Peach Apple Salsa

 Sometimes recipes come from strange places in our imaginations...........           Other times, we just need to clean out the fridge.

Dice up your ingredients

Apple Peach Salsa

(Makes about 4 Cups)
4 Jalapeno Peppers, diced
1 Red Onion, diced
3 Celery Stalks, diced small
1 Small Can of Peaches, drained and diced
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced, toss in lemon juice to prevent browning
1 Can Black Beans, rinsed well
Small bunch of Cilantro, leaves only, chopped
1 Cup of Enchilada Red Sauce
2 Tbs. Honey
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp. each)

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit in the fridge
for a few hours to meld the flavors.

This can be also be 'canned' to preserve.
15 minutes processing time - water bath.

Find a good Gluten free chip or make your own!

This one would work as a topping for fish or chicken too.  It's light with a good punch of flavor.

If you'd like it spicier, just leave in the seeds when you dice the jalapenos. 

Used up a lot of good fresh ingredients for this one.
Enjoy!

Be sure you're entered in the NuNaturals giveaway.  Contest ends Saturday.

Sugar Free Sunflower Seed Butter

This is the Sunflower Seed Butter mixed with a Mocha powder.  Lot's of variety options for this.

Blend the nuts, scraping down sides until
the smooth texture you want is made.
You can add in a variety of flavors to this
base or just enjoy the Sunflower flavor.

 

I'm storing the Sunflower Seed Butter in a canning jar.
Don't think that this one can be preserved by canning method but stores in the freezer well for at least 1 year.

This nut butter has so many variations:

Use Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Hazelnuts or Brazil nuts instead of Sunflowers.

I used Sunflower Seeds today because I found 1 pound for just $2.50

so

it's definitely an economical option to store bought nut butters.

After I made up this first batch of Sunflower Seed Butter, I poured half in another container.

Then I stirred in 1 Tbs. of Cocoa Powder and 1 Tbs. of Caffix Coffee Substitute to

make a Mocha version of this dipping sauce. 

It can be flavored many different ways to suit your own tastes.  Vanilla, Raspberry, or mix in your favorite jam to create an even richer sauce.  It can be heated to pour over desserts as well.

This Sunflower Seed Butter makes a great gift too.  Make up a few batches, pour into jars and store them in the freezer for last minute gifts.  They will keep for at least a year if kept sealed and frozen.

Enjoy!

Watermelon Jam

I saw this recipe on line and had to give it a try. 

My favorite fruit is Watermelon!  It's what makes the 90 degree days worth while in the summer, it's sweet, juicy and not really unhealthy.  So making jam that I can open up in the deep freeze of winter sounded like a perfect idea.

The recipe is included here:    http://blondiescakes.blogspot.com/2010/09/watermelon-jam.html

With most canning processes, it's just easier to put out a tried recipe since canning is more science than a lot of food we enjoy.  I used more watermelon than in this recipe and less sugar. 

And I didn't puree the fruit in advance. 

I used an immersion blender to smooth while cooking the fruit for a while to

save some time and mess.

The rest was the same process.

My $3.99 Watermelon made up much more jam than I expected.  This works out to about .75 per jar!

I'll have to let you know if it's a good as it looks when it sets up. 

Can't wait to spread a little on a biscuit!

Lemon Curd Jam with Red Pepper Flakes

If you've followed Canned Time for any amount of time

you'll quickly realize that I occasionally enjoy spicy foods and that I have a passion for citrus.

So basically when I tasted how this jam came out................I was thrilled with the taste.

Two of my favorite tastes in one jar!

This recipe is loosely based on one from my new favorite website:  SBCanning.com!  http://www.sbcanning.com/2012/04/meyer-lemon-and-tarragon-marmalade.html. 

Please see this site http://www.sbcanning.com/ for exact instructions on water bath canning methods.  Below are the ingredients and times that I used for my batch:

Be sure to check out SBCanning for more great canning recipes and techniques. 



Check out this Lemon Jam for sure.

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Enjoy!

