Canning Recipe for Salsa

Here is a good recipe if you would like to bottle your own salsa.
It isn't too hot and for me - it is just perfect.
Try it... the hardest part of making salsa is cutting up all the vegetables.

(Note: Thanks to my sister for allowing me to use pictures of her salsa.)

MariCia Salsa

6 qt peeled, cut up tomatoes
4 lg green peppers, chopped
2 lg (or 4-5 medium) onions, chopped
12 jalapeno's (use all the seeds for a medium zing, take out some of
the seeds for very mild)
*use gloves to handle these, don't touch your face!
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 c. vinegar
2 T. canning salt
2-6 oz cans tomato paste
2 -15 oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. cumin

Bring to a simmer, cook for 1 hour on medium, stirring occasionally to k eep from scorching.
Pour into clean pint jars while hot, water bath for 35 minutes. Makes 16-17 pints.
To make a hotter salsa, you can add 4 fresh hot red chilies, chopped.

Quick and Easy Salsa

It is practically salsa season and we dream of making salsa soon, but while we await the tomatoes to ripen, here is a quick recipe to enjoy. It makes a nice, mildly sweet salsa. I prefer this to any other salsa, right now.

By the way, I didn't have any of these cans of tomatoes in my food storage, but since I've decided I really like this recipe, I keep a stock of these cans in my food storage for making salsa.

Also, I don't really know who to credit this recipe to. I got it from my grandpa last year and I'm not sure where he got it. So, whoever came up with it - I am grateful and just want to say thanks. I love it!

Quick and Easy Salsa
1 can sliced tomatoes with onion, celery, and bell peppers (I like to chop these more and sometimes puree before adding the rest)
1 can diced tomatoes with jalepenos in rich juice
1 can diced tomatoes with sweet onion & roasted garlic in rich juice

dice or puree as desired
Add:
2-1/2 Tablespoons vinegar (apple cider vinegar is preferred)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 small fresh onion (optional)
little parsley (optional)
can add more jalepeno, if desired

NOTE: I only found some of these varieties of tomatoes in the S&W brand.

Mix up and serve. It also stores well in the fridge for several days.

Peaches are here - make pie filling

I have talked about peaches and peach pie filling to several people lately and some of them really want my peach pie filling recipe... so here is where you go (on this blog) to get the recipe:

Peach Pie Filling with Recipe

(And a picture to entice you)

Try it - it is so incredibly yummy. It is usually the first to go when I make it into a crisp or anything and take it anywhere. It is sweet, but not too sweet.

By the way, for those really interested in peach varieties, I used summer ladies in this recipe last year.

Zucchini (with cake recipe)

I believe that growing a garden is part of maintaining food storage. If you are in an area where you could possibly grow something - whether it be in a full-out garden or in a pot in your house or apartment - gardens are part of food storage.

Around these parts, we have zucchini, and typically, a lot of it.

I don't love to preserve zucchini by itself. However, I know one person who gets lots of zucchini, makes A LOT of zucchini bread and freezes the bread - ready to eat as long as it lasts. Just a thought...

Today, I made zucchini cake and thought I'd share the recipe with you. Look for items from your food storage - hopefully you have everything and don't have to run to the store for any ingredients.

Enjoy.
Zucchini Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup applesauce (to cut the fat)
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups grated zucchini
2 and 1/2 cups flour
4 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sour milk (to sour, use 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice and fill the rest with regular milk. Let sit for a few minutes to sour.)

Mix well. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and/or nuts. Bake in 9x13 pan, greased and floured, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.


This cake turns out so moist and good, you don't need frosting - just a tall glass of milk to accompany it.

Sweet Cherries in Food Storage

So, part of our recent fruit stand adventures have included cherries. We bought these beautiful, LARGE, sweet cherries by the bin. That means about 400 pounds worth to prepare and sell at the farmer's market and to whoever else signed up and wanted some.

We had the crazy idea to put them in the back of our vehicle in order to keep them more temperature controlled. It worked - here are the pictures to prove it!



We had a few people who forgot to pick up the fruit they had ordered. After a few days, cherries don't last, so I started canning cherries. This is a first for me - I'd never bottled cherries before, but they were so easy! Just wash them and remove the stems. Pack them in a jar with a light sugar syrup and process the jars in a water bath canner. Easy. And they are so pretty! I haven't wanted to open a bottle yet to see how they processed, but I'm sure they are still just as sweet and good as before I put them in .

Here is the middle of processing. I ended up with 20 jars to put in my food storage on my shelves. We love to have good food when we want to eat it in our storage.

(How is your storage coming? Do you have any questions, concerns, inspirations?)

Yummy Glazed Chicken

Another recipe that uses apricot or peach jam that is really easy and delicious is called Yummy Glazed or for a better description, Apricot Glazed Chicken. I wish I knew who to give credit to for this recipe. I just know that one of my aunts introduced it to my family.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe for your use:

Yummy Glazed Chicken

Note: I got the picture from my sister's food/recipe blog. Check it out for more "in-process" pictures and ideas for foods and leave her a comment for me. Click here for her blog: Taste The Joy

1 small jar apricot or peach jam

1 pkg dry onion soup mix

1 (8 oz) bottle Russian salad dressing

¼ C water (put the water into the empty dressing bottle to get out as much dressing as possible)

Mix together and pour over 4-6 chicken breasts in baking pan. Cover. Bake 350 for 1 hour or till chicken is done. Serve over rice.

Enjoy.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken (with secret ingredients)

Where do I start?!? (I think I forgot how to blog!) I apologize for my blogging absence. (I have written several blogs in my head that never made it to your view. Oops.)

First, we have been swamped with running a bit of a local fruit stand and participating in our local (Rexburg) Farmer's Market. After working with that most of the week, and going to pick up fruit across the state one day a week, I am generally wiped out.

However, since I have been thinking and preparing things to write, I will attempt to share some wonderful ideas with you that I've been working on...


One of the yummy fruits we have been getting is apricots. They are about done now, but for those of you who still have access to apricots or have apricot jam in your food storage wondering how to rotate your food in good time, here is a yummy way to use your jam - aside from the typical toast and jam idea.

Recipe for Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Note: I got the picture from my sister's food/recipe blog. Check it out for more "in-process" pictures and ideas for foods and leave her a comment for me. Click here for her blog: Taste The Joy

Cut 2 uncooked chicken breasts in ½ inch squares. Toss with 3 TBS taco seasoning. Brown in oil.

Add:

1 to 1¼ C Salsa

½ to ¾ C peach or apricot jam

Simmer together and serve over rice.

DONE!

This recipe is almost too easy to make and it tastes so incredibly good. It is one of my favorites.
(Look for other ideas coming soon.)