Sand Pail List 2012- Canning! (And a Recipe For Chipotle Salsa)

I am starting to sweat a little now when I look at our Sand Pail List for the summer.  My son starts back to school on August 21st, so our summer days are all too quickly dwindling by.  And even now that I can cross #2 off the list, we still have five more activities left to do (in less than 15 days!).  I am starting to come to grips with the reality that we may just not get everything crossed off.  But a few of them could be extended into the fall (like Kennywood, the Civil War site visits, and the 5K ;) ).  

But wait.  I did say that I can now cross #2 off the list- learning to can!  :)  I canned for the very first time this past week.  It was a little small batch canning.  Definitely nothing to survive the zombie apocalypse on, but I am proud of my two little jars nonetheless...

I bought one of those nifty Ball Home Canning Discovery Kits.  Except it was not as nifty as I had hoped.  Because it was missing it's Beginner Guide and Recipe Booklet.  (Oh, so not cool...) So I did a little research on Google and MacGyver'ed my own small batch recipe for some salsa.  

I wasn't willing to call Ball and wait for a new booklet when I had all of these beauties from my garden, the neighbor's garden, and my local farmers market sitting on my kitchen island...

I am proud to say that my salsa was about 98% all local!

I still had some chiles in adobo sauce cubes in the freezer (what are those, you ask?  Click here to find out. ;) ), so I decided to make a chipotle salsa to can.  Now the following recipe is for a very small batch.  It made one 12 ounce jar and one 8 ounce jar.  Of course, you could just divide it up into two 10 ounce jars.  Or double it and make twice as much.

I will warn you that this makes a medium-hot salsa.  If you would like less heat, then I would leave out the jalapeno or just use one chiles in adobo cube instead of two.

What you will need:

8 medium tomatoes, chopped (you can seed them if you would like, but I just left the seeds in)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 of a large green pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 cup apple juice

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

2 chiles in adobo cubes (or 2 tbsp of jarred chiles in adobo, pureed)

1 tbsp of sugar

After chopping the tomatoes, process half of them in a blender or food processor until mostly smooth.  Pour into a large sauce pan.  Add in the rest of the chopped tomatoes and all of the ingredients through the 1/2 tsp of salt.  

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Then add your 2 cubes of chiles in adobo, cover the pot, and boil for another 10 minutes.  Add in the tablespoon of sugar and boil uncovered for a final 20 minutes.

Baby girl getting in on the canning action too. ;)

Since I was missing that handy beginner's guide, I used the Intro to Canning Guide on the Ball website to get me through the actual canning process.  I could get into all the steps in this post, but their PDF was so simple and illustrative I would encourage you to just go ahead and click their link above.  They are the experts after all, and I possibly couldn't do a better job explaining it than what they have on their site.  It was pretty simple.  Even for this canning novice. ;)

* I will say that I processed my jars for about 20 minutes in boiling water.  The processing times can vary according to what you are canning and how much you are canning.  20 minutes was perfect for my two jars of salsa.

Tah-dah!  The fruits of my labor. 

This will be the first of many more canning ventures to come... :)

To see all our adventures from our Sand Pail List 2012, click here.

Small Batch Chipotle Salsa

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 12 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes + 20 minutes processing

6045040

Ingredients (20 oz)

• 8 medium tomatoes, chopped (you can seed them if you would like, but I just left the seeds in)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 of a large green pepper, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 chiles in adobo cubes (or 2 tbsp of jarred chiles in adobo, pureed)
• 1 tbsp of sugar

Instructions

After chopping the tomatoes, process half of them in a blender or food processor until mostly smooth. Pour into a large sauce pan. Add in the rest of the chopped tomatoes and all of the ingredients through the 1/2 tsp of salt.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then add your 2 cubes of chiles in adobo, cover the pot, and boil for another 10 minutes. Add in the tablespoon of sugar and boil uncovered for a final 20 minutes.

I will say that I processed my jars for about 20 minutes in boiling water. The processing times can vary according to what you are canning and how much you are canning. 20 minutes was perfect for my two jars of salsa.

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For Nutritional Info on this recipe, please CLICK HERE.

Sand Pail List 2012- Take Us Out to the Ball Game...

We can cross 1 1/2 things off of our Sand Pail List for the summer now.  #6 and half of #5 is now done! 

