County Fair 2013

It's been over two months since our county fair and with all that has been going on I forgot to post how my canned good did at the fair. At last minute I decided to gather some goodies up and send with my husband and daughter to enter them.

County Fair 2013

First time entering anything into a fair. So I was rather nervous sending items as I wasn't sure what they would be looking for. This is what I sent in and where I placed.

Ham and Bean Soup - Third place

Chili - Second place

Raw Pack Chicken Thighs - Second place

Plum Jam - Second place

Salsa - Second place

Corn - First place

Dandelion Jelly - First place

Cherry Pie Filling - First place

Orange Jelly - First place 

Blue-Barb Jam - First place

Not to shabby for the first time. I actually was totally shocked. There was so many great things submitted. I plan on taking items to the fair again next year I will take different items. If you submitted any canned foods in the fair how did you do?

Keep on canning
~ FarmGirl

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Banana Pepper Rings

Makes 2 pints
20-30 banana peppers, depends on size
1 quart white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons canning salt (or pickling salt)
1 pinch alum
1 pinch of turmeric (optional)

Wash and slice peppers - you may want to seed them. (using gloves is highly recommended)
Pack in hot sterilized jars.
Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, alum and turmeric to a boil.
Pour boiling vinegar mixture over peppers in jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.
Wipe rims of jars, affix two piece caps, process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and wait for them to seal.

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Sweet Hot Pickle Relish

Makes 6 pints
(6 cups) 1 1/2 quarts hot banana peppers, finely chopped
(4 cups) 1 quart cucumber, finely chopped
(2 1/2 cups) 2 large onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup canning salt + 2 tablespoons
5 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups apple cider vinegar
4 teaspoons pickling spice

Combine banana peppers, cucumbers, onion, and the salt in a large glass or ceramic bowl, cover with cold water and let stand for 2 hours. Drain thoroughly, pressing on the vegetables to remove excess liquid.

Combine the sugar and vinegar in a large pot; tie the pickling spices in cheesecloth (or tea ball this is what I use) and add the liquid. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove spice bag. Pack into hot jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

*Note: to give it a kick sub in 1/2 to 1 cup of finely chopped jalapenos or any mix of peppers you desire.

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Bluebarb Jam

1/2 cup water
5 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 cups blueberries
5 cups sugar
2 (3 oz.) boxes raspberry Jell-o

Cook rhubarb with water on low heat until tender.

Add sugar stir and cook for a few minutes until sugar is dissolved. Add blueberries and boil for 10 minutes. Add Jell-o and stir until dissolved.

Ladle in jars, wipe rim and cap.

Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.

~ Farmgirl

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Brown Sugar Carrots

Break away from the normal plain carrots. Super easy to prepare and can. Great for beginners to get started in using their canners. I originally came across this recipe on a Canning group on facebook. I'm so glad that I did. My family prefers these over plain ones.

Makes 8 pints

5 pounds carrots, cleaned and sliced
8 tablespoons brown sugar
8 pinches of canning salt
water

Fill each sterilized jar with carrots to 1 inch headspace.

Add a pinch of canning salt and  1 tablespoon brown sugar per jar. Fill with water to 1 inch headspace.

Wipe rims of jars, affix two piece lids and pressure can 30 minutes @ 10 lbs pressure.

~ Farmgirl

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Corn Cob Jelly

I was very intrigued when I first saw this recipe. I had to make it just to find out what all the hype was about. I'm so very glad I did. I've been making it for many years now and I really enjoy the delicate apple honey taste.

12 sweet corn cobs, corn removed
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 (1 3/4 ounce) box fruit pectin

Bring water with cobs to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
Measure 3 cups and strain through wet cheesecloth.
Pour into a large saucepan with pectin and bring to a rolling boil.
Add sugar.
Bring back to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.
Skim foam if necessary and add food coloring if you want.
Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps.
Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Make 6 1/2 pints

Enjoy
~ Farmgirl

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Mama's Wonderful Salsa

This truly is a wonderful salsa. My family can't get enough of it. 

makes 6 pints
8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups green peppers, chopped
1 cup hot banana peppers, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/3 cup distilled vinegar
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon cilantro
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot. Bring mixture to a boil 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. * For a thicker salsa: cook down till desired thickness. For me its about an hour.

