Homemade Jalapeno Jelly

Last year's jalapeno crop did fairly well, but this year we've only had enough for the summer luxury of being able to walk out to our own garden and grab a jalapeno here diced for tacos, a few there for our delicious PB jalapeno burgers, and a handful every once in awhile for poppers.

only a small portion of the harvest :)

The in-law's garden, on the other hand, has been producing these about as readily as our garden has been producing cukes! So of course we have done some garden swapping; and I knew exactly what I was going to do with the first bucket full ... my MIL's borrowed recipe from Tried and Tasty.

Jalapeno Jelly

4 cups finely chopped jalapenos (2 dozen or so whole)

1 cup white vinegar

5 cups sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 box (1.75 oz) pectin

8 pint size mason jars with seals and rings

Halve and deseed peppers. Finely chop prepared peppers (food processor is an option, just be careful not to over chop). Combine everything in a saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat. Boil for 15 min or until 220 degrees (here's a great resource for when it comes to getting your jam to set correctly). Pour hot jelly into clean, hot pint jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Add seals and rings n. If water bathing is desired process for 10 minutes. 

Just a few disclaimers: 

1 - When working with jalapenos I would strongly encourage the use of rubber gloves. Now, I usually am TOO lazy to take note of my own tip although I'm fully aware of the hazards that can come with cutting up jalapenos; however, after the fact I almost always regret my lack of caution. You can be careful enough to maintain the oils from the jalapenos by touching NOTHING other than the jalapenos until you are completely done handling them AND wash your hands umpteen times while using a scrub brush to make sure you have gotten ALL of the oils out from under your nails (otherwise you will oh so be in pain the next morning when you go to put your contacts in) as wells as a final rinse using some milk and vinegar OR you could just use gloves. Needless to say, but after a few times of suffering to consequences I know have a pair of gloves specifically for cutting up jalapenos {SO much simpler and smarter}. 

2 - If you are dead 'set' :) on having your jam turn out, well, like jam, then the resources link in the above recipe is VERY helpful. The last two batches of jam I have made have not set as well as I would have liked primarily due to (again getting lazy or quite possibly because I didn't want to take the few extra minutes when it was already hours past my bedtime ... zzzz!) and not cooking it long enough. While I followed to time suggested in the recipe, I didn't follow the tale-tell sign that the jam has passed the sheet test. Both of these batches have not and will not go to waste and honestly we have become quite fond of the not-so-set jalapeno jelly as it allows for a few more options as a dip, as a topping, and as a spread.

<insert picture of final product ... not sure how I forgot to grab this one at the time, the final product pic is the easiest one!>

COST COMPARISON: homemade 8 oz jar - $0.70 vs. store bought 10 oz. jar - $4.49 ... yeah it's definitely worth it! Even if you buy new jars it's still only about $1.80 for a 8 oz. jar. 

Homemade Relish

With the garden in full swing and our kitchen counter looking like the produce aisle, I've been trying to bring purpose to every last veggie that has entered our home from our own garden or another's!

A couple weeks ago after making our first round of pickles this season, I had a bowl full of leftover cucumber chunks after needing to cut a few of my cucumbers to fit lengthwise in the jars, so I decided what better way to use these than some relish.

So I went a googling and found a recipe from Jim and Mary at Old World Garden Farms ... and to be quite honest it was 90% for the name of their farm and 10% for their recipe ;) Either way, they have an inspiring story and some delicious relish {and you know it's delicious when I can convince the Mr. to try it and he's up for trying it on his Chicago Dog!}.

Other than omitting the celery seed (only because it's a very prominent favor that's not overly appreciated by a few in the family) and having to improvise on the process because I was multitasking and didn't read the directions very well the first time through {whooooppsss!!!}, I followed their recipe to a 'T' and was very pleased with the process.

Homemade Sweet Relish

3 to 4 pounds of cucumbers (great resource for measuring vegetables without a scale)

1 onion

1/4 cup pickling salt

3 cups white vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

4 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated

2 teaspoons dill seed

2 teaspoons mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Cut cucumbers lengthwise and remove seeds. Chop cucumbers and onion in food processor, being careful not to over process them. In a glass bowl, combine chopped veggies and salt. Allow to sit for 2 hours. Strain liquid off, pressing to remove excess moisture. In stockpot bring remaining ingredients to a boil. Add veggies. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer relish to clean jars. Store in refrigerator for up to a month. Or can using a water bath for 10 minutes. Makes about 4 pint size jars. 

Cost comparison: 

Price per jar - $1.11 homemade vs. $1.49 for store bought

For 1st timers (based off of Meijer Prices) 

cucumbers - free or ~$3

onion - $1.19

pickling salt - $1.59

vinegar - $2.69

garlic - $0.50

dill seed - $3.49

mustard seed - $2.49

turmeric - $5.89

pint mason jars w/lid - $7.69 12 ct. 

TOTAL - $23.53 not including cost for cucumbers before tax

For next time, I will try using the celery seed and maybe cider vinegar instead of white. 

