Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I had a recipe (put on the internet in 2021) I made once last year, and could not find it.  I ended up finding it, but the recipe called for Weber's store brand Garlic Jalapeno Seasoning.   You know me right?  I went on a mission.  First, I am not really a person to store a "mixed spice" in my pantry, other than my homemade "fire powder" for spicing up dishes when I want to. However, they do come in handy for traveling, and especially when camping.  Mixed spices also come in handy for grilling out, grilling at a picnic etc. To see the actual ingredients in the store brand, you can simply read the label next time shopping, or find it on the internet.  I have no idea what stores sell it, or if they even make it anymore, but sharing what my mission was pretaining to this seasoning. The original seasoning contains sugar (more than the jalapeno), "spices" (no specifics on what this is), citric acid, gum arabic, rice concentrate, and "natural flavors...

  I took advantage of a few rainy days, and dehydrated onions. Yes, the windows were open for this yearly event.  I may dehydrate one more time this year, but it's a start to re-stock.   I chop a few onions at a time, and toss into my food processor.  I pulse the onions until they are about evenly diced.  I have had this simple food processor for about 13 years now.  As you can see, there are few options.  I do plan to buy one with more options when this one stops working.  Also, you can use a hand chopper for a smaller batch as well. I spread the diced onions onto parchment paper lined dehydrator trays, and dehydrate at the temperature recommened for my dehydrator. Once dry, I use latex gloves to remove the onions from the parchment paper.  I then grind the dried onions in a specific coffee grinder, that is dedicated to grinding dried food items. I dump out the current onion powder, wash the container and add the newer ground onion...

  Update on the 8# of dehydrated onions - I refilled our homemade onion powder (I store this in the freezer in an air tight container and it has worked great for years), and I learned something new this year.  I learned how to vacuum pack for longer shelf life. I do not have a food saver, however, I used parts from food saver for part of it, and used a hand pump and it worked perfectly.  Thanks to watching numerous Youtube videos, I have now added more knowledge to my preparedness skills.  I showed my husband what I used, and he just shook his head and laughed.  Well, I got the job done, ha ha! I think I shared this stuff before, but now I am be-bopping from painting the last door/trim in the kitchen.  Our handyman takes weekends off so I am tackling the trim to the bathroom door this weekend.  I'm also cleaning upstairs, and back to the tile floor in the master bathroom.  It works great, and I only have a small area left to do, and it's stayed cl...

I decided to bake my first cinnamon-raisin bread. Yes, that is today's big news story.   This "pioneer" woman has not baked this tasty treat until yesterday.

We finally got some rain.  It's back to humid and hot.   I've been busy in the kitchen - freezing green peppers, jalapenos, more green beans, some tomatoes, and cauliflower.  Our popcorn is on, and looks pretty promising (although small), but my watermelon is questionable. What else have I been up to?

My garden may have produced small onions, but boy they are potent.  You would have had a good laugh, if you were here to see my 14 year-old and I, cutting them up for the dehydrator.   She had goggles on, and I was trying to fan my eyes, but that failed.  We had tears, and tears and more tears. Sorry for the bad, blurry photographs.  We were laughing so hard at the time.