Canning Tomato Sauce

This year I really wanted to try my hand at some new canning experiences. First on my list: tomatoes. Our little container garden didn't yield much, so I turned to an alternate source: Craig's List. Sounds weird (or, at least it did to me) but there were quite a few farmers advertising their produce! 100 pounds of tomatoes later...I was ready to do some canning!

I'm by no means an expert, but I'll share what I did.

 First,  I put my jars in the dishwasher to clean and sanitize them. I decided quart jars would be the best size for this project. And, don't forget to boil the lids and rings! I always forget and then have to rush to get them going, lol.

After washing the tomatoes, I used a paring knife to make an "x" in the skin at the bottom (or is it the top?) of each tomato, to make removing the skins a little easier.

 I put the tomatoes in boiling water for about 45 seconds and then immediately placed in ice water to halt the cooking process. At this stage, we are just removing the skins, not doing the actual cooking. :)

Look how easily the skin just peels right off!

After peeling, I put the tomatoes in a large stock pot to cook. I opted not to add any seasonings because I wanted a very basic sauce that I could use for a variety of recipes. Bring the tomatoes to a boil over medium high heat. I used a stick blender to puree the tomatoes. Not my favorite gadget, but it worked. Then, press the pureed tomatoes through a sieve to get out all the "junk".

Return the tomatoes to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to medium high and let cook until reduced by about half. 

Put 2 tbsp of lemon juice in each quart jar before filling with sauce. Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth and adjust the lids and rings as usual...

Process quarts for 40 minutes in the water bath canner. Let sit for 5 minutes before removing jars to cool.

One batch of sauce cooking and one in the canner!

The 100 lbs yielded 31 quarts of sauce. Not bad at all! It was a messy job, but really not difficult. Canning is definitely hard work, though, It really makes me admire the efforts women used to HAVE to put in to have food for their family all throughout the year. I just can't even imagine! But, the satisfaction of knowing I've filled my pantry with good food for the people I love is wonderful!


Happy Homemaking!,

Cheddar Ranch Potatoes

Several of you have asked for my Cheddar Ranch Potatoes recipe, so I'm finally getting around to sharing it. This was a huge hit- even with Joe who is just certain he does not like potatoes!

Ingredients:
8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 c. ranch dressing 1/2 (or so) c. cheddar cheese
1/2 lb bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

extra cheese to top

Directions:
Toss potatoes in ranch dressing. Mix in cheese and bacon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Remove foil and cover the top with cheese. Bake until cheese is nice and melted.


Love in Christ,

Hello Again!

 It's been a little over a year since I took a hiatus from the blogging world. After much prompting and prayerful consideration, I've decided to return.This will be a work in progress as I decide what to move over from previous blogs, and strive to follow the path that our Heavenly Father has laid out for me.

Finding grace in imperfection...

Rest assured, I will fail. I will fall short. I will disappoint you. I am imperfect, flawed, and utterly human. I make mistakes every day. I make choices that many people do not agree with. I will never be able to please everyone.

I will, however, love wholeheartedly. I will be genuine. I will be authentic.

This last year has taken me on an interesting journey of discovering grace. Coming from a very legalistic background has made accepting God's grace an almost insurmountable challenge. I had to come to a point of accepting that I can never do enough or be good enough to deserve His mercy. But yet, He loves me anyway. Even more than that, I had to accept that He created me. This seems obvious, of course. Even little children know that. But, He really did create ME. An imperfect, flawed, silly girl with a heart that breaks too easily. He created me with my weakness for being stubborn and hard headed, an impatience for things not being the way I'd like, and a black and white mind in a world full of grey. He knew I'd love glitter and pink. He knew I'd be giddy for cute little dogs. He knew that a new pen would make me light up like a Christmas tree. He created ME. And He loved me, just the way He made me. That doesn't mean that He wants me to stay in a state of imperfection, or use my weaknesses as excuses. But, He already loves me. He's promised to never leave me. God has given me grace to live a truly Christian life. He's provided what I need so that I can live to honor Him. He loves me, His precious imperfect daughter.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins;  it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus." -Romans 3:21-26

Why a Catholic blog?

My reason for writing a Catholic blog is two fold. Firstly, we are Catholic. Our faith shapes our daily lives...how we think, feel, and act. It would be impossible to separate faith and the day to day happenings in our world.

My second reason is to provide a source of information. We have a lot of friends, good friends, that are not Catholic. They have little exposure, or perhaps even negative exposure to what being Catholic means. I wanted to provide a window into what we believe and why. I get a LOT of questions about our faith and why we do the things we do.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in thy sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." -Psalm 19:!4

Family Update

Life seems to have entered a new phase in our household. We've transitioned from a house full of little ones, to having three school aged children, a preschooler and a toddler! We've been in our new home for a year and a half now, and it's really beginning to feel like home. God has blessed us with a good circle of homeschooling friends. And, I think we've finally found a parish that's just right for our family. This past year has been an interesting journey, to say the least. Many things have changed, and many more have stayed the same.

I think I shall close for now. I look forward to this adventure!

Pax Christi,

The Feast of the Assumption

Our family loves celebrating the feast days. Joseph especially loves feasts that celebrate our Blessed Mother. He seems to have a special love for Her.


This year was our second year to make a grotto for Mary. The boys LOVE this project!

Daddy helped us cut out the structure using a diaper box. Then we cut a strip and used tape to form the arched roof.

 After wrapping in aluminum foil, we used sharpies to create a heavenly glow behind our statue. The boys decorated around the outside with rose stickers.




We surrounded our grotto with a "cloud" made of batting.

Our finished grotto:

This year we also made a Heavenly Clouds mobile. We made clouds using white felt that we cut into a cloud shape and then filled with batting. My felt glue didn't work so well, so I ended up just stitching around the edges. We cut out a picture of the Blessed Mother and then used string to attach all of the pieces to a wooden embroidery hoop.

For our feast day supper we made  Porcupine Meatballs, mashed potatoes, green beans, Assumpta Salad, and Heavenly Parfaits.

Our family attended Mass together this evening before enjoy our parfaits. What a fantastic feast day for Our Lady!

In Christo Rege et Maria Regina,

National Donut Day!

What's a girl to do on National Donut Day? Why, make donuts, of course! I decided to make baked donuts, since I didn't really want to pull out the deep fryer. Plus, since they're baked, they're healthy, right? Ok, maybe not so much. But, it was worth a try!

We made Baked Blueberry Donuts. My trusted kitchen helper put together the batter for me.


Baked Blueberry Donuts

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 T milk
2 eggs
3 T oil
2 T water
1/2 c. blueberries

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Mix dry ingredients together. Crush berries in a separate bowl with a fork. Mix together milk, eggs, oil, blueberries, and water. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir till just combined. 

Pour into donut pan. I actually didn't have a donut pan (shocking, I know!), so I used my mini bundt cake pan. It worked just fine!

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

While the donuts are cooling, make the glaze.

Glaze

Ingredients:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
water

Directions: 
Mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add 1 tsp. water at a time until drizzling consistency is reached. Drizzle over cooled donuts.

My crowd of hungry boys thoroughly enjoyed National Donut Day. We will have to do this again next year!

Pax Christi,