Frozen Crushed Tomatoes -Small Batch Preserving The Garden

As the garden winds down and the season comes to an end the tomatoes start to look a little worse for wear. One way to try to use them up is to make some *simple* Frozen Crushed Tomatoes. The key here is it’s just an idea to eliminate waste and nothing too fancy. We can make as few or as many as we'd like or have. The excess liquid can be cooked out on the stove, or if you’d like, in a slow cooker. I used the stove because it goes a lot faster. My son adds some basil. I just made tomatoes, they can be used for spaghetti sauce, chili, soup, or stews. 

As a point of reference, I used four large tomatoes, cooked them for 1 hour and 15 minutes. This gave me about 1/2 C of crushed. Yep, preserving is a labor of love folks:@)

It was another good tomato year from the raised bed garden, although they did ripen almost three weeks later than last year. At this point I’m beginning to pull plants and clean things up.

My Preserving Pinterest Board HERE.

My DIY Barbie Pinterest Board HERE.

Frozen Crushed Tomatoes

• Wash and core tomatoes. Cut into quarters. Pushing the seeds out is always a nice idea, I didn't. Same with the skins, I left them on, just used the whole tomato. *Next time I'll run my thumbs through them to remove most of the seeds.
• Pulse about 6-8 times in food processor or chop with a knife. 
• Add a pinch of salt, bring to boil. Reduce to medium low, stir occasionally so they don't scorch or burn, and cook until reduced and liquid has evaporated. This will take time, plan this project for when you are home for a few hours.
• Cool, place in freezer bags or cups, label, and freeze.

🍅Let's use up what the garden gifts us,

and Have a Happy Day:@)

Jalapeno Hot Pepper Jelly with Lemon Jello

This Jalapeno Hot Pepper Jelly with Lemon Jello has been on my mind for years, and between my son's garden and mine, we finally had enough peppers to give it a try. The color on cream cheese is gorgeous, I love the yellow background, it looks little dark in the jars... There is a great balance of sweet and a little heat, and it's great on charcuterie boards with cream cheese or to top cheese and crackers. The jam will thicken up more as it sits for few days, and especially in the refrigerator. Tasty stuff folks!

Tips: I wanted chucks of pepper, they did give it a little chew. You can make them smaller in the food processor if you'd like. If you have extra jalapenos I think you could easily add more, anywhere up to 2 1/2 C without blinking. I removed the seeds and membranes from the peppers, you could add one or two whole jalapenos for heat if desired... You know your crowd. Be sure to drain the pineapple well. 

I have another variation using pectin and fresh lemon juice here.

Jalapeno Hot Pepper Jelly with Lemon Jello

At least 2 C cleaned and finely diced jalapenos

2 1/2 C to 3 C sugar

8 oz crushed pineapple, drained well

4 serving size box Lemon Jello

1. Add jalapenos and sugar to large pot, gently heat peppers and sugar over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.
2. Add pineapple, bring to light boil, cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add Jello, stirring constantly until Jello dissolves.
4. Ladle into sterilized jars, add lids and rings, process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.
5. Serve jelly chilled.

Let's use up what the garden gifts us and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Volunteer Sunflower, Basil Salt, Eagles Platter and $1.25 K-Cups...

I didn't plant any sunflowers this year, but I was tickled to find one growing in the box I had zucchini:@) I'm guessing a critter dropped a seed, but as soon as I recognized the leaves I was curious to see what the flower looked like. The plant is about 24" tall, and a very pretty hint of early fall:@)

As the garden winds down for the season... How about preserving a little taste of summer by making some Basil Salt. Use it like any seasoned salt, and it's especially good with tomatoes.:@)

Here is this year's plastic serving plate Eagles design at Dollar Tree. Still has the fluted edge, it's thin plastic, but would certainly serve us well for a few football parties or tailgating trips.

$1.25 Eagles ceramic coasters:

Fan cave anyone???

They also have name brand hot cocoa k-cups... Great stocking stuffers or gifts to put on the desk of coworkers folks:@) They won't be around for long, I'm sure it was just a buyout. 

Grab it when you see it, and

Have a Great Weekend:@)

Freezer Stewed Tomatoes & Bahama Barbie?

A friend took a long overdue vacation to the Bahamas and was surprised to find out that it was Barbie Week down there! I was tickled that she sent me a few quick pics... Apparently, much like the Elf at Christmas, Barbie is everywhere:@)

Some of the offerings:

Gorgeous!

