Canning Tomato Sauce

We were really excited to grow tomatoes this summer. We bought 5 varieties, two of them were paste tomatoes. I wanted to can my own basic tomato sauce. This last year we stopped using canned tomato products after reading this article on the 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat. Mr. Ramon and I have already cut out canned foods like soups, beans etc. When I read this we switched to tetra pack tomatoes as jarred varieties are soooo expensive.

Our tomatoes had s slow start due to the long cold spring. This past month and a half have been super sunny and we have had some really good yields. That allowed me to can up my first tomato sauce.

It all starts with fresh ripe tomatoes. Here are some of the San Marzano I used for this sauce. Beautiful!

A quick wash and remove the stems. There are many ways to go about sauce and I am lucky to have a Vita Mix Blender that I can use to puree them, skin and all. Without this option you would want to quick blanch them in hot water and toss into an ice bath to slip the skins off. I also leave the seeds in as they will be pureed as well. You could remove the seeds if you want. 

Once I have them blended super smooth I put them in a large stock pot to cook down to my desired thickness. I left this sauce a little thin knowing I can always thicken it when I use in in my recipes. 

While it simmers away I sterilized my jars and got my water bath ready to process them once filled. 

I added some lemon juice to each jar, filled with the hot tomato sauce and processed for 35 minutes. Here are the gorgeous jars once done. I hope to get enough tomatoes to make up a couple more batches. 

Tomato Sauce

Wash, trim and remove stems from your tomatoes. 

If you have a high powered blender you can belnd your tomatoes with then skins and seed intact until smooth. 

If you want to remove the skins: drip each tomato into boiling water for 30-60 seconds until skins split. Immediately put tomatoes into ice water. Remove skins with your hands. 

If you want to remove the seeds, slice in half and scoop out with a spoon. 

If you are not pureeing in a blender, you will need to simmer tomatoes until soft then puree with a hand blender, blender or food processor until smooth. 

Place your pureed tomatoes into a saucepan or stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and let simmer until you reach the desired consistency. 

Using sterilized jars, add 2 teaspoons per quart or 1 tablespoon per pint of lemon juice in the bottom of each jar. Fill with hot tomato sauce up to 1/2 ince from rim. Place hot lid and rings on and tighten. Water bath process for 35 minutes. 

No Sugar Update

I lasted 1 1/2 weeks. In some respects I think I failed. In others I know I won. 

In the failing category I love dessert and after 1 1/2 weeks of no sugar was presented with an opportunity to taste the new ice cream at Cupcake Royale and could not resist. This led me to understand that a purposeful dessert is important to me. 

In the winning category I have been drinking my coffee without sugar for 2 weeks now. And loving it. I have not had any sugar laden snacks instead choosing whole grains and protein and vegetables instead. I have lost 3 pounds without even trying. I am sleeping better and have more energy throughout the day. I fell like I am more aware and conscience of what I am eating which is a huge win for someone who eats when stressed. 

Kitchen Gadget Review #1

Until this last year I called small apartments my home. Within these tiny walls was a even tinier kitchen in which I had to make the so called "magic" happen. Even I was amazed that I could churn out pounds and pounds of dog biscuits for the store in this small space or throw dinner parties for 14 guests. 

One of the most challenging aspects of small kitchens is the storage space. I love kitchen gadgets. I could hoard if space and money allowed. But something I learned from the amazing Mr Alton Brown is that there should be no "unitaskers" in the kitchen. I could not agree more. These tools are marketed so well you are sure you need them - all of them. Garlic presses, melon ballers, egg poachers, toasters, apple corers and egg slicer all designed to do one job and take up room in your kitchen for the 390 days a year you do not use them. 

One of the kitchen appliances I love is the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I loved my orange KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer almost to death. It was taking a huge beating turning out batch after batch of dog biscuits for the store. To its rescue came the even awesomer KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer. I know what you are saying - how does a space challenged kitchen have room for 2 stand mixers. I love my smaller orange mixer so much and he is so handy for quick smaller jobs. And his bigger brother does all the heavy lifting for the dog biscuits. Each of them are used weekly and I think that qualifies for keeping them both. 

Now if you have a stand mixer you know that they are the so much more than a mixer. The attachements are endless and a wonderful way to add in other "appliances" without really doing so. From ice cream maker and pasta roller to meat grinder and juicer - pretty amazing. 