Last Sunday we went to our first Pirates game of the season.  This was also baby girl's first Pirates game ever, and she was all decked out in her black and gold!

I was so glad that we finally got to go to a game.  I know it hasn't been easy for my husband this season.  He has been a HUGE Pirates fan since he was a kid, and most years he has had some kind of a season package deal.  This is his first baseball season in a while that he hasn't had one. 

My husband really enjoyed introducing our baby girl to Pirates baseball.  I am sure this will  be her first of many, many games with her Daddy.

My husband got my son hooked on baseball last season.  He had a 2 ticket season package and since I was usually tired or nauseous being pregnant with Little Miss, he would take my son in my absence.  My son now loves it.  :)

Sarris Candies in Canonsburg was not in our original plan last Sunday, but then we realized that they didn't close until much later than we had initially thought that day.  So, we made the stop!  My son and I have been to Sarris's before, but this was a first for my husband and baby girl.  It was fun to see his reaction to the candy castle, the massive candy store, and the old-fashioned ice-cream parlor.  Of course we all had to get a giant ice cream sundae to share!  Even baby girl got a little taste. ;)

*A Sarris Candies stop was supposed to be part of our trip to Kennywood, #5 on the list.

To read our entire Sand Pail List for the summer and for all other Sand Pail List updates, click here.

Summer Blog Challenge, Day 33- The Summer of the Staycation

Financially speaking, this little family is in rebuilding mode this summer.  Last fall, my husband lost his job and we had some financial setbacks from that.  Fortunately he was able to find another job within a few months.  A job that also happened to bring us back to our hometown and to our family.  We also went from a two income (granted, I wasn't bringing in all that much) to a single income family a month and a half before our baby girl was born.  My husband and I knew from the day we found out I was pregnant with my daughter that I would be a stay-at-home mama no matter how much we had to budget and scrimp to make it happen.  


So, this summer there will be no week long relaxing vacation to a warm and sandy destination.  (Though we are already formulating a plan for saving for just such a trip for next summer.)  
Instead this summer we will be taking a few fun day trips and maybe even a few road trips.  We have a day in the big city planned next weekend, complete with a major league baseball game and dinner out.  We are also planning a trip to a nearby amusement park and an overnight camping trip.  
This is the summer of our first ever Sand Pail List!  It was fun to come up with our list, and it has been even more fun to cross things off that list. :)
  
To see my family's Sand Pail List, click here.
To read all our updates on our Sand Pail List adventures, bookmark this page!

Sand Pail List 2012- Cross #7 Off the List!

Yes, the drive-in movie theater is becoming a dying family tradition around here.  And this is one of the very reasons that going to one with my family made it on our Sand Pail List for this summer.  The drive-in conjures up so much nostalgia for me.  I can't count how many times my parents had taken my sister and I to them when we were kids.  Of course, there was a lot more fanfare to them then- little kids rides and playgrounds, and fireworks after the final feature. I wanted to share this experience with my children before they all close...

This was the first time going to a drive-in for both my daughter and my son.  We arrived shortly before dusk, and set up our folding chairs.  We had packed cans of pop and boxes of our favorite movie candies, along with blankets in our tote.  

My son happily went to the drive-in's concession stand to bring back a large bucket of popcorn for us all.  

We settled in for the first feature of the evening, Brave.  Can I say what a cute movie?  

By the end of the movie, baby girl had been peacefully nursed to sleep.  (Yep, I nursed in public at the drive-in.  Not as if anyone could see us anyways in the dark. ;) )

The second movie of the evening was The Avengers.  A movie that we as a family had been looking forward to seeing.  By the middle of the movie though it had become cool enough that the blankets and hoodies no longer sufficed.  My husband and I along with the baby moved to the car.  My son decided to throw on another blanket and make himself comfortable sitting beside the car.

I am so glad that we were able to share this experience with our children this past weekend.  I hope we are able to make it to a few more before drive-in season is over.  Who knows if it will be open next summer... 

To read our Sand Pail List and my other updates on our list, click here.

Sand Pail List 2012- Check #1 Off the List! :)

The first item on my family's Sand Pail List can now officially be crossed off!  Our family's raised garden bed is finished and planted. :) It took a little longer than we had originally planned, but there were several steps involved to make sure the frame was built right, the soil was well fertilized, and we would be able to keep out the local wildlife.  

