Tag Archives: bell peppers

Bell pepper relish – end of the summer crop

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So my bell peppers are now all finished. I had about 60 bell peppers (green and purple) to use. What can I do to store bell peppers??? I found a Sweet Bell Pepper Relish recipe which sounded interesting and went to work making it.

I plan on using the relish as Christmas gifts and also for ourselves as a condiment for meatloaf, pork and sandwiches.

Ingredients (taken from southern food about.com)

  • 20 large bell peppers, red, yellow, orange, green, stems and seeds removed, about 6 pounds
  • 1 1/2 pounds sweet onions
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt or pickling salt
  • 5 cups sugar
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika, optional
Wash peppers and cut in large chunks; you’ll have about 6 pounds of chunks. Finely chop about 1/2 to 2/3 of the peppers. Grind or finely chop the remaining peppers using a food grinder or food processor. Coarsely chop about half of the onions and add the remaining onions to the grinder or food processor. Combine in a large bowl with the salt; toss to mix thoroughly. Cover with ice and let stand for 3 hours.Drain peppers, squeezing to get as much moisture out as possible. In a large nonreactive kettle, combine the vinegars, sugar, mustard seeds, and paprika, if using. Add the well drained pepper mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes, until thickened. Stir occasionally.Meanwhile, fill a boiling water bath canner about half full. Add clean canning jars to the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and keep jars warm.

In a saucepan, bring water to a simmer, turn to low and add the flat lids. Keep the lids in the hot water until ready to use.

When the pepper mixture is finished cooking, ladle into the hot drained jars. With a damp clean cloth, wipe the rims of the jars. Using tongs, lift lids from the water and let excess drip off of them; place on the clean jar rims. Screw on the jar rings firmly. Lift jars into the canner. Bring to a boil, cover, and boil gently for 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 to 6 pints.

Backyard design and garden update

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We survived the night in the tent, but we did wake up to a frost. I am very thankful that it was for only one night. I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.

After spending time outside yesterday, I realized that the backyard has come along way since we posted our design progress a month or so back. We are in fact ready for sod (though it might be too late for us to lay it down before winter).

The winter vegetable gardens are coming along too, though slowly but I suppose that is due to the colder temperatures now. Here are photos of the everlasting bell peppers (still growing from Summer), the swiss chard, broccoli, cabbages and spinach.

    

We have carrots and cauliflower too but they were planted a little late and are still quiet small.

That’s it for today – my new dwell magazine just arrived in the mail and the banana bread is about to come out of the oven – time for a coffee break :-). I will post the banana bread recipe tomorrow.

Tasty Bean Salad

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I am at home again today, sick – could have strep throat….and feeling pretty miserable. I wanted to share what I am doing to try to improve my health, since I have been sick off and on since February and now on my 6th course of antibiotics.

So as my health has been pretty awful this year, I have decided to try “Eat to Live” plan by Dr. Fuhrman.  The idea is to concentrate on eating 90% nutrient-dense foods – like veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts, beans and whole grains. For the remaining 10%, you can have healthy oils, meat and dairy. My goal is to build my body’s own immune system and provide the right food and nutrients to my body, it’s not about weight for me.

I have been pleasantly surprised, it has not been that difficult to follow the plan including a breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am one and half weeks.

Here’s one of the recipes I use for lunch.

Ingredients

1 can cannelloni beans (washed)
1 can black beans (washed)
1 can corn (washed)
1 small onion
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp fresh basil
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Wash the beans and corn and place in a large bowl. Add diced peppers, diced onion and crushed garlic to the bowl. In a salad dressing container mix the remaining ingredients – shake to mix. Pour over the beans mixture, and stir to cover.

Serve as a side salad or I used a 1/2 whole wheat pita and made a sandwich. This salad stores well in the fridge. also think about adding fresh dices tomatoes or diced celery to add more flavors/tastes.

Here’s my lunch – the final product 🙂