~Mango Salsa~

 Sweet & Hot, 2 things I love most. I love trying many differnt peppers and mixing and matching flavors.

Today we had Mango Salsa with a serious kick.

The HOTTER, the better!

Here is my recipe.

3 Mango's chopped (chop to your desired size) I chop mine roughly into many sizes.

5 Scallions sliced up

1/3 cup white onion diced

Cilantro to your liking. (I like alot. I use 3/4 of a cup)

1 Serrano Pepper (chopped finely)

1 Jalepeno Pepper (roughly chopped)

1 Passilla Pepper (roughly chopped)

When using peppers you can cut out the ribs and seeds, thats where most of the heat is!

I just chop and go. We like a little fire! You may also want to use gloves when cutting peppers.

4 cloves of Garlic (chopped finely)

1 lime squezzed (watch out for the seeds)

I mix it all up in a large bowl and serve!

I chill it in the fridge for about an hour.

Taste great on grilled Salmon, Chicken & Shrimp

Also taste great with tortilla chips! I also make Flour tortilla chips and sprinkle them with Cinnamon Sugar. Taste great with the sweet & spicy mango salsa.

Happy Eating!!!

Saving Seeds for the Future Garden

Heres a few pictures of seeds that I harvested from last summers growing season! This is the first year I have saved my own seeds! Im excitied to see if I have suceeded In harvesting my own seeds!

I harvested multiple Pepper seeds! Im calling them Mystery Peppers! I mixed then up in one basket by accident! So I am just going to grow them and see what I get! It will be fun trying to figure out what they may be! Here is what I grew last year! Hungarian Hot Wax, Cabanalle's, Serranos, Jalapeno and Cayenne!

So if I am correct thats what sould be growing! Guess we will have to wait and see.

Here is some Okra! I just dried out the pods and waited a couple of months and cut open the pods and dug out the seeds! I saved about 15 Okra pods.

By the time I finished, the jar in the background was half full! I have been giving them away to people who want to grow Okra!

These seeds are from Butternut Squash I grew! Made so many yummy meals using this squash! It is one of my favorites and it's a definite must for this years garden!

I also grew some White Pumpkins! These pumpkins made great tasting pies. I cant wait to grow these again!

Last but not least, Garlic Chives! I let about 40 flower and go to seed and dried them out! I will have lots of Garlic Chives to grow around my Tomatos this growing season!  Im so excitied to get started in the garden!

I harvested a few other seeds to! Some Honeydew and some Garlic that went to seed!

What seeds have you harvested? Tell me all about it and how you did it!

Happy Gardening!!!

Winter Garden

Today, I was playing catch up on some of my blog posts I have been meaning to write. I wrote about my Winter Garden on my Recycling Gardener blog when I meant to post it here! Obviously I wasnt paying attention! I couldnt figure out how to import it over here! So, here is the link to my other Blog all about my winter garden! http://recyclinggardenmom.blogspot.com/2009/11/winter-gardening.html

I hope you will take the time to see what me and little miss Kyla have planted this winter!

I would love to hear about your winter gardens and what has worked for you and what has not.

Here is a couple of pictures in case you cant get to the other blog!

Our small makeshift winter garden!

Swiss Chard!

Our wheel burrow salad bar!

Peas!

We also still have Peppers growing! Although I am sure they wont be much longer.

Happy Gardening!

~Dehydrating Garden delights~

The Peppers in my garden are in great abundance! So I have been drying them like crazy. I will use them in chillis, enchiladas,soups & jalepeno corn bread.

This pepper is called The Hungarian Hot Wax. its a hot one. This is one I use in homemade chilli and chicken tortilla soup.



This tray has a few varities. There is Pablano Chillis which I will use in most of Mexican meals. Green Bell Pepper, I use in alot of things, spaghetti & lasagna. Theres also a sweet Mexican chili, I cant remeber the name. Theres also a couple Pepperchinnis. I have never dried those before, so this will be a first.

These bad boys are Cheyanne Peppers. I will be grinding these up in a coffee grinder. I use these once grinded,in chilli , soups & just to add spice to a recipe that needs kick.

Jalepenos!!! My favorite go to Pepper! I mostly use these fresh in salsa or Pickle them for future use. When dried I use them for Jalepeno corn bread. One of my favorite things with chilli and soup.

Heres how they look once they are dried. As they were drying, made the house smell so good! Peppers are one of my favorite things to grow in my garden. I love the colors and the shine. My Pepper garden is my version of a flower garden!

~Peppers Peppers & Pickled Peppers~

Its Hot times in the Garden of Peppers! I have so many varities this year! We grew Cabanelle, a variety of sweet pepper. Hungarian hot wax, tells you all you need to know. Jalapeno, which is mild. Serrano, a little hotter then Jalapenos. Cayenne, which is hot and spicy. I use these peppers in differnt dishes, such as stir frys, salsa's, and I pickle them for later use! I also freeze extra peppers for soups and to add flavor to meat. I recently pickled 4 varieties of peppers with garlic for future eating throughout the year.

My recipe as follows

1 Pound of Cabanella Peppers

1/2 Pound Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers

1 Pound of Jalapeno Peppers

1/4 Serrano Peppers

6 cups Vinegar

2 cups of Water

4 Garlic cloves

I cut my peppers into 1 inch pieces. Then mix together.

Note: You may want to wear rubber gloves, to prevent hands from burning from the peppers

Combine Vinegar, Water & Garlic in large saucepan.

Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Pack Peppers into hot jars, leaving 1/4 headspace. Ladle hot liquid over Peppers leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Remove air bubbles, Place lids on jars. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.