Canning Dry Beans

Lentils

Quarts- 1 1/4 cups clean, dry (raw) beans
            Add 1 teaspoon salt
            Fill with boiled water, leaving 1 inch of headspace.

Pressure can at 15 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes.

Pints-  2/3 cup of clean, dry (raw) beans
          Add 1/2 teaspoon salt
          Fill jar with boiled water, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Pressure can at 15 pounds of pressure for 75 minutes.

Based on Caitlin's recipe.

Berry Juice

 Berry Juice


1.  Thoroughly rinse berries, and place them in a heavy pot with just enough water to make them bob. Bring to a slow boil, mash with a potato masher or spoon, bring back to a boil, and remove from the heat. Cool slightly.

Mixture of raspberries, blueberries and saskatoon berries.

 2.  Pour the mashed berries into a jelly bag or a colander lined with several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Let drip overnight and collect the juice in a pot.
3.  For a 4L jug, mix one quart concentrate, 1 Cup sugar, fill with water.

Dripping Juice, Jug of Juice

4.  Add a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice per cup.  Boil juice.  Process in a BWB canner for 10 minutes.

Two quarts berry juice concentrate for the pantry

Blueberry, raspberry, watermelon

Mint Jelly

Mint Jelly

3 cups packed fresh mint leaves and stems
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 1/2 cups boiling water
2 drops green food colour
6 cups white sugar
1 jar liquid pectin

Rinse off the mint leaves, and place them into a large saucepan. Crush. Add water, and bring the mint to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain. Pour into a saucepan. Stir in the lemon juice and food colouring. Mix in the sugar, and place the pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the pectin. Boil the mixture for a full minute while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim foam off the top using a large metal spoon. Transfer the mixture to hot sterile jars, and seal.

Process BWB 10 minutes.

* Dark, due to home made pectin.

Quinoa Egg Muffins

Quinoa Egg Muffins

• 1 cup cooked quinoa (Use 2 cups of water for every cup of quinoa. Toss in a dash of salt. Cover and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and set the lid just ajar, to prevent boiling over. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.)
• 1 cup diced veggies (zucchini, pepper, broccoli, SALSA)
• 1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese
• 6 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: Dash of hot sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk the egg and egg whites together. Then combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
3. Line your muffin tin with six liners and spray with cooking spray. Divide the mixture evenly among the six muffins.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

Blueberry Limeade

1 (10-ounce) package frozen blueberries (2 cups), thawed
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup sugar
5 cups chilled water
Fresh blueberries, for garnish
Lime slices, for garnish

 

Add the blueberries, lime juice, and sugar to a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a large pitcher. Add the water and stir gently. Pour into glasses filled with ice and garnish with additional lime slices and blueberries.

Infused Waters

I cut them off of pop at home.  The boys, that is.  Husband and I continue to be bad...  I've been buying more juices (fake crap, cheaper than soda), and watering them down so they aren't so sickeningly sweet.  But spring has finally sprung, so it's time to add a little something else to the water jugs in the fridge.

Picture borrowed from facebook

Infused waters.  Put as much fruit in water as you like and let the water sit for at least 30 minutes before drinking.  Use as is, or add simple syrop.

Simple Syrop -- Boil 1 Cup water + 1 Cup sugar until dissolved.  Sweeten infused waters to taste.

• Mint 
• basil
• rosemary
• sage
• thyme
• lavender
• tarragon
• Green tea, mint, lime
• Ginger/tea
  In advance: heat 1 teaspoon of ginger in two cups of tea, let it cool down.
  Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water with two cups of the ginger tea + 4-5 pieces of fresh ginger cut into cubes. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
• Strawberry, kiwi
• Strawberry, basil
• Cucumber, lime, lemon, basil
• Cucumber and mint
• Cucumber with lemongrass -- Wash the cucumber.   Using a vegetable peeler remove some of the waxy peel from the cucumber.   Proceed to peel the cucumber into ribbons using the vegetable peeler.   Put the ribbons into the pitcher. Using your hands, peel away the rough outer edge of the lemongrass.  Cut the lemongrass in half, lengthwise.   Place the lemongrass onto a cutting board.   Using a rolling pin, gently smash the lemongrass.   Add to the pitcher of ice and cucumber ribbons. Fill with water.  Give a stir.   Let chill in the fridge at least an hour.
• All Citrus Flavoured Water  -- slice 1 orange, 1 lime, 1 lemon into rounds, then cut the rounds in half. Add to quart jar, press and twist with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. Press enough to release some of the juices, but don't pulverize the fruit into pieces. Fill the jar with ice. Pour in water to the top. Stir. 
• Orange and thyme
• Orange and Vanilla Flavoured Water -- Combine orange slices, vanilla and water in a large pitcher, and mix well.
• Lime and Basil
• Grapefruit
• Grapefruit/mandarin (fresh sliced and mulled)
• Lemon/ginger (grated ginger and fresh squeezed lemon)
• Lime/mint leaf
• Mango/kiwi (a light tropical taste)
• Blueberries (add frozen to your water bottle and let melt – You have yummy blueberry water)
• Pomegranate/blueberry
• Fruit herb teas
• Raspberry Lime Flavoured Water -- Quarter 2 limes; with your hands, squeeze the juice into quart jar, then throw in the squeezed lime quarters. Add raspberries. Press and twist with a muddler to release some of the juices (don't pulverize the fruit). Fill the jar with ice, then add water to the top. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.
•  Pineapple Mint Flavoured Water -- Add a sprig of mint to quart jar--you can throw in the whole sprig; or, remove the leaves from the sprig, if you prefer to have the mint swimming around and distributing in the jar. Muddle the mint--the goal is to bruise the leaves and release their flavor--don't pulverize them into bits. Add pineapple pieces, press and twist with the muddler to release juices. Add ice to the top and then water. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.
• Blackberry Sage Flavoured Water -- Add sage leaves to quart jar and bruise with a muddler. Add blackberries; press and twist with muddler to release their juices. Fill jar with ice cubes, add water to the top, stir, cover and refrigerate.
•  Blackberries with lemon and ginger
• Watermelon Rosemary Flavoured Water -- Add a sprig of rosemary to quart jar and muddle gently (rosemary releases a strong flavor without much muddling). Add watermelon cubes; twist and press gently to release juices. Fill jar with ice cubes, add water to the top, stir, cover and refrigerate.
•  Watermelon and Jalapeno -- Make simple syrop and infuse jalapeno and thyme for 5 minutes. Remove the jalapeno and thyme.  Pour syrup and chopped watermelon into a blender. Blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Serve cold over ice.
• Clover flowers
• Peach Slices and Cayenne Pepper
• Apples and Cinnamon cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, and apples
• Rhubarb
• Dandelion -- Rinse and peel away all greenery

Taco Pasta

Inspired by a facebook post of 21 one-pot pasta dishes, and this recipe for enchilada pasta in particular...

Taco Pasta

diced onions
minced garlic
4 Tbsp butter
2 Cups leftover turkey
1 package taco seasoning (or 2 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp ground red pepper)
1 quart pasta sauce
1 pint salsa
3 quarts water
lg package rotini noodles

Sauté onions and minced garlic in butter in large heavy pot.  Dice leftover turkey and add to pot.  Add taco seasoning.  Stir well.

Once turkey is hot, add 1 jar pasta sauce, 1 jar salsa, 3 jars water and large package rotini noodles.  Stir well.  Cover and simmer, stirring regularly.

Once pasta is cooked through, remove from heat and top with grated cheese.  Let cheese melt and serve.

Serves six.

Boys were very pleased with the results.