Homemade Celery Salt

Who uses that? Anybody? Well, we have never but will be now.

The other day I ran across those amazing Chicago Poppy Seed Buns and I instantly started reminiscing and craving the Chicago Style Dogs I always enjoyed at the ballpark when the Mr. coached in a collegiate summer league before the kiddos came along. SO of course what was my first instinct? To start googling Chicago Style Dogs and what all goes on them!

I knew the basics: poppy seed bun, hotdog, onion, relish, pickle, tomatoes, but I knew there was something special ... like a secret ingredient and sure enough there was! Any guesses? That's right ... CELERY SALT. 

Well of course, I didn't have any of this on hand BUT I did have some celery seed from over ten years ago {sad, I know, but herbs and seasonings can be outrageously priced so it pains me to throw them out and really do they ever go bad?!? if they do, please do not share this with me ... I am okay staying naive in this area. hehehe!} so I figured it was worth a try. After a quick google search, I realized it was as simple as celery seed and salt ground up.

  Homemade Celery Salt

1 part celery seeds

1 part salt

Grind in a mortar and pestle until fine. 

 This is a great job for the kiddos. "Is that good enough, mom?" "No, keep going ... a little more ... take turns." You get the idea ;)

And then of course there's the Chicago Style Hotdog complete with garden fresh tomatoes, banana peppers, homemade relish, homemade pickles, and a dash (yes, only a dash ... too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing!) of homemade celery salt. 

And every one of our kiddos where 100% on board with loading their dog up just like this and devoured the whole thing! 

Strawberry Topping

Strawberry Topping

It's the time of year for strawberries and ice cream! But the best part about this stuff  sauce topping {sure wished I could come up with something more fun for a name:) }, we've used it on our PBJs, waffles, Grammy Lou Lou pancakes (aka skinny pancakes ... almost like a crepe), and ice cream. 

This is really just a variation from my Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam but I combined it with the Happy Money Saver's "Old Fashioned Strawberry Jam" recipe admittedly because there's just something about using a recipe that has 'old fashioned' in the title :)

I started with about 2 pounds of strawberries and we ended up with 12 - 8 ounce jars. For the fresh berries, sugar, jars, lids, and rings the total cost was under $20 and didn't take much more than a few hours ... both well spent in my book.

I made this batch just over a month ago and as you can see, some of our first batch made their way to into being a cute gift for some 'berry' special people in our lives :) Due to my days as the student council advisor and one of our council's jobs being teacher appreciation week, I just can get enough of all the punny sayings!

Butter’em Up

Homemade butter has been popping up on my Pinterest feed lately and then when my soon-to-be-sister-in-law was sharing about her own butter making experience at our family Easter gathering, I knew exactly what I was going to try out this week!

This was so simple to do in my KitchenAid stand mixer, but of course my brain started overflowing with all the possibilities for some super fun science experiments. I came across an article from Scientific American that outlines a great activity that the kids would love to try sometime! To all you teacher friends out there this could be a great interdisciplinary activity … science {molecules}, history {how we used to make butter}, math {measuring}, writing {write your own story or poem about butter}, and I’m sure you could find a good book for any level that could be related!

Enough with the lesson planning J

Homemade Butter

1 pint of heavy cream

½ teaspoon of salt (optional)

Stand mixer

Pour cream into mixing bowl with flat beater attachment. Cover stand mixer with towel {unless of course you thoroughly enjoy cleaning up cream that has splattered EVERYWHERE}. Beat on high for 15 minutes checking periodically. Once the butter and buttermilk has separated, drain off the buttermilk and reserve {this would work great in some homemade ranch dressing}. Knead and wash butter in a bowl of water to remove any remaining buttermilk, replacing water periodically until the water remains clear {this step is optional but will prolong the shelf life of your butter}. Press clean butter into a bowl with lid. Refrigeration not required. Makes about 1 cup.

Cost Comparison: Homemade butter about $3.65 for 1 lb vs. store bought about $3

Although it’s not a money saver, there is something about seeing the cute little bowl of butter sitting out on the counter that is quite satisfy. And then there is the pure deliciousness of this freshly made butter melting on a piece of warm bread … yum!

And of course I cannot go without wondering how this would all work if I had my own cow? I’m considering trying to butter up the Mr. J!

on this idea … hehee

Homemade Dill Pickles

How to Make Your Own Pickles

Again, it's been a  while ... ugh! This post has been in the making for a few weeks now and just hasn't made it to the top of my priority list along with all the other things that have managed to reach the summit first! ;-p Between having all the kids home for the summer, then getting started back to school, to transitioning into a new full-time job, and now there's #1's basketball schedule and #2's fall baseball schedule ... I've had to pull back on my 365 day challenge to a homemade home. Although my original plan was to be 365 consecutive days, I'm allowing my plan to be interrupted by life; and a GREAT life it is! Before I am finished I will have at least attempted 365 homemade items, it just may not be within the year deadline that I had set out to do. 