One of my favorite attachments is the beater blade - mine is by New Metro Design. Why didn't I think of this. Turning the mixer off to scrape down batter is tedious. This tool does the job for you. There are several makers of these types of beaters and KitchenAid actually makes their own now. 

For about $24 you have a beater blade that will let you multi task while it does an amazing job of mixing you batters. Best for thinner batters like cake and pancake types. The classis metal beater is still best for stiffer dough like cookies.  If you don't have one and make a good amount of batter type recipes in your mixer then run out and get yourself one. 

Pickle Time

This summer has had a hold on me like no Seattle summer ever has. Mostly due to our new outdoor space for gardening and entertaining. Our garden gave us much satisfaction with its meager yields. Gardening in the PNW holds it own unique challenges like slow starting summer and lack of sun. This lead to some disappointments and my biggest one was my pickling cucumber plants never grew. Pickling is one of my favorite things to do and this year I again had to pick up my cucumbers from the local farmers market. 

I find pickling so easy and fun. It is something anyone can do. And you can pickle so many vegetables - carrots, beets, cucumbers, okra and the list goes on. With these cucumbers I decided to do some spears and burger chips. 

I started by washing them then slicing them the way I want to pickle them. The spears I just cut lengthwise into slices and the burger chips I sliced on my mandolin. 

I washed and sterilized my jars ina boiling water bath. 

The smell of fresh dill is so amazing. I also picked this up at the farmers market. 

I got my water bath set up and on high. Then I made my brine. 

Pickling Brine

4 cups white vinegar
4 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pickling & preserving salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil. 

In each jar I put:

1 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon pickling spice
1 head fresh dill

1 dried pepper (I like them spicy but this can be omitted)

Once the herbs and spices are crammed at the bottom I fill the jar with the pickle slices. I make sure to fit them in there nice.

Once all the jars are filled I fill them with hot brine and put the lids and bands on. They go into the water bath (make sure they are completely submerged) for 10 minutes. Pull them out and let them cool on the counter. Now let them sit for at least 3 months and you have amazing pickles!

The sweet taste of sugar

I must confess - I am a sugar addict. 

It starts in the morning with iced coffee sweetened with artificial sweetener or simple syrup. If we are at a favorite coffee shop I might add on some sort of sweet as breakfast otherwise cereal with fruit and either sugar or artificial sweetener again. 

I try to find time to bring a "healthy" lunch to work. Salad of some sort, yogurt and fruit. I usually get bored sometime during the day and start snacking on something that contains sugar or salt. A diet soda to wash it down - bored stress eating.

I finish the day with a meal of some kind and occasionally a sweet to end the day. 

If I am bored, stressed or overly hungry I often will reach for the wrong type of quick snack that leaves me with a sugar crash yearning for more sugar. 

Sometimes life can get so busy and crazy that I don't notice I am wrecking myself until it is almost too late. Lately I have been not sleeping well. I have had no energy in the afternoon and I just noticed that my sugar and sugar substitute consumption was quite high. 

I knew I needed a drastic overhaul. I worry about my weight of course, but I also have wrist tendonitis and I know that sugar is a culprit of inflammation. I know I want to feel better so cutting sugar out is where I am going to start. This will be no small feat - take for example the Nectarine Oat Cake I baked today. Not even a bite and that hurts. 

The goal is no sugar for 30 days. Today is day one. This includes artifical sweeteners. Also no prepared products with sweetener - honey, stevia, molasses etc. I am good about reading labels but need to be diligent. This means lots of fresh whole foods. I will let myself eat fruit. A couple of pieces a day. 

Yesterday I needed to get my pantry and fridge in order so I could be prepared for this adventure. I bought fruit and greens for smoothies and found two amazing cereals that have no sugar. One is a Museli and the other a locally made hot cereal. I need cereal. It is how I start my day off right. 

Today I put together a orzo and garden vegetable salad for me and Mr. Ramon to take to work. 

I think the hardest thing will be my coffee. I always drink sweetened coffee. I have not had any coffee today since the thought of black coffee made me sad. So I feel tired. Iced tea maybe? With lemon. 

I expect to have a lot to share with you as I experience this over the next 30 days.