Love the logos in the windows:

Booth at ice cream shop:

And we always need a souvenir:@)

Meanwhile, back in the rain soaked states... If you're looking for a pretty easy way to preserve some of the big tomatoes from the garden, these Freezer Stewed Tomatoes are great to have on-hand for everything from soup, to chili, to stews. And freezing the bags flat helps keep storage space at a minimum.

🌴🦩🍅However you spend your day,

Have a Great Weekend:@)

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam -No Pectin Recipe

My little strawberry patch did not produce a lot this year. I only ended up with a couple extra cups of small berries, but I did toss them into the freezer as I picked them. Then took a ride over to my son's garden to cut some rhubarb, and a couple hours later... I made No Pectin Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. I usually suggest simple cooking ideas and relaxed recipes here at PIM. This one is more of a weighed ratio recipe, with the wiggle room being the addition of extra sugar if desired. 

Is this fast and easy? While not hard, we do need to plan on an hour or so for the fruit to cook down. **My best suggestion, cook it until your spoon leaves a clean line as you scrape the bottom of the pot... (I made a small batch and did not follow that suggestion this time😕** I cooked mine too long, it got very thick, almost a butter instead of a jam. I will be using the old fashioned spatula method going forward.

No Pectin Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Weigh your strawberries

Add two times the weight of 1/4” cut rhubarb

Weigh sugar that equals the same as strawberries

Lemon juice, approximately 1 Tblsp per 5 C of fruit-does not need to be exact

1. Add strawberries and rhubarb to large pot.
2. Sprinkle with sugar, let sit for about two hours.
3. Add lemon juice and heat over medium and bring to low boil. Reduce heat to simmer, stir often and mash fruit.
4. Once sugar dissolves taste and add sugar 1 Tblsp at a time if desired, but keep in mind it will sweeten more as it reduces.
5. Cook until thick and a spatula scraped across bottom of pot leaves a clear path the width of the spatula.
6. Pour into sterilized jars, cover and place in refrigerator, -or- remove air bubbles, add lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.

Let's preserve a little bit of summer and

Have a Happy Day:@)

How to Make Woven Lavender Bouquets

I'm determined to enjoy everything the garden gifts me this year, and the lavender is spectacular:@) In an effort to preserve a little I made a couple Woven Lavender Bouquets. This is a play on lavender wands, the main difference, the bouquets show the actual blooms instead of completely covering them. This does mean some of the buds may fall off, but I'm ok with that. They vacuum up nicely and help naturally fragrance the vacuum too. 

Any 1/4" wide ribbon will work and embellishments are totally optional. I added a ribbon to the back so the one with the bee could be hung up. The bee is a button from my stash and the green bow is from Dollar Tree Christmas craft items. You can find lots of YouTube videos if you search lavender wands or lavender baskets.

✂What I did:

1. Cut an odd number of stems (I used 9 and 11 for these two). Cut them long, but leave an inch or two of green stem on the plant above the woody part so it continues to grow. It's best to cut them early in the morning, once the dew has dried but before the sun gets hot.
2. Gather the flowers into a bouquet, tie ribbon around the stem about 2 inches or so below the flowers to hold them together. Where you tie the ribbon will determine how long the woven part will be.
3. Gently crease each stem with your fingernail and fold it back over the ribbon so it creates a stem and lays on the flowers.
4. Begin to weave the ribbon through the folded stems, over then under... Getting started is the hardest part, once the first two rows are done it will get easier.
5. Weave the ribbon all the way to the flowers. Tie or hot glue ribbon to secure it. 
6. Carefully trim the stems that aren't covered in ribbon so they don't show in the bouquet.
7. Add any desired embellishments.

The lavender I planted last year: Technically a second year plant, even though I did move it in very late summer/early fall. I did trim it to right above the woody growth at end of season. This one seems to grow in a very wispy, loose, style. 

And to get an idea of the size... They are about 1:6 scale:@) Ken is such a romantic devil!

Let's preserve a little bit of summer and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Strawberry Jam with Jello -Four Ingredients, Easy

If you do any canning I'm sure you've noticed that pectin has gotten... A little expensive. And since we're kinda smitten with Jello here at Pig In Mud, I thought I'd whip up some Strawberry Jam with Jello. Super easy, four ingredients, cooked up and dishes done in less than one hour-gotta love it! I had some crushed strawberries in the freezer from the garden last year, and decided to use raspberry Jello. Yep, that's a robustly flavorful combination:@) The recipe as written will make 2 1/2 cups of jam. There's some wiggle room with the sugar, 1. I chose sugar free Jello, 2. Start with the lesser amount, let it dissolve, carefully taste, add more sugar if desired. This will thicken more once placed in the refrigerator.

