Peachy Peachy Peachy – Canned, Salsa and BBQ!

We love peaches, love them in cottage cheese, ice cream, yogurt, on pancakes… love them sweet, love them spicy, love them any way you can bring them.

Need I say more? Really?

While I do think that I have the best salsa recipe ever, I also recognize that sometimes a sweet salsa can have a place. This salsa can be delicious over chicken, fish, with chips, fruit chunks or eaten with bites of crackers, carrots or whatever else happens to be available in the absence of tortilla chips (or so I have heard).

Then again, if your going to put salsa on chicken… why not just make peach barbecue sauce?

Or heck, just plain peaches.

Anyway you go, its just peachy. Ok. Now I am corny. Orange you glad I am stopping? Seriously (I’m even rolling my own eyes now).

In our home, we can a lot of peaches. If you have ever done this, you know when you are done stuffing all the peaches into jars there are always bits left over that didn’t fit, got mushy, didn’t peel right or whatever the case may be. We keep these set aside in a bowl and they become one of these three recipes. I didn’t take pictures of all of them because we had 60 pounds of peaches and I was going to go for it while I had helpers!

Basic idea of canned peaches is to dip your peaches in boiling hot water. I leave mine in about 30 seconds then lift out and put into cold water. The skins will slip right off. Most people cut them in half and layer them in beautiful wide mouth jars but I am a rebel. Well, not really but I prefer to cut mine in quarters because it provides kids more pieces, its easier to stuff a jar and its a whole lot quicker to fill jars this way.  I drop mine into a large bowl with a gallon of water and a splash of lemon juice. Other people like absorbic acid. Whatever you choose is fine!

I’d rather have a full jar then a pretty jar.  Bad in the world of canning I know but honestly, they go on the shelf in the basement and nobody sees them. I am more about moving quick and when the kids are helping … well this is something they can do. I’m not picky. I won’t win a blue ribbon but my kids think I am awesome so that counts!

You can preserve your peaches in water, though the texture and flavor may be reduced. You can use apple juice or white grape juice. I typically just do a light syrup of 5 1/2 cups water to 2 cups sugar. Simmer this up, pour over your peaches, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Process in BWB for 25 minutes (pints) or 30 minutes (quarts)

Not Pretty – Don’t Tell!

Peach Sauce

The idea is simple. Chop up all your leftover pieces of peaches that are mushy, soft, bruised, ugly, didn’t peel… whatever. Pop them into your jars and add 1/2 tsp cinnamon to pints or 1 tsp cinnamon to quarts. Fill these up with whatever syrup you are using. I typically use a light syrup of 5 cups water and 2 cups sugar or 1 cup sugar and 1 cup honey. Brown sugar, rapadura or other sugars work well here. Cop with 1/2 inch head space and process in BWB for 25 minutes (pints) or 30 minutes (quarts). This is delicious heated up and poured over waffles!

Peach Salsa

This recipe is from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The only change I made was to add 1/3 cup of lime juice.

Cilantro without lime juice is just wrong. Seriously wrong.

I typically chop all my peppers, onions and herbs before I start. I swear I had a picture of this but I am completely unable to find it now. When that is done, set aside in large bowl. Add all ingredients except the peaches.  Cut and measure your peaches right into the bowl, mixing as you go to let the vinegar continue preserving the color of the peaches.

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil over medium heat, stir constantly. Boil gently for about 5 minutes.  The color goes away quickly, but magic does start to happen! This is a terrible pic, but its a pic nonetheless. You get the idea!

Ladle into jars with 1/2 inch head space, cap and process in BWB for 15 minutes.

Peach Salsa (Ball Book of Complete Home Preserving)

1/2 cup vinegar

6 cups chopped, skinned peaches

1 1/2 cup red onion

4 Jalapenos, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro

2 tbsp. honey

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne

Combine vinegar, peaches, and remaining ingredients. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process in BWB for 15 minutes. This makes eight 8 ounce jars.

