Fresh Salsa!!

Fresh Salsa is super easy to make. No need to can it unless you have a bunch that you can't eat right away. 

The basic stuff of salsa is: Tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime or lemon juice, cilantro & salt. If you start with these you can't mess up. Cilantro has a strong, distinctive flavor that some people don't care for. If you don't, use some cumin or chilli powder.

Here is how I usually make salsa

In a food processor chop all your veggies & herbs. 

Keep pouring it all together into a bowl as you work. 

Stir it well and taste it on a chip. Eat about three big bites before you decide to add anything. 

As it sits in the fridge the flavors will blend and it might get a little more spicy. 

Eat it with chips, add it to guacamole, put it on salad...YUM!

• Tomatoes, Roma are best. Squeezing out the juice and seeds to eliminate liquid
• Hot peppers of your choice. Removing some of the seeds will cool it down. Wear gloves when handling the hot peppers! Unless you want your kids to see you crying and holding your hands in ice water the rest of the day.
• Bell or other sweet peppers
• Onion/green onion
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Cumin, and/or little chili powder
• Fresh oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary (if you want)
• Salt ( sea salt preferred)
• Vinegar
• Lime or Lemon juice

This post is about uncooked fresh salsa.The link to canning salsa is here: Tar Tar's Salsa

Homemade Electrolyte Drinks

Make Your Own Gatorade Type Drink or Flavored Water

First - What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are substances that become ions in solution and can conduct electricity. A balance of minerals/electrolytes in our bodies is essential for normal function of our cells and organs.When we are sweating in this hot weather we are losing essential minerals/electrolytes. For our purposes we are mainly concerned with potassium and chloride replacement. 

Potassium is a positive ion found inside our cells and is needed for normal cell function. A couple of important functions are regulation of the heartbeat and muscle function. Orange juice is high in potassium. An 8 oz. glass has 450 mg. That's 10X the potassium that a quart of Gatorade has! 75 mg are in 1/4 c. of lemon juice which is almost twice what Gatorade has.

Chloride is a negatively charged ion found in the fluid outside of cells and in the blood. Chloride plays a role in helping the body maintain a normal balance of fluids. Table salt or sea salt is mainly sodium chloride with other trace minerals.

If you drink water and eat a salty snack and a piece of fruit to replace what you've lost that is great, but don't drink quarts and quarts of water and not snack. You can become the victim of water intoxication. It sounds funny, but trust me, it's not. That puts a whammy on your body's cells because of salt dilution. Theoretically, cells could swell to the point of bursting. Tissue swelling can cause an irregular heartbeat and allow fluid to enter the lungs. Swelling of brain tissues can cause seizures, coma and ultimately death unless water intake is restricted and a hypertonic saline solution is administered. I am pretty sure that's where I was headed one summer. I was drinking lots of water too quickly and not eating.

Good, old-fashioned lemon juice contains high amounts of vitamin C, the B vitamins, A, vitamin E, retinol, folate and folic acid. Minerals that are found in lemon juice include calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, zinc, manganese and selenium. Most of the essential minerals that are required by the human body are present in lemon juice. Cool! Oranges, limes , pineapples, grapes & coconut water likewise have good stuff we need like the all important potassium.

Now that you've had your health lesson, on to making our drinks! Pick your juice or juice combo. You can make Salty Lemonade, Grape, Orange, Lime, or a combination of these.

You'll need:

• Sea Salt
• Sugar, Honey or Stevia
• Juice or fruit to get the juice- Such as: Lemon, Lime, Orange, Pineapple, Grape...
• Coconut water is another possible ingredient 
• Sports jugs, or quart jars

I think the favorite has become the Salty Lemonade. You can substitute stevia for the honey or sugar, but just remember that cuts down on the carbs also. With a sweeter juice you may or may not want as much sugar or honey.



You may want to warm up your juice to get the sugar & salt dissolved.

Add concentrated orange juice to grape or lime if you want. Taste it after adding the salt. You may decide to add more of something at this point even though it's concentrated. Add water and ice to top off your quart jar or bottle. Taste again, remembering it's supposed to be like a flavored water, not full-strength juice.

Apricot Zucchini Bread & Muffins

Made With Fresh Apricots, Zucchini Squash & Coconut this is going to be my favorite quick bread! 

I adore apricots and coconut. The combination is something wonderful! I had frozen apricots & tons of squash this morning so I experimented with my zucchini quick bread recipe and found something heavenly! Moist, beautiful apricotiness. Shhhh! Don't tell the silly people that it has squash. They will never know as fast as it disappears down the hatch!           

