Jalapeño Rings

Jalapeños are one of my favorite things to grow in my garden.  Over the years, I've made a variety of different jalapeño items as I've come to have a bunch to use.  Some highlights include hot pepper jelly, hot sauce, and pickled jalapeño rings.  I've given my hot sauce away as Christmas gifts for several years, and have friends and family who look forward to each time I make it.  Well, this year, they are getting jalapeño rings-- assuming I don't eat them all first!

Homemade jalapeno rings are SO much better than the ones in the store, and they are so easy to make!  I leave my peppers on the plant until they turn red.  Did you know that jalapeños turn red if you allow them to mature on the plant?  I like the tiny bit of added sweetness that comes with the reddening of the flesh.  I also think that they look more appealing when red than green, but that is my personal preference.  If you don't grow your own jalapenos, you can use farmers market or store bought ones.

I haven't been canning them, I've just been sticking them in the fridge when they cool.  So easy!  They should keep for 3-4 months this way, but I doubt they will last that long.  I am going to try canning a batch soon to see if they taste the same.  As they get cooked when canned, I imagine they will be a bit softer.  I kind of like the crunch I've been getting from the refrigerator method.

I happen to have the quart sized ball jars, so this recipe is for one jar.  The recipe is very forgiving, so you can adjust it to your needs and taste.  I highly recommend using food gloves on your hand that touches the jalapeño.  There is nothing worse than getting the capsaisin in your eye or nose!  Been there, done that!

To fill a quart size jar, you will need:

• 25-30 Jalapeños- about 1 pound
• 2 cups vinegar- white, apple cider, or a mixture of both.  I do 10 oz. ACV, 6 oz. white
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar or honey (you can leave this out)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon peppercorn
• 1 teaspoon whole coriander
• 2+ cloves of garlic- I love garlic, so I used about 8.  Leave it out if you're not a garlic fan

Sterilize your clean canning jar.  Heat the vinegar and the sugar on the stove until steaming-- you'll smell it!  Turn it off before it boils.  While the vinegar is heating, rinse jalapeños in a 3 part water, 1 part white vinegar solution.  This isn't totally necessary, especially if using home grown peppers, but I like the idea of getting them pretty clean before having them sit in a jar.  

Put salt, peppercorn, coriander, and garlic in the jar.

Slice the peppers into about 1/8th inch rings and add to jar.  Discard the stem or any bad spots.  Some peppers are hotter than others.  The seeds and pith have the most heat, so I try to leave them in. I like my pepper rings hot, so I dump any seeds that fall out into the jar.  If you want to tone the heat down, remove some seeds from the rings.

Pour hot vinegar mixture over the sliced jalapeños, making sure they are completely covered.  Close the jar and let it sit out until it cools to room temperature.  Once cool, place it in the fridge!  They need about 3 days to get really good, but I usually sample on the 2nd day.  I rotate the jar once a day to mix the seasonings up.  

After three days, or as long as you can make it, you can start eating your delicious jalapeño rings!


I love to put them on sandwiches, on scrambled eggs, in salsa, guacamole, and anything else I want to spice up.  I love eating the garlic from the jar too.  It picks up some of the heat from the peppers.  Just amazing!

Frozen Soup

I love soup, but hubby isn't a huge fan.  Homemade split pea soup is one of my favorites, and of course, hubby doesn't like that one at all!  This year I decided to make some split pea soup, since we had lots of ham left from Easter.  The recipe makes a ton of soup, so there is always some to be frozen.  This time, I decided to try freezing the soup in a muffin cups.  Once frozen, I transferred them to a freezer bag.  Now, when I want soup, I can just pop out 1-3 of them to reheat!

I used the silicone baking pan because I thought it would make it easier to get the frozen soup out.  It worked great!

Here's my bag of frozen soup.  So yummy!!  I love that I don't have to thaw a big thing if I just want a little soup.

Chili Pasta Bake

I love recipes that can be made and frozen for later, and am always on the lookout for something new.

Several years ago, I was trying to think of something different to bring to a friend who had recently had a baby.  I needed something I could make ahead of time and that she could just reheat.  While staring in my pantry, I noticed a recipe on the can of diced tomatoes.  I had all of the ingredients, so it was perfect!  It turned out to be delicious.  Since that first time, I've made it on countless occasions with lots of variations.  It is an easy one to adapt to your own tastes.

This recipe freezes really well.  When I make a batch, we'll eat some for dinner and I'll freeze a few loaf pans of it.  The munchkin does like to eat this, and eats it the spicier way that I make it.  For the three of us, a loaf pan is enough for dinner.  We'll usually have a salad and bread with it too.