Weekend Beverage Sampling

I have a few days to spend by myself indulging in selfish interests and I'm starting the time

with 3 new beverages to try out.

I love being married, but sometimes it's nice to just have your own space and relax without trying to please anyone but yourself......

The Ginger Ale is like no Ginger Drink
I've ever tried, strong but refreshing

Old English Dandelion & Burdock

 I'll miss him by tomorrow............ but for now its my time.


Natural Ingredient Maine Root Beer

So I bought 3 drinks today to try out:  A Dandelion Burdock that I read about last year when I was on my Burdock Root craze, a natural Ginger Ale that I'll have with dinner, and a natural Root Beer made in Maine.

Just a light dinner enjoying some veggies and crackers with the Whole Grain Spicy Honey Mustard that I made last week and also trying out some Kumquat Jam and the good people at iHerb included in my last order to sample.

I was happy to try out the Kumquat Jam to compare it to my own version I canned last month.
Kumquat Pomegranate Marmalade.

The Kumquat Jam from iHerb is less chunky than mine, more sweet but goes really well with the bland whole grain crackers I spread it on.  I'm so used to eating 'Sugar Free', when I do have a sweet product it is sometimes overwhelming in it's sweetness but this jam was just right.  (I like mine
best but this one is really good as well)

Thanks iHerb!

I'm teaming the jam and Ginger Ale up with some Whole Grain Spicy Brown Honey Mustard

that I canned last week as well.  This mustard gets better every time I use it now.  It is quite strong and really kicks your sinus like Horseradish.  But it's a good burn.  The honey calms it some on your tongue so it's not overwhelming to whatever you're dipping in it.   Great stuff and soooo easy to make!  Love it.............   As for this new Ginger Ale, it's teamed up well with the crackers, jam and spicy mustard.  I like the mild fizz and then the bang of the strong Ginger.  Only thing I would do differently is get it a bit colder next time but that may just be a reaction to mixing it with the Spicy Mustard......Lots of spice in my simple dinner tonight.

Guess I'm trying to compensate for the 'spice of my life' being away tonight...............

Back to the kitchen soon now to work on a Mother's Day special Cheesecake Cup Cake. 

They are firming up now in the freezer before they get lot's of Dairy Free Dark Chocolate icing spread on each one.

That's for tomorrow's news though.  Going to take it easy tonight.

Hope you do as well!

Spiced Up Pears

I had some help from Mr. Floydy this afternoon canning up some spiced pears. 

I canned some pears 2 years ago to give as gifts (ate 2 jars myself though)  and everyone loved them.

This batch, I decided to use a little more spice and to leave the skins on too.

They turned out really nicely sweetened and with a tender but not mushy texture.

I think leaving the skins on helped the slices to not break apart so much as my first batch did.  The first batch tasted fine but this one was more like fresh fruit.  Here's the link for my first batch:

http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/2010/12/spiced-pears.html

Spiced Up Canned Pears                                   

5 - 6  Pears Cored and Sliced (any type or a mix)

1 Cup of filtered warm water

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Allspice

3 Tbs. Coconut Palm Sugar (or other sweetener)

2 droppers full of lemon flavored liquid Stevia (or 1 tsp. of lemon juice + 1 tsp. Stevia Powder)

Add in additional Stevia to taste and ripeness of the pears. 

Heat water to a boil, add in pear slices and all other ingredients.
Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes
then remove from heat while you fill the jars.

Spoon Pear slices into 2 - 3 Pint Size Canning jars. 
Fill pear filled jars with cooking water to 1/2 inch head space in each jar.
(see Water bath canning process)

20 minutes processing time. 
Remove from water and cool in a non drafty area for at least 12 hours.

Remove outer rings and rinse jars before storing for up to 2 years in a cool dark area.

Of course if you don't want to go through the canning process, these would be fine just stored in the fridge for a couple weeks.  Not sure about how the texture would be if frozen though.

The Water Bath process is easy once you learn it and makes having homemade goodies so nice in your storage for years!

Enjoy!