½ cup Coconut oil
1 cup Raw Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Apricots fresh or frozen, cut up and smashed, (NOT DRIED)
2 cups Zucchini, shredded
1 cup Coconut (moist, Baker's brand)
2 tsp Vanilla
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Baking Powder
1½ tsp Baking Soda
3 cups Flour (can use part whole wheat)
2 tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl stir together oil and sugar. Beat in the eggs, apricots, zucchini, coconut and vanilla, mixing well. 

Fold in dry ingredients just until blended.
Pour into greased loaf pans, or muffin tins. 
Bake for about 30 minutes for the loaves. Don't overcook!
You can toothpick test off center. A toothpick coming out relatively clean is a loaf done enough. Springs back when you gently touch center? That's good also. This is so scrumptious I could make myself sick eating it.

Apricot Zucchini Bread



1 stick butter
1 cup raw honey
2 eggs
¾ cup fresh apricots, cut up and smashed
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
3 cups fresh-ground sprouted whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
A pinch of cardamom


Pre-heat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl cream the butter and honey until creamy. Beat eggs in one at a time then continue beating for 1 minute. Add the apricots, zucchini and vanilla. Mix well. Fold in dry ingredients just until blended. Do not over mix.
Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Rustic Bread and Spinach Artichoke Dip

Rustic Bread and Spinach Artichoke Dip

The Spinach Dip recipe is at the bottom because you should make the bread first. The starter is made the night before, so get crackin'!

 

How to make Rustic Bread using a starter from the day before:

The day before making the bread make the starter: 
Into your bread machine put 3/4 cup filtered water, 1/4 teaspoon bread machine yeast and 1 3/4 cup flour on the dough cycle let it knead for about 5 minutes. Stop machine and let rise overnight.

The next day: Reserve 1/3 cup of the starter for this recipe and refrigerate remainder to use another day. Or just make three!
In a large bowl, mix together:

• 1/3 cup reserved starter from above 
• 1 cup filtered water 
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast 
• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. salt. 

Select Dough Cycle and Start. After 10 minutes, pour dough from machine into an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch down dough and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a round loaf. Place loaf on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Spray loaf with water and place in preheated oven. Directions sometimes say to continue spraying loaf  during the first 10 minutes of baking.
 

 I placed a muffin tin with water in the oven instead to keep up the humidity. Bake for 40 minutes, until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Let it cool before thinly slicing for dipping. This is a great bread for a busy day at home because you don't have to watch it like a hawk. It doesn't matter if it rises a little longer.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

This yummy dip is a remake of a recipe I got from my friend JH and my sweet daughter. It's just like me to combine different recipes.

• 2 teaspoons olive oil or butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• One container frozen spinach thawed & drained
• One whole jar of artichokes chopped.
• 1/2 cup from a jar of roasted red peppers chopped
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes hot sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1 cup of Asagio/Parmesan/Romano grated mix
• Salt and ground pepper

 Heat the oil or butter in a large skillet and saute the onion and garlic. Add the drained spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and peppers, cooking until good and hot. In a large bowl melt the cream cheese (or add it to the skillet if there's room) and combine everything else. Pour into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle a little more cheese on top and bake at about 375 until bubbling and starting to brown. Serve with pretzel crackers or the thinly sliced rustic bread.

Olive Oil Choclate Chip Cookies

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup flour (I sometimes use part wheat)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/4 cup olive oil (canola also works)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 In a medium bowl, stir all wet ingredients and sugars together.

Add and mix in dry ingredients until combined. I increase the flour by almost 1/4 cup when I use our own chicken's eggs. They are much larger than store-bought large eggs.

 Eat a little cookie dough, if you dare. :)

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets or make cookie bars by pressing into a medium cookie sheet with a rim.

Bake until barely set. These will continue to firm up after you take them off the sheets. They are very easy to overcook.

Dear Sweet Peas - The Cheese Stands Alone

 Hi Sweet Peas. Remember the cheeses I brought home from Germany? I only recently started carving on this one. He is so delicious! 

 I don't know why he'd have to stand alone. He looks quite handsome. He even has a few freckles. :)

I had forgotten my cheese had a face and glasses, so I took a photo for you. It reminded me of the song and game. The poor cheese stands alone at the end. I read that this song may have actually come from Germany. Get Mommy and Daddy to teach it to you and some friends sometime. You need a few people to play. Even if you don't have enough to play you can still sing it.