In addition to PB&J's, it's always nice to place a small bowl of jam on charcuterie boards to top cheese and meats…

Very tasty:@)

Other Jello Jams: Amish Rhubarb with Cherry Jello  -  Zucchini with Peach Jello  -  Rhubarb Jam with Strawberry Jello  -  Blueberry with Pineapple Jello  -  My Jello Pinterest Board - My Jam/Jelly Pinterest Board

Strawberry Jam with Jello-adapted from The Country Cook

7 oz frozen strawberries

3 oz Jello flavor of choice, regular or sugar free

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 C sugar

1 Tblsp fresh lemon juice

1. Add berries, Jello, sugar and lemon juice to pan.
2. Slowly cook over medium heat until berries thaw, stir occasionally.
3. Mash berries if they aren't already crushed.
4. Heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, spoon off foam.
6. Pour into sterilized Ball jars.
7. Add lids, screw on bands.
8. *I turned mine upside down for 15 minutes, then turned them upright. The lids sealed and pinged:@)
9. *Alternately, store in fridge or freezer.

Let's try something new and

Have a Happy Day:@)

New Items -Dollar Tree Alert!

Popping in to share a few things that caught my eye over the weekend at Dollar Tree... Parchment Paper Liners for Air Fryers. A great idea to help with clean-up if you cook fish or chicken breasts in your air fryer. As with everything, some packs had 20, some 15... Shrinkflation...

Dollar Tree canning lids, I can only say, I've used them and so far, no complaints. I've tried both hot water bath canning, and by turning the jars upside down for 15 minutes, the jars sealed fine. Just sharing my personal experience with the little bit of canning I do these days...

Do you, or does someone in your group, grill with charcoal? DT has some Kingsford Herb Flavor Booster Briquettes. They would be fun to play with on a lazy Saturday or Sunday... And maybe a little something extra to add to the Father's Day gift.

And finally, it's not often we talk house cleaning here a PIM, but I'm smitten with these little Chiffon Dusters. They easily scoot around bookcases and into corners, and would probably work well for car dashboards too. They are written up to be washable, as of this writing I haven't tried that yet.

Grab it when you see it, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Sweet Jalapeno Pickled Eggs & Deviled Egg Suggestion

Ok folks, buckle up... It's time for this year's pickled egg recipe and it's a good one:@) You might think these Sweet Jalapeno Pickled Eggs would pack some heat, but it is mellowed by the sugar. I find these particular eggs to truly be more of a snack because of the sweetness. The thyme is also a different and nice addition. I give these two thumbs up, please don't hesitate to try it if you'd like to preserve some extra hard boiled Easter eggs after the holiday.

Do yourself a favor... Mix those pickled onions and 'penos into your next batch of egg, potato, or macaroni salad. Or small dice and stir into your deviled egg mixture. Seriously good stuff! (And yes, I made everything suggested:@)

Recipe easily cut in half.

All of my pickled egg recipes here.

Deviled Eggs Pinterest Board here.

Sweet Jalapeno Pickled Eggs-from Backyard Poultry

1 C white wine vinegar-I used cider vinegar

1 C water

1 C sugar

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp mustard seed

12 hard boiled eggs, cooled and peeled

1 fresh sweet onion, peeled and diced

1 fresh jalapeno with sliced

1. In small pot bring vinegar, water, sugar, thyme and mustard seed to full raging boil for 5 minutes, then reduce to simmer for another 5 minutes.
2. Mix eggs, onion and jalapeno in clean jar leaving 1" head space.
3. Pour hot brine into jar, release air bubbles and fill with additional brine to cover eggs if necessary.
4. Cover jar and store in refrigerator.
5. Allow to pickle for up to 2 weeks before eating. I started eating mine after 2+ days.
6. *The National Center for Home Food Preservation states that homemade pickled eggs will keep up to three to four months when stored covered in the refrigerator.

Let's use up those Easter eggs, and

Have a Happy Day🐣

One Pint Dilly Beans -Canning Recipe

This is a year of off timing for the garden... Seems that when something is ready to be picked, we aren't having Sunday dinner. So I shared some veggies with neighbors and work, and tried to use up everything I could. I ended up with just enough string beans to fill a jar so, here we have One Pint Dilly Beans. This is a water bath canning recipe, and while it does require a little work, it's a good kind of work:@) Now my only decision is, do I want to eat them now, or save them for colder weather when the garden is done...

