Upcycle baby blanket

I have these beautiful handmade baby blankets that I was given as a baby, used while my kids were babies but have a long way to go before my grandchildren will need them. I hate to tuck it away in some storage container for the next 20 years. So I was tooling around on Pinterest and found an earring organizer that someone had knitted. Hmmmmmm now I can't knit but I do have a lovely square of knitted blanket that just may work. I also have an obsession with junk/costume jewelry. I tried it and it looks wonderful. What do you think? I hung the pairs with backs along the bottom with the back intact so they could be displayed also. Now I can admire the blanket and my obsession.

Canning Pork and Beans

Canned Pork and Beans

Move over Campbell's, Vanessa just discovered the wonders of pressure canning! I found an old pressure canner in my mother's basement that I'm pretty sure she hasn't used since we were kids. I talked her into giving it to me and I found a fantastic blog by The Canning Granny. It'd give her props but I don't have a clue how to link things yet. :(  So I looked in my cabinet to see what I should try first and I saw lots and lots of dried beans. I love dried beans but find myself wanting them 12 hours too late. But this is a great way to can beans ahead of time and just have them at my disposal. The bonus is you don't even have to soak them before canning! GENIUS! The high pressure allows the contents to heat up to the right temp to kill bacteria in low acid foods, ie foods that would spoil if you canned them in a regular water bath, while cooking the beans. Why have I not tried this before? maybe I was afraid? Well not anymore. My first adventure was a great success. All the jars sealed beautifully and the beans appear to be fully cooked. And the whole thing cost me less than $5.00 (maybe more for you because I have a garden and farm but I don't imagine it would be much more.  I love you CanningGranny! You should try it. Lets begin shall we?

That's a LOT of beans

You will need:

a pressure canner
8-9 pint jars, with lids and bands
2 lbs dried white or navy beans, rinsed
2 onions chopped
about 4-6" of slab bacon or salt pork cut into cubes
3 pints plain tomato sauce (canned or homemade)
2 Tbsp molasses
1/4 brown sugar
1 tsp prepared mustard



Put a kettle of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Keep it nearby.

Sterilize the pint jars, lids and bands by bringing them to a boil in a large pot of water.

Getting all my stuff together. Look a that bacon. We send out our pork to a local smoke house. Amazing!

While waiting for the water to boil heat the tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, mustard and 3 cups of water in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat until the sugars dissolve and the sauce comes to a simmer. Once the sauce simmers you can turn it off but make sure it stays hot for when it comes time to add it to the beans.

Remove the jars when ready and place them on the counter. Put about 1/2 cup of dried beans in each jar. Then evenly distributed the chopped onions and bacon chunks amongst all 9 pints. Finally ladle in about 1/2 cup of the hot tomato sauce into each jar of beans.

each jar has 1/2 cup dried beans, 2 Tbsp chopped onion, 2 pieces of slab bacon

The tomato sauce and water is added and they are ready to go

There they are!

Fill the jars to one inch below the top with the boiling water in your kettle. Be sure to wipe the rim of each jar and wipe each lid to make sure you get a good seal. Put the band on tight but not super tight and add them to your pressure canner. If you need detailed instructions on how to use a pressure canner consult your manuel or an other source for more information. My canner is from the 60's-70's so my steps will be slightly different. What will remain the same is that you set the the canner to 10 lbs of pressure and keep it there for 70 minutes. turn the heat off and allow the canner to come back to 0 pressure on its own. Wait 10 minutes longer and remove the Jars from the water bath to cool completely. That's it! See how perfect? I am so proud.

The finished product. Look how much the beans have become? again AMAZING. I can not wait to dig into these next time we have a pork roast.

Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Baked Oatmeal with Toasted Coconut

I know right??? How good does that sound? This is a great weekend morning meal that will please everyone and makes a great snack too. If you like a chewy texture you can make it in the morning but if  you want it more cake-y let the unbaked casserole sit overnight and then bake. However you decide to do it is good. You can modify this recipe a lot too! Add pumpkin puree instead of banana and leave out the coconut and chips and you have pumpkin pie oatmeal. Add apples, apple sauce and dried cranberries or raspberries, white chips and almond butter for some oh la la or chopped dates, cashews, coconut and diced peaches...You get the picture. So here it is.

You will need

2 cups old fashioned Oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips( optional)
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar (add the liquid sugars to the wet ingredients though)
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter or nut butter
1/2 chopped nuts of choice
1 cup berries or 1/2 cup dried fruit (divided) I used unsweetened coconut flakes
1 banana sliced if using


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix oats, chips if using, baking powder, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. If using berries add 1/2 cup and if using dried fruit add a 1/4 cup of it now to the oat mixture.

Dump the dry ingredients into a well greased 10"x7" baking dish or any 2 quart rectangular baking dish. sprinkle the sliced banana, 1/4 cup of dried coconut or fruit of choice  and nuts over the top of the dried ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the milk, eggs, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and liquid honey or agave if using.

Slowly pour the egg mixture over top of the dried mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and remaining coconut or other fruit.  At this point you can cover it and put it in the fridge to sit overnight. Or you can gently shake the pan to settle the milk mixture and put it into the oven uncovered for 40 minutes.

Going into the oven