Pioneer Woman at Heart

I checked the popcorn for the second time.  I took 6 kernels and used coconut oil. The results?

I brought in another 21.11# of tomatoes on Thursday.  Our whopping tomato tally reached 304.33# (so far this season). I didn't have enough to can a 1/2 batch of tomato sauce, so I decided to use a portion of them to try that new BBQ sauce I wanted to try. The recipe is from Better Homes and Garden's and th ey have the recipe online.   The trick I have been using to check the reduction amount, is to first mea sure with the handle of a wooden spoon.  I tie on a twist tie, and wipe it clean.  Each time I mea sure I can quickly see where I am in the process.  By the way, this recipe tastes so much better than Ball's recip e I canned two years ago.  We l ove it.  Next batch will be a doubl e batch.   In between all that, I got greens in the freezer, but I'm falling behind.  The yellow straight neck squash is piling up.  The cauliflower is just now producing as well.  The swiss chard is going bananas, and I cannot sque...

The only thing, until now, that I have used coconut oil for was soap making.  I had read so many bad reviews on it, considering it's pretty solid when room temperature . Hence, I never used it for preparing any types of food s.  Until now. I purchased a jar of non-gmo/organic virgin coconut oil. This stuff is n ot cheap either, so I waited u ntil I had a $ 3 off store coupon for it (while on sale). What did I use it for?

I have only tried my home canned pepper mustard sauce on chicken so far.  I know meatballs would be wonderful, but this time I tried it on organic pork tenderloin (in the crock pot). Delicious.  Another winning way to eat from our summer stock up.  We topped it over organic brown rice, and had a side of roasted brussel sprouts.   We are having another cold day. 

Happy New Year! I was out getting wood for the wood stove, and snapped this quick sunrise photo.  It's not the best photo, but winter sunrises here are difficult to catch.   At our Christmas family gathering, my one sister asked me, "so now what are you doing?  You're done with the garden right?" To answer her question,