Canning Pork and Beans

 

Hello dear reader friends!

I am so glad you're here! I know the recipe is most important, so recipe first! 😊

Click here for a link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel! 🥰

Canned Pork and Beans

2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
6 c water
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T honey
2 t yellow mustard
1-1/2 t Liquid Smoke
2 t salt

2 lbs Navy beans
1 onions, chopped
1 package of salt pork

Mix ingredients for the sauce. Let the mixture get hot and simmer for five minutes. Place 1/2 c dried beans, up to one tablespoon of chopped onions, and one small (about one inch) chunk of salt pork in each jar. Add one cup of the heated sauce to each jar. Use hot water to fill each jar to one inch headspace. Remove air pockets from the jars. Add more water if needed. Wipe jar rims, and place a lid and ring on each jar. Process jars at 10 lbs pressure for a weighted canner or 11lbs pressure for a guaged canner. 75 minutes for pints or 90 minutes for quarts. Be sure to adjust pressure according to your altitude.

It should be noted that the dried beans should be soaked according to tested method guidelines. Here is a link for proper procedures for canning dried beans. That being given, most people I know use dried beans that have not been soaked. I urge you to do your research and use the method that you are most comfortable with. Never take my word or anyone else's over tested methods. You always can at your own risk in your kitchen. Always follow tested and approved canning guidelines to keep you and your family safe. ❤️

With all that out of the way, it's time to catch up! I hope you had a great week, and are looking forward to the new week ahead! 

A couple weeks ago, my son killed some wild hogs on our property, and we have some hams curing in our refrigerator. My husband has been trying his best to build a smoke house for smoking/curing meats before it gets too hot. Watch for that video to be posted soon.

Other than experimenting with a canned Cole slaw recipe, scrubbing down the kitchen, and continuing to enjoy my new clothes line, I didn't really have much going on this week. Oh! The strawberry patch here opened this weekend. I hope I am able to go and do a couple strawberry projects this week. Fresh strawberries straight from the patch are so delicious!

How about you? Is there anything interesting going on in your world? I would love to hear from you!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed! ❤️

Canned Orange Chicken

Hello all my reader friends!!

First, I'm going to throw the recipe out there. I know it's frustrating to have to go through a whole blog post to finally get to the recipe you came for. If you want to watch the video tutorial on my YouTube channel, My Modern Homestead, click here. If you want to catch up, I'll do all the chit-chat catching up at the end, so keep reading if you want to catch up!

Orange Chicken

2lbs chicken cut into cubes (I used thighs this time.)
1 T fresh ginger or 1/4 t ground ginger
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1-1/2 T soy sauce
1-1/2 T water
5 T white sugar
5 T white vinegar
1 c orange juice
zest of 1 orange

Pour all ingredients except the chicken into a pot. Mix well and heat on low until ready to add to jars. Then bring it right up to a boil- just really hot. While that heats, lightly brown the chicken pieces. It's okay that they don't get done. You are just adding color to the outside. Do this in small batches if the recipe is multiplied. Place chicken in clean jars to one inch headspace. Pour liquid in jars to one inch headspace. Debubble, wipe the rims of the jars clean using white vinegar. Seal jars. Pressure can the jars for @ 10 lbs pressure for a weighted canner, 11 lbs for a guaged canner, for 90 minutes. Weights/time may need to be adjusted for different altitudes. Always check your altitude and appropriate canning procedures before beginning. ❤️

Now! It feels as thought it has been ages since I've joined you here. I have been so focused on getting my YouTube channel up and running that I have neglected my blog! I'm hoping this is the beginning of me being able to multitask and do both at once, because, gracious, do I miss you all and my humble little blog! 

Thanks to a subscriber on my YouTube channel bringing to my attention that I didn't have a written recipe on my video, I believe she helped me figure out how I can easily do both the video and my blog at once. I guess time will tell for sure if I have enough discipline in me!

I hope you guys get to try this recipe. I've not actually eaten any just yet. I'm trying to be patient and wait until I get my slaw to go with it done first. I will be posting that one next, so if you want to wait and let me be the guinea pig first, you have my blessing!

As always, make sure you do your own research before you ever can a recipe and only do what you are comfortable doing in your own kitchen.

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Chicken & Bacon Squash Patties

Hello all my reader friends!

It's been so long since I have joined you here, and I apologize! I have been enjoying learning how to record and post vlogs and tutorials on my YouTube channel and have neglected my first love here. Now, it's time to join the two together!

