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Easy Way to Can Tomatoes at Home

freshtech_hero

Easy Way to Can Tomatoes at Home

If I told you canning tomatoes yourself is almost as easy as making spaghetti, would you believe it? Check out this trick that makes it so easy you’ll wonder why everyone isn’t doing it!

Whether you grow your own fruit and vegetables or buy them from a local farmer’s market, home preserving is a great way to save money and avoid lots of extra additives and preservatives. Nothing is more healthy than growing your own food!

I’ve had a garden for a few years now, and have gotten fairly good at growing tomatoes! My grandmothers were excellent gardeners. I can’t believe I waited so long to find my love for gardening.

Growing your own organic fruits and vegetables is highly rewarding and fun! And, I have never, ever had better tasting tomatoes!

But during harvest season, you might be a little overwhelmed with the abundance of fresh produce. And without a lot of additives and preservatives, home-grown produce will spoil faster than store-bought. So, there’s no time to waste.

Luckily, with the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning system, canning or jarring produce from your garden is so easy you can do it any time. It’s not a day-long production. I’ve canned tomatoes twice already, and I’ve had NONE spoil because it’s easy to keep up this way! I highly recommend this ingenious kitchen appliance. Ball sent me one to try out, so I could review it and share my findings with you! Despite that generous offer, the opinions here are 100% my own.

FreshTECH makes canning so easy, my grandmothers would be seriously jealous!!

Here’s how to Can Tomatoes the Easy Way!

Before you start, you’ll need jars, rings and NEW lids (lids and rings work together to close the jar; you can reuse rings but always use new lids). Where to buy cheap jars: I’ve purchased canning jars on clearance at the end of the season. I’ve also gotten them free from people (think: Freecycle) and I’ve purchased cheap at thrift stores and yard sales. This year I stocked up at the latter two, and was pleasantly surprised to find lots of extra bugs and spiders in my newly acquired jars. So, I ran them through the dishwasher after doing a quick hand wash on them. New jars from the store are typically sealed in plastic and wouldn’t need the extra scrubbing. But, ew… spiders!

Step 1:  select tomatoes

tomatoes3

Pretty simple stuff. Just choose disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit for canning. Don’t can tomatoes removed from dead vines (such as those killed by frost or sub-freezing temps).

If you’re using the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning system, you’ll be making 4 pints or 3 quarts at a time. You’ll need 6 lbs or 9 lbs of tomatoes, respectively.

Can I can green tomatoes?

Yes! Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened (red) fruit, and can be canned safely the same way red tomatoes can.

Step 2: preheat empty jars

blanch-tomatoesSooo easy! Using the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning system, you just press a button to preheat your empty, uncovered jars to sterilize and clean them!

Step 2a: prepare tomatoes

This is where the reference to making spaghetti comes in! While jars are preheating (which is done for you by the FreshTECH system), you

peel-tomatoes

have time to prepare your tomatoes. Wash thoroughly, blanch them (dip in boiling water for a minute until skins split, then plunge into ice-cold water and set in strainer to dry). Remove skins, cores and any bruised or problem areas; cut into four quarters.

I used a cutting board that fits over my sink, with a bowl under it to catch the juices. That way I could just scrape the cut tomatoes into the bowl.

Step 3: canning

Your FreshTECH should be done preheating the jars. Open lid carefully and remove one jar with jar tool. Set on a towel or in the sink. Close FreshTECH’s lid but don’t lock it. This will keep your other jars warm.

remove-air-bubblesAdd lemon juice (or citric acid) and salt to jars (see chart below). Pack jars with tomatoes, pressing gently until natural juice fills the spaces between them. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to remove any air bubbles.

Leave 1 inch of headspace (the empty space between top of tomatoes and top of jar). This varies by recipe.

Wipe rim of jar; center new lid on jar and twist on band until fingertip tight.

Return filled jar to rack in inner pot of the FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning system.

Repeat until all jars are filled with tomatoes and replaced in inner pot. Close and lock lid.

