Jammin' in January

Who says canning is only for summertime?  Well not me!  This past weekend my friend Katy and I made and canned a bunch of peach and cherry jam using produce we had frozen from the late summer.  Canning can be kind of an overwhelming process....Especially if you are doing something like peaches that requires you to remove the skins and cut the fruit beforehand.
Here's what we did: in late summer, during prime peach season, Katy purchased a whole lot of peaches from a local farm.  We then spent one after noon removing the skins, pitting and slicing up the peaches and froze them in 6 cup batches.  (If you don't know how to easily remove peach skins, see my post about removing tomato skins, its the exact same process)!  It would have been quite daunting to do all of that and then proceed to make jam and can all of them in one day.  On another day Katy also pitted and froze a bunch of cherries for the same purpose.  We froze them knowing that someday....we would get around to actually jammin' and cannin'.

Cauliflower Soup

Here in Ohio, we are starting the New Year off with a cold snap.  We have had a very mild December but January might be a different story.  The temperature dropped 20 degrees today and we are having heavy winds and rain.  Obviously, too treacherous to venture outside...so as I was holed up indoors today and shivering from the cold, I decided it was a good day for soup.  I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge I needed to get rid of so I set out to make some delicious and very nutritious cauliflower soup.

Not So Awful Falafel...

Have any of you out there ever had falafel?  You may have seen it in the foreign foods section of your grocery store, not really knowing what it was.  It's a wonderful middle eastern dish that is made up of ground chick peas, fava beans, and spices.  So what's the awful part?

Grandma's Vegetable Beef Soup

December is here and the days are getting shorter, colder and busier.  For me, nothing refreshes and warms like a hot cup of Grandma's Vegetable Beef Soup.  This is one of my favorite things to make and is a weekly staple in my house during the winter.  The best part is it is OH SO EASY to do...so easy even a domestically inept individual like myself can do it!  This meal is made in the slow cooker...which means you mix it up and forget about it.  Go to work, do your shopping and come home to a piping hot cup of healthy goodness.  The hardest part is browning the beef...promise!

Oatmeal Snack Bars

As a working mom, I'm always on the go...which means I don't always have time to sit down for a snack.  Usually I grab some kind of granola or protein bar.  But how healthy are these?  You have to be very careful reading the labels.  You would be shocked to see how much fat and sugar they put in to some of those things.  I never really thought about making my own until I came across this recipe on a popular food blog.  The recipe, for Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars, is from Kath Eats Real Food.  This is a great blog!  If you don't already follow it...you should!  This is a great base recipe for making your own on-the-go granola bars.  There are literally tons of variations!  I have so many I want to try but here is a look at my first attempt:

Mom's Award Winning Chili

The other day there was just a "hint" of fall in the air.  Picture for yourself a delightful mixture of cool morning temperatures, back to school buzzing all over town, and pots of hardy mums bursting forth with color and dotting every shop corner.  I live for fall.  It's the most fabulous time of year.  I love everything about it...especially football season!  And where there is football, chili inevitably follows.  
So it was in such a setting one morning that I decided to put on a pot of chili.  Not just any chili...my mom's AWARD WINNING chili.  I'm not sure what makes it so special but for me its the best chili out there and no matter how hard I try, I can never seem to get it just the way mom makes it.  She was kind enough to allow me to share her recipe.  So I hope the next time you decide to make some chili, you'll give this recipe a try.
This is a great recipe because its sooo easy and it's made in the slow cooker!  If you haven't discovered the joy's of slow cooker cooking....then I suggest you do!  There is nothing like coming home from  a hard day at work and finding dinner....already made!  Hot and ready to go!  

Mom's Award Winning Chili

Ingredients:

These are the brands I like to use!

• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 pkg of McCormick Original Chili Seasoning
• 1 large can (46oz) of tomato juice (you won't use all of it)
• 1 can (14.5 oz) of petite diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 can (14.5 oz) of chili beans
• 1 jar medium salsa
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
• cayenne pepper, salt to taste

Instructions:

• Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium heat.  Drain fat.
• Place all the ingredients in a large slow cooker and stir well.  Only add about half of the tomato juice.  You can add more later if necessary...depending on how liquid-like or chunky you like your chili.
• Let the chili sit on low in the slower cooker over several hours.
• Serve with fresh cornbread or oyster crackers!

A Little Sunday Morning Detox....

The most wonderful thing happened to me yesterday!  One of my dear friends and coworkers surprised me with a box of Ceylon Mixed Teas!  Tea is one of my most very favorite things.  Perhaps its my English ancestry but I find that nothing warms, comforts and heals quite like a cup of tea.  Deciding which flavor to try first took some time but after mulling it over I decided to go for the green tea.  I think its fitting.  After all, Sunday is the first day of the week; a day for renewal, rest and reflection. What better way to cleanse the mind and body than with a cup of green tea? 
The beneficial effects of green tea have long been purported.  I'm happy to see that they are starting to be taken seriously by the medical community.  Green tea has been used for thousands of years by eastern Asian cultures to cure everything from headaches to heart problems.  We know now that Green Tea is full of powerful antioxidants that scavenge free radicals in the body (unstable elements that destroy tissue) which could potentially help prevent a variety of ailments including heart disease, diabetes and dementia.  Ito En is a Japanese Tea Company renown for their exceptional quality of products.  They have an excellent website detailing some of the history, health benefits and varieties of tea.  Check it out!

Corsican Mint I have planted in my garden

One of the other great tea flavors in this pack was peppermint.  I just started drinking peppermint tea but I think it's fair to say I'm hooked!  The wonderful thing about peppermint tea is that it is very cleansing to the palette.  I suggest serving it at a dinner party, between the main course and dessert.  It would be such a unique way to transition your guests from one dish to the other.  The reason it works so well is that peppermint has been used traditionally as a digestive aid.  It speeds up stomach emptying and improves the flow of bile, which help digest fats.  
It would be easy to sit here and talk about tea all day.  I'm sure there are entire blogs out there devoted to tea.  But I think, its better the learn by doing.  So if you get a chance, start buying some different kinds of tea and give them a try.  Nothing teaches like experience!