Extra Hot Salsa Recipe

    My family loves salsa and for the men in the family, the hotter the better.  I aim to please so I whipped up a batch of salsa that even made my Marine hubby say "ouch".  I could have made it hotter but I like the salsa to be hot enough but still have a good taste.  Some hot salsas are pure fire and nothing more.    Mine is not that way.

 

 

Extra Hot Salsa

 

8 jalepenos

8 lg. tomatoes (about 7 cups)

4 habenero peppers

1 c. chopped onions

1 c. bell peppers 

3/4 c. apple cider vinegar

2 cubes cilantro

2 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. cumin

                                      

     Cut up the jalapeno peppers and the habenero peppers and put the diced pieces into a pot.  Be sure to put the seeds into the pot too.  Cut up the tomatoes and add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients to the pot.   Bring it to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  As it is simmering, prepare your jars by heating the lids and jars in hot water.  After simmering, put the salsa in the hot jars (filling within 1/2" and wiping rims) and water bath process for 20 minutes. 

     Makes 4 pints.

 

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Butternut Squash Chips

   We had an abundance of butternut squash this year again.  If you ever want something simple to grow, grow butternut squash.  We didn't even plant butternut squash this year.  We threw out some seeds, after eating the squash, and it grew up wild all over the place.  One of our favorite ways to preserve butternut squash is by making "chips" with them.  My hubby and boys snack on these just like you would a potato chip.

    All you have to do is wash your squash and using a vegetable peeler, peel the squash.  You also need to cut the ends off of the squash.  Some people do it before peeling, some after.  It doesn't matter when you do it, whichever works best for you. We save the ends and peelings and feed them to our goats and chickens.  They love them.

 Now, using a mandolin, slice the butternut squash.  Put the squash on your dehydrator trays.

    You can leave them plain but my family prefers to add some extra flavor to them.  From my experience, the three spices that go well with butternut squash are salt, crushed red pepper or curry.

With crushed red pepper.

With curry powder.

   They take about 6-8 hours to be completely dehydrated.  If your family plans on eating them right away, you can store them in baggies.  If you plan to store them for a long time, just place them in a canning jar and put a lid on it.  I have stored them easily this way for over a year.

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This post was shared on the following pages:

The Backyard Farming Connection
Create with Joy 
The Chicken Chick
Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth
Modest Mom Blog  
Cornerstone Confessions
Love in the Kitchen
Tilly's Nest 
Trayer Wilderness 
The Gathering Spot

Super Easy Apple Pie

    I love recipes that are simple easy and no recipe can be much easier as only 2 ingredients to make a yummy dessert!

Super, Easy Apple Pie

1 can Apple Pie Filling

1 can cinnamon rolls

   Yep, that is all it takes.  I used the "No sugar added" apple pie filling for this.  It turned out beautiful and so delicious.  

 

The 2 ingredients needed.

    All you do is open up the can of cinnamon rolls and press them into a pie plate. 

 

Smooshing down the cinnamon roll.

 Then open up the can of pie filling and pour it on top.  Place in a preheated oven to whatever temperature is called for the cinnamon rolls.  I first tried cooking the pie at the recommended time of the cinnamon rolls but found the dough on the bottom was not done so I cooked it 7 minutes longer.  So I recommend to add 7 minutes to the time it is called for.

    Once you remove it from the oven, pour the cinnamon roll icing on top.

Doesn't this look scrumptious?!

This is AMAZING!  So simple and delicious.  I highly recommend you try this!!!

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Homemade Tomato Soup

   My youngest son loves tomato soup.  He would eat it every day if we would let him.  I hate him eating the store-bought variety because of all the extra ingredients and sodium that they put into it.  I prefer to make my family homemade tomato soup.

 

 

3 ½ c. chopped tomatoes

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. milk

2 T. flour

1 T. butter

1 T. chopped onion

1 T. basil

1 ½ tsp. sugar

1 tsp. garlic

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

 

    In a large pot, melt the butter and then fry up the onion and garlic. Sauté until done.  Now stir in the rest of the ingredients.

     Stir well and let simmer about 15 minutes.  Remove from the stove and puree.  It is now ready to eat.

