Last week I used some of our home-grown grapes to make Grape Jelly. It’s easy, and oh so good! We don’t use a lot of jelly now that the kids are older so I don’t have to make very much anymore.

 

 

I got 7 jars out of this batch. And another half of a jar. I didn’t process the 1/2 jar in the canner, but kept it out to eat! As soon as I put the other jars in the canner, I tested the jelly. lol I put it on toast even before it has jellied all the way. lol So good!

 

Speaking of grapes, did you see my post last week, The Easy Way to Can Grape Juice? Check it out! It’s so easy, and so good!

 

 

One of our adult sons asked for some food so I used leftovers and made these little meals for him. Perfect to eat at home, or take to work for lunch. I told him if he brought the containers back I’d fill them up again. I’m still waiting for the containers. lol

 

 

I forgot to put the roast in the slow cooker until the afternoon on Friday. So I pulled some venison steaks out of the freezer before I left to run errands. When it was supper time, I quickly cooked the steaks, threw together a quick salad, and made some quick homemade garlic bread with regular sliced bread. The family loved the bread so much I had to go make more during the meal! I don’t usually sever bread with meals, unless it’s toast with breakfast. My husband has diabetes so I have make sure I don’t serve too many carbs at any meal. In this instance, I used the garlic bread as the carb, so it worked.

 

 

What’s up in your kitchen?  If you need more ideas for dinner, check out my dinner menu below.

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Take out pizza

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – BLT sandwiches

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken Fajita Bake- from the freezer, rice, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, salad

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or venison – Italian Pork chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison  – Venison roast, potatoes, & carrots in slow cooker,

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

 

 

I got the directions for making grape juice this way from someone in a group. I made it for the first time last year. It’s definitely a different way to make juice. It’s so much easier! No need to cook the grapes first to get the juice. The best part? It tastes so good!

 

 

 

 

 

The Easy Way to Can Grape Juice

 

Sterilize quart jars and lids

Boil water to put into jars

Boil water in water bath canner

Remove grapes from stem and wash.

Into each quart jar add:
1 cup of grapes 
1/2 cup sugar

Fill jar with boiling water

 

Wipe rim and place warm lids on top, place ring on finger tight 

Put jars in boiling bath canner, bring to boil, boil for 25 minutes

Remove and allow to cool

 

 

Check seals before storing

Wait 3 months before you use it. It was hard, but these jars sat for several months. I had them hid in the pantry. If the kids knew they were there, they wouldn’t have waited. lol

 

 

Strain juice before drinking I have this little plastic strainer that I use. A fine mesh strainer will work as well. A coffee filter will work, too.

 

 

When everything in the garden is ready to harvest, and all the fruit is getting ripe, it’s nice to have a quick, easy way to preserve the grapes. And the juice tastes great!

*This post contains affiliate links

 

Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. Yes, 35 years! Our oldest son, 30, made us a cake.

 

 

I bought almost 3/4 of a bushel of green beans from a friend. I pulled my pressure canner out only to discover it was missing a part! I couldn’t find it anywhere, even though it had been all there the last time I used it. So frustrating! I ordered the missing part from the company website. Which is good. Except I had green beans waiting to can! I ended up freezing them instead. I put 12 – 1 pound bags in the freezer.

 

 

We still had grapes on the vine waiting to be used. I canned 6 more quarts of easy grape juice. Instructions coming later this week!

 

 

I started using MyFreezEasy for a review. So far I’m loving it! I made 2 chicken recipes on Saturday. The first, is Chicken Fajita Bake. I know the family is going to love this.

 

 

Before I could make it though, I had to make some taco seasoning. Before I shook the jar, I noticed how the spices looking like sand art. So I had to take a pic before I shook it. lol

 

 

Before I made the 2nd chicken recipe, that I decided to make after going grocery shopping, I had to make some homemade garam masala. Garam masala is a seasoning used in Indian cooking. I don’t even know if any stores around me carry it, because, you know, I didn’t even look for it. So I researched how to make it. Why not make something I’ve never heard of (or tasted!) before to use in a recipe I’ve never tried before?! The seasoning mix smells amazing! The assembled Slow Cooker Butter Chicken smelled awesome!  Minus the whole raw meat part. ha  I can’t wait to taste this!

