Zucchini Breakfast Bars with Alfalfa Sprouts

I've been having fun growing sprouts in the dead of winter. I was looking for recipes that I could add them to and decided to try making a zucchini muffin bar. Alfalfa sprouts hide very well in these since you expect some green flecks from the zucchini anyway. The sprouts add a ton of vitamins but don't change the flavor at all. Hooray! My kids have devoured these and don't even care that I hid sprouts in them!

Home Canned Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is one of our family's favortie ways to use up garden produce. We've outgrown the pint-size jars and so this year I chose to can this sauce in 3 cup jars. I didn't even know they existed until I started searching for them, knowing a quart of sauce would be too much. They are as tall as quart jars, but skinnier. I hope they will be the perfect size for our needs.

Mexican Garden Goulash in the Slow Cooker

We had just a few garden items left including tomatoes, onions, and green peppers. I created this dish to help use them up before they spoiled. It makes a large batch which is perfect to make dinner prep non-existant another night. Just freeze any leftovers in meal size portions and reheat another night.

Zucchini Brownies

As my five kids grow, I am increasingly responsible for providing treats for large groups. This is a great homemade brownie recipe that is a mix between fudgy and cake-like. I have been on the hunt for the best homemade brownies. I've tried 6 recipes in the last couple of months and this is by far our favorite!

Honey Mustard Ham Roll-ups

Sometimes we are ready around here for a different kind of sandwich. Tortilla roll-ups are a great way to trade things up. There are lots of filling options for tortillas. Here is one of our favorties that mixes together quickly.

Zucchini Beef Stuffed French Bread

We continue to have zucchini growing in our garden. We love the fresh produce, but by this time in the season I have to get creative in how I use it. Here is a new recipe I came up with that we all just love! 

Salsa Making Day

We've been chopping and freezing peppers, onions, and tomatoes all summer getting ready for Salsa Day. This allows me to wait until I have the time to put it all together and also keeps any produce from going to waste since the garden produce is never ready all at the same time.

Garden Green Beans

We are harvesting the last few weeks of garden produce. We always miss the fresh grown-in-the-backyard flavor during the winter months. I thought I'd share one of our favorite ways to prepare garden green beans.

Blackberry Pie Filling

We are growing blackberries. Our patch is now 4 years old and doing very well. Our berries are huge! I have been picking and freezing every few days until I have enough to do something significant with them. It's tricky to save very many each picking though because we have quite a few berry snitchers who just want to eat one more before they are put away FOREVER.

Tomatoes Galore!

We just picked all of these today. It's our first big picking. "What shall we do with all of these?" the children ask.

"I have plans," I asure them.

We will be chopping most of them up in the food processor and freezing for later. They will turn into

The Joys of Ultra Gel, Ultra Sperse, or Instant Clear-jel

Ultra Sperse ,Ultra Gel, Ultra Maxi-gel or Instant Clear-jel - A rose by any other name would smell as sweet right?

I want to sing the praises of this amazing product whatever it is you want to call it. This product is a modified corn starch that thickens products instantly, hot or cold. No cooking is required! Because it is made of corn, it is gluten free.

Strawberry Slaw

This time of year I am ready for salads every night. I just find myself craving fresh ingredients during springtime. We eat a lot of fresh items through the winter too, but there is something about the promise of a new growing season that just gets my taste buds going.

This Strawberry Slaw is an experiment

Southwest Black Bean Pasta Salad

Spring is here and summer is just around the corner! I love salads - potlucks through the summer are my favorite since there are usually so many salads to choose from. It is no surprise to my family to have a salad of some kind

A Little More Healthy Lasagna

Lasagna is amazing - there is no denying that! When you are in the mood for something Italian, lasagna is a great choice. I wanted to make a little more healthy version so I added just a couple of ingredients.

Faux Strawberry Jam

This jam is tasty and delicious! No one ever guesses that the main ingredient is green tomatoes! (They all just think it is strawberry jam.) We'll let them go right on thinking that way. It's bright red color makes it a wonderful choice for holiday gifts.

