Bottled Ground Beef Mix

Tracy got me going on the goal to do some ground beef this year. I found a good recipe last year and tried it out. We have enjoyed being able to just get it off the shelf this year when we were in a hurry to make a meal. Tracy tracked down the sales and we bought lots of beef. It's easy, but takes time to pressure can it as it has to maintain pressure for 75 to 90 minutes. Tracy plays solitare on her computer while she's watching her canners. I make lists, pace the kitchen, talk on the phone, and check my email. I think I'll try solitare next time - it sounds like more fun.

This recipe is probably permanently engraved upon my brain. I have made it so many times in the last week, I don't see how I would ever forget it. Try it out before you bottle it to see if you like it. I use it in spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, lasagne, rocket soup, and chili. You could use it for tacos too, but I like a drier meat and a little more spice for taco meat. I'm sure there are many recipes it would go well in. As the jars cool, the small amount of fat that stays in the hamburger solidifies at the top. If it bothers you, you can skim it off when you open your jar to use it. It should be very minimal if you have gotten a good lean hamburger.

Wash 9 pint jars or 4 quart jars and keep hot

6 pounds of very lean ground beef
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups (1 1/2 medium) diced onion

6 cups (1-48 oz. can) tomato juice
1 1/4 cups beef stock
1 T. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Combine last four ingredients in 6-8 qt. pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low to keep hot. In large fry pan brown meat (half at a time if necessary) until pink is gone. Add to tomato juice broth. Saute onions and garlic in meat drippings until tender. Add to meat mixture. Cover and let simmer about 5 minutes. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions. Pack meat mixture into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headroom. Wipe rims clean and attach lids and bands.

Process in a pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure.
Pints 75 minutes / Quarts 90 minutes - Remember processing time doesn't start until pounds of pressure has been achieved. Follow pressure canner manufacturer's directions to exhaust steam from canner and place weight to bring pressure up. Be sure to allow pressure to fall on it's own after removing from heat before opening the canner.

I usually double this recipe to get 7 quarts and 9 pints. I took this pic before I cleaned my jars up after canning. They are much prettier when they have been washed, wiped, labeled and boxed. I am still really enjoying all this canning. Kind of sick, I know.

The Green Chile in Jars!

I did get some green chile into jars for canning. Everything except the tomatoes and a little bit of flour for thickening. Those two items will be added when it's time to open the jars and enjoy.Tracy and I went to Orange Patch Too and got some of their wonderful New Mexico Chiles. They are already roasted and in zip locks. Yummm. They are so good. I put some in the freezer for future batches. I had 1 extra quart and a little pint of green chile just hanging out on the pantry shelf, but they didn't last long. Robert came home and opened it up one night. I guess I need to put instructions on what needs to happen to it once it is opened to avoid any confusion about how to prepare it for eating. He did pretty well, just forgot the flour for thickening it a little and maybe a few more tomatoes. I did try to explain we really didn't need to open the jars quite that soon after canning. I should get to savor the look of the pantry shelves for at least a month. I am on to ground beef now and getting some of the “on Sale” bounty into jars for later consumption. Crazy days of canning are still going strong. I will post the ground beef pics later with the recipe.

Apples arrive tomorrow. I hope my new gizmo that makes applesauce is not far behind. I just love a learning curve. We had such a hard time with apples last year, I hope this year goes better. Hence the gizmo to try. It's called a Squeezo Strainer and everyone I know that has one, loves it. I hope it will take some of the grunt work out of the applesauce process. The kid in the picture looks like he can manage it. Maybe there's hope for me. I guess it was originally designed to do tomato sauce. I don't think I'm that crazy yet, but you never know.

Cream Cheese Chicken

(Forgot to take a picture before we ate it all! Sorry!)

This is always an easy dinner but so very good! I like to make it when we have people over sometimes or when we need a good dinner without a lot of time in the evening to make something because it is in the crock pot. You can serve it over rice or some type of noodles. Enjoy!

6-8 chicken breasts
1 package of cream cheese
1 package of italian dressing seasoning
1 cube of butter/margarine
1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours, stirring every now and then. As the chicken becomes tender shred it with a fork and a knife. Continue to cook until done. Serve over rice or noodles. If you would like the mixture to be soupier you can add more soup/cream cheese.