What have you all been up to? We've been busy here. We have one learning to drive and one about to enter the teen years. The last few weeks we have been working in the garden, taking care of the new chickens, and finishing up school.

Today, though, we were in the kitchen experimenting again. I simply HAD to stop and take a few minutes to share the recipe here! I was experimenting with squash patties. The patties I did today turned out so well! They were a hit in this house! I know I have a lot of friends with extra squash growing out their ears, so I thought I would help you/them use some of it up! 😁 Even if you don't have squash growing, I hope you enjoy this recipe. ❤️

Chicken & Bacon Squash Patties

Ingredients:

2 c. Shredded squash: thaw and drain of frozen. Squeeze excess liquid if fresh

2/3 c. Drained canned chicken

3/4 c. Finely diced onion

1/3 c. Shredded cheese of your choice

1/2 c. Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend or flour mixture of your choice

1/4 c. Fried bacon pieces

2 T butter

1 egg

1/4 -1/2 tsp. Ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Goya Adobo Seasoning Salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Cumin

1/4 tsp. Salt

Directions:

Place skillet on stove to heat. Mix all ingredients except the butter together in a bowl. Make patties from the mixture once it has been mixed well. This recipe should make eight patties. Add the butter to the heated skillet. Add the patties to the skillet when the butter has melted. Cook the patties on medium to medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side. Keep a check on your heat. Each stove is different. The patties should be cooked low enough to cook through to the center without burning on the outside. Remove the patties from the pan and enjoy!

This recipe was so quick and easy guys! From start to finish, I had this recipe measured out, prepared, and the mess cleaned up in about 20-25 minutes! If you need a quick and easy lunch, this recipe is for you! I hope you get to try it. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

If you would like to view the video for these patties, please click here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed! ❤️

Fried Rice

After all these years, I still wonder at how certain scents, sounds, and even recipes can open the floodgates of memories. Having a love of recipes with meaning and history, often my own recipes transport me to distant memories of my past.

Today's recipe is one such cork in the bottle of time. Each time I make fried rice, I am directly delivered to Mrs. Sheets Home Economics classroom in a newly built high school of my hometown. The moments I re-live are when going through the motions of high school were still tolerable, before the world came crashing down with the unbearable.

Save for a few faces, I don't even remember who was in the class with me as Mrs. Sheets walked us through the process of turning plain rice into something quite pleasant to the palette. I always remember the amazement that I, who never cooked, transformed such plain things, aside from soy sauce, into something so scrumptious. Though the faces have faded except for Kassie who, on a different occasion, made beautiful, perfect pancakes on the first try, I remember this was the common consensus among the class in each kitchen and dining station around the room. As perfect as the moment was, I don't think I attempted that dish again until many years later.

Any-who... let's get back to today's task and summon our inner hibachi chef, shall we?

This is my disclaimer. I still have my high school recipe tucked away in its original box somewhere, but I never use a recipe when I make fried rice. I find the measure of ingredients is not as important as the process. I will give you approximate amounts from my last batch where possible. 

For the rice, I used one large bag and one small bag of instant, boil-in-the-bag rice. Make sure to pay attention to the boxes. I didn't realize there were two different sizes until recently. I cooked the rice in the microwave as directed, drained it, and set it to the side until needed. See! I don't always do things the longer, more difficult way! 😜😁

Fried Rice

Cooked rice

One small onion

4-6 Tablespoons butter

1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1-2 eggs

1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

Salt (I used Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning)

Soy sauce

Begin by heating your skillet. I used my large, cast iron skillet. This recipe cooks quickly. It's important to get the skillet hot (not scorching) before adding anything to it. Once the skillet is hot, add three tablespoons of butter. If the butter starts angrily spitting and splattering butter across your cooking space, arms, and face, it's too hot. When the butter has melted, added the onions. Cook and stir until they are tender and starting to turn translucent. Add in the minced garlic. Cook and stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute just until the garlic becomes fragrant. Immediately add in the peas and carrots. Use what looks right to you. Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes. Just don't overcook the peas and carrots. You still want the colors to be bright. Add the rice plus one or two tablespoons of butter and desired amount of salt. It's best to err on the lighter side. You can always add more later. Continue cooking and stirring to mix everything well and to make sure the rice is hot. Push the rice into a ring around the sides of the skillet, leaving a small space of the skillet exposed in the middle. Add one tablespoon of butter cubed to the exposed skillet. When the butter is mostly melted, crack one egg for 3-4 cups of rice or two eggs for 4-6 cups of rice into the middle of the rice. Stir the eggs as they begin to cook. When they are almost done, stir the eggs into the rice. Turn down the heat. Add the desired amount of soy sauce. Again it's best to err on the lighter side. Quickly stir everything together really well. Taste and adjust salt and soy sauce if needed. Transfer the fried rice out of the cooking skillet.

