Jermiah 15:16  When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name.

My daughter-in-law prepares this often for Birthday parties.  I plan on making this for a Women’s Circle meeting on Thursday.  The amounts vary depending on how many people you are serving.  Place the ingredients onto a large plate or platter in the order given.  Serve with Pita Chips.  You can make these yourself or buy premade chips. 

First Layer — Hummus (make your own or your favorite flavor)

Second Layer — Feta Cheese – crumbled

Third Layer — Spinach – chopped fine or torn into small pieces

Fourth Layer — Cucumber – chopped, use English cucumbers or remove seeds from other cucumbers

Fifth Layer — Red Pepper – chopped fine

Sixth Layer — Tomatoes – chopped fine

Seventh Layer — Black Olives – sliced

This is a great fresh flavor to accompany a Pizza Party for the adults.

Isaiah 66:  13-14  As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you:….When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass.

Served this soup for the Free Meal program  (Manna) that we do twice monthly at church.  People love this because most single family homes, elderly, etc. do not make soup.

This is prepared in a LARGE 18 quart Rival roaster.  This has variable temperature settings.

2 # 10 cans of mixed vegetables – you can use the small ones or the large ones for stew – I prefer the large ones

1 #10 can of diced tomatoes

6 lbs. of  roast beef – bake either in oven or slow cooker – cut into bite size pieces and add the juice

1 pkg. of beef gravy that will make 1 gallon of gravy

Mix together in the slow cooker and heat.  This can be done in large pot, but be sure to stir frequently and heat slowly so the mixture will not burn. 

Cost for this meal :  Mixed Veggies – $4.79 per can,  tomatoes – $3.49 per can, gravy mix – $3.99 per pkg., roast beef – $2.49 per pound.  Total  $32.00 divided by 75 =  $.43 cents per person. 

We served this with pimento cheese or ham salad sandwiches (made from scratch), fruit cocktail or three bean salad for a hearty meal. 

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John 16:22   Jesus said to his disciples, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

I was asked to make some Hot Pepper Jelly for our Annual Bake Sale at church.  I have not eaten this jelly, so I am relying on a recipe that I found online that had 5 stars.  Of course I added a few touches of my own. 

1 1/2 cups of course chopped peppers

     1.  Red Hot Jelly – Use Red Jalapenos

     2.  Green Hot Jelly – use 1 green bell pepper and the rest green Jalapenos

1 1/2 cups vinegar

     1.  Red Wine Vinegar for the Red Jelly

     2.  White distilled vinegar for the Green Jelly

6 cups sugar

1 box Sure-Jel

Appropriate food coloring to your desired color

Dash of salt

Chop the pepper in a blender with the vinegar.  Strain through a fine colander and then through cheese cloth.  Add the sugar to the mixture and the dash of salt.  Add the food coloring until you reach the desired color.  Heat the mixture to boil and boil for 5 minutes.  Add the Sure-Jel and stir well.  Boil another minute.

Ladle into jars (1/2 pint size or smaller).  Makes about 5  one half pint jars.  Top with hot lids and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I understand this is great served with cream cheese on crackers.

I Timothy 4:4  Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

Our Choir has a retreat tomorrow and I agreed to make a Pasta Salad.  I make Pasta Salad many different ways, but came up with this tonight.  We still have a lot of very nice tomatoes.

4 cups chopped tomatoes

1 large green pepper - chopped

1/2 large sweet onion – chopped ( you can substitute green onions)

1/2 large English cucumber (can substitute regular cucumbers that are seeded)

2 small cayenne pepper with seeds – chopped fine

1 bunch cilantro chopped – 1/4 cup after chopping

Combine all in large bowl.

3 cups cooked pasta (shell or elbow pasta)

Add to the tomato mixture

2 T. olive oil

1 t. lime juice

1 t. crushed garlic

Combine the above and add to the salad.  Marinate overnight. 

You can add chicken, tuna, salmon, feta or other protein for a main dish.

Hebrews 13:15  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.

For the first time we have raised Heirloom Tomatoes.  They definately have a different flavor and are so colorful.  This was a salad several nights ago.  Regular lettuce, cucumbers, pepper, onions, etc., but the tomatoes defiantely lend a varied flavor.

Psalm 28:7  My heart leaps with joy and I will give thanks to the Lord in song.

Way to go Kentucky Man !!!!!!  Your heartfelt songs won the heart of America.  You deserve the prize.  I pray for your success and contined blessings from God.  Continue to give “thanks to the Lord in song”.

John  16:24  Jesus said, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Prepared today for another Manna Meal (free meal program).  We had an abundance of leftover hotdog buns that I had frozen.  I found Ham on sale this week, so I thought a Cheese Strata would be a good side dish for the ham. You can also use leftover bread. 