Goals are great to keep you moving forward but there was a church message a few months ago that a dear friend reminded me of a while back about being interrupt-able. Be interrupt-able! This phrase has been on repeat in my head for the last few weeks and it's forced me to pause and make sure I'm not missing out on something more important. Quite frankly, I have yet to wish I hadn't stopped what my busy body was doing to enjoy a moment with the kiddos, the Mr. or a friend. There is nothing wrong with being busy (I get it all too honest from the three generations of Momma Bear's before me, my Great-Grandma Ollie, Grammy Lou-Lou, and Momma Bear herself) but I'm working on being more interrupt-able.

With all that being said, I'll interrupt myself to get onto the REAL reason for this post ... the pickles, our garden has been doing a pretty good job at producing for us this summer but they did get a later start than most peoples. No matter what, I love the fact we started them from seed and we have enjoyed a steady flow of cucumbers, zucchini, and jalapenos. We are still waiting on our tomatoes to turn and I have realized we must have mixed up our seeds or labels because I'm really not quite sure of the tomato variety we ended up with!  

This first batch of pickles was made from a dear neighbor's cucumbers that she was so gracious to share with us (which was more than a month ago, so YES this post has been in the holding pen for THAT long!).  I got my inspiration from Debber at Food.com.

Homemade Pickles

3 quart size mason jars with rings and new seals

4-5 medium to large size cucumbers

4 1/4 water

1 cup + 2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 cup pickling salt

6 gloves of garlic (2 per jar)

3 teaspoons dill weed (1 tsp per jar)

3 teaspoons dill seed (1 tsp per jar)
large clean tub or bucket (optional)
garden hose (optional)

Prepare everything before filling jars. Cut cucumbers into spears sized and remove the sides if desired. Put cut cucumbers into a large clean tub or bucket. Take tub of cucumbers outside to the garden hose. Thoroughly clean the end of the garden hose. Fill the tub of cucumbers up with cold garden hose water. Turn the water down so it is coming out at the lowest pressure and allow the water to run into the tub, this will cause the water to over the edges of the bucket. Allow the water to run while everything else gets prepped. Wash jars in hot, soapy water, then fill with hot water and set aside. Fill large stock pot halfway with hot water and put over high heat. In a medium size sauce pan, prep rings and seals by covering them with water and bring to a simmer. In another sauce pan, bring water, vinegar, and salt to a boil.

Next filling the jars. Place dill weed, dill seed, and one garlic clove on the bottom of each jar. Fetch some cold cucumbers from outside. Tightly load the cucumbers into the jars. Place the second garlic clove on top. Pour water, vinegar, and salt brine leaving 1/2 inch head space in each jar. Add seal and ring. Tighten. Add to jars to stockpot making sure the water is just to the necks of the jars. Bring water to just boiling (about fifteen minutes). Remove jars. Wait for 'ping' of the seal.  Note: if the jars don't ping with in a few minutes, the seal has need been set and additional time in the stockpot may be needed. 

Cost Comparison: Less than $0.25 for a 32 ounce jar of homemade pickles vs. approximately $2 for a 16 ounce jar of store bought pickles 

Updated 8/10/16: So it’s that time of year again and we are starting to get into a pickle around here! HAAAHAHAAA … I know, eye-rolling allowed! J We picked our first few cucumbers this past Thursday and by Sunday we had 26 piled on the kitchen counter. The Mr. (one who is not too fond of his vegetables) has been SO ready for some fresh pickles ever since he tried them last summer so with such an abundance of them ready to go, I decided what better day than our 17^th wedding anniversary to get a batch of fresh dill pickles whipped up and in jars.

This year I planted a few pickling cucumber plants and I must say these are some of the cutest cukes I ever did see, just perfect in size. I have a few regular cucumber plants also and this batch was a mixture of both kinds. I haven’t noticed a significant difference in the texture and crispness, but the size pickle perfect! And since I  am all about testing different things out and learning by trial and errors discoveries (I really don’t like referring to these as errors because I learn so much by them that they deserve a much more positive reference than ‘errors’ … and really this way of thinking could shed a great deal of light on life!), there are an abundance of experiment options that I’d like to try out so I can perfect my cukes, whether it be dill, sweet, bread and butter, or relish … OH the possibilities are endless.

My first experiment (the portion that was updated in my recipe above) was inspired by my sweet sister’s experience making pickles with a local woman where they are missionaries. She shared with me how her friend had insisted they put the freshly cut cucumbers in a bucket and let the garden hose run over them for 2 hours. Not fully understanding the reasoning behind this, I decided it had to do with the crispness so I thought ‘Sure! Why not?’! They did turn out quite crisp and crunchy, but since I didn’t try making a jar where I had not done this, I truly can’t say the result was crispier and crunchier … so of course since I need data to back that statement up, I will be trying that next. J

All in all, our first batch of pickles this summer went off without a hitch and out of the 10 jars that were made on Sunday, only 2 remain unopened after many were enjoyed and a few given away. 

