Tomato sauce....and soup

Knowing we couldn't get it all done in one day, and dealing with the fear my tomatoes were gonna go bad...we started the process with the crockpots and clean whole tomatoes!!

We mashed them down and ran them through the food processor and got out the chunks.

My new waterbath canner for pint size jars!!! Yay!!!

Here is the recipe and instructions I used. I loved that she gave me permission to not peel and seed the tomatoes!!! It actually worked well and the crockpots for the long cooking helped break up the process for me!! We got 14 pints out of this batch. I also put a teaspoon of lemon juice just to make sure the acidity was right (I found the recommendation on another canning site).

We didn't add any seasoning to these recipes...just tomato sauce. We like to fancy it up on cooking day by adding meat and veggies and seasoning at that time. Also, this way I can use it for my chili. (which we'll probably have often this fall!!).

After the initial batch we had another mess of tomatoes come on so I did the process again. I was too exhausted to can it so we have 11 pint and 2 quart ball freezer jars in the freezer (I love these freezer jars).

I also used Laura's recipe on that same link to make a batch of homemade tomato soup. Since I was gonna freeze it too, I cooked it in the crockpot all day then ran it through a strainer. I probably could have cooked it longer, but again, only so many hours in a day and so much energy this pregnant lady has!!!

I'm trying to save it for postpartum...but I'm very tempted to take some to work tonight!!!

Making Chili!!!

I know it doesn't go along with "taking it easy" but I had made plans to make chili this week. It was supposed to be last night but the basement delay pushed it to tonight. We have friends coming over (we were supposed to work on the basement-but the final inspection got pushed to another day...oh well, another post). So I'm still making chili today and they're coming over just for fun!!

I decided since I have multiple crock pots if I was gonna make 1 crockpot of chili I might as well make 2.

I'm gonna type out the recipe for 1- but I doubled it and did 2 crockpots full. It's part of my attempt to fill my freezer before baby gets here!!! And don't worry, Jason's been a huge help. I keep sitting to rest and drinking more water!!!

Kristi's Chili:
2 lbs ground beef
1 large white onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic
1 pack Carroll Shelby's Chili kit (we love this)
1 large can of tomato juice
1 box of beef broth

Brown the ground beef, drain, add in onion, pepper, tomatoes, and garlic. Let flavors saute together and add half of the main chili seasoning packet.

Transfer contents of skillet into crockpot and add rest of chili packet, tomato juice and beef broth. We usually let it cook all day. At some point we will add the small cayenne packet, salt, and flour if needed. We will also add a small can of tomato paste if needed.

My dueling crockpots are fired up. We'll eat from one and freeze the other (maybe a large ziploc bag and some smaller bags/containers for individual servings).

Since we're running out of time before B gets here- I may try some more doubling recipes and freezing portions. Tomorrow I'm planning on making my freezer Bacon Cheeseburger Rice (it's a Ham*burger helper knock off). I was gonna make a big batch so we could have dinner and some to freeze. I'll post the recipe if I feel up to making it. We're taking it day by day!!!

Oh we serve this with cheese and sour cream!! I can't wait until dinner!!!

Nesting much???

I can't get enough of my kitchen right now!!! Yesterday I made soup (to freeze for my weekends at work)...I'll post recipe later. I've made something which I can't share here because it's for gifts (but it's a recipe from Hillbilly Housewife- one of my new favorite sites!!! I also am trying a recipe for dinner from Stephanie the Crockpot Lady for Buffalo Chicken Dip. I have adapted it a bit to change it up (I don't like blue cheese!!!)

Here's what I did:
1 14oz can of chicken
1 8oz bottle Ranch dressing
3/4 c hot sauce (use Frank's Red)
1 block cream cheese
probably 2 cups cheddar cheese

I have more cheese and ranch if I need to doctor it. I'm afraid it's gonna be H-O-T!!!

That's for dinner with chips and celery to dip in it!!

I also made fudge from Katie's Cooking Blog.

8oz semi sweet chocolate and
12 oz sweetened condensed milk

Nuked in microwave for 2 minutes and spread out on a cookie sheet. Verdict is still out on that- but the warm stuff tastes good!!!!

Man-I'm tired now!!!!

Another early morning, another recipe..

I'm hosting a thanksgiving brunch at my house for my dad and sisters so I'm looking for some recipes to try (I'm not tackling turkey-but I thought maybe I could do a ham). My mom suggested looking for a cola recipe so I found one on my favorite crock pot blog!!!! Here it is:

Cola Ham

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1 teaspoon Horseradish
1/4 cup Cola (not Diet)
4 pounds Precooked Ham

Directions:
Mix the mustard, horseradish and brown sugar together. Mix in a small amount of cola to form a paste and rub all over the ham. Put the ham in the crockpot and pour the remaining cola over the ham. Cook on high for 1 hour and then set on low for 6-7 hours.

Recipe additions....

I've been cooking at home more since we're on a stricter budget (I have mentioned the new kid coming this spring and my desire for a finished basement, right??). So I have been trying lots of new recipes and expanding my cooking options. I have a few recipe blogs I love and I'll post those sometime soon-but I need a place to save some recipes to try and keep. I usually use my laptop upstairs to blog and search online and my printer is in the "unfinished" basement so running down there isn't always convenient to pickup printouts. Also-I want to try things before I commit them to my cookbook. In leui of starting a new blog-I'll just add some recipes to my already filled with thoughts on parenting and mommyhood blog!!! No one minds, right?

So here's the first installment!! Katie-she has an amazing cooking blog and I met her on my mommy chat board-her famous recipe is bourbon chicken which I've made and love. It's nicknamed Crack Chicken on our board!!! Well, someone adapted it to the crockpot...and I love me some crockpot cooking!!! I haven't tried the crockpot version but here it is:


Bourbon Chicken - Crockpot style
3 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 garlic clove crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp of corn starch
Cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Mix all ingredients into your crockpot, throw in the chicken. Cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4.

The recipe isn't that different from the original but I wanted to save the list and directions here. When I did make this-I doubled the sauce-I like sauce over my rice.

More recipes to come-I'm sure!!!