 

 

We were having a church dinner on Sunday so I made most of the food on Saturday. I brought 10 pounds of mashed potatoes (Raw potato weight. I didn’t weigh the mashed taters! lol) My awesome family stepped up to peel and dice all those potatoes. That’s the thing I dislike the most about making mashed potatoes. All that peeling and dicing! I always put plenty of butter in and on the mashed potatoes. People love it when they see melted butter all over the top of the mashed potatoes!

 

 

We also brought about 2 1/2 pounds of corn and 2 1/2 pounds green beans. I say about because they changed the size of the frozen vegetable bags. That makes me so mad! You think your getting the same amount, 1 pound, but for the same price you are suddenly getting only 12 ounces. grrrrr! So anyway, I used 3 bags of each.

I also said I would bring a dessert. So I tried a new recipe. Chocolate Chip Icebox Cake. (Recipe coming soon!) I’ve never made an icebox cake before. (Last week’s kitchen theme must have been “Try something new” lol) Thankfully, it came out great and was very good! They ate it all! This is definitely on my make again list!

 

 

So after all that food prep and cooking I was exhausted! I put the Chocolate Chip Icebox Cake in the fridge and sat down for a minute. In the interest of being real, this was my view. ugh! I had been good about cleaning up as I went along all day, but kind of slipped when it came time to making the dessert.

 

After resting for a couple of minutes. AKA posting on Instagram! lol I cleaned it up and then played a game of Uno Attack with the family.

 

In case you missed it, I posted a recipe for S’mores Snack Mix last week. It’s more of a dessert type snack mix that my kids gobbled up.

 

 

And now it’s time for me to get back in the kitchen and make supper!

 

What’s up in your kitchen?  If you need more ideas for dinner, check out my dinner menu below.

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Get our own! lol

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Dinner at church

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken Strips, oven roasted potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or venison – Boneless Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison  – Venison roast, potatoes, & carrots in slow cooker,

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click th link & make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

 

My kids are always looking for snacks. Always.

I try to make those snacks as healthy as I can. Sometimes, though, it’s fun to give them a treat that they will love. My kids love s’mores. So I made them some S’mores Snack Mix.

 

 

This is more of a dessert snack mix. I added peanuts this time. It makes the snack mix taste more like a Reese S’more. Never had a Reese S’more? You put a peanut butter cup on the s’more instead of a chocolate bar. They are so good! The peanuts are totally optional, though. I added them for a little nutrition. Some protein to offset the sugar.

 

S’mores Snack Mix Recipe

 

1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup graham cracker cereal
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanuts – optional

 

Combine all the ingredients, mix gently, and enjoy!

I layered all the ingredients in this container, then gently turned the container to mix.

 

 

The marshmallows will dry out after a couple of days. So if you want to make the mix ahead of time, leave the marshmallows out. When you are ready to eat it, pour the snack mix into a bowl and add the marshmallows.

 

My kids love this S’mores Snack Mix! I have to admit, it’s pretty good!

 

Leave it to one of my kids to add milk to the snack mix and eat it like cereal! lol

 

 

 

Pin this S’mores Snack Mix Recipe for later!

 

 

 

 

*This post contains an affiliate link

 

Taking pictures of what I do in the kitchen is turning out to be helpful to me in a way I didn’t imagine. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t done anything in the kitchen, or I feel like I haven’t been feeding my family meals that are “good enough”. Now I can look at the pictures that I took and see for myself that it’s not as bad as I think it was. Well, most of the time! lol

 

I had some turkey left from the one I cooked in the slow cooker the week before so I used it in this Turkey Alfredo. I used my Alfredo Ham & Pasta Skillet Dinner Recipe, substituting turkey for the ham. It came out great and they ate it all! Well, except for the peas a couple of teenagers left on their plates because they “hate peas”. Hopefully, a few sneak through with the pasta! lol

 

 

Some of the grapes on our grapevines were ready last week. I made the first picking into 6 quarts of grape juice. I used a super easy recipe that I got from a group on social media. It’s so easy and tastes so good! I’ll be sharing the recipe very soon, so be on the look out for it!