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

How to Make Your Own Teriyaki Sauce

Boy, I really need to get back into doing a post a day! I'm usually always trying something new but just haven't taken the time to sit down and get a post published. I whipped up a back of this teriyaki sauce last week to use on some chicken thighs that were on sale for $0.88/lb! Legs and thighs aren't the Mr.'s or the kids' favorite pick, but I grew up eating these all the time especially straight out of the 'FryDaddy' followed by some homemade curly fries!! Definitely not the picture of a healthy meal but SO GOOD! So when I find these on a deal too good to pass up, we I get to enjoy them every once in a while. :)

I am borrowing The Daring Gourmet's recipe with a few tweaks based off what I had on hand. A grocery store trip avoided once again! ;-)

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

1/2  cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon garlic (more or less for you preference)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (I find this flavor to be very overpowering, so used less than the recipe had called for)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/4 cup water mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (double the cornstarch to use as a dipping sauce)

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool. Use immediately or store in air-tight container in refrigerator for up to one week.

I was very pleased with the flavor and consistency of this recipe and will definitely be making it again! I used this recipe as a marinade over our chicken thighs and they are currently in the freezer to be used as a grill-meal sometime. I will update when we do to let you know how it turns out! As for next time, I will double the cornstarch like the original recipe stated and use in as a dipping sauce or wing topping. 

Maybe I'm really hungry as lunch is approaching, but just thinking of this teriyaki sauce makes my mouth water for some good chicken chow mein!

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

How to Make Your Own Thousand Island Dressing

This one's a first! I've been trying to hold out so I could also use the cucumbers from our garden to make the sweet pickle relish needed for thousand island dressing, but it's going to be a while before they are ready! We aren't big thousand island dressing eaters, BUT we love a good (what we call) ranch burger every now and again! Our version of a ranch burger (although there is no ranch used) is a cheeseburger topped with fresh homemade coleslaw and thousand island dressing on a warm toasted bun. SO GOOD!

My starting point for the thousand island dressing came from Kitchen Treaty's version with some tweaks.

homemade thousand island dressing

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (once my cucumbers are ready, I'll be trying this!)

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)

Whisk all ingredients thoroughly. Store in sealed container. Refrigerate. For best results, allow to sit overnight. 

While looking through other thousand island dressing recipes, I noticed an ingredient that showed up more often than not was hard boiled eggs. I was a bit lazy today and didn't want to take the time to make these and I was also a little fishy about the texture with the diced egg whites. With that being said, I do feel like something is missing from the above recipe and will definitely be adding 1 hard boiled egg finely chopped to the mix next time. 

Today's Question: What's your favorite burger fixings?

Homemade Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam

How to Make Your Own Jam without Pectin

It's taking all of my commitment to sit down and make today's post. It's been a full day of a baseball game and a Father's Day get together and I am beat after an exhausting emergency room visit with #4 last night.  Big brother was being a sweetheart and was taking his little brother outside to play just because that's all #4 wanted to do. Doors and fingers just don't mix and we ended our night with an almost 7 hour emergency room visit that consisted with my baby being hooked up to an IV and all those monitors and sedated while an orthopedic surgeon repaired his pinky finger! He was a trooper and thanks goes out to all the prayers and help last night.

Commitment is when you push through when you least feel like it. It's about making time for something that's important to you. I worked today on coming up with a recipe for this SO I am making myself get a post in! :) 

Homemade Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam

16 oz. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and mashed

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the consistency coats the back of the spoon and begins to run of in longer doublets. Put in airtight container and refrigerate.  

Homemade Chocolate Sauce

Please don't judge, but yes I just got done making homemade chocolate sauce and you better believe I will be indulging in it at 10:30pm! Priorities people! ;) We have a Mt. Everest of STUFF that was in the car from the baseball game that didn't make it more than 10 feet inside our front door (really not sure how we fit in the car sometimes), the dishes haven't been done since yesterday morning, and don't get me started on everything that has managed to find a resting place on the kitchen counter! Today was jam-packed but very productive, we left at 7:30 this morning for school and work, then had to run straight to town after picking up #3 and #4 about noon to grab a few things for our family get together on Saturday (my momma bear is turning 6 ... 0!), but then needed to be back by 3:15 to grab #1 from school, and then onto #2's baseball practice early so we could head to the Mr.'s regional baseball game that was delayed an hour and then took almost 3 hours to play (which they came out on top, another very good reason to indulge in some chocolate so late in the evening), with a 45 minute drive the kiddos and I finally made it home about 9:30 this evening, whew!

My life (and kiddos, hehee) is crazy, stressful, overwhelming, frustrating, and completely blessed! At the end of the day we have clothes on our backs, a house to come home to, food in our bellies and love abounding. I thank God because there really isn't much more I could ask for.

In just a few moments I will be pausing to enjoy all of these blessings and a little bit of chocolate. I started with David Lebovitz's recipe and then just kinda flew with it! I had unsweetened chocolate needing some attention so decided to use it up.

