The Best Tex-Mex Salsa!!

The best salsa recipe,
BUT FIRST: an update on my tomato plants

This year my tomato plants went CRAZY. They grew like a weed; a very tasty, fruitful weed that we actually want to grow therefore NOT a weed.

In part I would like to give credit to my own efforts in growing these tomatoes. I researched the best way to plant the tomatoes, which involved sideways planting and filling the hole with nutritional items for better growing.

I also have spent the last few months pruning suckers off these plants to enable a more focused growth on the fruit. The suckers behave like stems and will create a more tangled web of a tomato plant if you let them all go!

I'd like to make a plug about a little gardening insight here. The hardest part about gardening is pruning. A master gardener knows good and bad growth; he/she knows when a limb, branch or even fruit could cause more harm than good. In a sense, I see this in God's intervention in my life. He knows the best way to guide and prune me. Even if at times I don't understand because I feel like I had potential to grow fruit; He knows what is best for me, His little plant in His garden.

Just recently I started rooting these suckers to plant as their own plant. We'll see how this goes; a bit late in the season so this experiment might have to be postponed until next spring! 

 

 

One of my suckers is even putting out fruit, how fun!

Well, meanwhile in the #RosenbaumGarden my tomato plants are GINORMOUS!
Even Ol' Roc' can't believe his eyes!

They tower over me!

But more importantly, these plants are loaded with fruit!

And my grape tomato plant is also going nuts!

Unfortunately I have to pick the tomatoes off the vine as soon as they blush.
This is normal windowsill decor, right?

I'm having a bit of a critter issue; if I don't remove them right when they blush they are pretty much goners. :(

Here's to hoping I can keep these critters away. Though I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with a variety of pests. I think expecting a portion of the crop to be sacrificed back to nature is the best way to not be as disappointed when it does happen. I am growing an organic garden; I have to expect other visitors to my garden!

Okay enough about the plants, let's talk SALSA!

Once 10-12 nicely sized tomatoes have ripened, it's time to make some good ol' Tex-Mex Salsa! Use closer to 12 tomatoes if the tomatoes are smaller, 10 if they are larger.

Gather your ingredients.

 Then it's time to core the tomatoes.

 


Time for our #1 Tip for the BEST SALSA EVER. Here in Texas we like salsa like we like our summers...HOT! Salsa hotness can be achieved by adjusting the amount of jalapenos, whole or cored. However, we've found the best smoky flavor comes from GRILLING the tomatoes and peppers for about 15 minutes! Yum!!

 

After [my wonderful Grillmaster of a husband is done] grilling, I use a blender to process and combine all ingredients. 

This recipe fills an entire blender and lasts about a week in my house! What can I say, we basically drink salsa out of a straw here; it's a household staple.

My next experiment will be learning to can so we can save some of this homegrown & homemade salsa for the winter, or maybe Christmas gifts! Canning tips anyone?

Here's the official recipe!

Good luck in your tomato growing and salsa making!!

~RR

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth..." -Palms 104:14

180 Degree Change

J   U   N   E

June is my sentimental month.

I have much to say about June. So many things come to mind: my wedding anniversary, our pup's birthday, my high school graduation anniversary and the anniversary of my diagnosis of & surgery for Crohn's disease. 

Each June I reflect on the latter event as a new aspect is revealed to me. Every year God shows me just a little bit more of his plan in my life, and every year I'm just a bit more grateful for my journey that has brought me here.

This past year I've seen the greatest direction in my journey. I wasn't quite sure why some things happened to me, but I accepted it, and I've shared my story with any and everyone. I wasn't quite sure why my younger brother had so many allergies, but when we discovered all of my husband's allergies, I thought it made a little more sense. What I've learned in the past year has completely shaken anything I thought I knew about my life before. It's funny, how one event in your life can just change as the years go on. How much I can learn from a 10 day hospital stay. My original memoirs are located here in which case you will read about my struggles and miraculous healing. Every time I read these words, I am filled again with hope, love, and thanksgiving to a merciful, omnipotent Savior. The truth is, my Crohn's journey and my Faith are so heavily intertwined, I cannot share one without the other.

In 2012 I reflected on the things I had learned since my surgery. That was my 4 year anniversary, and I thought I had learned it all. I thought God had revealed most of the reasons. I was wrong.

6 years ago today I was in a hospital bed recovering from surgery. 

5 years ago I was participating in Fish Camp where I met my husband 

2 years ago I was a newly wed, ecstatic to cook for my new husband, months later only to learn of his food allergies that was a catalyst for our health journey

8 months ago I learned the true meaning of the scripture "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1


6 years ago, on my hospital bed the day before the surgery, I accepted a healing. In the following days in my talking with my Lord, I accepted a full healing and promise I would never have the pain again. As I've mentioned before, my scar is my rainbow. A little physical reminder to me of my promise from God. I had no idea how or why, but I had Faith in God's healing. I had Faith in a pain free life. As coached by my grandfather, a man of many healings, I cast out all doubt and clung to that promise, having Faith when others had doubts.

For 5 and a half years I held onto that promise.

This year, after we'd adjusted to a gluten-free, semi-paleo lifestyle, I stumbled across a resource from The Paleo Mom. What I learned was there were people with autoimmune diseases, specifically Crohn's, in remission from their disease, largely in part to their food choices and diet, as well as their lifestyle. There were people living with Crohn's who felt better and had reduced inflammation in their intestines by limiting certain foods from their diet by following The Autoimmune Protocol.

The lightbulb. The ah-ha moment. The pot of gold at the end of my rainbow.

For so long I had no idea how, I just believed the Lord had delivered me. This year I learned, all of my husband's food allergies finally forced me to become paleo, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free and soy free. All of these are suggested in the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP for short).




I was basically almost following the AIP diet; that was no coincidence. For the past few years, I thought my younger brother coached me into knowing how to cook for my future husband.



Ironically, God has actually used my husband to finally force me into a strict paleo lifestyle, for my own health. I have additionally have given up all grains and nuts, and am proud to say I so paleo I could give Wilma Flintstone a run for her money-er...dinosaur?


So where am I going? I'm not done yet learning all God has intended for my life. I know there are more things that will come out of this. There is hope for my future.

  

In general, my life looks completely different now than it did 6 years ago. I realized that when I compiled this comparative picture; there was so much more than the physical "then and now"





There is a 180 degree change in my life. Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, gramatically...


This photo just sums up the self-control, discipline and inner peace I have now found. I'm done just pushing through life; there is a purpose in all I do, witness and have happened to me. There is focus, determination and hope; there is a plan for my future larger than I can imagine and better than I deserve.
What I started as a fun side-by-side comparison of my life and current accomplishments forced me to think about a lot more than the surface differences. I know I have a long road ahead of me; there is much, much more for me to learn. But with my Faith in Christ, a soul mate equally accepting of & excited for OUR life adventures, and supportive friends & family, I know this road will not be hard. I might stumble, I might take a few steps forward & a few steps back, but I am on the right path.

   

As I read earlier today,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." -Psalm 121


The inner peace, that's from the Lord.

~@Rachel_Unrefined