New Adventure: Fresh Salsa

This summer I tried my hand at growing a vegetable garden (which failed miserably when I went away for a couple weeks and hubby didn't water them once...)

We were hoping to grow some of our own food, but aside from a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some herb snippings, everything else ended up brown and fried. I'm sad, but we still got lots of *free* fresh veggies from the excess in my parents garden!

My parents went on a trip to the east coast for over a week, and while they were gone, I raided (I mean "maintained") their garden. I scored dozens of cucumbers, quite a few potatoes, only a couple heads of corn (it was ripe the week before they left, and then again the week they came back, but not in between), and a nice pail of beans.

Earlier in the summer I was able to pick (and make into jam) a TON of raspberries. I think they're monkey's favourite fruit, and they work quite well to bribe him to behave.

While my parents were gone, I took a trip with Monkey to the Kitchener/Waterloo area.

Let me say one thing before I continue. Travelling without a cell phone in a not-so-familiar area is not something I want to do again.

Our trip might have been short (2 days, one night) but we crammed a lot into that time. My favourite part was the trip I made to St Jacob's Market with a friend I met before Monkey was born. I scored some great deals on some excellent produce, and came home with tons more than we could eat ourselves.

My haul included:

-strawberries

-peaches

-plum tomatoes

-hot peppers

-sweet peppers

-creamed honey

I got the peppers and tomatoes to make salsa, and with a friend back in Kingston, we had a salsa making night!

We made 2 recipes, and since I cracked one open tonight (and pigged out on it) I wanted to share the recipe!

The book we used is called: the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving, and it was really easy to follow. I also liked that the size of the batches gave myself and my friend a couple jars of each recipe we did, so that we could try out something new but we weren't stuck with a ton of something we don't like.

Southwest Salsa:

4 cups chopped peeled tomatoes

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (I used 2 hot banana peppers and kept half the seeds in for some spice)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

2 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp each: granulated sugar and pickling salt

1/4 cup tomato paste

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, vinegar, coriander, orange and lime juice, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

2. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle salsa into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) or rim. Process 20 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) and pint (500 mL) jars.

Makes 4 cups

For my first time making salsa (and my first time doing the whole canning process with boiling water) I had a lot of fun, and it was much easier than I expected. Of course, the apartment was super hot, and we did have to chase a curious toddler back to bed dozens of times, but overall I am definitely going to do it again.

For a link to buy the book in Canada go here. (After I return it to the library, it's going on my wish list)

I'm linking up with Alicia's Homemaking and her Thursday adventures. For other adventures, go here.

I think my next canning adventure might involve either applesauce, or apple butter... but we'll see if I get around to it when this baby finally makes an appearance (3-6 more weeks!)

~A

WILW: Mom's Week!

Mother's Day to me has always been right around my mom's birthday (May 12) and since it was so early this year, I guess I got distracted and missed celebrating my own mother.

So this weekend is my planned celebration with my mom.

I'm loving so much about this weekend, and I'm just really excited it's finally so close!

I'm linking up with Jamie, so head over here and see what others are loving this week!

{one}

I'm loving the plans with my mom: Dinner at a nice restaurant, a concert, and then a girl's night out in a hotel!

We're seeing Rainer Hersch, who is a British/German comedian and conductor. I'm looking forward to having an awesome time with my mom as we enjoy his show from BOX SEATS!

{two}

I'm loving the amazing gift my mom and sister gave me of a clean kitchen/living room/Monkey's room... We were so encouraged with their help cleaning that I cleaned the bathroom, and we started organizing our bedroom...

{three}

I'm loving the job fair that's happening this afternoon, and the possibility that I might find a job!

{four}

I'm loving the plants I got last week at the farmer's market, and on mother's day. I'm Also loving the amazing sunshine we've been having, and how I've had my plants outside overnight for 3 nights now, and they're growing!

Planters, some herbs, some tomato sprouts (which all died, so I bought tomato plants), and soil.

Herbs on the left (chives, chocolate mint, lemon thyme, and parsley).

Tomato sprouts in the round green containers.

Seeds I'd like to plant on the right (it's still to early for some)

{five}

I'm loving these new jeans from Old Navy (and that I got them on clearance for $16 instead of the regular price of $42)

The last pair of maternity jeans I got (I think from Thyme Maternity) ripped last week, so I needed new ones, and these are really comfy and have a lot of room for baby to grow!

I don't think this is the exact picture, but they're dark wash, low rise, boot-cut jeans... and they're on clearance so I couldn't find them on the old navy website.

BUT if you do shop right now, orders of $50 or more have free shipping! And they always have great sales. I LOVE Old Navy.

{six}

I'm loving that we get to see our little bean this Friday! Hubby didn't get to see any ultrasounds with Monkey, so he really wanted to come to this one.

I can't believe I'm 19 weeks along already!

The baby has been moving a bit. He/She is a night hawk just like Monkey, so I can usually feel kicks before I head to bed. Hubby hasn't felt any yet, but hopefully he will soon!

{seven}

And OF COURSE I'm loving my amazing Hubby, and my cute, trouble-making Monkey...

What are you loving this week?

~A

Plants and Coupons and Savings, Oh My!

Black thumb, Green thumb, Big Thumb, Small Thumb, Tom Thumb... whatever type of thumb I have, I could not seem to get my tomatoes to survive.

I was very blessed that as my mother's day gift this year, I got to shop at a garden centre (and also at the local Farmer's Market) so my gifts this year included tomato plants so I don't have to worry about the seedlings that I killed in the transplant process...