Homemade Chocolate

1 1/2 water

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of corn sugar (optional)

6 oz of unsweetened chocolate

Roughly chop chocolate. Place water, sugar, and corn syrup in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir until melted. Use a mixer to blend chocolate sauce as is cools. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

This didn't turn out like the sauce I would image putting on top of ice cream, but it worked just fine in milk so the kids will be thrilled!

Today's Question: What is your favorite late night indulgent? 

Updated 5/21/15 - In no way was this a picture of perfection, this morning our homemade chocolate sauce wasn't so much of a sauce but instead a paste, oops! It is still usable to make chocolate milk which we had for lunch today. The favor was just as good as the Hershey chocolate syrup, but it didn't dissolve like I felt it should. I will continue to work on this one but in no way will this chocolate "sauce" go to waste!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

How to Make Your Own BBQ Sauce

A summertime staple now that the grilling has bung, BBQ sauce is one of those things once you find one you really like it's hard to find anything else that compares or it could take years even if you did! We use a variety of sauces from Open Pit, Baby Ray's, Country Bob's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and to save some of the best for last Rub N Chug original and cinnamon apple! If you live in the area and have never tried this, you need too! Due to the fact we get treated every once in a while with some homemade Rub N Chug BBQ sauces I have left it up to the pro since I know mine wouldn't even compare. 

Today I tried my hand at some homemade Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce, my inspiration was the pork loin that is in our smoker and TGIFriday's (is it really only Tuesday?). We don't normally get that fancy with our meals but when we find meat for $1.78 a pound and it's good stuff; we grab is and run with it! I purchased a whole pork loin for under and cut it into 4 meals ... two roasts and two meals worth of pork loin chops! Don't forget we are feeding a family of 6, two of these meals are in the freezer and each one has enough for lunch leftovers.

Now some of you might be thinking ... we sure don't have any Jack Daniel's on hand! No worries, try something else, your favorite wine, favorite seasonal beer, or even a Coke, I really don't think it would matter ... it's all about what flavors work for you. I couldn't tell you how long the bottle I used today has been sitting in our cupboard but when I starting thinking about making BBQ and TGIFriday's Jack Daniel's menu (I'm salivating as I type) came to mind, it was a no brainer! I started with a recipe from The Ultimate BBQ Sauce Recipes and just tweaked it with what I had on hand.

Homemade Jack Daniel's BBQ

3/4 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey (optional, substitute with water)

1 teaspoon of onion powder

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 cup homemade ketchup

1/3 cup of vinegar

3 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup homemade maple syrup

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce

Whisk together ingredients in sauce pan. Bring boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

This has been simmering for about 15 minutes and it smells and tastes DELISH! I love when recipes come together without having to leave your home to purchase additional ingredients.

Homemade Ketchup

I feel like I am approaching the end of my kitchen series with only a few things I'd still like to try! I am hoping once school is out for the summer I can get back to the drawing board and come up with a plan for the next series ... thinking a "Body and Beauty" series??? Just to get your wheels a turning for some upcoming posts! :) Now onto the real reason for today's post, ketchup.

How to Make Your Own Ketchup

The Mr. isn't too particular when it comes to specific brands he has too have for his food (which I am thankful of), but he does make requests when it comes to his coffee and ketchup! I really think I can tweak what I have here to get pretty close, but until then I will continue to buy his Heinz and the kids can be the guinea pigs until I have perfected it :). 

My recipe was inspired by Simply Scratch and Hillbilly Housewife. I feel the cinnamon is a little too much and will cut it out next time with a few more changes like using white sugar instead of brown and regular vinegar instead of white wine vinegar.

Homemade Ketchup

6 ounces of tomato paste

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon dry ground mustard

1/4 teaspoon of salt

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of cayenne

dash of ground cloves

dash of ground allspice

1/3 cup of water 

4 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

Combine all ingredients and whisk thoroughly. Store in airtight container and refrigerate. 

The consistency it slightly different, but the true taste test will come tomorrow when all the flavors have had some time to get to know one another!

Cost Comparison: ~$0.70 for 10 ounces of homemade ketchup vs. $3.50 for 38 ounces of Heinz
                                ~$0.07 per ounce of homemade VS. $0.09 per ounce if Heinz

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Aaaahhhh! We are running behind! Let's just say it was good :)

Heehee! I will share more later but we are out the door to another baseball game and most of my afternoon went into baking and making the Mr.'s cake for his 35th Birthday!!!! Love him so much! Some of this caramel sauce went into his cake, can't wait to eat it later (pictures to come, but for now it's a surprise)!

Happy Birthday Babe and GO SPARTANS!

Updated 5/18/15 - 

Here is the recipe for the caramel sauce I used. It was adapted from Averie Cooks. 

