Time To Make The Salsa

DISCLAIMER: This is my salsa recipe, it has not been tested by the National Center for Home Food Preservation or the FDA. I have been using this recipe and canning salsa in this manner for years with no negative side effects. However if you are concerned about the acid level of your tomatoes then please follow a different recipe that uses vinegar or lemon juice.

It’s that time of year when I spend most of my time putting stuff into mason jars. Seems like I’m always putting something in a jar.

I’m really not bragging on myself but I’ve been told that I make some pretty good salsa. And I’ve been asked for the recipe many times.

So here it is….

fresh tomatoes
Vidalia onion
fresh jalapeno
fresh cilantro
whole peeled garlic cloves
salt (to taste)
cumin (to taste)

Of course the amounts you use of each ingredient will be determined by how much salsa you want to make, and also by your preferred taste. For instance perhaps you like more cilantro or garlic than I do.

The pictures above are the amount of ingredients I use to “put up” about 15 pints of salsa.

You’ll see at the top of the picture a bowl with yellow tomatoes in it. I do not use yellow tomatoes in my salsa, they just happened to be sitting there.

I think the key to this salsa recipe is chopping all the ingredients together in the food processor, instead of chopping each ingredient separately and then mixing them together.

Also, a key ingredient is cumin. Cumin has a nice earthy flavor to it, but keep in mind that a little goes a long way and you can always add more, but you can’t take it out once its in.

I do cook the salsa before I jar it. I bring it to a healthy bubble in the pot and then put the hot salsa in the jars and water bath it for 30 minutes.

Of course this salsa is wonderful fresh too and so easy to make.

So far I’ve put up 68 pints of salsa this year. That sounds like a lot, but honestly I need about 30 more to have enough for the year because it also makes a great gift.

Till next time,

Lori

Easy and Frugal Pesto Recipe

I love basil and I love pesto. Well let me be more specific I love my pesto. I’m not really all that crazy about store bought pesto. The last time I bought pesto many years ago I think it was around $4 for a little jar.

I don’t think the Z Man paid $4 for all these basil plants.

And that’s just one of the two planters we had basil plants in.

That’s the thing about growing your own herbs, it can save you a ton of money.

And look at what these little basil plants turned in to, well once they grew up to be big basil plants.

But, even making pesto from scratch can get a bit expensive if you use pine nuts like the traditional pesto recipe calls for.

I do not use pine nuts in my pesto, instead I substitute them for cashews and it taste great.

And that’s the thing about making pesto, you can and should make it to your taste. Make it the way you like it.

Maybe you like more garlic, or more lemon than I do, so adjust it to your taste.

This is what I do to make freezer pesto…

Wash and spin dry a huge bunch of basil and stuff it in your food processor with the rest of the ingredients
1 or 2 whole peeled garlic cloves
the juice of one lemon
1/3 cup of cashew nuts
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
a pinch of salt
a pinch of red pepper flakes
about a cup of good olive oil (while the food processor blade is running)

You will process the mixture while drizzling the olive oil in the processor until you get the consistency you like. This is also where the tasting begins to determine if you need more salt, or more lemon, or more anything.

One of our favorite dinners is leftover roasted chicken with pesto and bow tie pasta or a chicken pesto panini sandwich. YUM!

I ended up with 2 full gallon bags of pesto cubes in the freezer from 8 or so basil plants, but that doesn’t count all the caprase salads we’ve had this summer, or the fresh pesto we’ve eaten.

I like to freeze the pesto in ice cube trays then pop them out and store them in freezer bags. That way I can pull out what I need anytime. Maybe just 1 cube for sandwiches or pizza or 4 cubes for the chicken pasta dish. It’s just easier and less chance of waste.

Try growing your own basil and making your own pesto. It really is worth it.

Till next time,

Lori

Friday’s Frugal Five

I’ve mentioned before that I wouldn’t really consider us “preppers” as much as I like to consider us as just being prepared. Because of our homestead lifestyle and growing a lot of our own foods, having a stock pile tends to come with the territory. I also try to shop in bulk to take advantage of better pricing which segways us into this weeks frugal five.

Kroger had an awesome buy 5 deal on several items this past week. Peanut butter being one of them, so I stocked up on 10 jars for .99¢ each. (Goes great with the grape jelly I made) 🙂
Kroger also had Dave’s Killer Bread in the buy 5 deal so I bought 10 loaves (for the freezer) at $3.19 a loaf. I know this is still expensive for a loaf of bread, but we love this bread and consider it worth the price for Organic.
A little while back I made some blackberry jam, but didn’t remove the seeds and while it had a great flavor, we just couldn’t tolerate the seeds. Since I was in jelly making mode this week I opened all the jars, strained the seeds, ran it through my food mill, cooked it down with another box of pectin and re-canned it. I certainly wasn’t going to waste it, so now we have some seedless blackberry jam we can enjoy.
I have a bit of a confession to make. I love cherry season and when they are plentiful in the grocery stores I can’t resist. I buy them every week, and it can get a little expensive. Monday I bought a big bag of cherries for the week and they looked good when I got them, but then by the next day they had gotten all soft and shriveled and did not taste good at all. I called the grocery store and she told me to bring my receipt in and they would either give me more cherries or refund my money.
Similar to number 4, this week when I purchased avocados, they looked perfect, not too soft and no bad spots, but when I sliced them open every one of them were at least 50% black inside. Again the nice woman at the grocery store told me to bring my receipt and they would replace them or refund my money.
Bonus – We had a rep visit us at work yesterday and brought in a huge box of Panera bagels that apparently no one wanted so I brought them home. I know some people may snicker at this, but seriously why waste food? Why? The Z Man and I will enjoy them. I can see some bacon, egg and tomato breakfast bagels in our future this weekend and probably toasted bagels with butter and grape jelly 😉

Including our daily frugals of drying clothes on the clothes line, packing lunches for work and still adding my quit smoking money to the pickle jar and breathing fresh air.

How about you, what frugal fun have you had this week?

Till next time,

Lori

Additions To The Family

Meet Mattie and Wesley.

These two adorable babies needed a new home, so we gave them one.

They are West Highland Terriers and just the sweetest little things.

In just the short couple of weeks they have been with us we have fallen completely in love with them.

They have settled right in and actually now I think they believe we live with them as you can see by them standing guard on the table.

Wesley (on the right) isn’t real fond of the pigs, actually they scare the crap out of him. But they both like visiting with the chickens and you better hold on tight if they catch the scent of a rabbit around the gardens.

Even more exciting is that we think there could be even more additions to the family in a little less than two months. We believe that Mrs. Mattie is with puppy.

After Charlie (our old yellow lab) passed I really didn’t think we would ever get another dog and now we have two and we just love them to pieces.

So, off to the vet we go to have Mrs. Mattie checked out.

Puppies!!!!

I just sit here shaking my head. You never know whats going to happen next on our little homestead.

Till next time,

Lori