Am canning pickles today

I simply have way too many cucumbers.. so decided to make refrigerator pickles. I needed to find a recipe with NO sugar as I am diabetic. and found this one.. hopefully they will be as tasty as they sound.. I rather like both garlic and apple cider vinegar.. so this sounds like a good one..

http://www.thekitchn.com/small-batch-recipe-cucumber-pickles-urban-preserving-with-marisa-mcclellan-173303

Will let you know how they come.. in a couple of weeks.. best part they can stay in the fridge for a long time.. which is good cos made alot..

One of my favorite blogs I follow is Old World Garden Farms.. they give tons of advice on gardening plus I love their recipes.. You can check them out on http://oldworldgardenfarms.com/

One of their recent blogs was for a peach barbecue sauce that sounds out of this world.. I plan on trying this one very soon.. bet I can even use it to grill indoors!!

This was for Peach Barbecue sauce.. Here is the link to the recipe..

http://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2015/06/30/peach-barbecue-sauce-recipe-a-summertime-favorite/

Michelle's Update - Garden Produce and Homemade Salsa recipe

Well.. I haven't been here for a while.. had alot to do the last couple of days..

First.. I picked a bunch of veggies from my garden.. The picture above was just one days worth of veggies.. Then I decided to make salsa from the tomatoes and peppers.. I dont can, so needed to find a freezer salsa recipe.. and to my surprise there were tons of them.. I ended up using this one from Taste Of Home

I picked that one because I had most of the stuff needed and I could easily change it around.. I removed the hot peppers, vinegar, sugar, and salt and added a jar of taco sauce I had (mild).. cut the red pepper in half (dont like really hot stuff).. and had my first taste last night.. came great..

Froze up the beans, gave away some of the eggplant and we breaded and fried the rest of it..

This weekend was my birthday..so we had a cookout and had over some of the neighbors, and my daughter in law and grandboys.. it was very nice.. made homemade pasta salad from some of the veggies, tuna mac salad, and grilled chicken legs, thighs, ribs and hot dogs.. and brownies for dessert (I LOVE chocolate).. was just a very nice day..

Yesteday needed to catch up with things on the computer.. as I got free ads on Ebay.. also working on 3 different sets of hanging towels and a set of cupcake potholders.. more about that tomorrow)..

Major Shopping Day..

Had alot of running around to do today.. cos I got a air conditioner (almost new) and a weedwacker on Ebay.. we paid for the AC, but the weedwacker was new.. have to love freebies. you should check out Facebook groups.. for buying and selling of items.. both nation wide.. and locally.. it is my new thing now.. smile..

I had a small boneless ham.. so decided to make ham and scalloped potatoes.. but needed a low cal one.. and found a good one online.. Only changes I made was since I didnt have potatoes.. and had a ton of canned potatoes.. decided to use those instead.. and they worked perfectly.. no complains there.. I also fried up some of the yellow squash, eggplant and mostly green tomatoes that I had leftover from yesterday.. good meal.. and tons of leftovers.. we will be eating leftovers for a couple of days.. lol..

Got the soaker completed.. I wanted a slightly elastic waistband.. so added one.. I will have pictures tomorrow... too late tonight for that.. that is all for now..

3-2-1 Microwave Cake (from Frugal Foodie Moma)

 I love getting blog messages from other blogs in my inbox.. and often save them for ideas to use here as well as to add to my many list of ideas for my home.. and this is one that I am keeping.. for sure.. 

This would be perfect to add a little fruit and some Cool Whip for a light summer snack.. (I just wont make a full cup in this).. With the spring fruit coming in.. it also would be inexpensive.. I can see strawberries, blueberries, and peaches on top of this in my mind.. mmmmm.. 

To get the recipe.. go to Frugal Foodie Mama.. and tell her I sent you.. girn.. 

TGIF.. well to some people..

SI am not one of those people who love the weekends.. for me the weekends are usually more busier than the weekdays.. just like this weekend.. anyways.. I wanted to tell you about this blog I  just found.. it is called This Girl Cooks.. and I have to say there are some of the tastiest sounding recipes I have seen in a while.. esp the soups I found here..

With a few changes to her Crockpot Creamy Mexican Chicken Soup.. I am sure I will love this.. I will probably replace the jalapeno peppers with something less hotter.. I also want to try the Spicy Sweet Potato and Bacon Chowder and Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.. Still cold enough to enjoy these.. actually have snow today.. 

Today I plan on catching up with blogs for here.. smile.. hope you like these recipes I found.. 

Nice Day and a Link for Pumpkin Pancake Recipes

Well.. the day started cool and very rainy.. but cleared up so my boyfriend and I headed out and did some shopping.. first I got ink for my printer (another item that went up in price!), then we got me some nice shoes at Famous Footware.. I had a coupon for 50% off cos I previously got a pair during their BOGO sale.. and then got a coupon via the text for another 20% off.. smile.. got a really nice pair of shoes for less than $10 with tax.. Then we stopped at Aldi's and got something to make fast (dont do that too often).. got some fried chicken and some other items I forgot last time..

Then we got an unexpected visit from my son and the Grandboys.. grin.. nice to see them.. smile.. 

Anyways.. I got a great email from another blog for Pumpkin Pancakes.. I saw these and thought.. this would be a good link to forward..  I love anything Pumpkin.. so will have to try these soon.. 

http://littlefarminthebigcity.blogspot.com/2012/09/pumpkin-pancakes.html

This is not my image.. but I just had to show it to you.. so check it out!!

Some Days Are Just Busy..

