Category: Food Storage

Renny's Recipes: Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

9/30/2019

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You know, I've gotta say that there are some people in my life that don't believe that pumpkin goes with everything.

Don't be one of those people. Those people are sad.

Pumpkin goes with everything. I really love finding new dishes and sprucing them up with pumpkin!

This week I made one amazing lasagna. It was vegetarian, and easily vegan. I will blog about it next week. First though, I need to blog about the sauce I used. Because it was fall, so I definitely had pumpkin in that pasta sauce. No regrets. I am probably also going to make spaghetti and use this pumpkin pasta sauce, because it is amazing.

Also, it is so easy to make, and you can make a lot at once and then can it and store it and use it again and again. So whatever pasta dish you have planned, you can throw some of this pumpkin pasta sauce on it.

Vitamin A everyone. Pumpkin, tomato, garlic, and Vitamin A everywhere.

There is truly nothing better.

So, here is how you make Pumpkin Pasta Sauce. Then, you can can it. Then you can save it. Then you can use it again and again in all your dishes that require sauce. Pumpkin sauce guys. It will change your life.

Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
Ingredients:
1 15 oz can canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
2 TBSP olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 TBSP garlic
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a pot over medium heat.
Stirring occasionally bring to a simmer and heat for about ten minutes to let the flavor of the seasoning get well incorporated.

You can use immediately and store any unused sauce in the refrigerator for a week. Or you can can it and use it when you'd like. For canning directions, use the directions for canning found in this post.

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Corn Salsa-Preserving Summer Produce!

9/5/2019

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This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchased made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support!

Fresh corn on the cob is one of the joys of summer produce! What is a summer barbecue without corn on the cob? And if you grow it yourself, it is even better! I didn't grow corn in my garden this year, but I did find a really good price accidentally in the grocery store, so I decided to take advantage of it and can some to enjoy later in the year.
If you are a gardener with a bumper crop of corn that you want to preserve, you are going to love this Corn Salsa recipe. It is brightly flavored with that south of the border flavor that goes so well on so many things. My favorite combo is with chicken tacos. Maddy used it straight out of my pot on her vegan bean tacos! She pronounced the salsa delicious!

Another great thing about this corn salsa is that it is quick to preserve! You can process the pint jars for 15 minutes in a water bath canner rather than the pressure canner because of the lemon and lime juices that are used in the recipe.
*Here is a tip from the National Center for Home Food Preservation: Always use lemon juice that has been bottled commercially because only then can you be sure that the acidity is at the correct level to safely preserve food.
The great thing about using lemon juice is that it adds to the brightness and flavor of the recipe rather than detracting from it like vinegar can. This recipe contains both lemon and lime juice. Lime juice is so traditional with Mexican Food. The flavor of the lime really comes through in this corn salsa recipe.

People have told me that they don't enjoy canning corn because they don't enjoy the mess of cutting the corn off of the cob. I found an answer to that problem in a Fry's Food (Kroger) magazine that is an easy way to cut the corn off the cob with less mess and without the corn cob slipping around as you cut. I think that you can only get this magazine if you have a Kroger shopping card. I tried to find a link to the store magazine but couldn't find one. So, I used their method for cutting the corn off of the cob and took pictures to show you how it worked. Click on the photos for instructions.

*Tip for cutting corn from the cob with less mess and slipping!

Use a bundt or tube pan to help cut the corn from the cob. Place the pointed end of the corn into the hole at the top of the tube. Then use a sharp knife to cut down the side of the cob. The kernels will fall into the pan.

Before long, you will have a pan full of corn ready to preserve as Corn Salsa! This is 10 ears of corn in this pan.

Wasn't that easy? I had zero little kernels to clean up off of the floor when I was finished!

After cutting the corn off of the cob, all I had to do was dump it into a big pot with the rest of the ingredients and cook as directed.

As you can see, I used quartered cherry tomatoes in this batch of salsa. You can use any kind of tomato that you have, but you may want to peel larger ones. You could also add hotter peppers if you like more heat, or bell peppers for the flavor.

While the corn salsa simmers, get your jars and lids ready, as well as your water bath canner. I decided to can pints, so I used my smaller pint canner. I like having both a quart canner and a smaller pint canner mainly because sometimes I can have them both going at once! Also, the pint canner takes less water so it comes to a boil more quickly and (obviously) saves on water use. Of course, if you want to do more than 7 pints at a time, you can put more jars in the larger canner. It is all up to your own preference.

Fresh Corn Salsa

Once your Fresh Corn Salsa comes out of the canner, has sealed and is cool, you need to label it so that you will use it in a timely manner. It is probably best used within the year, before the next crop of corn comes on the stalk! I have mentioned before that I don't like labeling my jars themselves because it is such a pain getting the sticky label off the jar when you want to reuse it for something else. That is why I usually write on the lid. But, sometimes I want a cuter solution. Also, sometimes writing on the lid doesn't show as well as it does on a label. So, I have created some labels that fit on the jar lid that you can print and easily write the name of the contents in the jar and the date they were canned!

This label will easily fit on both wide mouth or regular mouth jars.

There is a space for your name, the contents and the date.

These labels are made to print on Avery labels 94501. I ordered mine from their website. You can click the button below and print them out for yourself!

printable canning labels

I printed up these labels just in time because tonight I am picking up a case of peaches to can! I'll be putting them to good use!
Have you done much canning lately? I hope you can give this corn salsa a try! Happy Canning!

Other canning posts you might enjoy!

Zucchini Relish

Canned Apples 2 Ways

How to Can Chicken

How to Can Peaches

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Sprouted Wheat Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

3/19/2019

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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.

I have posted in past articles about making and using sprouted wheat flour. While this process seemed overwhelming to me at first, I am a total convert to sprouting wheat and making flour and I am always on the look-out for ways to incorporate it into my baking. (Also here, here, and here!) You can click on the previous links if you want to know more about the process and see some great recipes.

One thing that everyone who grinds their own flour knows is that you should grind enough to use right away and just grind it as you need it in order to keep the nutritional value in the final product. So, recently, I found myself with some excess sprouted wheat flour that I needed to use up. I had yet to make cookies with sprouted wheat flour, so I decided that the day had come to see how the flour worked in some of my husbands favorite oatmeal cookies. I was out of raisins, but I did have Craisins, so that is how these cookies were born.

The test was a success and these cookies were crispy with just the right amount of chewiness.
It never ceases to amaze me how much lighter the sprouted wheat flour is compared to regular whole wheat flour and how the warm, nutty flavor does not overwhelm like it can in regular whole wheat baked goods. As a matter of fact, I couldn't really tell that these were made from whole wheat rather than regular all purpose flour, although if they were side by side, I believe that these would have the richer flavor.

And yum! I love Craisins in an oatmeal cookie!

Sprouted Wheat Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Have any of you tried the sprouting wheat for flour method? How have your results been and tell me what you have used this flour for. I would love to hear and try new things.