I admit it:) Here's an experiment I thought I'd try. Dehydrating beet stems and leaves to use later as vitamin supplements in soups, stews, roasts, etc. Anyone else tried this? I'd love to hear how it turned out and how you used them in your cooking. I just cut them off the beet, rinsed them and laid them in my dehydrator. I'll keep posted. #beets #dehydratingfoods 
 My sister-in-law, Rose made this wonderful, yummy platter of caprese. Here's how she did it.
Firm garden tomatoes sliced Farmers Cheese sliced black pepper, white vinegar, fresh Basil, olive oil over the top. What a great snack! Healthy! Vibrant, full taste when you use fresh from the garden tomatoes and fresh cut basil. I grow mine on the deck in a pot. Makes a huge difference. #basil #gardentomatoes #caprese  Here is what I found under the weight I used to keep the cucumbers below the brine. I let these dill slices sit in brine on the kitchen counter for 3 weeks. They turned out pretty good...the better the further under the brine. #dillpickles #cucumbers    Yesterday and today I canned 28 quarts of spaghetti sauce. And I'll probably make another 28 quarts tomorrow. I spent the summer of 1997 discovering this recipe by trial and error. I have used it ever since. It seems like everyone has too many tomatoes this time of year. Recipes like this are a good way to reduce the waste. I hope you enjoy it! I'll be making Salsa in the next day or so, so look for that recipe as well. Canning Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
30 diced tomatoes, peeled 2 medium green peppers, diced 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and diced 1 TBSP salt 3 TBSP garlic powder (or substitute whole crushed garlic to taste) 2 TBSP parsley, chopped 2 TBSP Italian Seasoning OR 1/2 TBSP Basil and 1/2 TBSP Oregano, ground or chopped 1 tsp black pepper Tomato paste to thicken or cook down slowly to thicken * I have done the herbs both ways and both are good. The herbs are just to taste for your family so experiment with the amounts. Try growing the herbs you will use. It gives them a more vibrant smell and taste. This is how I put this together. I de-stem and rinse the tomatoes and cut all the bad spots out. And then I freeze them whole. Sometimes I freeze them for a while as I'm waiting for enough tomatoes to be ready to make a first batch, and sometimes I just don't have time to make spaghetti sauce right away, but even if I'm making the batch the next day or even later that evening I still freeze the tomatoes because it makes getting the skin off super easy and doesn't burn your fingers like boiling water does. Take frozen tomatoes and run tap water over them. the difference in temperature from the freezer and the tap water will loosen the skin and they should slip right off. I use luke warm to slightly hot tap water, but it should still be comfortable to your touch. Quarter the tomatoes and dump all ingredients in a large cooking pot and cook. When tomatoes are soft and falling apart I put the mixture through the blender (because my family likes smooth sauce...teenagers!:) But I prefer it chunky, so this part is up to you. After blending, Return to cooking pot and bring to a boil. I used to cook it down to thicken but I get a lot more spaghetti sauce if I just use tomato paste to thicken it. Plus it takes hours to get it thick by simmering it down. Thicken to how your family likes it. Remember it will thicken more in the canning process as well. While hot, put in jars (I use quarts) and seal using the hot water bath method. I boil for 45 minutes for my spaghetti sauce. This makes about 5 quarts of sauce per batch. Let me know how you like it. #canning #homemadespaghettisauce #tomatoes #canninghomemadespaghettisauce  Every day I skim this stinky stuff off the top of my pickles. They are just starting to have an odor. Should be done in two days. I can't wait to get them off my counter!
 A days work ahead for me. 2 hours of gathering from the garden. Beets, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, more plums and pears to take care of.  12 hours later...47 pints of dill pickle spears. Blanched beans in the freezer for my veggie soup. Coleslaw made out of cabbage. Feet tired:) Thanks to the kids for snapping beans and taking care of laundry.
 It didn't seem like anything happened the first few days the cucumbers were in the brine. However, soon after that this yucky stuff started forming on the top of the brine. I have been skimming it off each day like the recipe said to do. Surprisingly, there is not much smell. Just looks awful! Pickles should be done in 6 more days.
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AuthorI grew up and have lived in Iowa until recently when I moved to a small town in Illinois to begin a new chapter in my life which includes a loving supportive husband and numerous grandchildren to spoil. I have three beautiful daughters and a Miniature Schnauzer. I'm interested in anything that supports healthy families and healthy lifestyles. Archives
January 2020
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