*Note – I add 1/3 cup lime juice to this. It does not change consistency and the acidity level is high so this doesn’t harm the overall acidity level.

Finally Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce!

This is AMAZING! I have used this over pork loin, chicken breasts both baked in the oven and grilled. It is very similar to the salsa, so I will just provide the recipe.

6 cups chopped pitted peeled peaches

1 cup finely chopped seeded red bell pepper

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 tbsp. finely chopped garlic

1 1/4 cups honey

3/4 cups cider vinegar

1 tbsp. cinder vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp hot pepper flakes

2 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients  in large saucepan. Reduce heat and boil gently until consistency of barbecue sauce (this will remain chunkier and not smooth as it is not pureed) about 25 minutes. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars. Cap and leave 1/2 inch headspace. Process in BWB for 15 minutes.

Salsa Oh Salsa

 

 

 

I am sharing the worlds greatest salsa recipe with you today. Seriously, it is so perfect I will never share another salsa recipe again. Except the peach salsa. And the Mango. And the chipotle… but well… for a regular salsa, this is the best! I can’t take credit for it. If you have been in the canning world for long you likely know about Gardenweb’s harvest page. They have amazing recipes and support there. An amazing epic hero of mine Annie created this recipe and fought to get this recipe tested and approved through her local extension. I heart Annie. I know of zero other facts about her other then she made my world wonderful. I have been making this salsa several years and have not found anything that is remotely near as wonderful.

First important fact. There are very little changes that can be made to this and still have a tested approved recipe. I will list the options at the bottom.

Second important fact. Buy extra jars. Prepare for people to think you are a culinary genius and ask for more.

Third important fact. I don’t know. I was going for something and lost it. It’s 5 am and the baby has me up. Forgive me.

 

First, gather your tomatoes, cilantro, peppers and other ingredients. This takes quite a bit of chopping. I have made it in the food processor before, but I prefer the small diced chunks more then the tiny particles from the food processor. To easily peel your tomatoes, drop into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute, the skins will start to split. Drop your tomatoes into cold water (we fill the kitchen sink with cold water and works great) The skins will peel off. This recipe calls for 8 cups of chopped tomato. You can use any tomato you like, I do a mixture of slicing tomatoes and paste tomatoes because I like the consistency.

 

 

Next, combine all the ingredients into a large pot. In this particular instance I tripled the batch and placed in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil for ten minutes.

Deliciousness in a pot. Yes.

When this has boiled for ten minutes, you place into pints or half pints, with 1/2 inch head space. wipe rims, cap and process in a BWB for 15 minutes. There is no safe time set for quarts so stick with your pints.

When they have cooled. You will have beauty like no other.

 

Amazing Annie’s Salsa

8 cups chopped peeled tomatoes

2 1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cup chopped green/yellow/red pepper

3-5 jalapenos

6 cloves garlic

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp pepper

1/8 cup salt

1/4 cup cilantro

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup total bottled lime juice, bottled lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

16 ounce tomato paste

16 ounce tomato sauce

*** SOME changes can safely take place ***

You can use any kind of pepper you wish, so long as it does not exceed the 1 1/2 cups

You can reduce onion, pepper or garlic but you can not increase it

You can omit cilantro, but you can not increase it

You can omit tomato sauce

My Tips

I personally have made this a ton of ways. I find that I like a mixture of 2 parts bottled lime juice and 1 part apple cider vinegar. White vinegar does not taste well in this!

Cilantro tends to lose its flavor. I have a mad passionate love affair with cilantro and I tend to drink it straight from the pan when I am cooking it so I put it in anyway, but for a real kick, add it again when you open it.

I use whatever peppers are on sale. In this batch I happened to run into a lot of red and yellow peppers, so you won’t see how vibrant it can look with green. I have given these  away at Christmas and they are gorgeous with all green peppers!