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

* Note: When cutting or seeding, hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

~ Farmgirl

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Thrifty Shopping

Yesterday while out and about I took a detour and stopped at one of the local Thrift shops. I normally don't go to this one alone as its not in such a good area. Just freaks me out a bit. I stopped and I am so glad that I did.

My total stop cost me $10.58. I got 31 jars and 1 unopened box of lids and rings. I will be sure to stop in more often if they are going to sell the jars for so cheap. Even if I just pick up one or two they will add up for sure.

This was one of my best scores in a long time when it comes to jars. Tonight I'm sure all the jelly size jars will be filled up. As I have a few orders for jelly that I need to fill. 

Happy thrift shopping and canning everyone!!

~ Farm Girl

 

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The Wide World of Canning

I belong to several canning groups on Facebook and other places. Lately, I have seen items being canned that just blow my mind. Like meatloaf, meatballs, sweet and sour chicken, ham and so on. Now I'm all for convenience and quick meals. I'm finding myself drawn to these things as easy meals for not only my family but things for my husband to take to work in his lunch pail that will take very little effort.

Thankfully, the art canning allows us the opportunity to know exactly what is in our foods. Unlike the quick meals in the stores. I know they are labeled at the stores but really what is some of that stuff we can't pronounce?

So anyhow, I grew up knowing the canning world as my mother and grandmothers have always done it for as long as I can remember. Now that I have been canning for 7 years on my own, many of the things I can is much different from the stuff that they canned. I remember many, many days cleaning potatoes, tomatoes and green beans for the both of them.

I'm so thankful for the Internet and the canning groups that have opened my eyes to the many different recipes and wealth of knowledge that has been provided for me to make such wonderful things. Just so you know I have yet to try the meatloaf, meatballs, and sweet and sour chicken and many other things. But, I'm slowly getting up the nerve to try them.

I now have over 2000 jars so I'm ready to spread my wings and try something new.

What are some of the things you have tried lately that you have thought long and hard about if it was worth the risk?

~ Farm Girl

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SOS Mix - Soup or Sauce

Have you ever had the hankering for something and the only reason you can't make it is because you didn't have a can of cream of mushroom soup? Well, let me tell you, that has been me for the last week in half or so. All I wanted was some scalloped potatoes. Scalloped potatoes how hard could that be to make, right? Well let me tell you this, the last time this happened, I tried to improvise and it didn't work out so well.

Night before last I was looking through my pinterest pins and ran across the SOS mix. I got very excited for a few moments, then realized I don't keep minced onion on hand, my excitement turned into disappointment. Then a light bulb popped on, hmm... there must be a substitution for it, right? Ah ha, I googled for it and low and behold I found my answer! I'm back in business now! Yeah Me! So off I go getting everything together, and what do you know, this girl is also out of italian seasoning. I'm thinking that this recipe may just turn out to be a disaster. Should I or shouldn't I do this? So, here I go again, I googled and now we are back on track.

Finally all the ingredients

SOS MIX - Soup or Sauce

2 cups powdered non-fat dry milk

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup instant chicken bouillon (regular or low sodium)

2 Tablespoon dried minced onion OR 2 teaspoon onion powder

2 tsp italian seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a recloseable plastic bag, mixing well.

Yield: 

Equal to 9 (10.5 oz.) cans of cream soup.

Store in chinese take-out container works perfect.

To substitute for 1 can of cream soup

1. Combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1 and 1/4 cups of cold water. Whisk until well blended.

2. Cook and stir on stove until thickened. 

3. Add thickened mixture to casseroles as you would a can of soup.

Storage:

Store in a closed plastic bag or air-tight container until ready to use. It does not have to be refrigerated.

Things you may want to know about the SOS Mix.

1. Gluten FREE!! 

2. Can be used in many recipes such as gravies, soups, creamed veggies, casseroles and skillet meals.

3. Saves money and time!

If you would like to know more about this SOS mix please feel free to visit here and here for more info.

This post was to be about those scalloped potatoes I've had a hankering for lately. So I'm going to continue this on another post so it will be easily found later.

Check out this Mix, I think you will be very happy that you did!

~ Farm Girl

I thought I nice to add recipes that I made with the SOS mix to this post as they will be easily found.

Au Gratin Potatoes
Hamburger Stroganoff

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Canning: Beef Vegetable Soup

I finally got time and the energy to do some more canning. I have been meaning to and promised that I would get my recipe for beef vegetable soup up on the blog. Today I cleaned out my refrigerator freezer and gathered some frozen vegetables to make some soup.

