Pioneer Woman at Heart

Temperatures remain cold here - 3°F with a wind chill of -15°F this morning. I follow the blog Mennonites Can Cook, and they recently shared a recipe for Brunch Pie .  I can easily get distracted with new recipes, or they can inspire me to use up what I have (so I did). I used canned mushrooms (we do need a lot of that vitamin D in the winter).  I need to dehydrate more next winter.   Although the sun was shining for a few days, I'm not always out in it long enough. I decided to try it next, but I swapped out the frozen hashbrowns with frozen rutabagas , that I froze last year.   Also, from the freezer, I used my garden green onions, (I had fresh bell pepper) and added frozen and cooked watercress greens and a pinch of homemade fire powder.   Hot peppers are a good source for a lot of goodness for our health. Not to forget about all the condiments I canned last year, we topped the breakfast with some home canned cowboy candy too.   We added a...

  I made the black bean salad suggested, and ended up adding one more jalapeno (with seeds) to it for some flavor (a small one).  Pretty good.  I got to try out my new tool too.  It's for removing the hair off the corn without damaging any corn. As for the recipe, it makes way too much for us.  We will be eating it for breakfast burritos, nachos, daily snack, etc.  Goodness it makes a lot.   The heat last week was almost unbearable, and yesterday we hit a high 98 degree heat index.  It's been extremely humid as well. I took the day off from tomatoes and picked jalapenos.  One batch of Cowboy Candy was made.  It's a good time to save seeds ha ha!  That's a lot of slicing.  I brought in about 4#. What I call garden dump breakfast.  I made a casserole.  The squash is completely done, but I have not pulled the plants yet.  It's too hot out there.  The bees have cross pollinated the plants and the yellow squ...

The morning sunrise keeps reminding me winter is coming. It's moving direction way too fast. The jalapenos are coming to an end.  I made a 4th batch of cowboy candy and I'm selling it.  We will not eat that much, but so thankful for having it for all my canning recipes, to put up in the freezer and use for meals.  I put more in the freezer for winter chili, baking, and other recipes (I use them a lot in my homemade breakfast meals). Sage made it's way into the dehydrator and I started a tincture for winter. Fresh Salsa.  Yum. I took a look at the turnips.  Not large, but not small.  I thinned them out a bit and will leave them in as long as I can to hopefully have a good harvest. Last night's dinner.  Chicken Tetrazzini (with a twist) using Jovial pasta, and baked bell pepper oven fries with homemade dip (the best ever, and I'm not a fan of panko).  The bell peppers were from the garden.  Recipe for the bell pepper fries ca...

Yesterday, the first thing I needed to do, was to put up the 4.6# of jalapenos I picked.  I needed 3# to make the cowboy candy. I got that canned, but it takes a lot of time to slice up those babies.  The remaining will be frozen today hopefully. I have been able to crochet more of the jar grippers.  I will get them up for sale as I get more colors made.  I have already sold the first six I already made (not pictured).  I'm told they work great and better than most that are made (my "gripper" has smaller holes that what my Mom was given and she loves it).  I think people are buying the "gripper" part from the Dollar Tree, and I have seen it and didn't like the look of it.  I purchased a different type (better brand) and am glad I did. I use a smaller hook and a cotton thread.

I was slicing up jalapenos early in the morning.  I wanted to make sure Daughter was up in time to leave for school super early.  They all went to a hair show today.   Speaking of show, the 2 hour craft show wasn't that great.  Hardly any customers, but I sold a slouchy hat, a wrap around scarf and a set of boot cuffs.  Also, we learned a lot from the other ladies there - one sold organic non-gmo body care line (very cool stuff), and one knew a lot of info about natural healing.  My girls learned a lot even if we didn't have a lot of customers.   I saved the ends of the jalapenos to freeze for meals.  Nothing wasted in this house for sure.  Especially with little to put up. I dehydrated the little bit of rosemary I grew this year. Oregano is next today I hope.  The weather will turn much colder this week.

Yep.  You read the title of this post correctly.  I'm so glad we are getting "something" from this garden.  I picked these last Monday morning - 4.5# of hot goodness.   I have more on the plants too. We also enjoyed a homegrown bell pepper and some of those jalapenos for dinner - southwestern black bean burritos (and they were delicious!). I canned one batch of cowboy candy.  I have forgotten how long it takes to slice up the peppers.  I'm just happy I got some canned. So happy to get something from the garden this year.  Now I sort of feel on the normal side again.  I have green bell peppers out there yet too.  I'm waiting until after this week's rain, in hopes for some to get a bit bigger. 

Monday, while Hubby and daughter were scrambling around getting ready at 5:45am, I was mumbling.   "I have to work out, can jam, clean the coop, make a scramble for the week, do the dishes, do the laundry...." Hubby said, "what'ya gonna do after 9am?"   I laughed, and laughed.  That is true.  There is an advantage of being up early.  Sparta was giving me heck while cleaning the coop.  He kept getting out of the door, and out into the open garden area.  I had to keep chasing him back into the run.  I think he's getting old or his broken leg from years ago is giving him trouble.  He's having a bit of trouble walking and climbing the ramp now. Speaking of scramble - this weeks breakfast for a few days.  It's made with some swiss chard, jalapeno, home grown potatoes, onions, green pepper and bacon. Tuesday, I was up at 4:26 am precisely.  Work called Hubby in, and the thunder and pouring rain kept me from going b...

(before sauce reduced to half) It's been a canner-ganza week.  I'm thankful for that too, and we haven't checked our pears yet (no apples or plums this year again).  Homemaking goes to a new level when you homestead as well.  It's not just cleaning, tidying up, dusting, paying bills, vacuuming, sweeping, purging, baking, cooking, washing dishes, getting kids to appointments and off to school.....it's hard work.  My kids hate me this time of year, ha ha!  Literally.  Deep down, I know they appreciate it. I'm looking forward to a huge crock pot of delicious chili soon.  All these tomatoes are making me hungry. Got coffee?  Tea?  Adult beverage (ha ha!)  You may need one to sip while you read through today's post.  Sorry for the length.  Like I said - a busy kitchen week. I used about 23 pounds of those delicious tomatoes, to can up some seasoned tomato sauce (recipe is in the Ball Blue Book). I used p...

So, you know how I blogged about adding greens and adding the nuts, and "boom" my weight started coming off?  And my nails grew? Well, come to find out, I found this article on " Why Adding Copper ...." from Clean Eating.  Makes sense to me.  Maybe I was lacking the copper in my diet.   I knew my thyroid was wonky, but the more I read the more I learn. And for a twist on things.... I took one afternoon off from tomatoes (hoping they didn 't over -ripen), but jalapenos were having t heir day, thanks to someone who bought two pounds a t the Farmer's M arket.  That would be me of course.  The th ird pound came f rom my own garden.