*NOTE*: Sorry about the backwards photos, the only "camera" we have is in our computer, and it flips the pictures. I can't figure out how to flip them back around... and hints?

The top photo is of the window planters I bought and the soil (which was supposed to be great for starting vegetables and for transplanted vegetables... but the tomatoes still died). You can see my SAD little sprouts in both pictures.

The only vegetables I've been able to grow from seeds are zucchini. They are in the large red container at the back. The healthy-looking plants in the yellow containers are the herbs I bought. Maybe someday I can grow herbs and vegetables from seeds that look that healthy...

In the front are seeds I'd like to grow when it gets a little warmer. They are cucumbers, radishes, peas, and carrots.

Plants and Herbs I've purchased include:

-3 tomato plants

-a cherry tomato variety (I can't remember the name)

-Juliette, a plum tomato variety

-Lemon Boy, a yellow variety

-Italian Parsley

-Chocolate Mint (I'm excited to use this in baking this summer!)

-Lemon Thyme (I love using lemon in cooking!)

-Chives

I'll be buying more, probably some peppers and some more herbs.

As for Couponing this week, I've had a TON of success.

Where I live in Ontario, there are no stores that match coupons, and there are no "double-coupon" days, so we can't get the same amount of extreme savings seen on the TV show "Extreme Couponing".

This doesn't mean that a shopper in Ontario can't have success, they just need to be smart about when to use coupons, and to take advantage of the price matching that most stores do.

My favourite place to grocery shop is NoFrills, because there's a location less than 3 km from our apartment, and they have great produce (most of the time). They also price match and have very reasonable regular priced items if I need something last minute.

My shopping process goes like this:

1. Read every grocery flyer and mark down the sale items of foods we love/need/would like to try

2. Search my coupon stash to see if I have coupons for sale items. (I don't use the coupons if the item isn't on sale.)

3. Write down my list of what I'm buying, how many, and how much I'll be saving with each coupon, and how many of each coupon I have.

This whole process can be done in less than an hour, and I often do it while I watch TV or listen to the radio after my son is in bed.

When I have my list complete, I fold up flyers that I'm using to price match, and put them into my coupon binder so that I can make sure to get the best deal possible. I always bring my complete binder with me incase I see a great sale that wasn't advertised in the flyer.

This week I saved 44.4% of my total. I would have spent $122.09 before coupons and price matching, but I only spent $67.80 ... so I saved $54.29!!!

My best sale items were:

Dove hand lotion (I use hand lotion like crazy while I'm pregnant)

- Regular price $5.99.... I paid $2.49

Pepto Bismol

- Regular price $8.99... I paid $3.47

Cheez Whiz (my Hubby's been asking for weeks, so I got 4 jars)

- Regular price $5.19... I paid $2.88

Lysol Toilet Cleaner

- Regular Price $2.5o... I paid $1.98 and got TWO bottles

Glade Freshmatic Odor Sensor Air Freshener (not a regular item, but I wanted to try it)

- Regular Price $9.99... I paid $3.99

There were more items, but before I started using coupons, I would regularly spend over $120 a week on groceries, getting just the essentials. I got much more than the essentials for a bit over half of what I used to spend.

Those savings don't include the toothpaste I got for $0.38 a tube instead of $1.27, or the diapers I got for about $9 off... but I had to go to a different store on a different day for those prices.

I just want to encourage people out there who think couponing is difficult. There are many free websites (even in Canada) where you can have coupons mailed to you, and if you get a free weekly paper (we get the Kingston This Week) every few weeks there are free inserts.

So even if you don't buy the paper, you can still find free coupons and save your family money.

And that's something everyone should love!

~A

WILW: Schools (Almost) Out Forever!

Good Morning! It's raining today, but today rain is making me happy, so in my mind, it's a very good morning.

Today is another What I Love Wednesday, linked up to Jamie... head over there for lots of other LOVE-ly things!

Today I'm loving...

{one}

... the challenge of communicating without spoken words! My poor Hubby lost his voice this morning, and can barely even whisper. To someone who works on the phones all day, your voice is your most important asset, so he's resting... but this provides quite the challenge in communication.

We're blessed that Hubby took a couple ASL (American Sign Language) courses last year, so he's quite good at signing to me... however, I'm hopeless at translating, and he's had to finger spell most of the words he's signing until I get it.

I'm sure it's a little frustrating for him, but we've also had some great laughs, and we've learned that Monkey is much quieter when we sign to him instead of speaking.

{two}

... that today is my last practical exam of my college career! We have a team exam this afternoon, for which we're creating a Greek menu of:

Chicken (and something, it's not my dish)

Orzo Pilaf with Grilled Vegetables

Olive Bread with Tzatziki

Greek cookies or doughnuts with a honey sauce.

It should be yummy, and I'm just looking forward to a fun-filled class!

{three}

... that I get to visit my family this weekend! Hubby has a course on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so Monkey and I are heading to my parents place on Friday afternoon for a great weekend! I'm hoping to get some gardening tips from my dad since I'm trying to grow a garden this year for the first time.

{four}

... my container garden is sprouting like CRAZY! All my pots have sprouts, and my zucchini plants are a few inches high already! I've got 5 types of tomatoes, some herbs, and some peppers as well, and they're all popping up. I'm really excited about trying to grow something myself. What a great way to teach Monkey where food comes from!

{five}

... and of course, I love my two favourite guys. I was watching Hubby "read" a book this morning to Monkey, and he was signing each animal's name. Seeing the two of them together makes my heart swell.

~A