My husband put tall posts at each corner of the frame, and installed the netting.  This should deter the deer and the bunnies. ;)

Next up was the planting of the tomatoes.  I decided to place a mixture of crushed egg shells and Epsom salts in the hole before planting each plant.  I only did this with the tomato plants.  This mixture is supposed to provide the young plants with extra calcium and minerals, and eventually a higher yield of fruit.  We shall see. ;)  This season I just planted 3 kinds of tomatoes- a Big Boy and then 2 different heirlooms, Brandywine and Mr. Stripey.

The finished raised garden bed!  (Notice the protector and guardian of the vegetables?)

I also planted a row of poblano peppers and a row of jalapeno peppers.  I have high hopes that I will yield enough homegrown tomatoes and peppers to can my own salsa this summer. (Fingers crossed!)  I planted marigolds all around the border of the bed to naturally ward off pests.  My son also sprinkled crushed egg shells around the base of each plant to keep the slugs away.  Apparently, they are not too keen on the jagged edges of the shells.  The shells also allow even more calcium to eventually seep into the soil and to the plants' roots.  

I kept it local and bought all of my plants from a local greenhouse. :)

I am looking forward to seeing how our first experiment with raised bed (and natural!) gardening turns out.

Sand Pail List 2012- The Raised Garden Bed

Some of you may recall my post last month about my Sand Pail List for this summer.  (For those of you who aren't familiar, a sand pail list is like a bucket list but just for the summer.)  To check out my family's Sand Pail List, click here.

The first item on our list, the raised garden bed, is well under way.  Earlier this week, my son and my husband built the frame...

The boys built me a gorgeous frame!  Our first attempt at raised bed gardening is small- just a 3 x 3 foot space.  We are going to try it this summer and see how it goes.  Depending on the results, we will probably do at least 2 raised beds next summer.

Now time for the soil!  We bought garden soil from the big chain.  To make the soil richer, we mixed in used coffee grounds that I have been saving for weeks.  I also picked up a large garbage bag full of used coffee grounds from Starbucks.  (Great tip- ask your local Starbucks or any coffee shop to save coffee grounds for you for a day or two.  It is wonderful for fertilizing your garden and it is 100% FREE.  You just have to be willing to pick out all the soggy coffee filters, but a small sacrifice to make. ;) Bonus- my car smelled like fresh brewed coffee for days after taking the grounds out of my trunk!)

Next up?  The actual planting of the garden!  Stay tuned for more updates. :)

My Family's 2012 Sand Pail List

Inspired by an article I read in my recent issue of Better Homes & Gardens and by a few family blog projects I have come across, I decided that my family and I need a Sand Pail List for the summer.  What is a Sand Pail List, you ask?  A Sand Pail List is a little like a Bucket List, but just for the summer.  My son is off from school.  The days are warmer & longer.  A Sand Pail List is a fun way to set some goals over summer break.  So, what is our Sand Pail List so far?

1. Plant a raised garden bed and grow my own vegetables.
2. Learn to can this summer. (And hopefully I will be canning some veggies that I grew myself in the aforementioned raised garden bed. ;))
3. "Rough it" at least one night camping.  Roughing it for me means IN A TENT.  In a well established campground with people and running water nearby.  This does NOT mean the same thing to my husband and my son though.
4. Go to at least one water park we have never been to before.
5. Plan a trip to Kennywood complete with a stop at Sarris Chocolates for ice cream sundaes.
6. Get to at least one Sunday Pirates home game with the husband and the kiddos.
7. Go on a family outing to a drive-in movie theater.  We still have a few drive-ins open around here, and I want to take my children to one to experience it before they are all gone.  I still have fond memories of going to the drive-in with my parents and little sister, folding down the backseat with our blankets and eating popcorn and pizza.
8. Plan 2-3 day trips to historical sites within a 2 hour drive.  We have a lot of Civil War history in this state- battlegrounds, Underground Railroad sites, etc.  '
9. Run one 5K with my son before the end of the summer.  (Note: I have never run a 5K before.  Ever.)

Our Sand Pail List has a theme- fun things to do, but within a budget.  This will not be the summer of an extravagant trip to the beach or a Disney resort.  We are saving that for next summer. ;)  How about you?  Are you on a family fun budget this summer?  What are you planning on putting on your Sand Pail List for 2012?

Be looking for updates throughout these warm summer months as we cross things off our list and perhaps add a few new ones. ;)


*Last updated August 3, 2012