There you have it! The recipe is such a quick and easy dish to whip up. I hope you enjoy it!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

How to Dehydrate Garlic

Hi reader friends! I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.

We have had some really busy days in the recent weeks, but the work has been satisfying and fulfilling.

One project found me, I didn't go looking for it. I ended up with a lot of garlic I knew I was never going to be able to use before it went bad. I didn't want to throw it away, so I decided to dehydrate it. 

I started by cleaning all the cloves.

Once that was done, I chopped the cloves into coarse pieces and placed them in the dehydrator.

The dehydrator was set at 135° F. I left the dehydrator for several hours. Once the pieces were dry and crispy, I moved the dried garlic to an airtight jar. The dry garlic can be processed into smaller pieces for minced garlic or ground into powder for homemade powdered garlic

What do you do with extra produce you don't want to go to waste? Leave your great idea in the comments below!

If you would like to see the video of the process, you can find it on My Modern Homestead channel on YouTube, here. If you enjoy your visit there, please like and subscribe to receive notifications when new videos are posted! 

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

We're Vlogging Now!

Hi reader friends! I hope this post finds you happy and well! We've been up to all sorts of fun. We've been doing everything from getting ready for fall with some fall decorating to doing all sorts of kitchen projects.

Have you heard the latest news?? I took a great leap of faith...or took the plunge??...and started a YouTube channel! You can now find me on My Modern Homestead. I have a ton to learn, though. I just knew if I waited until I had it all figured out, I would never begin. My vision is for the blog here and my videos there to go hand in hand. I would love for you to visit me there. Don't forget to leave a thumbs up and click the subscribe button if you like what you see there and want to stay in touch.

Today's kitchen adventures will eventually find their way into a video, but I thought I would give you a sneak peek here!

We began our morning by getting a roast sliced up to go into a marinade for jerky. Then we moved on to slicing up what was left of my big log of cheese from Pennsylvania! 

We got over eight 8oz packages of sliced cheese. We got them vacuum sealed and into the freezer. 

The hubby got the jerky into the smoker early this afternoon along with some boudain. All the meats are finally done, and they are sooo delicious!! 

Once we got all the cheese and jerky mess cleaned up in the kitchen this morning, I moved on to working on some extra tomatoes. I had too many to use right away, but not enough to do a canning project with. After we threw the sealed packages of them away, they sat there sadly accusing me. Finally, I couldn't stand their sad pleas anymore. I pulled them out, washed them, sliced them, and put them in the dehydrator! 😂😜 I will grind them into tomato powder when they are dry. I can't waste perfectly good food.

It has been a great day here! I can't wait to get the video finished and posted for you all! What have you been up to today? I'd love to hear about your day! Feel free to leave me a note in the comments, and don't forget to come visit us on My Modern Homestead! 

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

How to Dehydrate Onions

Hi reader friends! Today's post is a quick and easy kitchen project. 

Recently, I found myself with more onions that I knew what to do with. I don't want them to go to waste. My freezer is full, so I decided to dehydrate them to use at a later time. The process is very easy if you would like to try it yourself.

All you need to do is peel and chop the onions into small, uniform sizes pieces, and spread them evenly on your dehydrator trays. Try not crowd them. The more space you can give the onion pieces, the better and quicker they will dry. I had to crowd mine more than I would have liked.

Turn your dehydrator on 135° F and let the dehydrator do what it does best. If you have a lot of trays, you may find your trays need to be rotated a few times during the drying process. Normally, the onions should be done around 10 hours, but mine had to run much longer since I had so many trays and so many onions on each tray. I highly recommend you dry your onions outside. You will know your onions are ready when they sound hard and dry moving in the tray and no longer feel soft. Move them to an airtight container to store them.

Warning! Don't give into the temptation to try one! You may find you aren't left with very many to store away! They are so good! They have the flavor of the fried onions you buy to place on top of green bean casserole. Yum! I only let myself eat a couple so I would have a picture to share with you and so I would have enough left to use in another project that I will try to share with you at a later date. 

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!