Southwest Pizza

For something different we enjoy a Southwest version of pizza. Make your favorite pizza crust.

This one isn't my favorite but it's grain free, made for me. I made a regular yeast dough with spelt for the rest of the family. They ate some of mine too.

Put a good layer of salsa over it. Medium was my choice. Use what you like.

Add a layer of burger. I like to use chicken or turkey burger but only had one pound of chicken burger so I added a pound of ground beef.

Next put on the onions and peppers.

Top it off with a good layer of Colby cheese. (Mine was free- from my bro-in-law who drives a food truck. We get rejected cheese and it's pretty good!)

The ooey-gooey goodness. Make one for yourself!

True story-
On Sunday we were baby-sitting a young family's children. The oldest is 9, the next is 5 or 6 and the youngest is 3. I remarked to the middle one that they could appear to be our own, stair-stepped down from Christopher. The youngest, who is fairly new to speaking, was listening and he surprised me by asking, "Do you want me?" 

Recipe for Canned Salsa

1/2 bushel of tomatoes, peeled, diced (or chopped with a Kwik Cut) and drained in a colander.
8 large bell peppers, diced or chopped with a food processor.
3 (or more if desired) jalapeno peppers, diced. Leave the seeds in for more heat. Be sure to use gloves to cut these up.
6 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed.
4 large onions, diced or chopped with a food processor.
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 Tablespoon of each of the following ingredients-

Morton's seasoned salt
celery salt
onion salt
garlic salt

Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil down to desired consistency, or thicken as desired with cornstarch, dissolved in water. Fill canning jars, clean the rims, put lids on and boil for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. Turn off the heat, remove the jars from the water and allow to cool. 

You can reuse jars from the grocery store,
that you have emptied. 

What is your favorite canned salsa recipe?

What do you use salsa for?

Thank God for lots of tomatoes this year! And peppers! And onions!

Fall Bounty & Beauty

Our friends in Delray recently blessed us with apples, tomatoes and peppers. We picked them with their help.

 The tomatoes were turned into canned chunks, salsa, juice and soup with the help of my mother. 

 The tomatoes and peppers are so large and beautiful. Planted in wood chips as Back to Eden suggests.

 Watermelon crop from our garden. Obviously there are potatoes in the pail. The boys keep bringing me a bucket at a time as needed. About once a week. So nice to have food from the garden!

 The peppers (from our garden) were useful in making salsa. We also put halves in the freezer for four or five meals of stuffed peppers.

The onion crop has been a blessing. It is fast disappearing.

 A day's labor- tomato juice and applesauce. A friend taught me to cook tomatoes and then use the blender to make juice. I think she runs the final product through a sieve but I just put it in the jars, seeds and all, for a thicker juice. I make soup the same way.

 The Crepe Myrtle was filled with blooms this year.

 And this bush that I haven't yet figured out. A type of hydrangea possibly?

Have you had a bounteous summer/fall?

Do you expect a hard winter? 

It is sometimes difficult to just enjoy all these good things when people in other parts of the world are suffering from hurricanes, wars, earthquakes and fire.