Quantities

[vtftable ]
Jar Size;;; Acid Type;;; Quantity;nn;
Quart;;; Ball brand Citric Acid;;; .5 tsp ;nn;
Pint;;;Ball brand Citric Acid ;;; .25 tsp;nn;
Quart;;; bottled lemon juice;;; 2 T ;nn;
Pint;;;bottled lemon juice ;;; 1 T;nn;
[/vtftable]

[vtftable ]
Jar Size;;; Salt;;; Quantity;nn;
Quart;;; ;;; 1 tsp ;nn;
Pint;;;;;; .5 tsp;nn;
[/vtftable]

Step 3a: preserving

Set the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning system to automatically sense your recipe. For tomatoes packed in their own juice, simply press the Tomato button and recipe 6. Refer to your manual for the exact recipe you’re making. They’ll be ready in about 1.5 hours!

fresh-tech-spread

Filed Under: Gardening & Canning, GimmieBlog, Reviews, Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: ball freshtech, canning, evergreen, food preservation, homemade, jarring, review

Food: Easy Hamburger Pie Hotdish Casserole | Recipes

hamburger-pie

Food: Easy Hamburger Pie Hotdish Casserole | Recipes

I love food! I love my mom’s cooking more than the Food Network. Her recipes are amazing, and thankfully most of them are simple enough I can make them at home. Because, after all, homemade is best, and it costs less! 🙂

If you’re looking for dinner ideas that use ground beef recipes and soup recipes, this is the perfect meal for you! Give it a try. Your whole family will love it!

Like it? Repin it on Pinterest!

WHAT’S IN A NAME? I struggle with what to call this recipe. I Google’d it and found Hamburger Pie Casserole. Boring. Or, something like Tomato Soup, Ground Beef, Mashed Potato Skillet is boring, but at least more definitive.  I guess the best ever Hamburger Pie Hotdish is a little closer, but still doesn’t do it justice. It’s not shepherds pie, although I do love a good shepherds pie recipe. Oh, and Best. Recipe. Ever. was taken. To be honest, OMG that Awesome Stuff Mom Makes with Tomato Soup, Hamburger and Potatoes is close but doesn’t explain what it is to the unsuspecting-yet-hungry passerby, unless they’ve already eaten it in which case it’s the perfect name. So, you see my dilemma.

A word about hotdish and casserole – they’re essentially the same. Different parts of the United States call meals like this different things.  Hence the dual name. 🙂

SOUP IT UP You can make it a Campbells soup recipe, instead of using generic. I admit in this case name brand often tastes better than generic. But if you find an off-brand soup that tastes good, then go for it and save a little money.

HANGA-BURR (How two of my favorite little people used to say it!) We’re fortunate to live in the country where good hamburger is available. The grocery store in my teeny-tiny little town, Nilssen’s – named after the family that owns and operates it, makes award-winning ground beef. I use 80/20 from them, but it’s not like 80/20 from other stores. It’s very lean and incredibly tasty. If you’re buying regular hamburger meat, you might want to opt for a leaner variety such as 93% lean or better.  If not, be sure to drain the fat after you brown the meat.

 

Price breakdown: 

  • Tomato soup:  this can vary in price from $0.25 a can to over $1
  • Hamburger: Ground Beef in my area ranges from as low as $2 per pound if you buy in bulk, but the good stuff I buy costs $3.79/lb at my local butcher which is still cheaper than most places I’ve found!
  • Mashed Potatoes: You can make from whole potatoes, or from potato flakes – whichever you prefer. Neither are very expensive, but obviously you pay for convenience. A serving of 6-8 instant potatoes costs about 25¢, if that. Real potatoes are going to be more like 10¢
  • Total = You can make this whole meal and serve up to 5 people for around $4 – $5!!

Easy Hamburger Pie Casserole

Food: Easy Hamburger Pie Hotdish Casserole | Recipes
Recipe Type: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Author: Gimmie
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 5
Easy and fast, can be baked or made as a one-skillet meal! This tasty meal uses as few as 3 ingredients.
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef hamburger
  • 1/2 cup onion (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1 can green beans (optional)
  • 1 can condensed tomato soup – undiluted
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Prepared Instant potatoes
  • 1/2 cup shredded American or Cheddar cheese (optional)
Instructions
  1. Brown meat in skillet, add salt and pepper. Add onions (if desired) and saute. Drain off grease.
  2. Add condensed soup, water and green beans (if desired, or serve on the side) and simmer on low for 5 minutes.
  3. Prepare 4-6 servings of instant potatoes, as directed. Or peel & quarter 5 medium potatoes, boil in water for 20 minutes or until fork tender, remove and mash with 2 cups milk and 3 T butter.
  4. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of potatoes.
  5. For quick skillet meal: spoon mashed potatoes on top of meat mixture and cook for 5 minutes
  6. For oven baked meal: pour meat mixture into casserole dish, spoon mashed potatoes as top layer, leaving a crater (hole) in center for faster baking time. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are golden.
3.2.2925

 