 

 

I always put “Tacos with all the fixin’s on my menu”, well, here’s what the fixin’s looked like last week. Venison taco meat, lettuce, tomato, red onion, sour cream, and my version of refried beans. Except, they are not refried! I drain a can of pinto beans, put them in a bowl, and mash them with a potato masher. You can season them if you like, but canned beans have enough salt, so you don’t really need to. So easy, healthier than refried beans, and taste great!

 

 

I used the beans to make some Taco Roll Ups while the family was making their tacos. The family used the rest of the beans when they made more tacos. My family makes a lot of tacos. lol These Taco Roll Ups came out great. I shared what I made with the family and they all loved them! Be on the look out for that recipe coming soon!

 

 

On Tuesday, I ground 7 pounds of venison meat from the freezer with my food processor. I cooked it all on Wednesday because I ran out of time on Tuesday. I made taco meat, and we ate some that night, and I have one meals worth to put in the freezer. I cooked the rest of the meat and packaged it for the freezer. I love having cooked meat in the freezer. Half the work is done for cooking dinner! These will go in spaghetti, skillet dinners, or whatever else I come up with!

 

 

I finished the last of the turkey with this Turkey, potatoes, carrots, & gravy cooked in the slow cooker. It came out great! Kind of like the middle of a pot pie without the crust. lol I used Chicken flavored Better Than Bouillon, water, and cornstarch to make the gravy. It turned out nice and thick and flavorful.

 

 

On Friday, we had a venison roast and potatoes cooked in the slow cooker. That’s my family’s favorite way to cook venison. Worchestershire sauce is my secret ingredient. shhhh….. I do get a little bored making this every week, but the family isn’t complaining, so I guess I shouldn’t. lol I served it with Honey Glazed Carrots. Yum!

 

 

What’s up in your kitchen? If you need more ideas for dinner, check out my dinner menu below.

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Dinner out with the family

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Hot dogs, chips, corn

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken Strips, oven roasted potatoes, salad

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or beef – Boneless Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Orange Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

*Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link & make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

I made more Homemade Trail Mix last week. We’ve been going through all of this in about a week to a week and a half. I make it with cashews, peanuts – either dry roasted or honey roasted, and M & M’s. I add raisins to half the batch. I bought some little goldfish crackers to add to the mix the last time I went shopping. So I’ll be trying that the next time I make trail mix. Hopefully, they don’t get crushed by the nuts.

 

 

I tried a new recipe for Basil Glazed Carrots the other night. They were really good! Recipe coming soon!

 

 

I still have a couple of turkeys in the freezer from the sales last November. I always buy  or 6 when they are so cheap before Thanksgiving. I normally finish them all by spring. My mother was in the hospital for over 4 months, from December to May. I didn’t get a lot of cooking done during that time. That’s why I have turkeys left. So anyway, I cooked one in the slow cooker the other day. Yes, a 12-13 pound turkey will fit in a large slow cooker. I cover it with foil, sealing the edges as much as I can. Then I put the lid on it. Because the lid won’t close all the way with a turkey in there! lol It works great and it doesn’t heat the house up for hours during the summer!

 

 

I made venison steaks last Friday. The family loves them. Since I have a freezer full of venison, I love them, too! lol I dredged the steaks in flour that I had added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to. Then fried them for just a few minutes on each side. These little tenderloin steaks don’t take very long at all to cook.

 

 

They were great! I served them with mashed potatoes that my daughter helped make, and green beans.