Tawna :)

Apple Upside Down Cake

Okay...first off I have to give credit where credit is due. My mom found the recipe for this cake on a blog-site called "Stephanie's Kitchen". It sounded so very yummy that I was dying to try it...with a few modifications! The wonderfully talented woman who we borrowed the recipe from made the entire cake from scratch, fresh apples, cake-not out of a box, etc! I decided that this would not work for the PTA function that I was hunting down a new dessert for so I needed to make it easier. If you would like the recipe for the "from scratch" version please go to http://www.stephanieskitchen.com/ . This is also a great way to use pie apples that you have canned for a quick and easy dessert, besides apple cobbler, which we have had a ton of this past year!

1 Jar of pie apples (already with cinnamon)

1 yellow cake mix

Spray bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Pour pie apples into the bottom of the pan. Mix together the cake mix as directed on the box. Pour batter over the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then invert onto a serving plate. **Would be great with the tiniest bit of cool whip/whip cream or ice cream, though we loved it just by itself! Enjoy!

Tawna :)

In the kitchen today

I have completely lost my mind and am considering canning some green chile meat. I know, I know, I am certifiable. I called Shar's and talked to their canning guru and I am fairly confident I can do this. I made some for dinner and it is so good. I love that recipe. Tracy and I went to Orange Patch and got some already roasted chiles from New Mexico and they are so delish. If you haven't tried the Green Chile recipe, get some chiles and go for it. I am going to make some (later) to take for dune food. So easy to warm up and everyone will love it.

Papa went to Bob and Syd's house for dinner tonight. I love that they host him every Monday for home evening. I know he really looks forward to going and loves the time he spends there with them. I hear he had some really good chicken noodle soup tonight. I hope you will put that recipe on this blog Sydney - soup season is really here! So exciting. I love soup. I'm sure you guys had some wonderful cuisine on your cruise. Any thing we could try?

Apples are coming soon, so will be getting a truck load of jars again. Whew! I will be researching a better way to do the applesauce than we did last year. If any one has a great applesauce recipe, please share.

Oh yes, I have ordered some 55 gallon water barrels from a guy that gets them after one use, sanitizes them and sells them. If anyone is interested in getting some, leave me a comment, maybe your email if I don't have it and I will put you on our next order list. They are very nice barrels and he says 2 are enough for emergency water for a family of 3-4.

Another Rocket Soup

Nana was the best at improvising. She could and did change and evolve her recipes. We may think we have her recipe for something, but chances are someone else who has the same recipe will have something different. Thus it is with her famous Rocket Soup. When I was pregnant with my twins, I made this is Utah for my friends the Grampps. Carter ate a bowl and said, “Wow. This should be called rocket soup. It is really hot!” Apparently I had overdone the pepper a bit. Nana thought that was too funny and found a way to make it rocket with flavor instead of just pepper. We all have our little twist to this wonderful family recipe, so take this one, and Sydney's (the first post on this blog) and hopefully Scott's (when he posts it) and do your thing with it.
One thing is for sure, it hits the spot on a cold day and is pretty inexpensive if you need to feed the multitudes. Serve it with rolls, bread (homemade is the best) and butter, or even just crackers. It is a great meal to take in to someone who needs a little love too.

Makes more than a gallon of soup. 

Brown in skillet:

1 lb. Lean hamburger

2 sm. cloves garlic, minced

Put into 8qt. stock pot, set aside.

In same skillet saute:

1 lg. onion, chopped

3 med. carrots, sliced

1/4 c. fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped

1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered (about 3 cups)

Add a little olive oil if needed. When veggies are just tender add to stock pot.

Place stock pot on medium heat and add:

2 qts. Water

or a combination of beef stock, V-8 juice (can be the spicy kind if more zing is desired) and water.

Quantity is personal as some like thicker soup and some like more broth. Can be stretched to feed more if needed.

2 T. brown lentils (or dried peas, or yellow lentils)

2 T. pearled barley (or handful of rice if you have it)

2 T. red quineoa (sneaky way to add some nutrition)

2 T. Knorr beef flavor base (or boullion cubes for 1 qt.)

2 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes 

(if fresh tomatoes are used, blanch skins off, dice - about 3 cups) Simmer in skillet before adding to stockpot so they are a little stewed.

1 7  3/4 oz. can El Pato sauce*  (or spicy V-8)

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 c. frozen corn

1/2 c. frozen peas  

Optional: I like to throw in a handful of some kind of noodle. Sometimes it’s egg noodles with a smidge of Alpha bet noodles. Many varieties to choose from. Not too many - keep it small.

Salt and pepper to taste and simmer about 30 minutes, or until lentils and barley are tender.

*Puts the rocket in the soup. Substitute another tomato sauce here if there are tender palettes or tummies.