MY's Salsa Redux

Garden Fresh

 A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a salsa recipe that was sooooo super easy and über delicious!! Everything was out of cans. Can of tomatoes with jalapeños, small can of green chillies, minced garlic...out of a jar GASP!...brown sugar, onion, cilantro, and hot sauce. This year however, with the start of my paleo journey, we put a garden out back. I dubbed it my "salsa garden" I wanted to try my hand a canning salsa for gifts. While my first garden was not that prolific...with the exception of the tomatoes...my weekly CSA deliveries had just what I needed!!

MY's salsa redux!

You may be asking...what about the brown sugar and hot sauce..."That's not Paleo!" I subbed Coconut Crystals for the brown sugar, and some ground up, dehydrated cayenne peppers for the hot sauce!! Perfect if not better!! The fresh jalepeños gave the salsa a little more kick than I had anticipated...but this is one of those salsa that you just can't stop eating regardless of how hot your mouth is!!

How to get the Veggies!!

Pulled a fast one over the girls tonight!! Mr. Picky wasn't home tonight so he didn't have to try! We made out own "pizzas" for dinner. I pre-cooked the crust so they didn't see. So what was the big secret? Cauliflower crusts!! I used the recipe found HERE. You can top with anything. The girls chose pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and mushrooms. NO FUNGUS for me!! I opted for pepperoni, sausage, bacon, onion, and green pepper! They turned out pretty yummy!! A keeper in my book!

HELP!!!!

The kids always ask..."why do you take pictures of all the food you make?" My answer..."because I want to!" I think all along I had this blog idea in the back of my head. I don't claim to "invent" everything that I cook, nor will I probably ever...remember I have a NEW found love of cooking...but I do have a serious addiction to Paleo cookbooks and blogs now!! You can see a list of the sites I frequent most often on the left. Like any cookbook there are recipes that just don't do it for me. So what I've begun doing is making my "own" book. Recipes that I find on the Internet I've printed out and put in a three ring binder. Once I've tried the recipe...if I like it stays...if I don't...It either goes to the circular file or I brainstorm ways to make it better.

 See my shopping list? A co-worker made me addicted to this thing!! On the left side is a menu planner for the week. I can plan according to my work schedule. On the right I can write down what I need to make those recipes that I don't already have on hand! I love it!! It saves so much time at the grocery!

Last but not least, I've started doing all my prep work for the week on Sundays...or whatever day I have a small stretch off. I chop, peel, fry, brown, boil etc...what I can to save time during the week. Those back to back 12 hour night shifts don't leave much time, so this has become a HUGE time-saver!! Hope this can help others who say "how do you do it?!?"