 

Apricots Sweet Apricots

I found an answer today. I love it when I do that.

I am often asked ” I am new to canning, what is the first thing I should can?” and my answer is usually “whatever you like to eat!” which usually leaves people grumbling and feeling that I don’t understand how challenging it can be to a new canner, and honestly, maybe I don’t. I grew up with a grandmother who had pickles in a crock and a Gleaner for a mother (which translates to thousands of pounds of produce canned per year). Canning is in my blood.

Today however, I realized the perfect answer. Apricots. There truly is nothing easier to can then apricots and they are AMAZING! I can them in pints and half pints because a little can go a long way. Apricots get used to mix with yogurt, cottage cheese, in apricot upside down cake, in coffee cake and chopped for sauces. It isn’t something we typically eat a lot of on its own, so the smaller size works well for us.

Apricots are the perfect first food to can because you don’t have to peel them! You don’t precook them and you can water bath them. Simple. Let me show you how!

First, gather your apricots. If you have a local source, then fantastic. These can be spendy little things but look for a good sale and stock up while you can!

Rinse your fruit, then simply cut in half along the indentation. The stone is loose and pops right out. Put your cut fruit in cool water with absorbic acid (fruit fresh) or lemon juice. Be careful not to let it soak too long, as these are delicate and can get mushy quickly.

Pack your fruits any way you wish. I like putting mine cut side down and overlapping them. I set aside any bruised or mushy fruits and at the end I dice them. These are great to add to barbecue sauce later!

Make your syrup. This could be a standard syrup of sugar and water, you could combine half honey and half water, you could use turbinado or sucanat however they would significantly change the flavor of the apricots or you could use apple or white grape juice. Whatever you decide, you want it simmer and hot while your slicing your fruit. I used a light syrup of 2 cups sugar to 5 cups water.

Once your fruit is packed in the jars, simply fill your jars with hot syrup, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes (pints) or 30 minutes (quarts). I processed 5 pounds of apricots using the above amount of syrup. I ended up with 2 pints and 12 half pints.

Prepare to be delighted!

You Shall Need:

5 pounds Apricots

2 cups sugar, sucanat or turbinado (or half honey/half sugar)

5 cups water

1 gallon water to 1/4 cup lemon juice or fruit fresh (follow specific directions for your packet)

 

Combine sugars and water, simmer. Rinse and slice your apricots into halves. Dip into lemon water to preserve color. Layer with cut sides down in jars. Fill with hot syrup. Release any trapped air bubbles. Cap and process in BWB for 25 minutes (pints) or 30 minutes (quarts)

Friday Sales….

oops

I went to get some tomatoes for putting up salsa today. That was all I intended. I promise. But there was a sale. And… sales make me realize I should buy more. Sadly, I did not think about the county fair that promises to take up most of tomorrow, and how exhausted I may be at the end of juggling five children at a county fair all day.

Instead I saw the sign “Peaches .50 a pound” followed by “tomatoes .50 a pound” Paste tomatoes at that!!! And… a few other signs.

End result… 60 pounds peaches (30.00) 25 pounds tomatoes (12.50) 5 pounds apricots (6.00) 8 pounds blueberries (12.00) and 30 pounds plums – free!

Azure Standard July Drop

 

I am using this blog to discuss preparing and preserving healthy foods but often get asked a basic question of “what do you eat” and constantly hear “eating healthy is SO expensive!”

I disagree

While I do want to focus on preparing and preserving the healthy whole foods that are available, I also want to show the ways I am able to do this on a budget. My family is large and the size of my family flexes as I have foster children. My current home consists of myself, my two daughters (12 and 17) and my son… who is 10, but eats like he is 30. I mean.. that child can EAT! Tonight we had a quick breakfast for dinner, he ate 4 pieces of Applegate farms bacon, 3 eggs, 2 bran blueberry muffins and 2 oranges. And he wants more. I also have two foster children which… are no small eaters. Seriously. My point is that I do have a lot of mouths to feed and I can keep my budget low, while providing 80% of our diet organic. This is primarily because I am able to use Azure Standard here in Arkansas.

