Onion Saga: Part Uno - Sassy, Spice & Minnesota Nice

Holy onions batman! We were LUCKY enough to get ahold of about 30 pounds of whole, fresh, onions. By get a hold of, I mean the Plate Licker dropped off another haul for us. In addition to the mound of onions he also brought a flat of tomatoes. You guessed it, that means another Saga. This will be the onion saga.

We are low on chili in the pantry. That is a great use of the tomatoes and some of the onions. Hence, part Uno will be a simple chili to pressure can and fill our pantry.

This morning I started the chili process. It didn’t take me long to brown the meat, then simmer all the ingredients together for about an hour. Then, into the canner they went! While the chili was processing in the canner I worked on my Hosta’s. They were too large last season. Today I split them and will replant along the backside of the patio. It did not have any landscaping on that side. It does now. Hoping to get some rock or crushed granite in the next few days to polish it off. Busy day on the homestead! Not really a homestead. We live in city limits. But during gardening/canning season it feels like it. Maybe we just have a homesteading frame of mind?

I know, I said I wouldn’t be posting recipes for a bit, just gardening projects. Well. I was wrong. Those projects are in the works but not yet completed. So, you get a couple recipes. Anyway, back to the food. Where was I?

Oh yeah. I split and replanted my Hosta’s while the chili was processing in my pressure canner. Later while dinner was baking low and slow in the oven, I mowed the lawn. It needed it! While I did that my hubby continued to clean up the leftovers from the giant tree branch that fell the other night. We got the limbs off the street that morning. But the cleanup is definitely taking a bit longer than expected. The branches are pretty green, very hard to burn. Busy, productive day!

Any who, about that chili. My chili is pretty simple. Ground meat, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bell peppers, celery, beans, onions and seasoning. A few years ago, my friend Sara made chili using a packet of taco seasoning and a packet of ranch seasoning. I swear by it now. It has all the flavor you need and all you have to do is tear open the packet. It’s my go-to for red chili. White chili…that is a different story. Actually, I have blogged that one before. You can check it out here. Today I didn’t have tomato sauce. I substituted a jar of my homemade tomato soup from this all. It was perfect! I think I will do that from now on. I also didn’t have celery in the fridge, later I remembered I had some in the freezer from last season’s garden, so I threw them in. The recipe is below if you so fancy. Once it was cooked and had simmered about an hour, I filled my jars and processed them. Always, always, always sanitize your jars, lids and rings first. I processed for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. I am not going to explain that in this post. Follow the direction on your pressure canner. There are a few different types out there. I made 9 quarts, with enough extra to have a bowl for lunch. I did stay inside long enough to hear the jars start popping. That is my favorite part of the process. When I hear that I know they are sealed properly for preservation.

Before I get to the recipe, is there in interest in learning the basics of canning? Feel free to comment, email or message me if you would like to read more about that. In my blogs so far, I haven’t gone into the details much. I sure can if you would like to hear them! Along with some tips and tools I use.

Now…the chili

16 cups of fresh tomatoes, diced

3 lbs. ground meat (I used beef today. Pork or turkey are good too. Or chopped steak)

2 red bell peppers

6 tablespoons minced garlic

3 large onions, diced

4 cans of beans (I used dark red kidney and butter beans today)

1 quart of homemade tomato soup (recipe here)

2 cups of either chicken or beef broth (today I used leftover of both)

2 packets of taco seasoning

2 packets of ranch seasoning

A couple bay leaves