Tips for canning

I am not an expert on canning. My mother has made me paranoid about contamination and exploding jars. Every summer I can jams and salsa. They are both so high in sugar (and salsa has vinegar) that the risk is less than canning say - stewed tomatoes or unsweetened applesauce. I have done pickled beets, dill and bread and butter pickles too. They keep for YEARS. I know this cuz my family won't eat the ones I canned 3 years ago. I have gotten much faster at canning. The prep is always a lot of work but I enjoy cooking so it is fun for me. In the last two years when the kiddo's were babies I did all the prep one day and the cooking in the next. Today one of the local strawberry farm opened. Emily and I picked 2 - 4litre baskets. They cost $13. I bought 1 box of certo and 2 bags of sugar totaling $10. I made about 12 cups of jam. It is still cheaper than buying jam at the store but it is a lot of work. I always think that canning is not necessarily cheaper but I do it cuz I enjoy it. Plus homemade tastes SO much better. The best reason to can food is because you have a garden. This keeps your healthy vegetables year round. It cuts down on your grocery bill and you can feel good about eating less preservatives. I love opening a jar of food out of my cupboard and knowing this was something I provided all on my own. It feels like I cheated 'the system'. My trick for canning is to use the dishwasher. It saves me a lot of hassle and time. I fill it up with the jars, sealers and lids. I run the dishwasher first. While it is running I clean and prep my food. Jam doesn't take that long to cook so don't put it on the stove til the dishwasher is starting the sanitation cycle. The dishwasher gets so hot I take the jars and lids out as I need them. Keep the door closed as much as possible. The jars pop with in the hour of sealing the food in them. It works really well for me. I also freeze my tomatoes whole, fresh from the garden. When I pull them out of the freezer I just run them under hot water and the skins fall right off. Perfect for chopping into salsa for caning. Blanching tomatoes is a lot of work. This freezing way means that if you don't have enough tomatoes to make a batch of salsa all at once you just keep adding them to the freezer til you do. genius. Another super tip is if you have a friend that cans as well - do a trade. Trade jam for pickles. My friend make green tomato salsa and I make red spicy salsa so we split a batch. My aunt makes a beef chutney. I have a couple jars but I don't need a whole batch. My mom makes raspberry jam and chili sauce and I trade with her my salsa and strawberry jam. Canning also makes great thank you gifts. Who doesn't love homemade food!

Homemade Pizza

I used to own a pizza place. It seems a long way from the daily grind I live now. But yes I used to have staff and an income. I didn't make pizza for a couple years after I sold it. I didn't think my oven could do justice to my recipes compared to stone oven I had at the pizza place. My friend Kate gave me her homemade pizza dough recipe and I am trying to make it my own. I have made this few times now and though it is nothing like 'Village Pizza'. I do like getting the kids involved and we have made it a rainy day, use up the leftovers in the fridge favorite. Pizza 2 1/2 cup flour, 2 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar, and salt, 1 cup warm water, 2tbsp olive oil. I put yeast, water, sugar in mixer and let sit. Then add oil, salt, and 2 cups flour mixture. Add the rest of flour until soft ball forms, not too sticky, then kneed for a few min. Set aside until ready to use. I use ragu spaghetti sauce for pizza sauce. Then canned pineapple, sliced meat, pepper, mushrooms. Ashley likes to make 'pizza faces' and Emily like to eat the toppings and not eat the cooked pizza. Bake 450 for 10 to 15 mins.

cleaning out the fridge

Well my husband (who I like today) watched the kids so I could do a quick run to the store. I needed juice, fruit and potatoes. I forgot potatoes. Monday's I clean out my fridge. When I got back the kiddo's were napping so I started cleaning. I found my veggies getting soft. I made Beef Stroganoff for supper but while I was prepping that I chopped and peeled onions and carrots and divided them into 2 large ziplock bags, one for chili and one for beef stew. I also chopped celery and added it. I cut carrots and celery sticks to go with supper. I had leftover beef stock and one soft tomato so I added that to the beef stew bag. I put that in the freezer. My plan is to add the leftover beef stroganoff to this bag when we are done supper tonight. I put 1 tbsp of chili powder into the chili freezer bag with some opened salsa from the back the fridge. Later this week we will have spaghetti and I will add the leftovers to the chili bag. I wrote on the bags what I put in them. I will need to add meat and potatoes to the stew and beans to the chili but this will make supper easier when I pull it out some busy morning. It will be hot soon and I have been thinking about using my crockpot more. I hope this helps you think about how to use up what you have in the fridge. I hate wasting food. Most soft veggies can be froze straight from the fridge in ziplock bags. I have froze raw squash, onions, carrots, peppers and celery. They can easily be used in soups and stews. Unfortunately they will squishy but the nutritional value is still there. When I cook my noodles for Beef Stroganoff I will be making a greek pasta salad for tomorrow's lunch. I still have cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers to use up. If i plan ahead I should have enough meals out of my fridge to get us to the weekend before we need to get more groceries. Good luck to your family meals. I hope these ideas help.