Homemade Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon of corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

Add sugar and water to sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir carefully to minimize sugar mixture on the sides of the pan. Add 1 teaspoon of corn syrup. Continue to boil and stir occasionally slowly for 3 to 5 minutes. As soon as you start seeing the color changing from clear to caramel, watch very carefully. Once it turns to the beautiful color of caramel remove from heat (be careful it can go from perfection to ruined in seconds). Gradually and carefully add the heavy cream. Return to low heat and stir until smooth.

I made this twice ... first time was a fail because I didn't watch it carefully enough (do not make or take any phone calls during this time!)  ... the second time was better but I forgot the corn syrup! Oh well, that's part of this process ... learning as I go! The first attempt was a perfect, ooie-gooey caramel, but had that bitter burnt sugar taste. :-p The second went onto the cake just fine and tasted GREAT but crystallized as it cooled so was more of a solid and not ooie-gooey by the time we were able to eat it about 4 hours later.

the Mr.'s turtle-inspired cake

Homemade Mayo

How to Make Your Own Mayo

Oh mayo, the day has finally come ... I just wish you tasted better! ;-p I followed The Clothes Make the Girl's Blog and it was very simple! However, Aldi olive oil must not be light tasting enough ... I don't mind olive oil but it's not the only thing I want to taste in my mayo. I would love to try this with avocado oil and a little more salt.

Homemade Mayo

1 pasteurized egg

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 and 1/4 cup of olive oil (will be trying avocado next)

Place egg and lemon juice in processor and allow to reach room temperature (about 1 hour). Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and blend for 30 seconds. Slowly drizzle remaining 1 cup of olive oil into food processor while running, this should take a couple minutes if you are truly drizzling :). Once all the the olive oil is incorporated you will have a thick and creamy mayo.

We don't use mayo by itself too often, so I am very curious how this will taste in our homemade ranch dressing (bummer I should have waiting on making a batch last week ... poor planning on my part!), spicy mayo, homemade coleslaw, and chipped beef spread. 

Today's Question: What is your favorite use for mayo?

Updated 5/17/15 - We used our homemade mayo in a family favorite recipe for chipped beef spread and it turned out great! No olive oil taste whatsoever. I did notice it was not as creamy as it usually is, but I didn't warm my cream cheese up before starting and I did use a little more beef; both could have been the culprit for the less creaminess so I won't blame the homemade mayo yet!

Homemade Soy Sauce

How to Make Your Own Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is one of the ingredients I have made a special trip to the grocery store on more than one occasion because we are out not because we use it all the time but because there's only one or two recipes we use it for and I forget to put it on my list when I use it all up (argh!). We were not out of soy sauce but we are getting ready to make one of our main dish's that uses soy sauce and decided what better time to try out some homemade soy sauce (plus I can really compare the flavor then). 

I found a useful site (www.misshomemade.com) that gave a traditional soy sauce recipe, a vegan soy sauce recipe and quite a few other sauces, definitely need to look into those more! I am using the traditional recipe because I have sesame oil and not balsamic vinegar, odd I know ... can't even remember what recipe I bought the sesame oil for in the first place (one more reason why I need to document all my findings in this blog!). Again I am all about using what is in the cupboard and avoiding a trip to the store.

Homemade Soy Sauce

1 and half cups of boiling water
10 bouillon cubes
4 tablespoons of cider vinegar (balsamic would work also)
1 tablespoons of molasses
1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
pinch of white pepper (black pepper is fine ... bought some white pepper the other day and want to try it)

Possible Additional Costs: ~$5 for sesame seed oil, ~$2.60 for beef bouillon ... both I had on hand
Cost Comparison: ~$0.11 per ounce for homemade vs. ~$0.17 per ounce for generic store bought
Taste Comparison: It's all about preference: was this bad, no; will I use this regularly for soy sauce, probably not; will I try different recipes, yes.

We use soy sauce as the base in a marinade for chicken, sausage, pineapple kabobs from Taste of Home, SO GOOD and always a favorite! 

Today's Question: How often do you use soy sauce? Recipes to share?

Homemade French Dressing

How to Make Homemade French Dressing

Requesting a little grace today as you read this ... please look over any typos (I will proofread later today when I have more than 10 minutes!) 

homemade french dressing

Today's inspiration was Monical's french dressing, I am a little embarrassed to admit we buy this by the gallon ... hoping no longer! I started with a basic french dressing recipe from allrecipes.com and the ingredient list from the Monical's french dressing bottle. Here's what we came up with - 

Homemade French Dressing

1 cup sugar

1 cup canola oil (vegetable or olive I am sure would work ... this is what I had on hand)

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp onion powder

Whisk all ingredients until well combine. Pour into container and refrigerate. Makes 2 cups of dressing.

I made two different batches - the first with brown sugar and cider vinegar and the above was my second. I was pleasantly pleased with how similar this was to Monical's french dressing ... it is missing something and I still can't put my finger on it, but when I do I will let you know!

Today's Question: Ranch or French?