When making most soups for canning the preparation is super simple. For this recipe I grabbed 2 quarts of tomato juice from my pantry along with tid-bits from the freezer. You could easily use items from your pantry. I however like the method of cleaning my freezer out to make soups.

Ingredients:
2 quarts tomato juice
8 cups chopped tomatoes
4 cups water
1 carton beef broth
1 1/2 lbs ground beef, browned, drained
3 small onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
4 carrots, chopped
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen lima beans
2 cups frozen green beans
1 cup dried kidney beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot. Bring to a boil and boil 15 minutes, stirring ocassionaly. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering this is when I prepare my jars. Wash and sterilize them. Prep lids and rings. Also fill canner to the fill line and bring the water up to simmer. Until ready to add filled jars.

Using a slotted spoon fill jars half  full with beef and vegetables. Fill remaining space with soup juice leaving 1 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim of jar with damp paper towel to remove any debris. Affix lids and rings, finger tight and put filled jars in canner.

Process in a pressure canner. Process pints 75 minutes @ 10 pounds pressure or quarts  90 minutes @ 10 pounds pressure. When complete turn off heat and remove canner from hot burner. Let pressure return to zero naturally. Wait 5 minutes longer and open vent. When cool enough remove lid. Wait 10 minutes then remove jars and place on dish towel in a place that they will sit on overnight to cool.

This recipe yeilded me 8 pints and 4 quarts soup and 1 quart of extra juice. Which I will probably use the extra quart the next time I make vegetable soup.

Now my husband has individual servings of soup for lunch.

~ Farm girl


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Freezer Home fries

I'm totally in love with the idea of OAMC (Once A Month Cooking). I have done some reading up on this for a few years now. I've tried many recipes but I have never made enough meals to make it through a month. I have however used the concept of buying in bulk and dividing it out for many meals.

These home fries I'm about to take you step by step through are so simple and you'll want to thank me many times for passing this on to you. As it will cut making breakfast time in half.

Freezer Home fries

5 lbs of potatoes (white or sweet)
oil (olive or vegetable)
seasoned salt, to taste

First peel and cut potatoes into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch chunks. Put them in a bowl of cold water to keep them from turning brown.

Work in small batches. Drain and dry the cut potatoes on a large towel.

Drying potatoes on a large towel

Put dry potatoes in large bowl. Add a splash of oil and seasoning, mix well to coat.

Spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Do not over crowd your pan.

Bake in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender.

Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature. If doing more than one batch of potatoes I put them out on freezer or wax paper to cool. Reuse baking pan several times.

When cool, divide potatoes out into meal size portions or put in gallon freezer bag. Put in freezer and every hour or two shake the bag to break them up a tad bit. You don't want them to freeze in a solid lump.

To use add frozen potatoes to preheated lightly oiled skillet. Cook until browned and heated threw. You may choose to defrost in microwave before cooking. Either way works great.

Enjoy
~ Farm girlPin It

Canning: Chuckwagon Chili

I don't know if many of you know but I've been canning for years and years with mom and granny. But, it wasn't till 7 years ago that I started canning on my own with a long break in between canning with family as I had moved away from home and started a life of my own. It wasn't till I moved back closer to my roots that I began raising a garden and gaining the much needed equipment needed to can. So anyhow, for the past six years its been strictly the basics vegetables, juices and some sauces like spaghetti and salsa.

This year I did my research, I have consulted youtube videos, my BBB (Ball Blue Book) and friends I have made on several FB groups. That I finally decided its time for meals in a jar such as chili. This will certainly give me a leg up on my DH's lunches, snow days with the kids and a quick meal if we need it on those busy nights.

Here we go!

Chuckwagon Chili
Makes 8 Quarts

6 cups dried beans – (2 cups each of Red kidney beans, pinto beans and small red beans)
11 cups water
7 tsp. kosher salt divided (4 tsp. for salting beans when they cook and 3 tsp. salt for chili)
5 lbs. of ground beef

3 cups onion, chopped

2 cups red bell peppers, chopped
6 tbs. chili powder
2 tbs. cumin
2 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. garlic, minced
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. coriander (optional)
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 quarts tomato juice
24 oz. of Salsa (Your favorite will do)
29 oz. tomato sauce
16 oz. beef stock

Washed beans

Wash beans thoroughly and put them in a large pot. Add cold water to a level of 2 to 3 inches above the beans and soak for 12 to 18 hours. Drain and discard water.

