November and December Challenge: Dec 24 - 31

 #LightTheWorld

Tomorrow is the celebration of the birth of our Savior and Lord. Having had several children, maybe as many as Mother Mary. I marvel at what women went through in those days. For some childbirth is easy, for others is it not. Medical interventions and such today, do not guarantee a good pregnancy outcome. People do not realize that the risk of losing mother and or baby is still great in this day and age. Can you imagine giving birth in a stable or barn? With vermin in the animal's bedding? No running water? Having to shove rags between your legs to deal with the lovely bleeding that happens for a minimum of a week after birth? Although I have given birth in multiple places: hospital, midwife's office and at home.  I will tell you our best experiences were at the midwife's office and at home, it was so relaxing, calm, and I could focus on what I was doing instead of wondering who the next stranger was going to be to come and look between my legs.

Can you imagine walking as far as Mary walked? It wasn't just to the mail box. It was very far, and she was 40 weeks along!  I can feel and hear those pelvic bones moving, grinding, popping with every step. I know the pressure of that baby on my back, my bladder, kicking my diaphragm so I can't breath.  Can you imagine what she went through just before she was to give birth?! It is amazing.

This is what our ancestors went through as well. Whether they were traveling on purpose or because they were running for their lives. Many women have given birth along the trail, and many of those women and babies were also buried along that trail.

I am thankful that Mary and Joseph listened to the angels, I am thankful that Jesus is the Christ and that he has given us the ultimate gift. I am thankful for this gift so we can again see our sweet family members that have passed and especially see my sweet Saralyn again. I hope you remember what Christmas is about, and are able to feel the sweet spirit it brings.

This is it folks. The last week of this challenge. Were you able to do it? Can you believes it's already the last week of the year?! It has been another trying year, full of love, pain, life and unfortunately death.
New things this year: we got more of the yard done; went fishing on several rivers and cooked water's edge; we had our family reunion; went camping; figured out a major food sensitivity; welcomed home our missionary; preparing for the marriage of another of our children; and welcomed more pets into the home.

This is the week of cans to meet our goal of filling our pantry/larder.
#54: Can of pears
#55: Spaghetti Sauce
#56: Baked Beans
#57: Evaporated milk or Coconut milk
#58: Re-fried Beans
#59: Spaghetti Sauce
#60: Applesauce
#61: Soup of choice

 We welcome the new year in soon and with that we will have many new adventures.

November and December Challenge: Dec 16 - 23

Well, crud. This year is almost over and I didn't get everything done yet!  SLOW DOWN!

This Christmas we as a family decided to be more service oriented. Instead of buying a ton of gifts for us. We decided to do a couple kids on the giving tree. We also decided to donate to The Giving Cupboard. Our kids enjoyed doing all the shopping. It was fun. Our family's love language is service, as in serving others. It truly makes us happy to be permitted to help someone, be with others, and lift other's burdens, even if only for a moment.

Building your larder/pantry/food storage is a way you can lift your own burden. How do I find these sales? Sometimes I scour the ads on store's websites, and sometimes I just happen on them when I am in the store. How do I build my food storage? Slowly. I am not kidding. I was a very young bride, and I had no idea what food storage was. I had no idea why I had this urge to have a certain amount of food in my cupboards. If I had a little extra leftover after buying groceries, I would get something to put in my cupboard. Heck I didn't call it food storage, or larder, or engineering. When we first got married our pantry was a tiny cupboard by the sink. It had very little in it. Enchilada sauce, canned peas, canned corn, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and if lucky a jar of spaghetti sauce. Looking back, it was a very weird combo.

When we moved to college, we had these huge closets in the hallway that went to the bedrooms and bathroom. They were giant! This apartment had the biggest closets we ever had in apartment living. They were even bigger than most houses have! They were amazing closets! I began accumulating more food stuffs in my closet. Still, I didn't really know how to cook well. I am so thankful my husband still ate it, and so did my baby (best eater ever!).

We moved to a different apartment that had just been built because the molds in the amazing closet apartment were bad for my asthma. This new apartment had this huge closet in the living room. It had some wire shelves on each end inside this closet. We filled them. Slowly. An extra can of chili, the next week an extra jar of spaghetti sauce, another week extra pasta. It builds, slowly. If it was a new food we hadn't had before, we would only buy one. No need to waste money, what if we didn't like it? We could always get more the next week if we liked it.