First… Lets be really clear. I have no reason to recommend them. I am not affiliated with them at all. However I moved from Oregon to Arkansas and was in for a huge reality check. Among other things I was stunned at the lack of whole foods, healthy foods and farmers markets. I searched in vain and found my options for groceries were Walmart and Kroger. Did not make me happy… Then I found Azure. They are a huge whole foods/organic foods company from Oregon (awesome huh!) and ship around the country. You place your order once a month and one week later a huge truck shows up, you take your food and you live happily ever after. It just happens that the wonderful woman who runs the Azure drop also runs a farmers market on wheels. She sends a list on Sunday of produce available and then delivers it right to my work on Wednesday!!! Between the two of them, I buy very little anymore from conventional stores. She supplies me with organic chicken, ground beef, pastured eggs, raw milk cheese and veggies. Azure takes care of the rest.

I have a lot of questions about Azure, so I will share my monthly drop with you, brands included so you can have some sense of what items they carry. Any questions and I would absolutely LOVE to answer them!!!

Each month, I tend to buy a bit in bulk, so it carries through for a few months. So, while you may not see flour, oil etc this month, its because that was all last month!

July Azure Order

 

This months order consisted of 40 pounds oranges, 25 pounds carrots (to be blogged this weekend when we can them!) 6 pounds Nutiva coconut flour, 10 pounds Rumanio butter, 1 pound Bionature whole wheat rigatoni, 4 (64oz) containers Nancy’s Honey Yogurt (best in the world), Applegate Bacon, 6 Natural Value tomato paste, 5 pounds Rumiano Calico cheese, 2 pounds Wholesome Sweeteners Sucanat, 2 Bamboo Spoons, 3 pound chuck roast, 2 pkgs (pounds) Eye of round steak, 1.5 pounds beef stew meat, 3 1/2 pounds (2 pkgs) Top Round Steak, 3 1/2 pounds ( 2 pkgs) Sirloin tip steak

 

Grand Total 261.02

While I was there, I bought some veggies and eggs. I typically buy more veggies, as well as a chicken, ground beef and sometimes cheese, but due to the season, I already have an abundance of veggies. I bought a smaller amount this week.

Garden Gal

3 dozen organic pastured eggs, 8 peaches (some had been discovered already) 9 pounds cucumbers, 5 tomatoes,

Grand total 21.00

I will be sharing all sorts of ways that we implement these items in our daily lives. Healthy eating can be inexpensive with some planning, a crock pot, and a little bit of arguing with the kids to make them do the work  working hard….

 

 

 

Leaping into blogging

Here I go… Over the last six months of sharing pictures, recipes and tips on my facebook page, several have asked me to blog as it would be easier to find recipes, pictures and tips. I have given it some thought and realized that I would likely enjoy this, and it would make it easier then always uploading files on our groups page.

However, I am no expert in blogging, or canning, or dehydrating or in the kitchen. I see so many food blogs and I am wowed by the level of sophistication.

That isn’t me.

With a busy household full of children, working full time and a single mother, I have time for grabbing a snapshot with my phone and hoping for the best. Therefore… this will not be the prettiest of all blogs, but I do hope that this becomes a blog that feels like sitting down for a cup of coffee with your oldest friend. Comfy, relaxed, casual. After all, that is how it would be if you came to my home. Step over the sippy cup, scoot the dog back outside, push aside the laundry and we can visit. Ignore the toddler eating legos… its just what he does…

I plan to expand beyond just how to preserve the harvest but also how to prepare the harvest. I want to share how to find healthy foods, explore the myths and break down the secrecy (what is ghee? Who ever heard of a GMO? Coconut oil? Huh??) and answer questions along the way. I hope this blog enriches you as much as it does me!