Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Rain ~ Taco Sauce ~ Shopping Tip


We have had a few days of stormy, rainy days, so I took the time to slow down.  For some reason, the busy summer days tend to zap my morning time too quickly. 

Oh, and we got hit by lightening (again).  This time I think the only thing it got was the cable box.  It sounded like a 22 shooting in the living room, and there was a flash of light.  We have a few lightning rods on the barns, but I think it's about time to get a few on the house....sigh...




Anyway, instead of rushing out to collect garden bounty, or to weed, or to hang laundry out on the line, I took the time to bake up a delicious garden breakfast.  I sliced a garden zucchini and red onion, and started to saute them.


And for the heck of it, I sliced up a few romas, and some home grown basil.


I whisked up some freshly collected eggs and topped my morning frittata with mozzarella cheese. 



I didn't have any homemade goat's milk ricotta or cream cheese on hand, but those top frittatas nicely too. 



After that wonderful breakfast, I decided to can taco sauce.  Although a risk with storms (and possible power outage), I did it anyway.


In all honesty, I should have gotten my veggies, for the taco sauce, on the stove first thing before breakfast.  I chop everything before I start chopping up the tomatoes.


Then I cook half the tomatoes, toss in the veggies and cumin, and then the other half.  I cook this for 1 1/2 hours until everything is soft, run it through the sauce maker and then back on the stove to thicken.  It's an almost all day process, so when Hubby asks if he if can bring home "taco stuff" I tell him no.  For pete's sake, doesn't he know that you gotta put it on the pantry shelf for a while, so you can look at your hard work?  And here he wants to pop it open the minute I can it.  

I did get 5 - 1/2 pints of delicious-ness.  


I learned something.  See that "9" at the beginning of the UPC number on organic label?  According to author Matthew Johnson (G.M.O. Free Diet), the "9" indicates the produce is organic.  If you see an "8" it means it's GMO.  I needed red bell peppers for my taco sauce (all green in the garden), and Hubby did good by bringing these home.



10 comments:

Sandra said...

That frittata looks so yummy, I think I'm going to go make myself some eggs for breakfast lol

I had no idea about the number 9, thank you for telling us, now I know which are organic and which are gmo.

Susan said...

Thanks for the labeling info - it's always good to know exactly (well, as exactly as possible) what you're getting. Does this mean your hubby is forgiven for picking your drying beans??? :) I like that taco sauce recipe - it is going into the "must try" pile! And I would definitely put some lightning rods on your house!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Sandra, I found that bit of information very interesting, because I never looked at the number itself, only at the label to see if it read "organic" or not.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, Hubby is forgiven. Sigh. He has been working so much overtime that I made sure the squash patties got cooked for him last night. It's one of his favorite recipes to eat. He ate them at midnight last night when he got home.

Mama Pea said...

Sometimes I leave my home canned jars of goodies in the kitchen for a few days before putting them away in the pantry . . . just so I can look at them and indulge my sense of accomplishment!

With all the luscious, wonderful, fresh veggies and fruits available in the garden this time of year, don't you wish you could just spend most of the day in the kitchen cooking with them? Ironically, it's the time of year when I don't have time for being at all creative with our meals. Doggone and darn it!

RB said...

We grew up in a house that had NO lightning rods for a long time, and weird stuff happened in that house until they got put on. Melted the receiver on a phone one time, knocked two brass lamps off of the end tables and blew their light bulbs up, both at once, along with other things. We also saw one of our beagles get hit by lightning running through the rain during a storm. We were horrified and crying, and then suddenly the dog got up and ran for shelter. Like I said, weird stuff, until Dad had a new roof put on the house and had lightning rods put on at the same time. Then, it all stopped, from what I remember, or at least the weird stuff from being hit by lightning did. Thank God none of those times burned the house down. Yep! Those things are worth it for sure.
God bless.
RB
<><

RB said...

And by the way, those produce codes aren't 100% reliable.
Snopes covers it here.
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/produce.asp
God bless.
RB
<><

EMMA said...

That frittata looks delicious - I'm going to make myself the very same tomorrow morning.
Will definitely be trying your taco sauce recipe too - just need to get some peppers (they don't grow very well here). Do you have to do anything to it afterwards or does it keep fresh in the jars as it is?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Emma, I can the taco sauce in 1/2 pints due to the size of my family, and use them up in a week or so (after it's opened). You could can it in smaller jars too.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, thanks for that tip. I had a feeling that not all labels would be correct, but wanted to share.