Homemade Raspberry Jam

How to Make Homemade Raspberry Jam without Fruit Pectin

Those $1 raspberries were irresistible yesterday, so I am at it again ... Round 2 on jam without fruit pectin. 

I really just tweaked my blackberry jam and am winging it! 100% trial and error. I wasn't pleased with the consistency of the blackberry jam and decided I should cook it for less time. So here's what I tried.

Homemade Raspberry Jam 

6 oz. fresh raspberry, washed and crushed

1/8 cup of water (optional, used to rise seeds when straining)

1/2 cup of sugar

removing the seeds, this is what I had left

Crush raspberries using pastry cutter (or fork).  Place at least half (this amount depends on your seed preference)  in a wire mesh colander (small enough to catch the seeds) over your sauce pan and use a spoon to mash through the colander until no more juice is coming through. Use the water to drizzle and mash, drizzle and mash. We are just wanting to remove as much of the fruit flesh as possible. Add sugar to the sauce pan and heat over high heat. Stir continually watching for it boil. Boil for 3 minutes and remove from heat. Pour into clean jar and refrigerate.

the consistency after a few minutes of cooling

This very well could be an addiction! I will be searching the produce aisle for jam suspects! The thing I love most about this besides eliminating the unnecessary ingredients ... these raspberries will last much longer in our house in jam form. I would have to by at least five of these small containers of raspberries to feed my kiddos!

Homemade Sour Cream

Home to Make Homemade Sour Cream

There is a difference between cultured sour cream and sour(ed) cream and today am making sour(ed) cream since I am using buttermilk instead of active milk cultures.

I found a recipe at "Mother Earth News" and followed it using my homemade buttermilk.

Homemade Sour Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup buttermilk (1/4 tablespoon of vinegar topped off with milk and let set for five minutes)

Mix ingredients in desired container, tighten lid, and shake to mix. Loosen the lid. Let sit on the counter for 24 hours or until thick. Refrigerate once thick. Good for one week.

Once I attempt homemade yogurt using active cultures I will probably try cultured sour cream.

Cost Comparison: $1.68 for 10oz. of homemade sour cream VS. $1.29 for 16 oz. Aldi sour cream

Definitely not a cost saver and there really isn't ingredients that I feel like I would need to be cut out from store bought sour cream, but I will try almost anything once (sometimes twice). We will see tomorrow how this will be, be sure to check back for an update!

Updated 4/25/15: It has been 48+ hours since my sour cream has been sitting out and I am sad to admit ... it didn't work. I feel this was most likely my error before putting the recipe I borrowed out-to-pasture and will try again using either 1/4 cup of sour cream or straight vinegar. I think I will try my hand at homemade yogurt first though, especially since I have my sister home now who has been doing yogurt for a while! She also mention homemade ricotta is very easy ... I need to add that to my list.

Updated 4/27/15: So I'm a little embarrassed to say I forgot all about my sour cream that has been sitting on my stove for the last 4 days! And yes I have used my stove everyday!?!? Not sure how I missed it sitting right under my nose for that long, it must have been because I had written it off as a failure. Surprisingly enough the consistency has thickened quite nicely and the visual texture (I have not dared try tasting it yet!) looks perfect. It does have a smell I'm not sure about and I don't know if I will ever get the courage to try it (*gagging*), but it is currently chilling (and maybe growing something) in my fridge. If anything I am getting a good laugh at the fact I have just might be crazy enough to try this heavy whipping cream that has been sitting not refrigerated for four days! What?!?!? 

Updated 4/28/15: I TRIED IT (it was a very small amount and I wouldn't let anybody else try it)! Wasn't terrible and actually tasted very much like the real deal BUT I cannot get over the smell, I'm not sure how to describe it! I will try making this again tweaking my recipe with the other half of my heavy whipping cream and this batch (sad to say) will be going out the door!

Updated 5/17/2015: This past Wednesday when my sister was over to help make yogurt, we started talking about my sour cream. Although it is somewhat embarrassing to admit, I will inform you I still have it ... the smell is gone! I need to do a little research if there is a fermentation or something that takes place which was the cause of the odd smell. We both tried it (you can curl up your nose in disgust if you want) and were pleasantly surprised. I also tried some on my nachos the next day and have had not signs of food poisoning (hehe) and on a side-note, no children were used in the taste testing of this 'soured' cream. I did try my hand at making some more sour cream in the Yogotherm using store bought sour cream instead of the yogurt and it is currently straining in the fridge to make it thicker. At the first taste it doesn't seem as soured but we will see how it tastes on our potatoes and nachos.  

Homemade Blackberry Jam

How to Make Jam without Fruit Pectin

For starters I am no scientist and am sharing this information out of my own logical thinking and experience! If you have a more scientific explanation or information to set my thought process straight, please share ... it will not hurt my feelings, trust me (may I remind you I am a mother of 4 and taught middle school math for over 10 years).