Now... I have 5 gallon buckets with hard white wheat, salt, sugar, oats and rice. I have #10 cans full of dried beans, cocoa, quinoa, millet.. I have cans of tomatoes, olives, peas, chicken.. I have condiments like pickles, mustards, ketchup, mayo..I have spices, I have medicine, I have home canned foods.  When we first got married I never could have imagined all I would learn about foods, medicine, preservation of foods, how to sew..

It doesn't matter how old you are.  You can learn to build your cupboard/pantry/closet/ or what ever you have (my college kids use a rubbermaid tote). It is a slow process, it is a learning experience. Find joy in it. And remember, if you have never had it only buy one to try. If you find a deal on something you use, make that be your can for the day or week. Store what you eat, Eat what you store.


#46: Vegetables
#47: Tomato Sauce
#48: Salsa
#49: Rotel
#50: Diced chilies
#51: Can or jar of NUTS (if not allergic)
#52: Nut butter (the one your family will eat)
#53: Stewed Tomatoes

November and December Challenge: Dec 8 - 15

How many of you went shopping on "black" Friday? Cyber Monday? Today?

How many of you went to make dinner from your normal pantry and realized you were missing something? Tomato paste? a spice? pasta? rice?

The other day I went to make dinner and the recipe called for tomato paste. This is not an item I usually have in stock; why? Because I do not like the taste of tomato paste. What did I do? I actually had a bunch of tomatoes from my garden ripening on my kitchen table (yes still, because we moved the tomato plants to the garage when it got cold out so I wouldn't lose all that fruit). So I took some of those and I washed them, took out that weird core where they hook to the plant, put them through a quick blender, and used those instead. Dinner was saved, and delicious. What would I have done had I not had those tomatoes? I would have used tomato sauce or canned diced tomatoes (put through blender).  My kids do not like chunks of cooked tomatoes, so I still have to blend those. BUT, they are learning to handle cooked onions, carrots and celery.

So this week is more of the same, but a little change. Remember the point of this challenge is to build up your food storage/larder/pantry. The point is so you have something to eat in a pinch. That pinch of low funds is not fun.

#38: Sliced Peaches
#39: Canned Chicken
#40: Campbell's chicken noodle soup (add water)
#41: Dinty Moore Stew (or which ever kind you prefer)
#42: Chili
#43: Can of Pears or Fruit cocktail
#44: Tomato Soup (add water)
#45: Baked potato soup (ready-to-eat)

One of the cans I stocked up on last week was Snow's Minced Clams in the yellow can at the local grocery. The price was so cheap I bought 10 of them. Tonight I needed a fast dinner as the teens were headed out to their weekly meetings.

What did I make with these lovely little can's of yum? Clam spaghetti of course. This is a family favorite. It's fast, easy, and not expensive.

CLAM SPAGHETTI

2 - 6.5 oz cans minced clams in clam juice
1/2 tsp salt
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBS parsley
1 pound spaghetti, linguini, angel hair or fettuccine  OR GF ramen noodles or bean threads

Cook pasta according to package directions. While waiting for the pasta, make the sauce.

In sauce pan put butter, oil and garlic. Let gently cook on low to med low heat until it starts to bubble and the fragrance of garlic is fantastic. Drain only ONE can of clams and put into sauce pan. Pour second can of clams with juice into sauce pan. Add salt and parsely. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep hot.
When pasta is done cooking, drain. Return to cooking pan. Pour all of the sauce over the pasta. Stir well with tongs or whatever you prefer to use.

Sometimes we garnish with finely shredded parmesan cheese. But not tonight.
We served this with a salad. So yummy and good comfort food.

November and December Challenge: Dec 1 - 7

OH MY HECK IT'S DECEMBER!!!!

I can not believe how fast this year has gone by! It has flown, and there are parts of it I wish we could spend more time in. We had a fabulous family reunion that was just amazing. We went camping, lots of fishing, learned how to cook fish very well. Learned how to heat smoke foods. New opportunities for adventure.. It has been fun, hard, exciting, and worth it.