The Farmer in the Dell

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell

The farmer takes a wife
The farmer takes a wife
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer takes a wife

The wife takes a child
The wife takes a child
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The wife takes a child

The child takes a nurse
The child takes a nurse
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The child takes a nurse

The nurse takes a dog
The nurse takes a dog
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The nurse takes a dog

The dog takes a cat
The dog takes a cat
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The dog takes a cat

The cat takes a rat
The cat takes a rat
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cat takes a rat

The mouse takes a cheese
The mouse takes a cheese
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The mouse takes a cheese

The cheese stands alone
The cheese stands alone
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cheese stands alone 

"Poor lonesome cheese", says Nanny. "I'll eat you all up and then my tummy won't be lonely."

Form a circle holding hands around one who is chosen to be the farmer. Sing the first verse while moving around the farmer. When the verse is over everyone stops and the farmer makes her or his choice of a wife (sometimes without looking). The wife joins her or him in the center for her verse and so through the verses until either the cheese or dog is chosen.

Muffins on the Sly or Apple Bran "Cupcakes"

I say Muffins on the Sly because little grandson has been told by his mommy that any muffin/cupcake food item is a cupcake. That way a healthy muffin is as fun for him to eat as a cupcake because he loves cake and they're all cakey. So below is the yummy muffin recipe. I usually don't make them the same every time, but they came out so wonderful and moist yesterday I decided to write it down so I could repeat. I made two large batches. The first batch had mashed bananas in place of part of the applesauce. I have made them with honey. If you use honey increase flour a little. I forgot the honey in a batch once that had bananas in it, but they were still pretty wonderful. Just not as wonderful. You can use a little oat flour, or milled flax seed as part of the flour.

Normally you can see apple chunks. Nummy!

Apple Bran Muffins

• 2 c. bran cereal, crushed
• ½ c. milk
• 4 eggs
• ⅓ c. coconut oil, melted
• 2 c. applesauce
• ¾ c. Sugar in the Raw or honey
• 1 tsp. almond or vanilla flavoring
• 2 apples peeled & chopped
• ¼ c. chopped walnuts 
• 2 c. flour (I like King Aurthur whole wheat flour)
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

Mix all the wet stuff, also including sugar, nuts and apples. Add all the dry stuff. Here's a tip: Crush soda or baking powder in your hand with the back of your measuring spoon. If you've ever bit into a baked item and had a hard crunch of baking soda you'll know this is important.

Mix all together. Don't over-mix. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray. I used mini-muffin pans, regular, and heart pans yesterday. Bake at 350° until done. If you over bake them the bottoms will scorch and they won't be as moist.

Summer Blender Drinks - Pina Colada - Family Version

Drinks bought at coffee shops and restaurants can rack up the $$ for families trying to stay on a budget. There are probably plenty of recipes online for those willing to dig around and who really want to save money.
I will stick to what I know and love to make on my own. Feel free to add a link to your favorite recipes if you like. All of my drinks are family friendly, so there are no "adult" beverages here. :)
Making your own drinks can be quick and easy if you keep some things on hand, like fruit juices, fruit and yogurt. 
 

Pina Coladas for 2

• 1 cup Pineapple juice
• 4 Tab. Cream of Coconut (Not fresh juice. The stuff in a can has added sugar)
• 2 cups ice cubes
 

Put everything in the blender and blend, turning the blender off and on as needed to let things settle and blend into a frosty wonderfulness! That's all there is to it!  Can you believe it? Couldn't be more simple. Figure out how many of these you can make for the cost of juice and a can of cream coconut and you'll think twice about going to Sonic or anywhere else even at happy hour.If there are ice cube chunks in the bottom of your glass that means you either didn't blend long enough, or your blender is having trouble withe the cubes. I have a blender that was mom's, made in the 1970s and it is a powerhouse!

Now go make some other fruity drinks and smoothies. You can do it!

Aunt Tar Tar's Salsa

Tar Tar's Salsa
(Aunt Tar-Tar, that's me. A beloved niece's name for me even after she grew up.)

Basic Large Recipe using fresh ingredients. Measurements are after chopping in the food processor.

• 15-20 c. Tomatoes, Roma are best (squeeze out the juice and seeds to eliminate liquid)
• 2-4 c. Jalapeno or other hot peppers (removing some of the seeds will cool it down)
• 1-2 c. Bell or other sweet peppers
• 2-3 c. Onion/green onion
• Plenty of Garlic
• One medium Zucchini (optional)
• 1-2 large cans Tomato paste (if you want it thick, not juicy)
• Cilantro (to taste)
• 1-2 Tab. Cumin, and a little chili powder
• 1 Tab. Paprika (optional if you use a little chili powder)
• Oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary
• Chives
• Salt ( sea salt preferred)
• 1/2 c. Vinegar
• 1/2 c. Lime or Lemon juice

You can adjust the amounts to suit your taste. Eat it raw or simmer the salsa a little and can it either by water bath or pressuring according to your cooker's directions for tomatoes. Use clean, hot jars and lids. Wear gloves when handling the hot peppers! Unless you want to cry and hold your hands in ice water.