Cheese Strata

48 slices of bread to yield 22 C. of coarse crumbs (I used 16 hot dog buns-8 for each casserole)

6 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

16 eggs

10 cups milk

2 T. Worchestershire

1 T. mustard

salt and pepper

Crumble 1/2 of the bread into TWO 1/2 sheet pans.  ( you can use 9 x 13 pans, but you need the sides to be deep, more like Lasagna pans)

Top with 2 cups of cheese per pan

Put the other half of the bread on top.

Top with the remaining cheese – about 1 cup per pan

Wisk together the 16 eggs.  Add the mustard, Worchestershire, salt and pepper.  Add the milk and mix.  Pour 1/2 of the mixture onto each casserole.  I poured 2 cups at a time into each casserole.

Refrigerate covered overnight or at least 1 hour.  Bake at 325′ for 50 minutes or until puffy and brown. 

You can make this a main dish by adding:  Asparagus, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Ham and/or Bacon to the middle layer.  Serve with a salad for a perfect Brunch meal. 

This is a savory Bread Pudding type meal and resembles a souffle.  After baking this can be frozen for later use.  This can easily be reduced for the home kitchen, or made into multiple casseroles for a large gathering.  I made 12 of these today for the meal tomorrow.

Romans 5:11  We…..rejoince in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 

Dried Beans

1 C. dried beans equals

2 1/2 cups cooked beans.

Cooking time varies

Depending on the size of the beans and the length of time in storage.

Wash beans and place in large bowl or pan.  Cover with water.  4 Cups water to 1 cup of beans.  Let stand at least 8 hours or overnight. Small beans such as navy beans or lentils do not have to be soaked before cooking.

Drain water and rinse again. 

Cover with water to 1 inch above beans.  Add fat back, bacon or ham bone.   Bring beans to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for 2-3 hours or until tender

Galatians 5:22-23   The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

My neighbor has the most amazing grape vines.  I have tried, but for some reason my grapes do not produce.  She graciously told me to come and cut all of the grapes that I wanted.  They only eat a few handfuls.  My Hubby and Granddaughters LOVE grape jelly. 

I picked about 1/4 bushel today and did not make a dent in the vines.  I boiled the grapes with a small amount of water.  I collected enough juice to make six 3/4 pints of jelly made according to the direcdtions on the Sure-Jel package.  This is much cheaper than buying the grape jelly.  Especially if you get the grapes Free.

There is an amazing amount of pulp left.  I put this in a pot and use some apple juice to render more juice.  This is strained through a colander instead of cheese cloth.  This allows some of the pulp to come through.  I will process this into Grape/Apple Jam.  The taste of this is amazing.  The process is very simple and does not require a lot of expensive equipment.

You need a pan that can hold the jars plus 2 inches of water, jars/lids, sugar, juice, Sure-Jel and a jar lifter.  The jar lifter is readily available at your local Wal-Mart.  A funnel to put the juice in the jars, tongs to get the lids out of water and a ladel.  The USAD site has invaluable information  about home canning.  Once you try this you will be glad that you did.

Philemon 7 -  Your love has given me great joy and encouragement.

Our tomatoe harvest has been tremendous this year.  I have canned 21 pints of chopped tomatoes, 3 quarts of juice and 21 pints or half pints of Salsa.  The vines are still loaded.  I plan on canning the rest of the tomatoes into juice, but I will be making some Salsa for us to eat. 

I use a recipe that I adapted from one in a cookbook of Emeril Lagasse.  You can add or subtract whatever you like from the recipe.  This should be processed in a hot water bath for about 40 minutes (pints) or in a pressure canner.  You can visit the USDA site for recommended times for processing.  Times and temperatures have increased due to the decreased acidity of the tomatoes that are grown today. 

The basic recipe is:

4 cups chopped tomatoes (peeled)

1 cup diced onions (red, sweet or green)

1/2 cup finely diced green pepper

1 large jalapeno – seeded and cut into small dice ( I use Cayenne)

1/2 cup loosely chopped cilantro (you can used dried if fresh is not available – use about 1 T. of dried)

1 T. chopped garlic (I use about 1 t. of garlic powder if I don’t have the fresh garlic)

1 1/2 t. salt (use Kosher salt for a good flavor)

1/4 t. black pepper

1 t. Worchestershire Sauce

1 t. hot sauce

6 T. lime juice

1 T. olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients together.  Taste to see if you want to add more heat, salt, etc.  Place the mixture in an enamel pan.  Bring to a boil.  Place in sterilized jars and top with boiled lids/rings.  Place in a hot water bath or pressure canner.  Process for the recommended time. 

You can add:  celery,  cucumbers, squash, parsley, other peppers to your taste.