Salsa Verde - a.k.a. Green Tomato Salsa

 

Salsa Verde from my own garden! This is a mild salsa that is wonderful with chips and also great to flavor meats in the crockpot. I like to add it to chicken or pork roast and then use the meat in burritos or enchiladas. It is also good added to white chicken chili in place of the peppers or green chilies called for in the recipe. It is so simple now that I have jars waiting on my pantry shelves. Plus, wouldn't they make festive holiday gifts? (And to think that the main ingredient is something that most people would just throw away.)

Saying Good-bye to the Garden

I always have mixed feelings when the first hard frost hits - I know I will miss the fresh produce growing right outside my door, but I also know that without yard work, I can put my time to good use doing other projects that have been put on hold.

Creamy Garden Tomato Pasta

I was in the mood for a new recipe today. I was trying to come up with something that was similar to the creamy pasta you can get at restaurants with sun-dried tomatoes only I wanted to use some of the last of our garden tomatoes. I came up with a winner - everyone wanted seconds!

Begin by cooking the chicken in a little oil. Do this while you have your pasta cooking.

Add spices.

Pour in your diced garden tomatoes (or use a can of diced tomatoes if you aren't lucky enough to have garden ones - just drain off about half of the juice.)

Add the cream or reconstituted powdered milk.

Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Mix in pasta and enjoy! The leftovers taste great as well.

Creamy Garden Tomato Pasta

1 lb pasta cooked (Use penne or bowtie or a mix)
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup bacon bits, precooked
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups diced garden tomatoes (juice included)
1/2 tsp dry basil
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook the chicken in the oil. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for about 5 minutes to let the flavors combine. Stir in the cooked pasta and enjoy.

Note: If you don't have whipping cream, you can mix 6 Tbsp milk powder with 1 cup warm water and use this instead.

Home Canned Sloppy Joe Sauce

It's hard to find someone who doesn't enjoy a great sloppy joe every now and then. Having the sauce all canned up using my garden produce is a treat. All I have to do is brown some hamburger and stir in the sauce and dinner is done!

I've never canned sloppy joe sauce before. I searched out a few recipes and played with the spices until I figured out one that I know we will love. (I only played with the spices which did not change the overall acidity of the product so this can still be safely canned in a boiling water bath.)

Mix all the ingredients together in a large pot. Then ladle into jars and cap with lids and rings.

Cook pints in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Remove from the boiling water and allow to cool. Check to make sure the jars are sealed before tucking them away for longer storage.

Home-canned Sloppy Joe Sauce

10 cups tomato puree

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped green peppers

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

1 1/2 Tbsp celery salt

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 1/2 - 2 cups brown sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup Ultra Gel *

Make tomato puree using a food mill. To see how I prepare my tomato puree click here. (If you use the food processor, you keep all the seeds and tiny skin pieces - my family doesn't mind. If you use a food mill, the skins and many of the seeds are removed. It all comes down to preference.) Chop the onions and peppers in a food processor. Combine the tomato puree and the onions and peppers in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Process pints for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. To serve: Mix one pint of sloppy joe sauce with 1 pound of browned hamburger. Makes approximately 7 pints.

*Ultra Gel is one of my favorite products for freezing and canning. To learn more about it, read my post on freezer jam. In this sauce, it helps the tomato puree keep from separating over time and also adds a little more thickness without requiring that I cook it down for hours. I really do love this stuff! You may not need an entire 1/2 cup depending on how long you simmered your tomato mixture down.

Pulled Pork and Black Bean Quesadillas

Having some pulled pork frozen and ready to go in the freezer makes for quick dinner options. I posted about how I cook my pulled pork here.

Add some chopped green pepper and onions as well as a can of black beans (or use some frozen, pre-cooked ones) and you have some tasty quesadilla filling in a flash. Just cook over medium heat until the peppers and onions are tender.

Add a little shredded cheese just before grilling.

I learned to use a stiff spatula to spread just a hint of butter on the tortillas. They brown up so nicely on our large pancake griddle. Flipping them is always a trick. I often end up losing just a bit of my filling.

Slice up using a pizza cutter and top with sour cream, guacamole, and our favorite fresh garden salsa. Everyone is happy at my house!