Today I had to do a number of little projects.. you know how that is.. I am sure.. smile.. first.. I decided to make stuffed peppers using my peppers I picked from my garden.. used ground turkey and leftover rice, seasoned it with  no salt seasonings, Italian seasonings, and diced onions.  Topped with diced tomatoes (from a can), seasoned with the same seasonings.. will make a nice dinner tonight.. 

Since, I had 3 orders yesterday.. two on Ebay and one for my crochet dishclothes, so I had to get all those invoices ready.. and in one case, bill the person.. that is all done and now I just need to print out the invoices and pack all three orders for delivery.. that makes me happy.. 

Next I noticed I had several ads running out on Etsy.. thought I would just advertise those three items.. since they will run out tomorrow..  will need to do 4 more tomorrow for the next day.. I wont be extending my ads for my patterns there.. just will use Ebay and Buy Sell Community as they seem to sell better there.. It was a learning experience.. like everything in life.. 

Next I will be working on these really cool booties for infants.. I got the pattern at Etsy.. I can show you the link.. but not the pattern picture.. as she doesnt allow that.. smile.. I hope to make brown and tan ones and blue with red ones (Buffalo Bills colors).. I havent decided yet on making the toy with them, or making a matching hat.. or both.. what do you think?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93257678/pdf-pattern-44-crochet-toy-football-and

Well.. will be back tomorrow.. with more!!

Sunday Update!

Much cooler today.. with rain.. seems everyone else in this area is getting a bad storm.. but not us on the west side of Buffalo.. I am just enjoying the much cooler weather.  It was so hot yesterday I just had NO energy.. and felt lousy.. we just are not used to 94 or 95 degrees here in Buffalo.  I did drive my friend to the store.. but otherwise the only thing I did was sleep and read for most of the day.. and crocheted later on.

As for my Sunday plans.. only thing I was planning on was making a nice pasta salad.. with my garden veggies.  I put store bought broccoli, onions and mushrooms in it.. but everything else was from my garden!  Green peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and carrots!  Added two kinds of cheese for some extra flavor.  Mixed it with low fat peppercorn ranch salad dressing, Miracle Whip Light and some Italian Salad dressing.  That will be dinner along with breaded chicken breasts.  MMMMM..

I need to work on my website today.. got alot of pictures to add there.. and just tighten that up too.. that is my game plan..

I do have to get an order finished.. making dishclothes out of Simply Soft for an order. I have made these before and actually have a few up for sale on Etsy..

 You can see the pattern here:

http://www.free-crochet.com/detail.html?code=FC01067&cat_id=314

I will have more pictures soon..

New Gardening Pics!! and Recipe!!

Bit of a busy day.. had to get a certificate made for a contest coming up... info on this later!  Also had to get some washing done since it didnt rain today.. and worked on my garden.. had to move some pots (they are all growing like crazy!!).  Picked some peppers today for dinner.  Gonna make some Italian Stirfry I call it.. smile.. recipe later.. Anyways.. I promised some pics so I took some.. these are the pepper pictures.  Will send the others in another post.. probably tomorrow.. 

 Recipe for my Italian Stirfry:  (oops had to correct!!)

Ingredients:

1 or 2 medium peppers more colors the better!

1 med to large onion

1 med yellow squash

1 med zucchini

some carrots sliced

broccoli (I usually use one head)

2 - 3 large tomatoes or 4 - 6 plum tomatoes (plum is best.. but you can use regular)

1 or two cloves of garlic

a couple of large mushrooms

black olives sliced (you dont have to use these)

You can also add any veggies you like.. smile.. 

one or two chicken breasts sliced into small pieces

slice all the veggies.. add some olive oil to a large pan and heat until hot, add some Italian Seasoning to taste (I usually add a teaspoon).. cook meat, peppers, onions and carrots.. then add tomatoes, squash, mushrooms, and broccoli.. cook thru.. add 1/4 to 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing and the black olives.. heat again to hot. put over spaghetti or angel hair pasta.. any questions? Or statements?? you can add them here.. smile. Have a nice day.. off to make dinner.. 

Fried Zucchini Slices

Never did get on the computer today for here.. just a quick visit for my shops and to check for emails on Facebook.. busy day for me..

Hit the library and got The Black Swan.  I have wanted to see that movie for a while.. then stopped at my best friend's house for a quick visit.  When I got home, I quickly did some stuff around my house.. and then out the door again I went to drop a TV off at another friend's house, did some shopping, and home to make some baked breaded chicken breasts and some fried breaded zucchini (fresh from my garden).  I got 3 large zucchinis picked today.. and boy was it good.

This is how I make my breaded zucchini:

Take eggs (generally one or two), mix with a couple of tablespoons of water, some all purpose salt free seasoning.. and beat together.

Then your breading - unseasoned bread crumbs, a couple of tablespoons of italian seasoning, a tablespoon of all purpose salt free seasoning, and a teaspoon of garlic seasoning. I dont use salt in my food, for medical reasons, but you can replace with regular seasonings.
Cut your zucchini into thin slices (I generally cut them as thick as a double thick potato chip).  Dip in egg mixture both sides, then dip in bread crumbs.. cover all the slices.. line a plate with double thickness of paper towels for hot cooked slices to absorb the oil.

Take oil and heat to frying temperature (I generally use canola for this).  Put slices in hot oil and cook until brown (I generally turn 4 to 5 times).. put on paper towels to absorb the oil..

Tastes great with ranch salad dressing, ketchup, and blue cheese salad dressing. 

More tomorrow.. new dishclothes I made and I put up on Etsy.  I hope you liked my recipe..