Peach Salsa

We were blessed with a couple of bushels of peaches recently.And what a delicious blessing it was! I turned a bunch of the peaches into jam, which is my family's number 1 favorite jam. (Blackberry follows a close second.)

And today, I made this amazingly fresh, sweet and spicy salsa. I liked it so much that I made another batch and canned it.

Here's the recipe:

 

5 cups of diced peaches

1 cup of diced tomatoes

1 diced bell pepper

1 cup diced onion

3 jalapenos, minced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced*

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbs honey

 

*Be sure to use freshly minced garlic. That jarred stuff just doesn't pack enough punch!

 

Combine everything and enjoy! You could eat this with chips, over grilled meat, or with a spoon like me!

 

If you do wish to can this, just ladle it into hot sterile jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Makes 3 pints.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I know it's not quite the right season for this recipe, but I thought I'd go ahead and share it anyway. We were given a huge white pumpkin last week. One of my favorite parts about fresh pumpkins is roasting the seeds. Here's how you do it:

Take your seeds out of your pumpkin and put them in a bowl of water for a little while. This makes it a little easier to separate the pumpkin membrane from the seeds and washes off your seeds. Drain them & rinse them (getting as much of non-seed off as possible). Pat them dry.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and stir it into the seeds, giving them a nice tasty coating.

Spread the pumpkin seeds out on a lightly greased cookie sheet and sprinkle them with salt. Roast at 300F degrees until they're golden brown. It may take an hour. Stir them once or twice while baking.

Enjoy!

The Best Collards EVER

Oh my! I always knew collards were good, but I had no idea they could be this good. I heard about this recipe a few months ago & I've wanted to post them here, but they're so good that they were never around long enough to get their picture taken. Seriously. If there are leftovers, I've found myself discretely tucking them away in a far corner of the fridge where they'll be safe until I can get to them again. To eat all by myself.

Actually I did save some for hubby. Once. And you know what happened? He put them in the microwave to reheat and forgot them. I found them the next day. It still pains me to think of the glorious greens... wasted like that. But, you know, love keeps no record of wrongs, so I'm over it. Now I'm just a bit more guarded about how leftover collards are handled.

Okay, enough rambling... here is the recipe, straight from allrecipes.com:

[note: believe it or not, you can even leave out the bacon if you don't feel like frying any, and they are still exceptionally delicious!]

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 slices bacon
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 pound fresh collard greens, cut into 2-inch pieces

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and return to the pan. Add onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until just fragrant. Add collard greens, and fry until they start to wilt.
2. Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender.

Enjoy!!

Cucumbers with dill

Our garden is over-run with cukes and tomatoes right now. I've canned about 20+ pints of pickles, and we still have a bunch of cucumbers left. We stumbled across a variation of this cucumber recipe the other day and decided to give it a try. And, it was good! I love the sweet & tangy-ness combined with the dill.

Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers, sliced thin
1/4 cup onion, sliced very thin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried dill (use 2 Tbs if you're using fresh)

Combine everything and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Black Bean Salsa

If you only make one recipe from this blog, let it be this one. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law several years ago and it is one of my favorite recipes of all time! It is sweet, tangy & crunchy and can serve as a dip for chips, a topping for grilled meats or even as a yummy summertime side dish. I love, love, love it!

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 jar diced pimientos, drained
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
a few dashes of hot sauce
salt & pepper, to taste

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour it over the bean mixture & allow it to marinate in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Serve with a slotted spoon. Enjoy!

Skinny Fries

Easy!

Ingredients:

Potatoes (figure on 1 per person), scrubbed & cut into skinny sticks
Oil
Salt, pepper & whatever seasonings you like

Preheat oven to 400F. Toss the potatoes in a couple Tbs of oil & season to taste. Old Bay Seasoning is one of our favorites for potatoes. Spread out and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour on a lightly greased baking sheet (or better yet, one lined with parchment paper), stirring occasionally so they cook evenly.


This recipe will go great with the one that's coming next...

Sesame Green Beans

In my opinion, green beans can be pretty boring. But, they are easy to grow in the garden, so we usually have a lot of them. This is an easy and tasty way of preparing them. It went well with the teriyaki grilled chicken & brown rice we had for dinner last night.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 4 cups fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
  
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add sesame seeds. When seeds start to darken, stir in garlic and green beans. Cook, stirring, until the beans turn bright green.
2. Pour in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.

Serves 8 people who aren't green bean fanatics. Six people otherwise.

Brown Sugar Apple Lentils

I knew I'd have to doctor up lentils to get my kids to eat them, so I came up with this recipe today. It was really good!

Ingredients:
1 lb lentils
5 cups water
2 tsp salt

1 apple, diced
2 Tbs minced onion
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs molasses
2 Tbs worcestershire sauce
1 cup water
2 slices bacon, diced

Simmer 1st three ingredients, covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and bake at 350F for 1 hour. Serves 6-8.

