How to Make Freezer Salsa and Put Up Tomatoes 7 Days Post C Section

1.  Assemble your salsa veggies (cilantro, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno)
2.  Enlist your husband's help.
3.  Clean the vegetables and remove all stems and blemishes.
4.  Place whole, uncut vegetables into your slow cooker.
5.  Cook on low for 8 hours.
6.  Cool.
7.  Blend in your blender.
8.  Place into freezer containers.

I know this post sounds insane.  What person in their right mind is putting up tomatoes and salsa 2 days after a C-section?  However, my garden does not understand this.

Before Kai's arrival, I had seen a Pinterest post on using your slow cooker to do salsa.  That seemed like a brilliant idea to me since the vegetables would not need chopped up and could be cooked whole.  The Pinterest post had a recipe of sorts but I just kind of dumped whatever vegetables I had in my batch.  It worked so slick.  (Other than my poor hubby who despite washing his hands numerous times ended up getting jalapeno in his eyes when he tried to put in his contacts.)  If I were to do it again, I would put an acid in withe the veggies since it was a little bland but I'm just planning to add some lime juice or vinegar to my salsa once I take it out and am ready to serve it.

I also used the same method to freeze plain tomatoes and some Italian tomatoes.  Since I will probably use those in soups and casseroles, I didn't want the tomatoes too pureed, so once I took them out of the slow cooker, I used a spoon to gently smash them.  That broke the tomatoes apart a bit and made it easy to discard the skins.  For the Italian tomatoes, I used onion, green pepper, tomatoes, garlic powder, basil, and oregeno.  I used a spoon on the tomatoes but then gently diced the onion and green peppers.  So much easier than peeling your tomatoes by putting them in boiling water and then standing over the stove cooking them.

Fantabulous Dulce de Leche Carmel-1 Ingredient Slow Cooker Recipe

As I write this, I'm enjoying a wonderfully ooey gooey snack of carmel and chocolate animal crackers. Actually I've been going at it a bit like fondue pot. Pretzels in carmel. Apples in carmel. Celery in carmel. (Not really, but I'm guessing I could probably eat this carmel on just about anything.)

Seriously good and here's the kicker...super easy. Buy sweetened condensed milk. (However many cans you want.) Leave it in the can but remove the label. Put it in your crockpot/slower cooker with enough water to completely cover the cans. Plug your cooker in and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Open and enjoy. It's a actually better if you are patient enough to let the carmel cool down in your fridge overnight. But we ate it semi warm last night for supper and managed to choke it down.

I can't believe I didn't know about this before....

Ham and Bean Soup, carrots and celery


Gingerbread pancakes, bacon, fruit


Roast beef sandwiches, frozen fruit cups, cooked carrots


Orange chicken, California blend vegetables, rice


Blushing Penne Pasta, California blend, Autumn Apple Salad


Swiss steak supper, jello with fruit

Menu Planning Monday

Wonton Soup
Fruit Salad

Pork Roast with a Twist of Orange
Mashed potatoes
Green beans

Ham and Cheese Pasta
Mixed vegetables

Taco Pan Pizza (Divide into two pans before baking; freeze one for later.)
Fruit Salsa with cinnamon chips

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (Sauce of ketchup, mustard, and spaghetti sauce. Sauce + crumbled cooked bacon+ browned hamburger + onion + chopped dill pickles, all on pizza crust and topped with cheese)
Carrots and celery

Pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit

Menu Planning

Steak Fajitas (Toss cooked steak strips with taco seasoning, peppers, and onions)
Corn
Fresh fruit



Lettuce salad with fajita meat
Cinnamon Chips with fruit salsa



Ham and Cheese Pasta
California Blend


Pork Steaks with a Twist of Orange (Brown 1 large sliced onion and 1 1/2 t. minced garlic in butter on stove. Add 1 finely chopped jalepeno, 4 1/2 t. chilli powder, 1 t. salt, and 1 t. pepper. Gradually stir in 1/ cup chicken broth, 2/3 cup orange juice, and 4 pieces of cooked bacon, diced. Place roast in slow cooker; pour liquid mixture over roast. Cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 hours until meat is tender. Can make gray using cooking juices.)
Mashed Potatoes
Mixed Veggies



Italian Bean Soup (In stock pan combine 3 chopped celery ribs, 3 chopped carrots, 1 chopped small onion, 2 cans of chicken broth, 2 cans of drained butter beans, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1 t. basil. Heat through.)
Lettuce Salad
Breadsticks

Menu Planning Monday

Cabbage Soup
Italian bread

Black Bean Quesedillas
Corn
Apple slices

Honey Baked French Toast
Fresh fruit
Bacon

Sesame Chicken
California Blend
Fresh fruit

Runza Casserole (Brown 1-2 pounds ground beef. Add to skillet 4 cups shredded cabbage and 1 medium diced onion; cook until cabbage is tender. Mix in 1 can of cheddar cheese soup and 4-6 ounces diced Velveeta cheese. Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan and top with one can of refrigerated cresent rolls. You can press the rolls together to make a rectangle or you can put them on top in the triangle shapes they come in and leave space in between a bit like a lattice pie. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Mixed vegetables
Fresh fruit

Mushroomy Meatballs over egg noodles, green beans

Menu Planning Monday

Baked Bean Sloppy Joes (Brown hamburger. Add to 1 or 2 cans of canned baked beans. Add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worchestershire, and dried onion to taste. Serve on buns. Easiest sloppy joes ever!)
Fresh fruit
Mixed veggies

Easy cheesy hashbrowns (Mix 30 oz. frozen hashbrowns with 1 cup shredded cheese and a few dried chopped onions. Put 1/2 in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Add a layer of shredded cheese. Add the remaining potatoes. Top with 1 cup of sour cream mixed with 1 can cream of chicken soup and more cheese. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or so.)
Tuna Patties (1 can of tuna, drained, 1 egg, chopped celery and onion, and breadcumbs. Form into patties and cook in a large skillet.)
Green beans

Chilli (Just a dump recipe using tomato juice, kidney beans, chilli beans, chopped steak, onion, celery, water, beef boullion, and chilli poweder, all in the slow cooker for the day.)
Garlic bread
Fruit

BBQ chicken sandwiches
Glazed cooked carrots
Green beans

Cabbage patch soup
Garlic bread

Corned beef and cabbage with potatoes

Corned beef hash (Haven't ever made this before. I'm going to combine my leftover corned beef with thawed frozen potatoes, onion, carrots, and maybe some leftover cabbage. Then I'll brown it in a skillet with some butter.)
Fresh fruit