 

 

When I cooked the turkey in the slow cooker, it made some awesome broth. I used it and some of the turkey to make turkey soup on Saturday. I had some already grated carrots from the store and I added those with some frozen peas and frozen corn. A few more seasonings, and I had an easy, awesome soup. I then needed a carb. I had some canned biscuits in the freezer. I’m not sure why, as I don’t normally buy them, but there they were. I think the kids made me do it. lol So I made some to go with the soup. The only complaint was that I didn’t make enough biscuits! lol

 

 

This week I have some  freezer cooking and some canning in my kitchen plans.

 

What’s up in your kitchen?

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Homemade Turkey Soup, canned biscuits

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Sandwiches for lunch with leftover soup, Dinner was in front of the TV with the closing ceremonies- BBQ meatballs, cheese & crackers, homemade hummus, carrot, sugar snap peas

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Turkey Tetrazzini, broccoli

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Mexican Roll Ups – new recipe!

Thursday – pork or beef – Boneless Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Honey Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

 

My mother asked to cook last week. Who am I to say no? lol She made one of her specialties that family members often ask for. Scalloped Pork Chops.

 

 

You layer pork chops in the bottom of a pan, we used boneless with very little fat on them. You cover them with a layer of sliced onions, then a thick layer of sliced potatoes. You then pour over canned diced tomatoes, juice and all. Season each layer with salt & pepper. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes to an hour, until meat & potatoes are done. She covers it with foil, then takes the foil off for the last 10-15 minutes.

 

Then dig in to serve. My mother poured some vegetable juice in this time as well. She didn’t think there was enough juice from the tomatoes. I think there would have been as the finished dinner was very juicy. And very good!

 

 

I was blessed last week to be given some home grown tomatoes and cucumbers. We didn’t plant a garden this year, so these were a real treat!

 

 

I served them straight up as a side dish to our spaghetti with venison meat sauce. I could eat just the tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner!

 

 

On taco night, I had my venison taco meat as a salad with multi grain tortilla chips. Yum!

 

 

We still had some of those gorgeous home grown tomatoes begging to be eaten. So we had BLT sandwiches on Thursday.

 

 

This was store bought lettuce, but that’s ok. The tomatoes were the star of the sandwich! I had a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on my sandwich. So good!

 

 

On Friday, I made the meal that had been scheduled for Thursday night. My son said he couldn’t find the beef in the freezer so brought in venison. So instead of walking out to our stage shed where the freezer is, I just used the venison to make my version of lo mein.

 

 

I sauteed the frozen broccoli & sliced venison with some soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. I didn’t even cut any onions to put in it! I missed them though! A couple of minutes before they were done, I poured in a bag of frozen peas and carrots. When everything was done, I dumped in a pound of cooked spaghetti and some more soy sauce.  It came out great! I hadn’t made lo mein in a while. I need to make it more often, as it’s pretty easy to make. Well, my version is! lol

 

 

Thursday morning, I got a call from someone I know saying they had a ton of tomatoes in their garden. They had been selling them at the farmers market, but still had a ton left. so I bought a 1/2 bushel of red and orange tomatoes. I also bought a grocery bag full of green tomatoes. I sliced and froze the green tomatoes. I put 8 meal size bags in the freezer.

 

 

I would have had more, but my husband got into them and made a big batch of fried green tomatoes. He loves them! Which is odd for a someone from Massachusetts! lol And hey! He made them all by himself! Go husband! lol

 

 

I canned the 1/2 bushel of red and orange tomatoes. I got 6 quart jars of whole red tomatoes, 8 quarts of quartered red tomatoes, and 3 quarts of quartered orange tomatoes. For a total of 17 quarts of tomatoes!

 

 

A very good pay off for about 5 hours of work! These will taste so good this winter in soups and chili.

 

I was very busy in the kitchen last week! How about you?

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Take out pizza

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Corned Beef Hash & Eggs – Husband cooked!

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken strips, oven roasted potatoes, corn, homemade applesauce

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Mexican Roll Ups – new recipe!

Thursday – pork or beef – Turkey, cooked in the slow cooker, mashed potatoes, beets 

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Basil Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday