Food: How to make Zesty Salsa Tutorial

I've had these photos on my computer forever, but I just keep forgetting to share this tutorial. Better late than never, I suppose. 

So here we go..

REMEMBER I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. I AM LEARNING TOO AND CAN'T BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOUR SALSA FLOPS. LOL.  {This is a tried recipe, so I am pretty sure it won't.}

My boys made Zesty Salsa with our local 4-H group and Tessa from Doty Creek Crafter. I thought I'd take photos and share the how-to with all of you. Many thanks to the 4-H leaders for allowing me to take photos. I omitted all the photos of children other than mine for privacy reasons.

First you have your adorable children wash, wash, wash their hands and remove the lids and rings from the new jars. 

Toss the jars in the dishwasher. Don't forget the detergent. Put that sucker on HOT water and a heated dry. 

Now put your jars, lids, and rings in your water bath canner. The water just needs to be simmering. This will reduce the risk of the jars breaking when you put hot food into them.

Gather your ingredients. 

Tomatoes

Green Peppers

Onions

Hot Peppers (We didn't use those.)

Garlic (We used Garlic Powder.)

Cilantro

Salt 

Vinegar

Hot sauce (We omitted that also.)

 Cut the peppers in half, clean out the insides. 

 Dice. You will need 5 cups. 

 Clean and dice your onions. 5 cups of those also.

 Peal, core, and dice up your tomatoes. 10 cups! 

 Mix all your vegetables in a cooker with the garlic (3 cloves or you can substitute garlic powder. 1/8 tsp = 1 clove), cilantro (2 Tbsp), salt (3 tsp), and cider vinegar (1 1/4 cups).

*You can add in your 2 1/2 cups of seedless hot peppers and your hot peppers sauce here if you wish to have really zesty salsa.*

 Bring mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle into hot jars. Be CAREFUL, it is HOT!

 Leave 1/4 inch of head space. 

Add lids and rings, and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. 

Tada! It should make 6 pints or 12 half pints.

I am sharing this post at From the Farm Blog Hop , Homestead Blog Hop, and Farmgirl Friday.

Food: Yummy Bean Soup Tutorial

Even though I have been kinda MIA for a while, I hadn't forgot about all you wonderful readers. I've been taking pics for tutorials, just hadn't had the time to put them up. So today may kinda be tutorial overload day. Thanks for hanging around and supporting me even with my absence.

My Mother-in-Law introduced me to this soup, and honestly, at first I thought it would be disgusting. However I was bad wrong. It is heavenly! Even my boys who are very picky-eaters will eat this soup. Years ago when I asked her the name of the soup, she didn't remember what it was called, and I surely had no idea what to call it. So we came up with Yummy Bean Soup and that is what we have called it ever since.

This is tasty, super easy, and quick to fix as well. You are gonna love me for this one!

To make this soup you will need:

1 (15-oz.) can Cannellini Beans
3 (15-oz.) cans Great Northern Beans
1 can crushed tomatoes. I usually get a large can. Not sure on the oz.
2 cans of Chicken Broth
1 large Onion
1 pkg Polish Sausage. I get the oval shaped pack and use it all.
1 Tablespoon of Butter

First get yourself a skillet, a deep cooker, knife, can opener, chopping board and a strainer (colander). Open up all your cans of beans and drain them in the colander. While they are draining, chop up your onions, put them in a skillet with a tablespoon of butter and saute them.

  Now dump your beans and chicken broth into your cooker and get it started warming. I usually set it on medium heat.

While my beans and broth are starting to warm I chop up my polish sausage. There is no wrong way to do this. Just chop it up into whatever size you like. Once the sausage is chopped, I dump it into the beans and broth. I also add the tomatoes, onions, and whatever butter is left in the skillet into the cooker.

Now just bring all your ingredients to a boil and stir. After it has started boiling, reduce the heat, cover, and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the beans are soft and everything is hot. That's it. It should look something like the photo below.

Go grab yourself a hunk of french bread to dip into the juice, and enjoy!

Food: Country Ribs, Tators, and Carrots Tutorial

Hey everyone. This is one on my favorite down-home, country meals. It is simple, quick, and delicious. I grew up on Meat 'n Taters (that is what we call this meal around here), but as an adult I was always too intimidated to use a pressure cooker to actually make it for myself. Eventually Mom gave me a push and told me to just try it. Needless to say I was on the phone with her the entire time the meal was cooking, but we made it through and it was worth the effort. As I was preparing this very same meal for my family the other day, I thought that maybe you too would like to know how to make Meat 'n Taters. So here we go.

First, get yourself a pressure cooker. Mine is just one from Wal-mart. It is nothing fancy, but it does the trick. Now, add the ribs and 1 and 1/2 cups of water into the cooker. That is all the water you will need to add during this entire process.  

Then, set your stove on high, put your lid on the cooker and wait. In about 5-10 minutes depending on how much water and meat is in the cooker, you will notice steam and maybe bubbles coming out around the jiggler. The jiggler will start to move around and make a little bit of noise. Once this happens, it is time to turn your stove down to medium heat. Allow your meat to pressure for 20-30 minutes depending on how much meat you put into the cooker. I think I had 4 ribs in mine so I just did 20 minutes.

When the 20-30 minutes is up, turn off your stove. You can allow your pressure cooker to sit on the stove and cool, but this takes time. So I just follow my Moms directions and very carefully move the pressure cooker to the sink. Turn on cool water and run it over the lid of the cooker for a few minutes. Try not to get it on the jiggler or the red dot on top. I just run it around the edges and that works just fine. This releases the steam/pressure from the cooker. You should easily be able to take the lid off. If it doesn't want to budge, don't force it, just allow it to sit under the running water a couple more minutes.

Once your lid is off, you just move your cooker back to the stove top. Add in your potatoes. Mom doesn't add carrots to hers, but I do and sometimes I even add in onions. There is no certain way to cut the potatoes. Just peel them and "hunk 'em up" as we say. Just cut them into chunks. You can fill your cooker almost to the top. You don't need to add in any more water. The water you had originally in there will be enough.

Now that your cooker is filled with the ribs and water you pressured before, potatoes, carrots, and onions, add in a bit of salt to taste. Put your lid back on the cooker and set the stove back on high heat. Wait about 5-10 minutes until it starts jiggling, turn the heat down to medium and allow the potatoes, carrots, and onions to cook for 5-10 minutes depending on how full your cooker was. I fill mine almost completely to the top so I allow them to cook for 10 minutes. When the time is up, just repeat the process of running water over the cooker to release the pressure. Now your meal is finished and should look something like the photo below. 

 

My sweet cornbread smothered in butter is the perfect compliment to the meal.

Have fun and enjoy! 

I shared this tutorial at Farmgirl Friday