canning blueberry bourbon cinnamon cayenne jam

 

so i came into a pile of cherry tomatoes & blueberries.. i am not one to waste the good fortune of free food.. so this morning i made & canned 8 jars [1/2 pint] of roasted salsa and 10 jars of blueberry bourbon preserves.. 

for the salsa, i cut & squeezed the seeds out of all the tomatoes, put them in a 425 degrees oven on baking sheets, along with onion, garlic & jalapeno peppers.. i wanted a nice char on them.. roasting them off makes a big difference in the taste.. and then i seasoned it to taste.. yummy stuff like cumin, cilantro, paprika, chili seasonings.. also lime juice & apple cider vinegar to get the ph balance proper for long storage..

then i got to work on the blueberries.. cooked them down with sugar. bourbon, cinnamon & cayenne.. i just came up with the flavour profile as i was going along.. i didn't want to use too much sugar, so i added some sure jell for low sugar jams & a bit of clear jell.. the zest of a lemon & plenty of juice to keep the acidity proper.. and mmmm.. 

put some of that on a piece of rye toast. bourbon is subtle, the cinnamon gives it a smoky hue & the cayenne catches you on the back side.. i could see this stuff on pancakes or ice cream.. 

sorry no real recipe to follow.. i'm not one for measuring.. i just add this & that.. it's all on the fly.. but for some free food that would've gone bad in a day or so, i now have 18 jars of goodness for the fella & i.. all just for a bit of my time & energy.. and it was fun.. 

bbq roasted squash seeds

the fella wanted acorn squash & i wanted butternut squash.. so we had a pile of mush that i usually just toss out for the woodland critters to eat, but i thought i might try making a snack for us.. so i washed up the seeds from both squashes.. i dried them in the oven.. but before they were completely cooked, i spritzed them with a little oil, just enough so the spices would stick.. i used powdered garlic, onion, sweet & smoked paprika, cumin, mustard, cayenne & a little salt substitute.. i put the spice blend on near the end of roasting so it wouldn't burn.. these were awesome.. the shells are small & tender enough that they toasted up great.. not hardly woody..

* tasty

* healthy

* vegan

homemade vegan caponata

 

dinner tonight was homemade caponata on a toasted whole wheat wrap 

this is becoming one of my favourite dishes.. i used to buy these tiny cans of caponata but for a year or so, i haven't been able to find them.. then i decided to recreate it.. and i LOVE it.. mine is a vegan, fat free version, as per my restricted diet right now.. but this doesn't lack a bit of flavour.. the ingredients and recipe is always improvised & never measured.. i'm a "to taste" kinda gal.. 

Eggplant Caponata

1 large eggplant  -  can of diced tomatoes  -  1 large onion  -  a mix of peppers [red, yellow, orange, green] and 3 cloves of garlic.. 

baked in the oven till all veggies are tender and the liquid has cooked out.. i sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top and put it on a toasted whole wheat wrap and mmmm.. it's so rich, from the veggies roasting and caramelizing a bit.. i could see this working with some mushrooms and/or sweet potatoes.. 

leftovers for tomorrow.. yeah me!!!

curried squash soup with kale - vegan

 

dinner tonight was this yummy soup.. ingredients - butternut squash, carrot, cauliflower, red & yellow peppers, purple onion, veggie stock, garlic, curry.. cooked then blended.. i love, love, love the texture of kale, so i put that in last.. leftovers for tomorrow.. yum!

so the fella & i got our most recent Covid 19 vax.. not sure if this one is called a booster or not, but it has been the 4th shot in total.. yesterday was rough, we stayed in bed all day yesterday with the chills and aches.. we expected as much.. and today we are mostly back to our normal selves.. 

well enough to whip myself up a batch of soup and some chicken parm with pasta for him.. 

hopefully tomorrow i'll be back to creating some art.. 

vegan chili

 

dinner tonight - vegan chili.. i make these giant cauldrons of food and eat off it for 3-4 days.. freezing some up for when i have a lazy day or want options.. chili seems to be my favourite go-to dish.. i have a very restricted diet & i'll explain that in a different post, but my point is that chili has so much of everything i need & like.. it's packed with goodness.. 

i never follow recipes, just make them up on the fly with whatever i have handy.. this batch has the usual suspects of different beans, onions, tomatoes & peppers.. the variables in this one are lentils, barley, spinach, sweet potato & corn.. also, i love using a can of refried to thicken up the sauce.. the surprise ingredient was some mashed carrots i had left over in the fridge.. 

for spices, i sometimes use a low sodium starter packet & then go crazy from my spice box.. [onion, garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, curry].. i added nutritional yeast on top before eating, not for flavour, but for the health benefits of it.. 

this chili has no meat, no dairy, no sugar, low salt, no fat/oils.. even the 'not at all vegan'  fella, loves it..  bon appetit!