Fresh leaves in oil.

I had a nice crop of lavender this year but I got very few flowers.  I didn't want it to go to waste so I'm trying to make my own lavender oil.  It's brewing for the next week... I will let you know how it turns out.

Here is where I got my instructions:
http://everything-lavender.com/how-to-make-lavender-oil.html

After 2 days out in the sun.

No Frills had their onions on sale recently.  The 10 lb bags were $1.49.  I bought 2 bags.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good sale and I like to buy things while they are in season.

The problem then presented itself... what I'm I going to do with all these blessed things!

I chopped them.  All of them.  Then I backed them in bags and froze them all.  This was not my first choice but I don't have a pressure cooker so I couldn't can them.

In case you are the proud owner of a pressure cooker, and you have onions abounding in your garden/market here is the recipe I really WANTED to do...

http://canninggranny.blogspot.ca/2011/05/canning-caramelized-onions.html

Caramelized onions are my favorite!!  Maybe I will ask for a pressure cooker for Christmas.

I think my husband is happy that's all over.... I guess the fumes were getting to everybody!

I have been meaning to make ketchup for quite some time.  I ran out the other day and since necessity is the mother of invention, I was gave it a shot.

I got my recipe here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Ketchup-Catsup-Recipe/

I didn't have any allspice but other than that I followed the recipe (my agave nectar wasn't blue, it was Light Madhava).  I really liked it and more importantly I put it in an old ketchup bottle, threw it in the fridge, and the kids didn't notice a difference.  Bonus.

I like the fact there is no corn syrup in it, I can pronounce all the ingredients, and I can control how much sugar/salt it contains!

 

We just got home from our annual week of camping with a huge group of GREAT friends.  I just wanted to share this years “HIT” snack with the 11 kids present!  So simple and easy but so yummy.

You will need one flour tortilla per person, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and peanut butter.  Spread peanut butter over the whole tortilla, on half sprinkle chocolate chips and marshmallows (if you have large marshmallows cut them in half).  Fold the top side over and place in a hot frying pan.  I used a cast iron skillet so I didn’t need to grease the pan at all, I just heated them to golden brown on each side.  They don’t take long to do and if your pan is large enough you can do two at a time no problem!

I found this version that includes bananas with also look good…. the problem with bananas while camping is that they make you very attractive to mosquitos.

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=6572&name=Chocolate-Quesadillas#

Easy Black Bean Burgers
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup instant oats

Mash the beans up to a paste, add ketchup, mustard and spices.  Stir in oats.
Make 4 patties.

Option 1:
Bake in a 400 degree oven on parchment paper.  7 min. per side.

Option 2:
Fry in a non-stick pan on both sides until browned.

welcome to my brain . net: Black Bean Burger Tacos


OK So you have to give these a try!  I was reading Welcome to my Brain and when I saw how easy these were I had to see if they could possibly be good.


For the record I added some fresh garlic and I ate it with some hot red pepper jelly on top. I'm drooling just remembering it. I also had some organic instant oatmeal kicking around that nobody would eat so as a bonus I found a use for that too! Finally, I did NOT use my oven.  Anyone who lives in Ontario knows why... it's called a heat wave and I was not going to rev up the heat box for dinner. I fried mine in a cast-iron pan and they turned out perfect.

I trust everyone got their strawberry picking in.  The berries around here were excellent!  I made strawberry jam and we dehydrated 10 trays this year!

Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to store it all....

Six Sisters' Stuff: 25 Delicious Camping Recipes

If you camp, especially with kids, you have to check this out!  Great food ideas!

This is SO exciting, he hasn't released anything since 2010!

I got bored again, this is not news to most people.

Well, after 1 whole year of having no internet at home we finally bit the virtual bullet and got internet here at home.  I liked not having the distraction but didn't love visiting the library every time I needed to shoot off a quick e-mail.  The moral of the story?  It can be done, it just might drive you crazy.