May 18 2013

Today I put my garden in. Our new dock also came today. The apple tree is in bloom and the rhubarb is growing up. We have had one rhubarb crisp already.

balsamic baked chicken breasts

Tonight I am going out for dinner with girlfriends!!!  Thanks to my mom and my husband for covering for me with my girls.  Since this was planned at noon today I won't be BBQing for the family as I had planned.  Instead I wanted something my mom just has to pull out of the oven.  Also My husband can reheat when he gets home from work.  So I took some frozen chicken breasts and poured in 1/2 bottle of Kraft balsamic vinaigrette dressing  into the bag of 4 frozen chicken breasts. (complicated, so try to stay with me) I baked them on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes at 350.  Cooking time will vary depending on the size of chicken breast and if they are completely thawed.  I put a piece of aluminum foil on the cookie sheet to protect it.  I also put in 4 washed potatoes to bake.  It smells so good. I am making a salad now.  It will be enough for tomorrow night too when I BBQ the burgers I pulled out for tonight.  Genius! Minimal effort from Mom = healthy wholesome supper!

Ingredients:
cookie sheet
aluminum foil
4 large chicken breasts
Kraft Balsamic Vinegrette
4 large potatoes
Bag of pre-made salad mix.

Thoughts on cake baking

This morning I got up at 5:30 -in the AM, because my husband went to the barn noisily and Emily woke up and called for me.  I got her to go (or so I thought) back to bed.  Unfortunately I started thinking about jobs I have to do to get ready for Ashley's birthday tomorrow. Plus I remembered I forgot to put in a load of laundry last night before bed.  Does anyone else have this obsession? Must put laundry in washer after 7pm in the evening to save hydro? We are also on a well so I run the washing machine in the evening and dishwasher in the morning. I just like my routine I guess. I  am usually not quite so OCD that I would get out of bed at 5:30 to do it, but I remembered wet dishcloths and pee accident pants I threw in the washing machine last night but didn't fill the load or turn it on....stinky.
Anyways, I started back up the stairs to go back to bed and I heard her voice again so we got up and baked muffins. It started as applesauce muffins and cleaning out the fridge. Then I saw a message on facebook from a friend that no one had signed up for snack at our MOPS meeting.  So I thought I could 'whip up' a coffee cake. I tried a new recipe. It was not my best but it was edible.
Then Ashley got up. Today is the day before her b-day. We had planned to go to MOPS then McDonald's (or the french fries store, as my girls call it).  The local movie theater had a free kids movie on this afternoon. The Croods.  So This was going to be Ashley's b-day party.  I wanted to take rice krispie squares for ease and less mess, BUT When Ashley saw the coffee cake she thought it was her b-day cake so I made her a confetti cake from a box mix to take to share after the movie. 'With pink-icing' - yes Ashley, with pink icing.  All before 7 am.
Tomorrow Ashley goes to school with rice krispie squares for her class.  Then we will have another cake with the grandparents at supper. That should be enough icing to last these kiddo's for awhile.  At least until the 28th for Emily's 3rd b-day.

Roasted Chicken legs with potatoes and carrots

Chicken legs in a roasting pan with  carrots and potatoes. Very easy  and cheap to make and surprisingly quick to cook. It is always a hit in my house.

I do this one night a week,  chicken legs, cut up potatoes and baby carrots in the oven. I cover the veggies with chicken legs and 2 cups of water. Uncovered Bake at 400 for 1 hour. It is like a roast chicken with less work. I get everything ready in the morning and I get it in the oven at 4pm. Wha-la supper is ready at 5pm, plus my kids love it.

 There is no chance of allergy problems because there is nothing added to this meal. It's a no brainer.