Category: In The Kitchen

This is a great way to use up those end-of-the-season green tomatoes.  We really only use these on sloppy joe’s, but some of the more creative ladies out there may think of other uses for them.

Green Tomato Sweet Pickles

1 gallong green tomatoes (16 cups sliced)

1/4 c. pickling salt

1/2 T powdered alum

3 c. vinegar, 5% acidity

1 c. water

4 c. sugar (cane juice crystals)

1 T mixed pickling spices

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1 T celery seed

1/2 t. ground allspice

1 T mustard seed

Sprinkle salt over sliced tomatoes and allow to stand overnight.  Next morning drain well, but do not squeeze dry.  Mix alum with two quarts boiling water and pour over tomatoes.  Let stand 20 minutes.  Drain and cover with cold water, then drain well, rinsing alum away.  Tie spices in a cheescloth bag.  Combine spices with vinegar and one cup of water.  Add sugar and bring to a boil.  Pour solution over tomatoes, let stand overnight.  On the third morning bring the pickles and the solution to a boil.  Remove spice bag.  Pack into sterilized jars to within a half inch of top.  Process in boiling water bath five minutes.  Yield:  eight pints.

It is just my dh and I in our house, but we tend to use one loaf of this Whole Wheat Bread a week, and we both like it a lot. 

I thought I would also throw in a quick and easy (and yummy) Ro-Tel recipe for those of you out there with a lot of extra tomatoes.

Ro-Tel Tomatoes

1 gallong rip tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 large green bell peppers, chopped

8 hot peppers, chopped

3/4 c. vinegar

3/4 c. cane juice crystals

1 1/2 T salt

Mix together in a stainless steel pot and cook for 45 minutes.  Put into sterilized jars.  Seal and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. 

I use this in my rice to make spanish rice or red beans and rice.  I’ve even run it through a food processor as salsa.  You could add some fresh cilantro when you do this to make it a bit more flavorful.

Over the weekend I hope to make some homemade tomato soup, so I will let you know how this turns out if I get to it. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Better late than never, right?

Monday: 

Ham and Beans (Crockpot)

Fresh Salad from the garden with Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing

Homemade Bread with Homemade Butter

Tuesday: 

Meatloaf

Fresh Salad from the garden with Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing

Wednesday:

Sloppy Joe’s on Homemade Bread

and I may try this:  Creamy Noodle Side Dish

All I do for Sloppy Joe’s (usually) is brown ground beef and onions in a skillet and add sucanat, mustard, and ketchup (homemade) taste.  I try to use a 1/2 pound of ground beef and will add some pinto beans from the the leftover Ham and Beans to stretch this recipe a litte bit. 

I have some canned Sweet Green Tomatoes we like to eat on our Sloppy Joe’s.  These are good and just another way to use up those green tomatoes at the end of the season.

I cook the hamburger ahead of time for a quick meal when I get home from work. 

Thursday we are having a rice dinner of some kind.  I just haven’t decided what yet.  I want to incorporate one meal a week without meat in it without totally freaking my dh out.  He’s a sport about the healthy/budget eating thing, so I don’t want to go overboard on him. 

We now have venison in our freezer, so we will be cooking some of it up this weekend.  I’m on a mission to make chili using venison.  Wish me luck!

I made a Kefir Smoothie this morning that was really good:

2 cups Kefir

1 banana

1 cup frozen organic mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries)

1 cup frozen pineapple juice (I used the leftover juice from canned pineapple and freeze it)

1 T Flax Seed Oil

1 T Coconut Oil

1 t Stevia

5-6 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy!

I usually add 1-2 T Elderberry concentrate, but forgot this morning.  At 4:30 my brain isn’t always at it’s best.

A quick request for anyone out there who knows of a good cottage cheese recipe to please send me a link or the recipe.  I have tried two failed attempts at making cottage cheese and would really like to make some over the weekend.  Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Here’s the Roman Lentil Soup I made for the Cook Along on Katie’s blog.

Ingredients:

3 Medium Onions (or 3 Leeks)

3 Carrots

2 T Butter

2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 qt. Vegetable Stock

2 c. Red or Brown lentils

Several sprigs of Thyme

1/2 t. Dried Peppercorns

1/4 Lemon Juice or Whey

Sea salt and pepper

Cashew Cream (or vegan sour cream)

First, measure out the lentils and place in a bowl.  One bag is almost 2 cups so you can finish off the bag or save it for your next lentil recipe.

Cover with water and let them soak for 7 hours.

In a stainless steel pan combine the butter, olive oil, onions, and carrots and cook for 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender.   

Add the vegetable stock and lentils to the pan and simmer for another 30 minutes.  I passed on the sprigs of thyme and opted to use a little dried thyme.   

Next comes the stick blender, reheating it a bit, then serving it with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Not the prettiest soup you will ever see, but that was dinner for us :  )

We had our soup with a salad fresh from our garden and homemade bread. 

This is definitely better the next day.

I am getting ready to purchase a grain mill so I can begin to grind my own wheat/flour.  I’m leaning toward a manual/handcrank mill.  It’s just my husband and I, and we may decide to live off grid someday.  So I would like to cease purchasing a lot of electrical gadgets just incase.  Let me know if you have a suggestion on a brand, style, options, etc.  I am 100% open to suggestions.  Thank you so much!

 

 

I harvested my Chamomile Friday while my dh worked on our pool.

It is drying as we speak!