What did you do with your turkey bones? As my hubby was carving the turkey, he put the bones into a crock-pot (WITHOUT being asked) then put in the baggie of veggies scraps from the freezer. Then he added a tablespoon of salt, covered the bones with water and set the crock pot on low. Again, I didn't ask him, I didn't let him know I was going to do this at any time. He just did it. I love my husband.

We ended up cooking this bone broth for 48 hours! It came out so yummy. So next we strained it and put it into jars to cool.
We are starting our December challenge with some different items. Now please remember, if you or your family do not eat something, do not buy it! Get something your family will eat. I use evaporated milk for making pumpkin pies, caramel and bread. We use peanut butter, tahini, and almond butter in our home. Chicken viennas my kids will eat out of the can after they are rinsed. I have also used a fork and mashed them on a plate (like a banana) then put them in our spaghetti sauce. For the ready to eat soups, grab the flavors you know your family will enjoy, my flavors are only suggestions.

#31: Evaporated Milk
#32: Nut Butter (peanut or almond or sesame whatever kind you can have)
#33: Can of Pineapple
#34: Can of Navy Beans
#35: Chicken Vienna Sausages
#36: Potato Soup (ready to eat)
#37: Can of sirloin burger with country vegetables soup

What is something you can think of to add to the list?

November and December Challenge: Week 4 Nov 23 - 30

So how are you doing so far? I am going to tell you right now. Brands only matter if you really taste a difference. I love Hunt's tomato products, they for some reason to me, taste better. I also like to have some Rotel on hand to make salsa. Do you make your own? What about spaghetti sauce? Woops off track, it was just what popped into my mind.

This week we are working on:

#23: Baked Potato Soup (ready to eat)
#24: Refried Beans
#25: Canned Chicken
#26: Canned Chicken (Yup, another can, because you will use it!)
#27: Chicken Broth
#28: Chili
#29: Black olives
#30: Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup (add water)

First month done! Whew!

It feels so good to have food in your larder, cupboard, pantry, etc. We are getting into that busy time: parties, dinners, shopping, more shopping, maybe buy something. Don't let life overwhelm you. Do your normal grocery shopping, but add an extra can  of whatever canned good you buy. The other day I was shopping, needed tomato paste, so I grabbed 2. I also needed some olives for the salad, so I grabbed 2 cans. And I grabbed 2 jars of spaghetti sauce, you see easy.

It's also that time of year for the creapy crud, colds, vomiting, diarrhea and body aches from fevers. Chicken noodle soup, or broth always helps. So make sure you grab atleast 1 can to have on hand. Sometimes Campbell's soups are in 4-packs and even 6-packs. When we had a Costco nearby us I bought it in a case. Now I can't eat it, but my kids will drink the broth and maybe slurp down a noodle or two when sick.

Why am I suggesting ready to eat soups? Well, for one, we are in winter, and when the power goes out, so does your well pump. You won't have water to add to your soup. This is why I suggest getting a few cans of ready to eat items. OH, and also, I love the Wal-mart brand of chicken breast in a can. It is yummy, GF and soy free, and ready to eat.

November and December Challenge: Week 3 Nov 15 - 22

Well I am not satisfied. I feel the list for canned goods is lacking. So many things you can put into your larder. What about stock or broth? This can come in a can or in a 1 liter (quart) mylar box. What about beans? What about tomatoes? What about? What about?

So many items to choose from, but I will repeat, if you will not eat it, DO NOT BUY IT. It is a waste of money to buy something you absolutely will never eat. I mean you could by one can, try it to see if you like it, and if you do then add more. That makes sense. But buying something you won't eat like chipotle chilies in adobo. If you don't like it, won't use it, don't waste you money buying it.

Let's take a look at this weeks list.

#15: Chunk Pineapple
#16: Fruit Cocktail
#17: Green beans (french? cut? wax?)
#18: Corn (niblets? creamed? regular?)
#19: Canned Pasta (chef boy-r-dee?)
#20: Can of Veg-All or can of vegetables
#21: Chicken Vienna Sausages (My kids love these! I gag from the smell of them)
#22: Sirloin burger with Vegetables soup (ready to eat)

Due to our corn and gluten allergies, I don't buy a lot of convenience foods, including canned soups or pastas. But I will can my own bone broth and vegetable stock. I will can meat, I can veg, I can fruit. That said, I do have family members that can eat some ready to eat soups. So I will get some.

