Salsa Verde

5 pounds of tomatillos
1 bunch cilantro
2 yellow onions
2 jalapenos
juice of 4 limes
1/4 cup canning salt
1 tbsp garlic powder

Bring to boil 5 pounds of tomatillos which have had the outer leaves removed. I also like to boil the jalapenos (cut and seeded) with them. While those are boiling, removed leaves from cilantro stems, place in blender. And chopped up onion to the blender. Add about 1/2 cup of water. Blend all together until smooth. Add blended green mixture to empty water pitcher. Once tomatillos are done, laddle them into the blender along with jalapenos and blend until smooth. I add about 1 cup of the water the tomatillos and jalapenos were cooked in to make it easier to blend. Add this to the onion/cilantro mixture. Mix together. Pour this into a pot. Add salt, garlic powder and limes. Bring to a slow boil. Poor salsa into clean heated jars. Add lids. Process in water bath canner for ten minutes. This should give you about 6 pints of salsa.

Capital Punishment

I used to be so adamantly FOR the death penalty. 100% stick it to them they deserve to die. An eye for an eye was my motto. Do it now....don't wait for twenty five years. My thought on this changed this week. You would think that I would feel a strong desire for revenge for the person who killed Scott's aunt Carol. I want justice, but my heart tells me that taking another life for a life is wrong. I feel forgiveness and mercy for this woman who so clearly lost her mind that day. However, this does not mean that I think she should not be punished for her crime. I just wish our government would create a prison system that people would fear to have to end up. How compfy to have three square meals a day; t.v.; college education and a roof over their heads. I once read of a Sherrif in Arizona who made his prisoners wear pink and eat balogna sandwiches everyday. They live in tents with no air conditioning and worked hard labor everyday. I wonder how his town did as far as a crime rate?

More Canning

Today I canned 15 pints of green beans and 8 pints of diced tomatoes. There is a sale on sweet corn, so I might need to go to the store tomorrow and buy a bunch. My bread and butter pickles turned out well. There is only 5 jars, but we do not eat them too often. It is the dill pickles that Maddie and Mary love. My back is hurting and I can barely stay awake. Time for bed.

Making your own Deodorant

Here is a great recipe for homemade doedorant I found

3 Tbsp. Shea Butter
3 Tbsp. Baking Soda
2 Tbsp. Corn Starch
2 Tbsp. Cocoa Butter
2 Vitamin E capsules
Essential Oil- Ylang Yang & Orange

Melt all of the ingredients (except essential oil) and it a good stir. It is easier to melt in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add essential oils, stir again, and pour in a small jelly jar (1/4 pint) then place in the fridge to set. If you make a large batch and quadrupel the recipe, just keep any extra jars in the fridge and take one out one at a time. The lady who made this recipe said next time she was going to add a little vegetable glycerin next time she was going to do a batch to make it easier to use.

Canning and dehydrating

Today I found pickling cucumbers on sale at Super-Fresh for 10 cents each. I bought about 30 of them and made Kosher dill pickles (13 pints). I think that was the first time I have ever made them. We will see how they taste in 6 weeks. I also bought zuchinni for 10 cents each and decided to dehydrate them sliced. They will be perfect for minestrone soup and chopped up more will be great for zuchinni bread. And since they were on sale, it is even cheaper than growing them myself. I bought 5 lbs of carrots to dehydrate. I bought many cans of carrots a few years ago and I just do not like them canned. It makes them too sweet. I also bought roma tomatoes to can, but they still feel a little firm, so they are in the cupboard ripening. I am also going to do sweet potato and regular potato in the food dehydrator. I am thinking that this is a whole lot easier than canning. Not to mention less expensive since you do not need to by so many canning jars. Peas would be nice dried as well. I just do not like the mushy peas in a can. We also have seeds to plant this week of green beans, red sweet corn, peas and finger carrots. It would be nice to do more. There is never enough time in the day.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Today I made homemade laundry detergent. I love the clean scent it gives. The recipe is
1 grated bar of Fels-Naptha Soap
1 cup of Borax
1cup of Washing Soda
You melt the shavings of soap with a little hot water (about a cup) or so on the stove, in a sauce pan of course. :) In a five gallon bucket add about 1/4 of the way up with very hot water. Add the Borax and Washing Soda and stir thoroughly; when the Fels-Naptha has completely melted, add it to the bucket. Stir again. Let this sit for 12 hours. Add enough water to the top and stir, stir, stir. At this point I put the solution in saved laundry detergent bottles. It lasts for about 200 washings. Always shake your bottle of homemade detergent before each use. I like the scent as is, but you can also add essential oils of your liking. (Ex. lavender, orange, eucalyptis, etc.)
My next project is to make homemade bars of soap.

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary

Lucky Thirteen. May 30th. A few days late posting. :) I still cannot believe how fast the last 13 years have gone by. It seems like just yesterday when Scott and I knealed at the alter in the San Diego Temple and were sealed for all eternity. Three girls later and we are still going strong. There have certainly been a few moments of "UG", but it has been wonderful to work through them and still be married today.