To me, tomato soup is good comfort food, another good comfort food is my Homemade Chicken and Dumplings.  What else do you consider "comfort food"?

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Canning Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

     

    We have an abundance of tomatoes from our garden each year.  We eat a lot of them and use the rest in a variety of ways by canning the tomatoes; making tomato sauce; tomato soup; making and canning salsa; and by making spaghetti sauce.

Countrified Hicks Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

 

8 c. tomato sauce

8 c. diced tomatoes

2 small cans tomato paste

4 T. olive oil

2 T. sugar

4 tsp. chopped onion

4 tsp. garlic powder

4 tsp. Italian herb seasoning

2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. basil 

 

                   

      Pour all ingredients into a crockpot and stir well.  Cook over low heat for 8 hours.  I like cooking it in the crockpot because it does not heat up your kitchen and allows the flavors to really "meld" together.  

 

 

    When the sauce is done, pour the hot sauce into hot prepared jars. Add into EACH jar 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons of vinegar into each jar.   Fill up to 1/4" headspace and wipe the rims clean with a rag dipped into vinegar.   Put the lids on and place into a water bath canner.  Water should completely cover the lids.  

The water should be about an inch over the top of the jars.

 

 

 

     When the water begins to boil, start timing then.  Let boil for 40 minutes. 

 

Makes 3 quarts.

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Other blogs I linked this recipe to include:
Home to 4 Kiddos 
The Modest Mom 
Love from the Kitchen

Countrified French Vanilla Coffee Drink

    Let me start off with and say that I don't drink flavored coffee AT ALL.  I just don't like the taste of it.  I want just plain, strong coffee BUT my hubby loves them.  We do not buy them because they cost WAY too much and are an indulgence we just can't afford. 

 

     I remember my daughter buying a frappuccino or something like that a few years back that she bought in a bottle from a convenience store.  I tried it and naturally I didn't like it but my hubby sure did.  The taste is stuck in my head and I decided to play around with flavors and came up with this drink.  I don't know what it would be considered but several people have tasted my concoction and LOVE it.  They say it is equally superb hot or ice cold.

Countrified French Vanilla Coffee Drink

   (I know I need to come up with a better name for it but for now, this works.)  :-)

10 cups of STRONG hot coffee

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 cup french vanilla creamer

1/4 c. sugar

     Put the two kinds of sugar into a pitcher.  Pour the hot coffee in on top of the sugars and stir until the sugars dissolve; then pour in the creamer.  Stir and enjoy.  This tastes just as good hot as it does cold.  Even my teenage son liked it.

This coffee goes great with my Cinnamon Roll Cake or some Homemade Doughnuts!

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Other blogs I have linked up this recipe with include:
Home to 4 Kiddos 
The Modest Mom 
The Chicken Chick

Make Your Own Sun Dried Tomatoes

   Okay, I confess.  They really aren't "sun-dried" tomatoes but they taste JUST like them.  I use my dehydrator instead and they turn out super yummy.  AND they cost a lot less than buying them at the supermarket.  Wow, they are expensive to buy (about $7 a pound).

     All you have to do is use fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes (or buy some tomatoes) and then using a sharp knife cut the tomato into tomato slices.  At this point you can put the pieces on the dehydrator and leave them plain or sprinkle them with salt, pepper, basil and any other spice you desire. 

OR

    You can cut the ends of of the tomatoes and slice the tomato into wedges.  Scoop out the seeds and lay the wedges on the dehydrator tray and season as you desire and dehydrate them this way.   Both ways work equally well it is just a matter of preference of how you like your sun dried tomatoes to be shaped.

Sliced pieces of tomatoes and tomato wedges.

   Dehydrate about 5-8 hours, depending upon the thickness of the tomatoes.  They should be feel about like a raisin.  They should be leathery and not sticky.

Once they are dry, store in a sealed mason jar.

    We love doing this to have as a snack and to have nice, yummy tomatoes in the winter time.

You can also grind the tomatoes to make tomato powder. 

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Blogs I have linked this post up with include:  

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The Chicken Chick
Carole's Chatter