Anyone remember Libby's Chicken Noodle Dinner?  It was my favorite ready to eat meal from a can. Guess what? I can't find it. It was delicious with fresh homemade biscuits.

Nalley's Chili company moved from Tacoma WA to somewhere else. BUT you can still go to the Nalley Valley in Tacoma and see the old factory. When they moved the recipes changed, and they added wheat flour, lower quality meat, and the flavor is different. So I make my own now and either pressure can it or freeze it.

November and December Challenge: Week 2 Nov 8 - 14

This one is a little early, but something has come up.

Last week's was hard for me. I looked and looked, but could not find a canned soup that would be safe fore me to eat. So I will have to make some soup and can it myself. Hopefully get that done this next week. These are only suggestions, again only buy what your family will eat.

BY #8: Canned Potatoes (usually these are called new or baby potatoes)
BY #9: Beef Tamales (we won't do this, but will do canned hamburger instead)
BY #10: Bean Soup
BY #11: Mandarin Oranges (yum, these are great in salad and smoothies)
BY #12: Chicken Vienna Sausages (kids like these, we have added them to spaghetti sauce mashed up)
BY #13: Salisbury Steak Soup (do not add water)
BY #14: Green Beans (cut? french? wax?)

I have used the canned potatoes in stew. I haven't had canned tamales in years (corn allergy). My dad LOVES bean soup from a can.

November and December Challenge: Week #1 Nov 1 - 7

So I was thinking. We are getting into the lean part of the year.
What do I mean? I mean we are spending money on things for Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving.. usually more than we meant to. And then January and February hits and everyone stays home, no one goes to the store.. and the pantry gets rather lean, so does certain sections of the freezer.

Thinking about this, I thought this challenge for November and December make sense. AND it will build your larder, aka food storage. How? Very simple.

So here is it.. Now granted we only have 60 days until January 1st, but that is still 60 days!!!  So the challenge? Buy at least one can of canned food to add to your food storage a day. Now I know we live a little further from stores than some. So when you go to the grocery, it's ok to pick up 7 different items so you don't have to drive to town everyday. Now you all know I can weekly. So in October I canned pear butter, pears and pear preserves and chutney. I am hoping to get some meat canned soon too.

REMEMBER: Only put food in your food storage that your family will eat. Don't eat canned ham? Not a problem substitute with what you do eat, chicken? chili? stew? you get the idea. Store what you eat, Eat what you store.

They are fun. It's a great idea! And a great way for us all to be able to help our food storage to be more flavorful!


BY #1: Chicken Noodle Soup (ready to eat)
BY #2: Evaporated Milk
BY #3: Canned Pasta
BY #4: Sliced Peaches
BY #5: Canned Ham
BY #6: Chili
BY #7: Evaporated Milk (we use milk more than we think!)

Now, if any of this is in your regular pantry rotation, fabulous, add another can or two. DON'T buy stuff if you will never eat it. These are only suggestions. You can look through your pantry and see something your family might prefer.We do not do the beef tamales due to corn allergy, so instead, I would can some hamburger.

If it makes it easier, you can do several items at once if you are already grocery shopping. Don't make a special trip to the store just to buy one thing. And if you see, there are duplicates, so you could pick up several of one item to count towards your 60 cans.
I already buy canned chicken, so I will buy the 2 or 4 pack instead of just one can. But I always check to see what is the cheapest way. We really like the great value chicken breast in cans at Wal-Mart, it is tender and yummy.
Campbell's chicken noodle and the Tomato sometimes come in a four pack that is cheaper.  If there is a case-lot sale, sometimes you can really save on several items. This is not all we will be adding to our larder these 2 months, baking supplies go on sale now too. So I will have more posts coming.

It's that time of year again...

So this is the time of year when baking items go on sale. Mostly nuts, sugar and flour, and sometimes if we get lucky spices.

I am not sure why there is such a baking boom in November and December, I mean we eat year around. But there is, and so we must stock up on what is on sale, when it is on sale.

What do you stock up on for baking during this time of year?
Flour
Sugar
Brown sugar
Chocolate Chips
nuts
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves
allspice

Plus, I just picked up 100 pounds of gourds to can. Why? We use gourds (pumpkin, banana squash, sweet meats) to make a lot of things like pie, cake, muffins, cookies, pancakes, waffles, quick bread and yeast bread. We love pumpkin! I hope we have enough. We are down to our last few jars of pumpkin from last year so we are glad we found some.

Part of the September Challenge

I am finally getting to my chicken broth. This is the broth I mentioned the other day. I am not canning it until tomorrow morning. BUT, I got the chicken backs baked! Our favorite seasonings on baked chicken are salt, pepper and paprika. Super easy, and super yummy!

Yes, I ate some of the cooked skins, delicious!

Then I through some mire poix (carrots, onions and celery), bay leaves, turmeric, garlic, salt and kale into my crock pots; today I used curly, dinosaur and purple kales.

I used 2 crock pots, that is why you get 2 pictures.

 

 Really pretty right? What next? I tossed 14 backs on to the pile of veg. 

This almost looks like some kind of fancy salad. Now I added water to cover everything.

My goodness, my mouth is watering just looking at that deliciousness. Now we have to wait about 24 hours cooking this on low. Sometime in the morning tomorrow or the next day I will strain the liquid, then can it in my pressure canner. My next batch will be smaller and will be for working on my recovery.

Now if I needed this because I was sick, or using this as a medicine during recovery, I would NOT can this. I would strain it, then put it in the fridge. The collagen (gelatin) and minerals in this broth are amazing for helping one to heal, and the canning process kinda kills them.

UPDATE: Ok, just pulled these out of the canner.

September Challenge Week 3 : Sept 15 - 21

Well, I barely made it! But I did it!

I was able to can pears, and dehydrate pears, plus I got raw honey!

Aren't they pretty? I got 38 pints of pears, plus 4 quarts of dried pears. And I got 4 quarts and half a pint of raw honey! The pear chips are perfect and I am half tempted to go get some more pears and dry another 5 trays.

This week I am working on chicken bone broth. When I picked up my honey, I also picked up 32 pounds of chicken backs. First I bake them with seasoning, then I will pull off any meat and freeze it for a casserole. Next the chicken backs, and some onion, carrots, garlic, celery, ACV and a little salt will go into either my crock pot or my pressure cooker (cp for 24 hours on low, pc 3 hours on pressure of 2). Then I will strain the broth, and pressure can it. Seems like it is harder than it really is.

What will you be canning, or dehydrating to add to your food storage this week?

September Challenge: Week 2 Sept 8 - 14

I did it, even with surprise travel, kids starting school, and doing weird things like shopping.
Week 1

36 jars of different beans AND chicken bone broth! Whew!

Now for this next week. I am hoping to can some butternut squash and pears or peaches.

How about you? What are you canning or drying this week?

SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE: Can 2 different things each week

So I am sitting in the passenger seat,  on our way to my kiddos wisdom teeth appointment. I was thinking..which is hard at 6am, and I decided a challenge must be met.

September's challenge? To can a minimum of 2 different items per week.  This won't be difficult as there is plenty to can:

apples: sauce,  pie filling, butter
pears
peaches
jams: peach jam,  pear butter, mixed fruit
chicken
beans: black,  white,  cannellini, garbanzo,  etc
broth
hamburger (yup, I like it,  so easy on a rushed night to grab a can of hamburger)
pumpkin: chunks only
beef
pork
fish (you may,  I won't be)
chili

I love canning,  all my jars filled with yummy stuff.  I have been bad with canning,  I was working,  plus grief,  depression and a nagging infection.  I have been dragging since the little guy and I were sick in December and January, now I know why. That darned nagging infection is now being dealt with,  as I didn't know I had it. No worries,  I am NOT contagious.

Do you accept the challenge? Get stuff in your jars!  What counts? Freezer jams, water bath canning and pressure canning, dehydrated fruit or veggies in a jar.

What does not count? Dry pasta in a jar,  rice in a jar,  dry beans in a jar,  store bought dried fruit in a jar.

If possible dehydrate some pears,  peaches,  apples,  bananas and fruit leather.  These are great in lunches,  just a couple pieces. And,  are pretty in a jar,  but keep them protected from light!

So there it is, the September challenge.  Who will join me? PLEASE leave a comment if you are joining in.

What to do today? Grind up some flour!

So I went to make some rolls for the family, and discovered I was out of flour. No worries, I usually grind my own grains to make my flour. So today I combined white hard wheat, kamut and barley. What grain mill am I using today? My FGM, aka Family Grain Mill. I got it from Pleasant Hill Grains, and it comes with some very neat attachments, but right now, I am making flour, so using the normal head.

 Because kamut is such a large grain, I decided to crack everything first.

After this I dial the setting to finest, and grind away.

As you can see this grinder is not as loud as my kitchen tec, and so I let the little one help me.

 

Next I will be putting this through my sieve and then grinding the germ again. Anything too big will be tossed to the worm bin, because those sharp edges break my gluten strands when making bread.

Crock Pot or Instant Pot Challenge WEEK #2

Today marks the first day of week 2, November 8 to 14th. I am so excited, making my first butternut squash soup with a butternut from my garden! It smells great, dinner in in about an hour. I am going to throw some rolls in the oven to have with it, because soups need something dipped in them. I got this recipe from Taste of Home. I got the recipe out of a TOH book, and didn't know the reviews, but it smells good, and the little guy might like a cinnamon soup. Here is a sad picture of it cooking.

 So here is the Butternut Squash Bisque.

So I pureed the soup. That's what you do with bisque. BUT let me tell you my changes first. I followed the recipe, but honestly, the cooking in OJ in oven is a waste. LEAVE out the OJ and brown sugar. The apples add plenty of sweetness. I also added 2 tablespoons of short grain rice to the crock pot after I took the picture above, to thicken it a little, and give it a better mouth feel. I also added half a pint of home canned cannellini beans that I drained and rinsed to add some protein to the soup.

 THIS SOUP WAS WAY TOO SWEET!!!  Trust me, leave out the OJ and brown sugar. Don't bother roasting the squash in the oven first. DO NOT use 1/2 cup butter, it was too much. I doubled this and still only used 1/2 cup butter for the onions and it was too much.

The rice helped with the mouth feel, and the beans kind of toned down the sweetness. I might make this again, with changes. BUT I don't know. The cousin thought it was a warm dessert soup.

November 11th: Veterans Day..While in the morning I somberly remembered my Grandfathers, and their brothers who have served. I also remember our Angel girl.. who fought a different war, a war against Medical Discrimination and Gene Discrimination. Although I think of her daily, I was a wreck most of the morning.
Today we used our instant pot to "bake" potatoes. Then the piper mashed them and made "his special recipe" for garlic mash. They were delicious!

November 12th: BONE BROTH.. I make bone broth almost weekly, this time I accidently made it with too much water. I am used to having bones from 2 chickens in the pot, not one.. So I messed up. Owell, I just won't have to dilute it before using it. I got 4 quarts total, normally I get 4 quarts from 2 birds.

For dinner tonight I pulled some chili from the freezer that I made in the instant pot last month. Threw that and some shredded cheddar in some tortillas and fried them up in butter, DELICIOUS.

November 14th: LAST day of week #2, and wow Guess what I did??? I messed up!!  I forgot to read both sides of my recipe card.. So I tripled my recipe for Chili but... ok, so I tripled the meat, but I have to multiply everything else by 6 !! WOOPS  So ya..

I love this chili recipe. It is so yummy. I got this recipe from my sister, and I doctored it up a little. Hands down our families favorite chili, and we eat a lot of chilis.

Can you smell this? OMGoodness my mouth is watering.. I almost said my watering mouth.. either way.. let me wipe the drool off my chin. We usually top this yumminess with some shredded cheddar. The little one likes a little sour cream too as he doesn't like spice (except buffalo wings).

BEST CHILI EVER 

2 tablespoons bacon grease or oil

1/2 cup water

1 pound ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey or pork, whatever you like)

1 cup chopped onion (I use 1 whole small or medium)

2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cumin

4 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano

4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced (the more the merrier for us!)

2 - 15 ounce cans tomato sauce (or 1 - 29 ounce can)

2 - 16 ounce cans beans (pinto, cannellini, black, garbanzo, whatever you like)

2 cups bone broth, stock or water

Heat oil and water in a stockpot a minute. Gently cook meat with onion until no longer pink, and water has mostly boiled off. While meat is cooking, add prepared poblano and broth to blender, and blend to almost smooth. If you don't have a garlic press, then add to blender.  Add spices to meat and let warm for 2 minutes, then add the rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat, partially cover pan and simmer 45 minutes. Makes about 3 to 4 quarts

CROCK POT: Follow directions above until you have warmed spices. While meat is cooking, place beans, tomato sauce, 2 prepared poblanos and broth mix, garlic, oregano if you didn't put in with meat. When meat is done, add to crock pot, give a stir. Cook on HIGH 3 to 4 hours, Low 4 to 6 hours. 

We also use this chili for making quesadillas: tortillas, chili and cheese.

We put chili on half the tortilla, top with cheese, fold empty side over the cheese and fry in butter on each side until golden brown.. My FAVORITE meal growing up.

It's dinner time!!!!!

 

Crock pot OR Instant Pot Challenge Week #1

Today is the first of the month, and this week's challenge runs from November 1 - 7. Let the sharing begin, and the eating, and getting those dusty recipes out you wanted to try but haven't. You don't have to do it everyday, but try to get one done at least once a week. I will post my pictures and recipes for this week here, after I make them. I kind of have a menu plan, but it doesn't mean I stick to it.

November 1st: Spaghetti Sauce

2 TBS of olive oil, bacon grease or butter
2 bay leaves
1medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. can tomato paste
2 - 16 oz. cans tomato sauce
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 to 2 palmfuls of sugar

Caramelize onions in fat over med-low heat. Then stir in garlic to cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. . Add everything to crock pot, stir and cook on high 3 hours or low 6 hours. Or simmer on low for 1.5 hours in stock pot on stove.

I will brown up some hamburger or other ground meat and add a palmful of italian seasoning to it while it browns in a little water. When meat is cooked through I add a few ladles of finished sauce to desired consistency for spaghetti and sauce, or lasagna in a bun or pizza.

***I usually double the recipe and use a #10 can of tomato sauce instead of the other tomato products. Regular recipe uses 66 oz of tomato product, a #10 can is 105 to 110 oz. of tomato sauce. Still comes out good.

November 3rd: APPLESAUCE

The one on the right has cinnamon on it, the other one is plain, for now. I did applesauce back in 2012 too. Hubby bought a bushel of apples last week, and they were not crisp or juicy. So I decided to make applesauce with them. I peeled, quartered, cored, and then put the apples through the vidalia chop wizard, the BIG dice. And filled two 5-qt crock pots. Added a few splashes of lemon juice, then added cinnamon. I love the flavor of cinnamon in my applesauce. These will cook on low all night, and I will Water Bath Can (WBC) them in the morning, most likely in pints.
If you click on the title for this date, it will take you to my post about applesauce.

November 4th: EGGS, Carne Asada and "Mud" ! !

I LOVE how hard boiled eggs come out in the instant pot. They peel easily, and so simple. I prefer using large eggs, and I just put 1 cup of cold water into the inner pot, put in a flying saucer.

This is a flying saucer, aka steamer.

So put this shiny flying saucer into the inner liner of the instant pot.Add at least 1 cup of water.

Now it is ready for your eggs. I put in 18 large eggs today. These are not farm fresh eggs, although we all prefer those. Put the lid on, seal, and set to STEAM for 3 minutes. Then let natural pressure release for 10 minutes. I then take off the lid and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking.

My little guy likes to help in the kitchen, he was making sure all the eggs were under the ice.

They were, and once they were cold, we dried them, placed them in a plastic bag and put into the fridge.. I did snitch a hot egg, so yummy with a touch of salt.
If you do FRESH farm eggs from heavy breeds, then steam for 4 minutes. If they are bantam eggs, then steam for 2 or 3 minutes. I am not really sure, as I didn't have any bantam eggs when I had the instant pot. Duck eggs are a minimum of 4 minutes, possible 5 it really depends on how large they are. 

Next I had put some Carne Asada into my other instant pot. I am not sure which recipe I used, I found it in a google search, but it used juice from one orange, one lime and one lemon, and some chili powders, onion, garlic... It was not well received. We so wanted it to be yummy, but instead it just tasted like beef that was acid cooked, and the texture was just off. We still ate it as beef is $$$, but not a recipe we will be keeping.This is what was left.

After the eggs were done, I quickly used that instant pot again to make a "mud" cake. Again, not impressed, so not sharing the recipe. It was tough, too sweet yet bland, and blah. Nobody really liked it, and we all love a true mud cake.

Here it is, the "mud" in the instant pot before I put the lid on.  Next I put the lid on and cooked it for the 25 minutes on manual.

When it was fresh out it was softer, but looked rubbery. We let it sit a few minutes as it was so very hot.

We served the "mud" with some ice cream, as it needed it, but what I think it really needed was just some half and half. Again, NOT IMPRESSED. We will stick with the crock pot mud, that we love.
All in all this Sunday dinner was... not to be repeated. EVER.

November 6th: Loaded Southwestern Roasted Cauliflower Bisque

Honestly, when this was done I did not like the smell. But I took that first bite, and WOW, YUMMY.
If you click on the name, it is a link to the recipe. I am so glad I found this, it was good.
My changes. I used my Saratoga Jack Thermal Cooker, and made this at lunch time. Then at dinner time, heated up a little more, and pureed, then stirred in sour cream as I did not have half and half or heavy cream.

My girls and my little man did not love this. But they ate it. Everyone older than 18 had more than one bowl. It was yummy. And I am having the leftovers for lunches..

November 7th: More hard boiled eggs in the instant pot.
Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week!!

25 pounds of onions!!!

So I requested my dear hubby to please pick up some keeper onions so I could dry them. Why??? I like using dehydrated onions for crock pot cooking: soups, broths, stews and such. So much easier, even more so when I have to hurry out the door, but want yumminess for dinner.

Well, these are not keeper onions, they are white or yellow onions, and they are HOT. Like your eyes are burning for days after peeling them. Not to mention the tears, and your nose running. These were super super hot. I didn't know this, and I gave 5 of them to my neighbor. After I pulled 20 in to my kitchen and cut them up with a knife, I realized.. HOLY CRAP these are hot! This took me 45 to an hour!! When I was done getting 5 dehydrator trays full, I ran to the bathroom and washed my face and eyes 4 times!! Then had to go back a half an hour later as my eyes were tearing so bad. I looked like I was super upset and crying all day!  I let those bad boys dry for 48 hours!!

EPIPHANY!!!

ALL of a sudden, I remembered my sister had given me an Vidalia Chop Wizard!!! I had emptied my dehydrator trays the night before. So this next morning, I pulled out my VCW, peeled my onions, cut off the bottoms and tops, cut down the middle from top to bottom, a couple I put on the chopper the wrong way and got bigger slices. But that's ok, I don't care really because I got my cookie sheet full of onions chopped in 10 minutes!! Five full dehydrator trays, less tears, still had to wash my face, but way less tears and snot. This thing was slick!

And my little guy was happier too, as the onions were so hot he had to go outside to breath! Well needless to say, you did not want to go into my garage that first 4 hours after I turned on the dehydrator, in fact not within 24 hours!

This is what a full tray looked like, sorry for the sun glare on the counter. These ones I cut the long way, you were supposed to put it on the chopper so you get a big mince. But I put it on bottom to top, instead of sideways, and got long onions.. Ok for stew! The time saver of the VCW was worth it either way!

I decided because I had so many onions, and carrots and some celery,  to chop up some Mirepoix to have in my freezer, so I can just grab and dump. the VCW does not like to do small dice on carrots.. But here it is.

I also decided to cook 2 cups of it up so that I could puree it, and freeze in ice cube trays and have it ready to throw into stuff when I need some deeper flavor.

Ice cube trays are great for freezing pureed foods, but also for freezing fresh minced herbs in broth or water. Then you can preserve them and add them to anything, and get that fresh taste.

So Here is the full dehydrator after enough hours I could handle going into the garage, but the onions were not done, although they darkened, they were still moist.

Ever wonder how to store your dehydrated foods? In a dark cool area, in sealed jars. If you live in a humid area, you may need to invest in a jar sealer. Mine just broke, dang it, but I loved it while it lasted for 18 years!

Who knew 22 pounds of onions could fit in 4 quart jars and 1 pint jar?! So much less space. These smell amazing dry by the way. I hope they are not super hot when I use them to cook. So glad to have these onions done, and so very thankful to my sister for her Christmas gift last year. I have used it for a few things, but let me tell you, I will be using this much more often! LOVE IT!