Black Bean Brownies

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tasted it. These are really good! All six of my kids liked them and asked for seconds. (Of course, I didn't tell them there was anything different about the recipe - not sure if I ever will...)

This easy, moist & fudgy recipe came from allrecipes...

Ingredients:

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder [the original recipe didn't call for this, but I added it anyway]
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (I used 1 Tbs strong brewed coffee instead)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I added a couple of Tbs of sliced almonds, too)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender or food processor; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips/nuts over the top of the mixture.
   
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
   

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Amazingly, we still have quite a few potatoes left from last summer's garden. They're looking pretty tired by now though, with dangling, foot-long sprouts hanging off of them, so lately I've been looking for ways to use them up (i.e. pierogis).

I love scalloped potatoes. Personally, I like them even better than mashed potatoes. Here's how it's done:

Ingredients:
6-7 cups of thinly sliced potatoes (I don't bother to peel them.)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick butter
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley (1 Tbs if fresh)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup flour
5 cups milk
2 cups sharp cheddar

Layer half of the potatoes in a lightly greased 9x13" pan.

Cook onions & garlic in the butter in a saucepan until the onions are tender. Stir in the flour, salt & spices. Slowly add the milk & keep stirring until the mixture is thickened. Pour half of this over the potatoes. Top with half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 350F for an hour & a half.

Pierogis!

There's something about this time of the year makes me want to make things like pierogis or egg rolls. One or two (or three or four!) of the kids usually help out, so it makes for a pleasant afternoon in the kitchen, mixing, rolling, stuffing and chatting. These are some of my favorite times.

First, make a batch of mashed potatoes with butter, salt & milk like you normally do (or better yet, use leftovers!)- you will need about 4 cups & will probably have some leftover. Add cooked crumbled bacon, sauteed onions, sharp cheddar, and a little sour cream until you have a really deliciously savory filling. Just taste it & add more until it tastes like you like it. (Personally, I think minced jalapenos would be a very tasty addition!)

Make the dough. Here's how:

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter

Mix the flour & salt together. Cut in the butter until it's crumbly. Stir in the eggs & sour cream. Knead until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for at least an hour. The dough will be a little sticky. Only work with a handful at a time, while keeping the rest refrigerated.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface until about 1/4" thick. Cut into 3" circles (I used a plastic drinking cup for this).

Put a rounded teaspoon of the filling onto the middle of each circle. Fold the circle in half and then wet the edges and fold them in to seal them. Once folded, dip a fork in flour and press the edges to make sure they're sealed and to make them look pretty.

Now you can freeze them for later use or go ahead & cook them. To freeze them, lay them on wax paper on a baking sheet with a little space in between. Place a sheet of wax paper between each layer so they don't stick together. Once they're frozen, you can put them all together in ziplock bags.

To cook them, drop several at a time into boiling water. You can boil them for several minutes & serve them this way, but I like to scoop them out of the water once they've risen to the surface, let them drain and then fry them in a little oil until they're golden. Serve with sour cream, salsa or ketchup! Makes about 4 dozen.

Hummus

I love hummus. It is so yummy, healthy & easy to make. I've seen many recipes for it and have come up with my own version. If you don't have the Gochujang, never fear. It is not necessary, I just like the hint of zippy flavor that it adds. If you don't have it, just use a dash or two of tabasco sauce or cayenne.

Ingredients:
2 cans chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp gochujang
salt & pepper, to taste

Drain the beans, saving the liquid from the cans. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and process until it looks like mush. Mix in enough of the bean liquid to make it creamy. Serve with cut veggies, crackers, bagel chips or even spread it on bread & make a sandwich!


P.S. This is what Gochujang looks like. It has a very, very, VERY spicy and unique flavor. You should be able to find it at an asian grocery store.

Sweet Potato Chips

I've turned 35 and have entered a new phase in my life. (I'm not sure how long this phase will last, but that's beside the point.) I'm trying to seriously reduce the amount of white flour & white sugar that I eat, and add more whole grains, fruits & veggies to my diet. This excludes my Coffeemate French Vanilla Coffee Creamer. And ice cream. And cookies. Oh, and cake, pie, etc...

Anyway, my sister-in-law told me about this recipe. I love sweet potatoes, anyway, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It was really good! Three of my children liked the chips, two tried a small crumb & wanted no more, and one remained true to his anti-sweet potato convictions and wouldn't touch them. (Oh well, more for me!)

Even though the taste of these were really good, I probably won't make them very often unless I get a mandolin slicer. It was really hard to get them sliced thin enough (think paper-thin) by hand.

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato

oil

salt

Slice the potato into very thin slices. Lightly coat with oil. Lay the slices on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350F for around 30-40 minutes (turning them over every now & then). Keep an eye on them! They won't be crispy unless they are a little brown. Remove them from the pan as they start to brown, leaving the rest behind until they are brown, too. They will get crispier as they cool, though, mine weren't 100% crispy. It was more like a combination of crispy/chewy and sweet/salty - which I loved.

One potato made 4 baking sheetfulls.