The jar once done canning:

Don't worry if the beans are shriveled,

they will plump back up when cool:@)

2024 Update: I split this into two jelly jars instead of one pint.

I have a No-Canning Refrigerator Dilly Beans recipe here.

Canning and Preserving Pinterest Board.

Pickles and Pickling Pinterest Board.

And my Charcuterie Pinterest Board.

One Pint Dilly Beans

2 tsp dill seed

1 clove garlic, whole

shake of crushed red pepper flakes

Beans, washed, ends trimmed off

1 T pickling salt

1/2 C + 2 Tblsp vinegar-I used white vinegar

1/2 C + 2 Tblsp water

1. Add dill seed and garlic to sterilized pint jar. Pack tightly with beans.
2. Boil salt, vinegar and water, reduce to simmer, simmer 10 minutes.
3. Pour brine over beans to within 1/2" of top of jar. De-bubble jar.
4. Add lid and ring.
5. Put jar into boiling pot of water, ideally water should cover jar by about 2".
6. Boil 10 minutes, kill heat, let sit in hot water 15 minutes. Remove jar and place on kitchen towel to cool completely. Listen for the ping and love life!

Let's preserve a little bite of summer and have a happy day:@)

Assorted Pickled Peppers in Sweet Brine -Refrigerator Pickle

What to do with a handful of jalapenos, some sweet banana peppers and a bell pepper? Make some super easy Assorted Sweet Pickled Peppers of course:@) This is yet another variation of my all time favorite refrigerator bread and butter pickle recipe. I love this technique for pickles, cut up some veggies and place in a Lock-N-Lock bowl, add a few other cabinet staples, secure lid, give the bowl a shake or turn upside down a few times, then store in fridge-done. The veggies only have to sit out until they make enough liquid to cover them. 

4 jalapenos, 3 banana peppers and 1/2 of a bell pepper filled a pint jar.

What to do with the peppers?

Add to sandwiches, top Mexican food or nachos,

chop and add to tuna or chicken salad, or

just pop 'em into your mouth like M&M's:@)

Assorted Pickled Peppers in Sweet Brine-Refrigerator Pickles

2 C sliced peppers, any type you have on-hand

Heaping 1/4 C sliced onion

3/4 C sugar

1/4 C + 2 Tblsp vinegar, cider vinegar -or- half cider/half white

hearty 1/2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp Kosher salt

1. Mix everything in bowl, cover. Lock-N-Lock bowls work great for this.
2. Stir occasionally and let sit until liquid covers vegetables. 
3. Place in refrigerator for about 7 days. But you can eat them sooner:@)

Eat well and have a happy day!

I'm Joining:

Full Plate Thursday

Christmas in July-Jalapeno Lemon Jelly & What's Barbie been up to?

I'm always tickled by Christmas in July, even though this year the temperatures in Philly are hovering at 100 degrees... Ugh. Don't forget about canning a few things to tuck away for gifts as the gardens are over producing. It might take a little time, but homemade jams and relishes are truly something you just can't buy at the supermarket folks:@) This Jalapeno Lemon Jelly is fantastic with a little cream cheese on a cracker, and would also be a nice little something-something to add to a wine gift basket. 

My Jam and Jelly Pinterest Board is here,

and my Pickling Pinterest Board can be found here.

Every year as the holidays approach I start looking for Christmas ornaments that are about 1:6 scale and make fun props for Barbie's world. These little mirror disco balls caught my eye... I hot glued three into a circle (the middle), and then one on top and one on the bottom. A pin holds them onto the chain. This makes a fun 1970's type hanging disco ball light fixture. 

I added it to Barbie's computer corner/work station in the livingroom. The extra light, sparkle, and whimsy, are welcome during the -l-o-n-g- work day😉

The ornaments I started with:

While it's never easy to find the date until it's upon us (for some reason?), it looks like Discovery Channel's Shark Week will start on Sunday, July 24th. And for this year's contribution... We have Barbie swimming in a sea of blue and green Jello Jigglers, with white Cool Whip foam, as ~cue the music~... The shark stealthily comes into view. 

My doll is a Wilton cake topper, the shark is a rubber finger puppet from Walmart. My dish is vintage milk glass, I thought the fun edge would be a wink and nod to waves breaking and splashes...

Barbie says enjoy watching the shows!

Previous Shark Week Posts: 2020 & 2021

🎅Have a Jolly Christmas in July Weekend!