Soaked beans

Combine beans with 11 cups of fresh water and 4 tsp. kosher salt. Bring to a boil, reduce and cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onions and peppers in a large skillet.

Drain off fat by spooning in a large colander in the sink. Shake out the excess fat. (The next two photos are of everything that went into the chili)

Everything that went into the chili

Pour meat into large pot and add 3 tsp. salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander, crushed red pepper, tomato juice, salsa, tomato sauce, and beef stock. Drain beans after 30 minutes and add to meat mixture. Simmer chili for 45 minutes or until desired doness.

Using sterilized jars fill leaving 1 inch head space.

Remove air bubbles and adjust head space if needed. Wipe rims of jars with dampened clean paper towel.

Process at 10 lbs. of pressure 75 minutes for pints or 90 minutes for quarts.

Chuckwagon chili
This is how it looks after it cooled, the next day.

Happy Canning!
~ FarmgirlPin It

Hickory Smoked Salt

It has come to my attention that not everyone can find hickory smoked salt at the grocery store. I posted the recipe for my Ham and Bean Soup two days ago that has it as one of the ingredients and some have been asking about hickory smoked salt where to find it. So if you can't find any or just want to make it yourself here is my how to.

Hickory Smoke Salt
makes 1/2 cup 

1/2 cup sea salt (iodine free)
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke



Only ingredients you will need.

Mix salt and liquid smoke together. Add more sea salt or liquid smoke to resemble a wet brown sugar mixture.

 

Spread mixture out over a cookie sheet.

Allow to dry at room temperature or on a lowest setting in the oven. 150 degrees is the lowest setting for my oven. It only took about 30 minutes to dry.
Stir and rub salt mixture between fingers to break up often. If made on the aluminum foil you can just pull it up and sort of crumble it. Works great.
Room temperature salt is ready by the next day. Salt dried in the oven is ready in a few hours.
Store in an air tight container.

Final product Hickory smoked salt

Note: I only had course sea salt on hand. Which I used and I'm going to put it in the sea salt grinder which is in the picture. Remember you can make as much or as little of this that you like. The measurements I used can be reduced or doubled easily.

~ Farmgirl



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Budget: Tavern Ham

Budget: Tavern Ham

Recently I was at the grocery store and noticed that they had tavern hams on sale for $2.48 a pound. Pretty good price for around here. While pondering what all I could make of this ham the recipes were screaming at me. So I scooped one up and brought it home. When home this is when the real work begins.

 

This tavern ham weights 15.66 lbs @ $2.48 per lb for a total of $38.84. No food tax in the state of Ohio where I purchased it at.

I decided to slice up most of it. I had to borrow the slicer from my mother-in-law, as I don't have one of my own yet.

 

Because this slicer is smaller approx a 7.5 inch blade. I had to cut the ham into sections for easier sliceing.

 

Then it was time to run it on the slicer. I wish that I had someone here helping me to take pictures. But, I was on my own! Why does this not surprise me? Anyhow, this is most of the ham.



 

Make sure that you have plenty of freezer safe bags. A good sharpie to date your packages. This is how I divided mine up. 



 

What I got was 9 quart bags of sliced ham, 3 quart bags of chopped ham, 1 plate of scraps for the animals and 1 bowl for soup. You can obviously divide it up in many different ways. I should have kept a small section ham for baking it would of been good but I forgot to do that.

 

The kitties with their snack.

With the ham in the bowl I decided to turn it into soup. Which I canned. You can find that recipe posted yesterday.

7 quarts of Ham and bean soup made with great northern beans

 

7 more quarts of Ham and bean soup made with navy beans

 

So how does this play out for budgeting do you ask? Well 27 full meals from a 15.66 lb ham for a total cost per meal of $1.43. Now that's savings!  

 

If you purchase a ham let me know how you divide yours up for a savings. I'll be posting more budget meals that I use the ham in in the near future.

 

~ Farmgirl



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Canning Navy Bean and Ham Soup

I'm still stocking my shelves for winter. I want some easy soups for my husbands lunches or a quick meal when we are running on borrowed time. I have finally figured out a way to successfully can bean soup without everything turning to mush. Thanks to a simple recipe of "Ben's Beans."