Chili Pasta Bake

           

10 oz penne pasta (I used whole wheat)
1 lb ground meat (I used turkey)
1 cup chopped onion (I skipped)
2 Tbsp. chili powder 
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa (I used Pace medium)
1 (7oz) can diced green chilies
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese (I used 2% milk cheese)

Cook pasta according to directions and drain.  Cook meat and onion in a large skillet and drain.  Add chili powder, tomatoes, salsa, and chilies and cook for 5 minutes.  Toss pasta and sauce.  Spoon into 13x9 inch baking dish.  Top with cheese. (I mix about half of cheese in with pasta and top with the rest)  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes***. 

* You can add beans or use them instead of the meat.  You can also add corn or anything else you think will taste good in there!
**For the mild version, I used mild salsa instead of medium and I used about half of the amount of chili powder and diced green chilies.
***To freeze, spoon into container you are going to freeze in.  Do not bake.  Let mixture cool to room temperature, cover tightly, and freeze.  Reheat at 350 for about 1hr 20min from frozen or 45min-1hr if thawed.  

Salted Caramel Martini

As I was walking down the alcohol aisle at the grocery store, I spotted caramel vodka for $8.99 and I decided to splurge, as I LOVE caramel.  I also picked up a small jar of caramel, thinking it would be a nice addition to the drink.  When I got home, I started looking up recipes for caramel martinis, but couldn't find one that worked with the ingredients that I had and what my taste buds wanted.  So, I decided to get creative.  I was SO happy with the results!!  





Salted Caramel Martini


Per drink:
1 1/2 ounce caramel vodka
1/2 ounce chocolate vodka
1/2 ounce milk or cream
1/2 ounce Baileys (or Baileys with a hint of Caramel)

Garnish:
Caramel
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
Whipped cream (optional)

Shake ingredients with ice in a shaker.  Rim the edge of the glass in caramel.  Mix salt and sugar on a plate and dip in rimmed glass (you can also sprinkle a pinch of the mixture over the top).
Pour martini into the glass and top with whipped cream.  Chocolate shavings or cocoa dusted on top might be good too!  

This recipe is pretty forgiving.  If you prefer it less alcoholic, you can substitute cream, milk, or whipped cream for the Baileys.  You can also adjust the caramel/chocolate ratio based on your preference.  I'm sure any other chocolate liquor would work fine, I just used what we had.

bows

My daughter loves hair bows, although she often pulls them off as soon as I put them on her.  She does bring them to me and want me to put them on her sometimes.  She has no hair, though, so I put bows on headbands and put the headbands on her.  A friend of mind mentioned that she made bows, so I decided to look up how to make them.  I found an easy way, and think I've done a pretty good job.

I really started because I wanted something to go with her birthday outfit.  It was white with bright pink, bright blue, and bright green.  I brought it to the fabric store to help me match ribbon for the bow.  I was able to find something perfect for each of the colors!  Here is the bow I made:

Broken crayons

As an elementary school teacher, I've always dealt with extra/broken/unclaimed crayons.  Bins and bins got filled in my classroom with the discards, and my kiddos always knew where to go if they were missing a color.  But, 30 pounds of extra crayons is excessive!  I heard someone mention melting down well-loved crayons and reshaping them to be useful again.  I decided that this would be a fun party favor for the kids coming to the munchkin's party, and cheap for me to make. 

Originally, I was just going to use a regular muffin tin to make the crayons, but while shopping for other craft supplies, I saw this star shaped mold and had to get it! 

Peeling the crayons was super fun.  My brilliant hubby, though, decided to use a razor blade to help.  Once we got that going, it was fast!  Then, I broke the crayons into smaller pieces, and put colors I wanted together.

The first batch I did was primary colors (yellow, blue, red).  Second, I did secondary colors (purple, green, and orange). After that, I just started mixing it up!  There were different shades of each color in the tins, which is why you see two distinct greens below. 

The crayons got baked at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes, then sat out to cool and harden.  Once cooled, they were pretty easy to flip out of the mold!  They work pretty well and look great!

Welcome

Welcome to my  Cluttered Kitchen!  I am a stay at home mom to a spunky little girl.  I love to cook and attempt to be crafty.  In my life before the little one, I taught elementary school.  Shortly after she was born, hubby's job was transferred to a city 400 miles away, so we picked up and moved.  This city has a lower cost of living, which is what allows me to stay at home with my little munchkin.

I hope to post recipes and craft projects here, as well as anything else fun that comes up!  Pull up a chair and stay a while.  I love comments, suggestions, recipes, and the like, so please chime in!