...And stay cool:@)

Turmeric Pickled Eggs

Ok folks, you know what time of the year it is, yep, time for a new picked egg recipe:@) Each year around Easter I try out another pickled egg to help us use up those hard boiled eggs... This year's contribution, Turmeric Pickled Eggs. Just look at that great color! These are great eggs if you're a fan of big, puckery, vinegar flavor. And I do mean ~big~. I turned them into egg salad for lunch, and it was very robust. I made a four egg test batch, using half the brine recipe, and a wide mouth pint jar. The pic below was after marinating for 10 days in the fridge.

More pickled egg ideas can be found HERE.

Turmeric Pickled Eggs -from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/3 C apple cider vinegar

1/2 C water

2 Tblsp sugar

1 tsp fine grain salt

2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 onion or 4 shallots, thinly sliced-I used yellow onion

1 Tblsp whole peppercorns

6 hard boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, and cut in half

1. In small sauce pan, bring vinegar, water, sugar, salt and turmeric to a simmer, cook until sugar dissolves. 
2. In layers, fill quart jar with onion/shallot, peppercorns and eggs. 
3. Pour liquid into jar, cover and store in fridge. Give a little swirl every once in a while.
4. Original post says you can begin eating them as soon as you'd like, good for up to 2 weeks in fridge.

Let's use up those eggs the kids dyed,

and have a Happy Easter Weekend🐣

Top Three Posts of 2021

It's always fun, and a bit surprising, to look back over the year's posts to see which were the most popular... I love that this year's group has quite literally, a little bit of everything! I say that because I'll add Butterball Cookies as an honorable mention, #3 was pretty close. My focus or direction for 2022? I'll simply say I'm going to try to eat a tad healthier and do some more walking. My biggest foodie goal? I'd like to learn how to make homemade frozen chicken nuggets. Bite size, whole breast meat, lightly breaded and ready to go from freezer to air fryer whenever buffalo chicken sounds good (which is often:@) 

As for my top three...

#3 Orange Marmalade Meatballs -Littler Dipper Crock Pot or Larger Slow Cooker

My co-worker says she thinks of Pig In Mud as an appy blog.

Looks like other folks do too:@)

#2 Zucchini and/or Summer Squash Relish -Canning Recipe

It always tickles me when a canning recipe makes the list!

#1 -How to Make Dry Vegetable Soup Mix in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Yes folks, we do ♥ our Instant Pots:@)

Scrolling through, I was thinking back and have to say,

my personal favorite from this year?

Without a doubt, these Sugar Cookies with Jello Frosting are well worth making again!

As 2021 comes to an end I'd like to say thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my little corner of the blogging world.

Your visits are what keeps me looking for new recipes and ideas to try, and to share.

I wish you a very ~healthy~ and Happy New Year:@)

I'm Joining:

Creatively Crafty

A Morning Cup of Joe

Handmade Monday

Creative Muster

Wonderful Wednesday

Saturday ReView: Freezer Pickles, Salty/Garlicy/Sweet, Garden Update & Barbie's Tiki Bar Renovation

Is your garden beginning to wind down? While my planters are still producing, I can see signs of the end of season. With the exception of summer squash, which I lost early on to squash beetles, this has been a very productive year for my veggies. If you're lucky enough to have an abundance of cucumbers, may I suggest tucking some of these Freezer Pickles away for a nice little treat later in the year. This particular recipe leans more towards a garlic pickle (a dill version can be found here), but you will notice everything mentioned in the title-very nice! Use any pepper you have available, just seems like I always have jalapenos around:@)

Quick pic of the planters from today:

From left to right:

Geranium, string beans which are almost done, sitting on trash day chair that I stapled an old garden flag to:@)

No-heat jalapenos (trellis is another trash day rescue), begonia, mixed flowers I planted after my squash died.

Next harvest of green beans, third pot of newest string bean seeds just sprouting, disappointing hibiscus...

My new rosemary which will be transplanted to a bigger pot soon and moved for over wintering down the road. 

And my portulaca tower, which I've been happy with all season!

Note to portulaca growers... Please, please, please, separate the red and white, they would sell like crazy!!!

And in Barbie's world... I did a makeover of a cute Chelsea tiki bar and Barbie took an end of summer vacation:@) Not too much, just added some blocks for height,  and a Dollar Tree hula skirt to the thatched roof and front. Some battery operated LED wire lights (Christmas clearance) add a little party ambience.

Whether the tiki bar of your dreams is on an island paradise, at the shore, lake front, or in your own backyard... We wish you a cool place to hang out for these last few weeks of summer😉

🌴Make something just for fun and have a happy day!