Wednesday, July 18, 2012

How to make salsa

 I gather some peppers, onions amd tomatoes from our garden.
 I dice up the onions.
 5 cups worth.
 I then clean out my peppers.
 Slice and dice them.
 5 cups worth.
 The tomatoes are put in a pot of water on the stove while I am chopping up the other ingredients.
 The tomatoes stay in the slow boiling water around 10 minutes.
 When you see the tomatoes starting to peel they are ready to be removed from the water.
 I then place the tomatoes into cool water.
 I peel them and dice them. 10 cups worth.
 I add the peppers and onions into my pot and mix them up.
 Then I add the tomatoes.
 Stir and mix well.
 I add 2 Tblsp. of cilantro.
 2 tsp. of salt.
 One fourth cup of sugar.
 You may add as many hot peppers as you like-we don't like ours very hot so I skip the hot peppers and just add a few teaspoons of hot sauce. :)
 I then add one and one fourth cup of apple cider vinegar.
 Stir well.
 I cook this for around 20 minutes.
 I then add the salsa to my jars. I don't use regular canning jars for this. I recycle old spagetti sauce jars, salsa jars, pickle jars etc.
 I place the jars upside down until they cool. I make sure they are sealed.
I let them set out overnight.  I then wipe the jars clean and place them into my pantry. I usually can around 50 jars.

God is so good :)

Monday, July 16, 2012

How to can green beans

 Isaac and I picked some half runner green beans from our garden.
Then our family strung and broke the beans.
 I then wash and packed them into quart jars.
 I add one teaspon of plain/canning salt to each quart jar.
 Then I fill the jars to the top with water.
 I then place the lids on.
 After that I place the rings on top of the lids and tighten them.
 I place two quarts of water into the bottom of my canner.
 I place the jars into the canner.
My canner holds 7 quart jars or 10 pint jars.
I place the "jiggler" onto the top of my canner on the 10 pound pressure mark. I cook the green beans for 35 minutes. (Slowly reducing the temp. every few minutes.)

The jiggler (canner pressure gauge)lol- doing its thing :)

I then remove the beans from the canner and let them sit overnight. After this time I remove the rings and wash the jars and put the date on the lid.
Then I place them in the pantry :)
I usually have atleast 100 jars of green beans canned for the year.

Thank you Lord for all of your many blessings!






Friday, July 13, 2012

Quick Sticks :) for Low Blood Sugar

 My youngest son Isaac has type 1 diabetes. He received this package in the mail today.
I ordered it a few days ago from this website www.quicksticks.com
 It has free samples of Quick Sticks (for treatment of low blood sugar) and reading material with a coupon. Isaac has tried the watermelon and really likes it. (Each pack has 10 grams of fast acting carbs.) You tear open the packet and pour it into your mouth- it dissolves quickly :)
 They place a personal message inside the package for the recipient. This is the one I wrote for Isaac.
They also included this wrist band bracelet.
Go to the website and order your free samples :)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

How to make kraut

 I gather some flat dutch cabbage heads from our garden.
 Then I remove a few of the outer leaves from the cabbage and wash.
  I cut some of the cabbage off of the head into a large bowl.
 Start chopping :)
I like to chop my cabbage up very fine.
I then pack the chopped cabbage into quart jars.
I pack the cabbage very tightly.
Then I add 1 Tblsp. of plain/canning salt to each quart jar.
Also add 1 Tblsp. of white vinegar to each jar.
The jars are packed so tightly that I have to use a knife and stick it into the jar in a few places to get it to fill up with water.
I fill the jars to the top with water.
I then place the lids and rings onto the jars tightly and let ferment for a few weeks. After this process I wash the jars and add them to our pantry. ( I use old jars -like mayo jars/etc. for the kraut-not regular canning jars-since they do not need processed in the canner. I also use old rings because some juice leaks from the top of the jars during fermentation.)
My favorite part of making kraut is eating the cabbage stalks! :)

God is good!