Salsa

I've been making this salsa for the last couple years and it's so easy.


Salsa
8 cups tomatoes, chopped
3 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
8-10 jalapeno peppers, chopped (keep seed for hot, remove for milder)
1 12oz can of tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP pepper


Combine ingredient in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 60-90 minutes. Put into pint jars and seal.  make 5 to 6 pints.

Notes:
I usually put my salsa in the blender after I cooked it for a smoother salsa.

Tip:
wear plastic gloves when working with jalapeno peppers so you don't get the "hot" of the pepper on your hands.

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

So like I said on my last post, I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest.com and am finding tons of new recipes to try.  After my original plan for dinner back fired on me (I was on pinterest and the soup burnt to the bottom of the pan.  It stunk up the house!!!)  I had to come up with something different.  Seeing how Mike is in the field harvesting corn, I quickly thought of this tasty looking pizza bites.   I threw a batch together and the boys eat the whole thing...so I had to make another batch and brought those out to Mike for supper....I'm already sick of harvesting season.  

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• pinch of salt 
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pepperoni sliced, chopped
• 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, & salt ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

These would also be great as an appetizer...Enjoy!!!!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I have tomatoes growing out of every nook and cranny at our house.  I already have plenty of salsa but still have tons of tomatoes...so I headed to pinterest for some ideas of what to do with them.  That's when I came across this recipe for a great Spaghetti Sauce that I could can.  So that what I did Monday before and after our little trip to the local animal park

picture credits:  tasty kitchen

Now, we haven't had it on pasta yet, but everyone seems to like it when they tasted it off the spoon.  Can't wait to have pasta again soon (it's a fall/winter food here at the Van Dam household so we haven't had it for a while.)

Homemade Pancakes

This morning to celebrate the holiday I made pancakes and sausage link for the boys...all five of them for breakfast.  I even splurged and let the kids have peaches (jam that didn't set up) and cool whip on top of their cakes.

Here's the recipe

1 cup flour
1 TBLS sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 TBLS oil

mix together and make the pancakes.


I usually double this recipe for my family.  I would say one batch makes about 6-8 medium size pancakes.