Filed Under: GimmieBlog, Recipes Tagged With: all recipes, beef, breakfast casserole, campbells soup recipes, casserole, dinner ideas, Easy Hamburger Pie Recipe, evergreen, food, food network, green bean casserole, ground beef recipes, hamburger hotdish, hamburger pie recipe, hamburger recipes, healthy recipes, homemade, hotdish, mom's casserole, potato hamburger casserole, recipe, recipe using ground beef, recipe using hamburger, recipe using tomato soup, recipes, recipes with ground beef, shepards pie, shepherds pie, shepherds pie recipe, sloppy joe casserole, soup recipes, tater tot casserole

Bead Bell Christmas Tree Ornament Craft

bead bell ornament

Bead Bell Christmas Tree Ornament Craft

Check out these beautiful beaded bell ornaments that will make any Christmas tree extra classy! Beads are fun to work with, and there are thousands of colors and styles available.  You can go with traditional red, green, blue, white or silver – or get creative and add splashes of colors!

The instructions may seem a little daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it they’re really easy to make. My kids made them with their grandparents, and still cherish the time together and the pretty ornaments!

Repin it on Pinterest!

What You’ll Need:

  • 14 – 8mm beads
  • 18 – 6mm beads
  • 18 – 5mm beads
  • 48 – 3×6 oats beats
  • 56 – 3mm beads
  • Thread (I used clear, although noted in mustard color in diagrams below)

Directions:

  1. Measure off about 6 feet of thread to start so that you can manage it. You’ll need more, but you can add it by tying it onto end, as needed
  2. String on 12 – 8mm beads and tie in a circle, leaving about two feet of thread in tail
  3. Using this tail thread, lace 5 – 3mm beads around every-other 8mm bead (see figure 1)
    bead-bell-ornament-pattern-figure1
  4. When coming through 8mm bead number 12, pick up the first 3mm bead you strung (see fig 1), add 3- 3mm beads and go through 3mm-8mm-3mm (Fig. 2.) After all 8mm are laced with 3mm, tie a knot.
  5. Using long remaining thread, add row as follows: go through 3mm – add 3×6 oat-6mm-3×6 oat and go thru second 8mm from needle. Continue around circle until every other 8mm is capped with triangle of oat-6mm-oat. Go up through oat, pick up 6mm beads adding another 6mm between each until you have a circle of 12 – 6mm beads. Repeat for row 3, using 6 – 6mm and adding 5mm between each until you have completed circle.
  6. Row 4 same as row 2, using 12 – 5mm beads
  7. For top of bell, make triangles of oat-3mm-oat around circle. Go up through last oat, pick up 3mms, adding another 3mm between each until you have a circle of 12 – 3mm beads. Pull snugly into bell shape.
  8. Make handle by adding four 3mm, go through 3mm bead in circle opposite needle. Back-track through two of the 3mm, add 8mm bead and add 25 – 3mm beads for handle. Go back through 8mm bead and add 14 – 3mm beads for bell clapper, add 1 – 8mm bead and 1 – 3mm bead, go around thin last bead and back track through 8mm clapper and 14 – 3mms. Pull snugly and push bell clapper down into middle of bell. Work your thread back down to original tail and tie off.

 

More Bell Patterns to Download:

bead ornament pattern  bead bells instructions

Filed Under: Crafts, GimmieBlog Tagged With: christmas decor, Easy Holiday Decoration, evergreen, Festive Ice Skate, homemade

Festive Ice Skate Easy Holiday Decoration

holiday decoration ice skate

Festive Ice Skate Easy Holiday Decoration

Check out this super easy and quick Christmas decoration. Perfect decor for inside or outside for the Holidays!

This would be super cute on your front door, or hang it on the side of your house where you have a strategically placed light glowing on it.  It’d even be cute hanging on the wall inside.

This is so cute, and could not be easier!

Repin it on Pinterest!

What You’ll Need:

  • Ice skate – any condition
  • Decorations ~ you could use a branch from your Christmas tree, or fake flowers (available at Dollar Tree, but mine was free – was inside a vase I got at a thrift store), and I tied a small teddy bear’s scarf around the top of skate for a finishing effect

Directions:

  1. I used an old pair of ice skates, but you can find them cheap at a thrift store if you don’t have any “in stock.” It doesn’t matter what condition they’re in!  If your ice skates are scuffed up, you can easily fix them up with some leather shoe polish. I didn’t even bother with mine, and it’s still awesome!
  2. Insert a Christmas tree branch or other decor into top of skate.
  3. Lace up skate and top with scarf. I used a little scarf from an old teddy bear, but you could use lace or ribbon, or even recycled gift wrap!
  4. Hang from laces inside or outside!

Filed Under: Crafts, GimmieBlog Tagged With: christmas decor, Easy Holiday Decoration, evergreen, Festive Ice Skate, homemade

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