Here's my recipe:

Navy Bean Soup
2 lbs dry navy beans, rinsed
half of small onion diced
1-2 medium carrots diced
1 stalk of celery diced
1 cup of diced ham
chicken bouillon, powder
hickory smoked salt
water
7 quart jars, lids and rings

I prep my jars first by washing them and get my lids and rings in hot water. After this I cut up my vegetables and ham. Lastly, I sort my beans, wash with cold water and let drain well.

Then in no particular order I add the following in each quart jar:
3/4 cup dry navy beans (do not soak beans), rinsed
1 Tbsp onion, diced
3 Tbsp chopped ham
1 Tbsp carrot, diced
1 Tbsp celery, diced
1/4 tsp hickory smoked salt (any seasoned or plain salt will work or omit)
2 tsp chicken bouillon, powder

After this I add water to fill to the 1 inch head space. Wipe rim of jar with clean cloth. Affix lid and ring and place in pressure canner.

Process for 90 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure.

The beans in these jars are great northern beans. Any kind of beans will do.

If you choose to reduce to pints you would need to reduce everything by half and process 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.

If you make ham and bean soup let me know of any changes you made to the recipe. It's always nice having several different versions of bean soup.

~ Farm girl




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Processing Tomatoes (picture heavy)

Slow garden? Having the same problem as I am, with the small amounts of vegetables come on in the garden and not enough to make a batch of spaghetti sauce or salsa to can? I have a solution to this minor problem. My solution is to process those small batches of vegetables and freeze till you collect enough to make that special sauce.

Before you actually begin working with the tomatoes you will need to gather some equipment to get started.

Equipment Needed
Large pot: to boil water
Large bowl:  for ice water
Large bowl:  for shocked tomatoes
Large slop bowl: to discard skins and cores
Paring knife
Large freezer container
Measuring cup
Food processor
Slotted spoon

Lay out equipment in a similar order. I don't have much counter space so this is how I lay out the scald/shock process. Then after I get all tomatoes through this I move to the kitchen table to clean and core them. If you have counter space beside your stove you might want to put the ice water on the right side of the boiling water then your bowl for already processed tomatoes beside that. Making an assembly line.

Once you have gathered and laid out the equipment as described you can begin processing the tomatoes as follows:

1. Wash The Tomatoes: Thoroughly wash all tomatoes. I like to use a wash clothe and cool water.

2. Cut slit in each tomato: Small slit on blossom end will work fine. I use a serrated knife such as an old steak knife. You don't have to cut deep just enough to get through the skin.

3. Briefly scald the tomatoes in boiling hot water. Heat water to boiling and add cut tomatoes in small batches of 4 to 6 tomatoes. Leave tomatoes in water from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. Judging how long you must leave the tomatoes in the hot water is kind of an art. You will quickly learn how long to leave them. It all depends on size and ripeness. You must remember you are scalding them not cooking them.

4. Transfer tomatoes to ice water. Remove tomatoes with slotted spoon to ice water. Leave tomatoes in water till they are cool to the touch approx a 60 to 90 seconds. This process loosens the skins of the tomatoes which makes for easy peeling.

Then transfer to second bowl.

 You want to see the cracking of the skins, but not all tomatoes do crack which is okay.

5. Remove skins and cores: Throw the skins, cores, bad spots and any hard places in tomatoes where the core is located in the slop bowl.

At this point you should have a bowl of peeled tomatoes. 

6. Decision time for your peeled tomatoes.  For myself I'm making salsa at this point. So I need my tomatoes chopped. I do this by putting them threw the food processor. I pulse them a few times and they are chopped enough.

I'm at the point in my garden where I don't have enough of everything to make a batch of salsa. So I'm measuring the fresh garden ingredients and putting them in freezer containers until I get what I need. The next few pictures are of the measured ingredients ready for the freezer.

 Finally, make sure you keep track of what and how much ingredients you have in your containers. I keep a running tally on the side of the freezer for each container. When I have enough I will thaw container by allowing it to sit on table till I can get the tomatoes to break up some. Then add to stock pot with added spices for recipe and continue the process for cooking down and canning.

This is the way I do it and it works for me. Please let me know how you manage your garden fresh vegetables for canning when you don't have quite enough.

~ Farmgirl

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