Pickling Peppers!

 My husband is a lover of peppers. Me, not so much. I can appreciate the flavor they give off, and handle them in small doses, but that's about it.

We planted 5 pepper plants in our garden this year since the hubby loves them so much. Banana Peppers (2), Jalapenos (2), and Serrano (1) peppers. I dig the banana peppers in sandwiches every once in awhile, mostly because I love the vinegar flavor. Otherwise, I am a big wuss.

I enjoy pickling/canning things, if you didn't know already, so I thought peppers would be good too! We can always use some peppers in our food storage. And they last for quite awhile, so it works out!

 First you have to prep all of your peppers by cutting off the tops. Some people cut them in smaller pieces or rings, but I like to leave them whole.

 Then cut up some garlic to either stick in with the peppers, or boil in the pickling solution. (Depending on how strong a garlic flavor you would like.)

Then boil some vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and the garlic. Make sure not to burn it!

 Canning is labor intensive, and gets super hot! So pick a good day! (I chose to do it on a nice humid day so the tempeture in my house got to be above 90 degrees. Smart, eh? Also, it helps if you have AC!)

Sanatizing jars

Make sure to sanitize your jars, and keep them hot when you pack them full of the peppers.

Then when they are all packed full, pour the vinegar pickling solution over the peppers, pop on a lid and secure! (When packing the peppers, make sure you stuff it as full as you can, every single space. The peppers, or whatever you are canning will shrink and constrict itself into a smaller space. Leave about 1/2 inch to an inch space from the top, otherwise your jars will overflow in their water bath and after they settle and cool.)

Then for these peppers, water bath them (boil them) for about 15 minutes to get a good seal with your lid, and to prevent any contamination or future spoilage.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pickled-Hot-Peppers/Detail.aspx

Here is a basic recipe to follow. But you will need to apply more "canning" techinques than are given. I have lots of answers if there are questions!

THIS recipe, is what I use my canned/pickled banana peppers with. I will eat these sandwiches all day long, and with all the peppers I can get. It is super easy, and so so yummy!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Italian-Beef-Sandwiches-5

Seriously, yummy!

Happy summer, and happy pickling your peppers!

Pasta: With Red Sauce? Are you sure?

Here in my household we eat pasta. No. We eat a lot of pasta. You could probably say with confidence that in some variation, pasta is what we eat the most, at least once a week even!

My husband's all time favorite food happens to be spaghetti, so naturally we end up having this often. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good spaghetti too. But I'm not so much a fan of "red sauce" pastas as I am creams sauces. (Probably for obvious reasons, its cream!) Spaghetti is the only red sauce pasta that I make, and I'm OK with that.

Although, did you see my food storage? I have a million cans of red tomato spaghetti sauce. There has got to be another way to use this sauce without over exasperating the spaghetti dishes. 

So I asked a buddy at work (thanks Joe!) if he had any good recipes. He said some kind of fancy name, because he is Italian, but it basically means Red Sauce, Sausage, and Pasta. So here it is folks!

Red Sauce Sausage Pasta

6 cloves garlic, diced

1 stick butter

1 pound pork sausage (could be any kind you want, I just got some Jimmy Dean.)

1 large jar/can red spaghetti sauce

1 cup Parmesan cheese (powder stuff you shake on pizza)

1 bag, or 8 oz, (2 cups I think) grated mozzarella cheese

1 box hearty pasta, like Penna or Ziti

(These are all just approximations. When I cook I tend to not measure. So I just throw stuff in and adjust, give it a try! Its fun!)

Saute your garlic in the butter (yes the whole stick) in a large skillet. Then add the ground sausage and brown off. Add the spaghetti sauce and let it thicken up a bit. Add the Parmesan cheese and continue to cook and thicken on a lower temperature.

All the while, cook your pasta.

Then when the past is done, toss together the pasta and sauce. Then melt the Mozzarella over the top of it and ENJOY!

I really didn't think I would like it. But it was SO STINK'N GOOD! I always associate sausage with breakfast foods. So to have it in a dinner pasta sounded weird. On top of the fact that, remember, I don't care for red sauce all that much. (Same for on pizza, but that is a while other topic really.) 

This pasta has a richness and depth in its flavor. I highly recommend it, because it is not only yummy, but very easy to make. And you can make it any way you want! Put less butter in, put some mushrooms in, try a different kind of cheese, onions (don't put onions in it, bleh), whatever you want!

 No meal is complete without some good vegetables, garlic bread, and my husband's Darth Vadar cup! Happy eating!

Food Storage:Heidi Style!

With all of these natural disasters happening around the world, the economy not being super great, gas prices going up, and for the sake of just wanting to save money in the long run... food storage is a great option to consider!

Food Storage is a good way to help you prepare for the unknowns that seem to come up at unexpected times. Or, food storage is great because it helps you stock up on your everyday foods, and you always have what you need on hand! I love food storage for these very reasons.

TIP: When things are on sale, get a couple extra to help stock up! Then one day when you need it, you are ahead of the game and can just replace your "extra". You will always have what you need!

I love when I am ready to cook something, and I can think of my family's staple meals, and I almost always have what I need on hand because I have a good food storage supply in my stairway. (I don't have a pantry, I store all my canned goods on the shelfs by my basement stairs.) So I will grab everything I need for spaghetti (we have a BIG spaghetti supply), and then I don't need to go to the store. Then next time when I go to the store, or when there is a big sale, I replace what I used.

We eat a TON of spaghetti!

Apple Sauce and pasta!

Frozen meat 

Frozen corn and breast milk for the baby!

My food storage stock is more of the short term everyday kind of items. Its been great for my family and comes in handy a lot, especially with saving money and having yummy meals. But long term food storage is very important too, which I'm not very good at yet. I am slowly working on my stock. I have canned (as in I canned/bottled them myself) peaches, apple sauce, pickles and peppers, but when "the world ends" or whatever happens, I don't have any of the essentials yet.

Peaches, Pickles, Peppers, TUNA, BEANS, and all the many other canned things.

Here are some good things to think about:

DRINKING WATER

Store drinking water for circumstances in which the water supply may be polluted or disrupted.

If water comes directly from a good, pretreated source, then no additional purification is needed; otherwise, pretreat water before use. Store water in sturdy, leak-proof, breakage-resistant containers. Consider using plastic bottles commonly used for juices and soft drinks. Keep water containers away from heat sources and direct sunlight.

THREE MONTH SUPPLY

Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage.

FINANCIAL RESERVE

Establish a financial reserve by saving a little money each week and gradually increasing it to a reasonable amount.

LONG TERM SUPPLY

For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.
These items can last 30 years or more when properly packaged and stored in a cool, dry place. A portion of these items may be rotated in your three-month supply.

Food	New "Life Sustaining" Shelf-Life Estimates (In Years)
Wheat	30+
White rice	30+
Corn	30+
Sugar	30+
Pinto beans	30
Rolled oats	30
Pasta	30
Potato flakes	30
Apple slices	30
Non-fat powdered milk	20
Dehydrated carrots	20

Pretty cool huh? I better get started on my long term supply and water supply, because you never know what's going to happen!

Canning peaches. Its SO worth it, imagine all the yummy peach cobbler you can make!