Bruschetta in a Jar and chit chat

 I decided to try another recipe from Ball.  Hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds.  I'll be doing a taste testing before making it again (if I do make it again).  Has anyone canned this?  (that is pizza sauce in the back)

The recipe is in this book:

You can also get it online here.

Bell peppers are also getting flash froze, but golly I have to keep my brain in order to remember to get them bagged before I forget they are in there.  I doubt I will be getting enough to freeze stuffed peppers this year.  Due to the weather they are small and we are not getting as many as a typical year.

Not sure if you all heard, but the BP oil company was sold to a Canadian company.  I believe the actual switch will be this coming December, and our two younger girls will lose their health insurance with us.  Not sure this is going to be good for us or not, but it's happening.  The girls have been told, so they are working on getting health insurance (so sad this is happening to them with inflation right now).  Also, the cost for our health insurance goes up for us.  I may be needing to go back to work, which would take a toll on growing a garden.  Time will tell.

Attack of the Tomatoes and other Tidbits

 The pizza sauce recipe is in this book:

Ball also has a freezer pizza sauce recipe here.  I have not tried the freezer recipe.

As hard as I try, I cannot keep up with anything but canning this week.  I gave up on weeding the flower bed, or the garden.  It's been super crazy busy with tomatoes.

It's raining this morning.  It's dark and dreary, so canning resumes.  Last night I was in a pickle.  I canned pizza sauce, and realized I needed both a breakfast and a dinner.  Problem solved - biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes and scrambled eggs.  Now we have breakfast, but a ton of dirty dishes.  I need to unload and reload the dishwasher and get this day started.  My husband said the tomatoes are screaming for me, ha ha!

We were relaxing on the porch last night, and it got very quiet for a few minutes.  Then we heard a crazy screaming sound coming from the woods across the street.  Most likely a few fox fighting or attacking something.  If you have never heard this sound just google it and YouTube has a few where you can hear this crazy sound.

I have been in contact with the island store.  She's getting back with me soon, in regards of a re-order of camper ornaments.  I asked her because I only have two made right now.  I also had to raise my price, and she may not re-order, but like everything the cost of supplies has gone up terribly.

  Like I said - attack of the tomatoes.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Tomatoes are still rolling in.  I am thankful for that.  Bell peppers were picked but smaller than a typical harvest.

Several craft/fall festivals are happening, but I have zero time to participate.  I have created one new item while watching the canner pot.

Cute watermelon keyfobs.  I only got one made, but super cute.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I will link up later when she posts.

The weather . . .

Rain.  Rain for the next two days.

As I look outside my window . . .

It's raining, and cloudy.

Right now I am . . . 

Making another pot of coffee, filling the canner pot, measuring and weighing tomatoes.

Thinking and pondering . . .

How much propane to pre-order, cleaning the living room to get the chimney swept soon, what I will can tomorrow with tomatoes, messaging the island store (they sold all of the camper ornaments I took over early summer), and packaging them this time.  I'm pretty sure we'll be gifting the kids canned tomato items this Christmas (they love tomato soup too).

How I am feeling . . .

So-so.  Overly busy.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Most likely egg, cheese and sausage muffin sandwiches.  

What I am reading . . .

My canning recipes, ha ha!  

On the TV . . .

Mystery Channel

On the menu this week . . .

-sausage, green beans, onion and potato sheet pan
-chicken, broccoli sheet pan dinner
-possibly homemade corn dogs, I only make them once a year

Looking around the house . . .

Tomatoes!  Tomatoes everywhere!

To do list this week . . .

-can pizza sauce, more tomato sauce, more ketchup and tomato soup

-freeze bell peppers

-make a breakfast

-wash bedding

-water plants indoors

-laundry

There won't be much time for anything but making these tomatoes turn into something canned.

Something fun to share . . .

I bought two of the girls a fun pearl jewelry kit.   They had fun opening their mussel.  You make a wish before you open the can and then put your pearl inside the turtle.  Just something fun for them to do.

From the camera . . .

....from the garden yesterday.

Devotional . . .

I still have not found my devotional.  I need to put that on the to-do list too.

Canning Tomato Sauce (seasoned) and other tidbits

The recipe I used for the sweet chili sauce is online with Farmgirl's Dabbles. 

I got a half batch of tomato sauce canned (22 1/2#).  I canned a full batch one year all at once and swore I'd never do that again.  It was just so much work at once.  

I'll make another round if we have more tomatoes.  

I have another new recipe to try using tomatoes, so hopefully it will happen next week.  I know I will have more hot peppers too.

Hot Peppers ~ Sweet Chili Sauce ~ Hot Pepper Jelly ~ Lemon Seed Fail

 

It's been crazy busy around here.  I cooked a meal and delivered it to a family friend who had foot surgery, and we had to drive 3 hours to go pick up our truck keys.  Just strange all around, but we have the keys.  I just don't have the truck ha ha!

It is still in the body shop getting fixed from the deer hitting it.  I however, have not run out things to do.

Our hot peppers are doing exceptionally well this year.  The bell peppers however are still small and a small harvest.

I canned some sweet chili sauce - new recipe.  I cannot wait to taste it.

Canned hot pepper jelly. 

Taco sauce got canned.

I purchased Meyer lemon seeds from someone on Etsy.  I tried to sprout one all summer.  Every single seed was a dud.  Guess I'm spending a fortune next year on a plant.

It's getting difficult to not only budget other food we need, but to even find what we need.  Daughter E cannot find her cat's cat food anywhere.  I could not either.  She had to try a different brand and mix it with his usual.  Hope he's okay with it.  He's older. 

I needed some shout for the laundry.  I could not find that either.  I had to search around and found a different brand.

Some how, I misplaced my bulk bag of bay leaves.  I think they got lost when we tore out half the kitchen.  Anyway, I asked my husband to bring home a small jar for now.

He paid $12.49 for this!!!

The tomatoes are rolling in daily, so I apologize for blurps in blog posting right now.

Canning Continues

 I've been busy with tomatoes, and more are turning red now.  It's been a strange season.  The squash didn't produce a lot, and is now ready to get yanked.  Same with the cucumbers and green beans.

Some tomatoes are splitting open, and some rotting due to the weather we are having.  Not sure how much we will get this year.

Took advantage of needing jalapenos in the recipe, and saved seeds for next year.

Pickled Jalapenos ~ Freezing Jalapenos ~ Color Wheel

New recipe this year - pickled/canned jalapenos.  It not only eliminates the sugar, but the high priced pectin I use for cowboy candy.  I am sure we'll like it, and it cans so quickly.

I also froze a large pan of sliced jalapenos for meals over winter.  Tomatoes are slow to turn all at once.  Sort of frustrating, so I brought some in to turn red inside.  We'll see what gets canned next.

I finally bought myself a color wheel.  It will come in handy crocheting blankets to use up some yarn stash.