I have been creating my own fruit topping for waffles which started off as a vague memory of what I thought my grandma did. Grandma, now cooking up a storm in heaven, was an amazing woman and cook. Her motto in life was "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"; or anybody for that matter. So true, if we are hungry ... watch out! Onto the fruit topping, I would throw whatever frozen berries I had on hand in a sauce pan, cover with a thin layer of sugar, and simmer until it thickened. It was just recently my mom told me what grandma really did and I wasn't too far off. She would start the same way but add a little bit of cornstarch and some water (don't submerge the berries) and cut back on the sugar. They both turn out very similar and taste great on our waffles so I will use either one depending on my mood.

When I was researching recipes for making jam without fruit pectin I realized ... it's just a combination of jam and sugar cooked to the right consistency. How simple is that and way better than having to go find fruit pectin at the store. My first thought was I am never buying store bought jam again and instead will be purchasing whatever in-season-good-jam-making-fruit is on sale and making small batches at a time! No need for pectin or canning!

So, this is exactly what I did! When I was at Aldi (yes, if you haven't notice I am an Aldi shopper through and through ... SO glad my sister trained me well here!) last, I notice blackberries were $0.99 and immediately thought, JAM! We never have blackberry jam on hand, raspberry jam is a special treat for us, only because I don't like spending the extra money for something other than strawberry or grape (I know I can be extremely frugal is some areas and not in others ... it's called selective spending. I compare it to selective memory and all those other selective choices! hehehe!)

My recipe - 

Homemade Blackberry Jam 

6 ounces of. blackberries

1/2 cup of sugar

Crush blackberries using a pastry cutter (a fork or potato masher would work just fine). Combine crushed blackberries and sugar in a sauce pan and stir until combine and sugar is mostly dissolved (about 1 minute). Pour out of sauce pan into a wire mesh colander (small enough to catch the seeds) and use a spoon to mash through the colander until no more juice is coming through. Return to pan at high heat and boil for about 2 minutes. Watch carefully, it will go from perfect to too thick very fast. Good thing is, if your consistency is too thick after it starts to cool, add a little bit of boiling water while it is still warm and stir well.

I am sure there will be some tweaking here as I experiment with different fruits and I will be sure to update you when this happens!

Today's Question: What is your favorite meal you use cream of something soup in? 

Updated 4/25/15 - Used some of our homemade blackberry jam in plain yogurt, LOVED IT! This just gave a whole new meaning to jam and flavored yogurt!  

Updated 4/27/15 - I tweeked the above recipe, shortened the time and sugar amount. See my homemade raspberry jam for additional tips.

Shredded Cheese

How to Replace Shredded Cheese

Almost five years ago I attended a Pampered Chef kick off party when a dear friend of mine decided to become a consultant. It was at this time I never looked at shredded cheese the same again! The next time you get the chance to look at the ingredients for shredded cheese, I strongly encourage you to do so. One of the ingredients will be powdered cellulose which is refined wood pulp {GROSS} and "is generally regarded as safe when used in normal quantities" {seems fishy to me}! Let's just say ever since then I have phased out almost all shredded cheese and replaced it with block cheese.  

Some pros about doing this has been: cost (block cheese is always less); quantity (I have always noticed once shredded a block is more than 2 cups of cheese); fresh is always better; and obviously less "junk". The cons: it does take more time to shred your cheese and more man-power (your arm can get a mini-workout shredding an entire block of cheese), which is why I have figured out ways around this.

If you have ever read Cheaper by the Dozen (one of the few books I actually did read in 8th grade ;-p), I remind myself a lot of the father ... always finding the quickest and most efficient way of doing something! So here are some options:

- shred only what is needed and do it more frequently (we use A LOT of cheese, so not my pick usually)

- shred multiple blocks of cheese at a time {and feel the burn}, then store it in container in the fridge.

OR 

- If you have access to a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer or food processor, let the machine do all the work while you stock up on shredded cheese. Kitchen-Aid has a slicer/shredder attachment and most food processors come with a shredded attachment as well.

left is grated and right is shredded

Today I transitioned the last shredded cheese item in my refrigerator, Parmesan.  I was completely out after using it last night in our chicken Alfredo and have meatball subs coming up so figured now would be the best time. I used both my box grater and Kitchen-Aid slicer/shredder attachment to see which texture I liked better and I decided since this shredded cheese is so much fresher either texture will melt much smoother than the store bought grated or shredded Parmesan cheese. However, I was a little concerned how it would be once sitting in the fridge but once I gave it a quick shake after it had time to chill, it loosened right up. I usually do this with all of my shredded cheese when I run across it while going through the fridge. As for how long it keeps, we use cheese very regularly and though it may seem drier after a few days it still works great on salads and melts just the same when cooking with it.

Cost Comparison: $3.99 for 8oz. block Parmesan from Aldi VS. ~$3 for 8oz. store bought 

Even though the weights are the same, once all shredded there was not much to store back in my store bough Parmesan cheese container, so I'd say this is WIN!

Today's Question: Do you add bagged soil to your garden each year? If so, what do you use? If not, what do you do instead?