Salty Dill Pickles

Spicy Salty Dills

Here's another of those family recipes passed down by the women in my family for generations.

Gather or buy your pickling cucumbers FRESH. Pickle the day you pick if you want good pickles!
My family recycles gallon and half gallon jars. If you don't get them to reseal you must store them in the fridge. In fact, store a few jars in the fridge anyway. It makes them nice and crunchy! Some recipes use pickling spices, or ferment their pickles for a few days, we don't.

Here's what you need before you start making brine:

• pickling cucumbers
• fresh dill, or dried seed & weed if you must
• fresh garlic
• fresh hot peppers, if you want (jalapeno, cayenne, hot banana...)
• pickling salt
• white vinegar
• jars, lids & rings (washed & sterilized)
• Pot deep enough for waterbath (check out your county extension office website for info on canning) I don't immerse my jars of cukes. I flip them upside down in a pan and only add water to above the neck and bring to a boil a couple of minutes. Otherwise I get overcooked, soft pickles. My mom never did either and we are still living. :)

Wash cukes, fresh dill, and peppers in cold water. Heat your brine while you pack the jars with slices, spears, or whole cukes. Each qt. jar gets:

• 1 pepper (if you want them spicy)
• one bunch of dill stems, seed heads, or 1 tsp. dill seed/weed
• 2 peeled garlic cloves
• As many cukes as you can cram in

The basic recipe for the brine is going to be a ratio of 2:1:1/4
That's 2 parts water:1 part vinegar:1/4 part pickling salt.
In case your ratios are rusty, here's a starting point:

The Brine

• 2 quarts water
• 1 quart white vinegar
• 1 cup salt

It will take approximately 1 pint of brine per quart. The cukes take up half the room in the jar.
Bring the brine to a boil. (Whatever you do don't lean over the kettle and breathe in or you'll be sorry.) Place your jars with cukes into a cake pan or the sink to catch salty spills. Pour each jar to within about 1/4 inch from the top, trying to cover the cukes. Some you may waterbath, which my mom does upside down in a pan for gallon jars. Not that I'm recommending, just telling you. Some you can use clean, sterile, used, lids on and store in the fridge.

Nut Butters

You can make your own yummy nut butter from whatever crunchy, delicious nuts you like. Some people use raw nuts, but I like mine roasted.

Oh the possibilities! Almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, sunflower seed and of course peanuts make wonderful nut butters.

If you buy the nuts pre salted they might be a bit too salty, so use your own judgment. Also, you can decide how smooth you want your butters. Smooth with a few crunchy bits thrown in near the end of processing is what I like. All nuts have great oil content but need a little more to make them truly spreadable. You can add a bit of olive oil, flax seed oil or canola. Only add what it needs.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love sunflower seed, so I recently made sun butter.

Here are some nice recipes to use your nut butters in at Cooking Light. You can also do a Google search for cooking with nut butters. You could try making a chocolate nut butter with a little cocoa, or melted dark chocolate. If you use cocoa you may need a little sweetener of some kind.

Nut Butter

• 2 cups of unsalted nuts or seeds of your choice
• 1/4 tsp. salt (to taste)
  
• 2-4 Tb. oil

Place your nuts and salt into a food processor or grinding stone. :) Process the nuts/seeds until chopped finely. Some will start to release oil and turn to a dry paste. Add oil a little at a time until the butter is the consistency you'd like it to be. Store in the fridge. Simple, huh?

Resurrection Cookies

These little cookies are a great way to get away from the Easter Bunny and teach your children the REAL story of Resurrection Sunday.

While you make them you could sing or listen to some of the many hymns or praise songs about Christ's death and resurrection. Worship with me.

The Lion And The Lamb
We Serve A Risen Savior
No Greater Love
Thank You For The Cross
On My Cross
How Deep The Father's Love For Us


If your family has nut allergies you could probably leave those out. I think I made these in the past without nuts.

Resurrection Cookies

• 1 c whole pecans
• 1 t vinegar
• 3 egg whites
• pinch salt
• 1 c sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. (this in important - don't wait until you are halfway done with the recipe!) Place pecans in a zipper bag and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested
he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isa.1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered ookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.

Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matt. 28:1-9.

HE IS RISEN!