Gluten Free Salsa Time

I've been on a salsa kick for years now. Maybe ever since I was diagnosed with Celiac disease I don't know, but I do know for sure that salsa is good and that it can be used on just about everything (well... maybe that's stretching it a bit)!

But it's soooo good in so many ways.

Some of my favorites uses are on omelettes, chicken tenders, stuffed peppers, baked potatoes, tacos, gluten free pretzels and of course who can do without Tostito's naturally gluten free tortilla chips, and toss in a handful of sharp cheddar cheese because that makes it even better.

So while I would love to, the truth is I shouldn't use all of my fresh tomatoes for salsa even though that's what I really want to do. So that means it may not be possible to have a pint of salsa for every week in the year unless my tomato plants really do a drastic turn around (next year I'm planting more tomato plants... um maybe).

I refrained the other day when I canned tomatoes and decided to do half juice and half salsa, and so far there are 24 pints of salsa on my shelves. Hopefully there will be at least one more round of the lovely topping before the season ends and my thoughts turn to apples.

Okay so let's clear things up before going any further because what I refer to as my salsa is not really my salsa at all. It's really Mrs. Wages salsa. The ingredients seem to be gluten free and after trying it I've never had a problem with it. So while it does not say gluten free on the labeling it works for me.

INGREDIENTS: DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES (ONION, GREEN BELL PEPPER, JALAPENO, CHILI PEPPERS, GARLIC), SALT, SPICES.

The packet gives you instructions for both fresh and canned salsa, and I add my own green peppers, onions and sometimes corn or black beans to make it even chunkier. Mrs. Wages salsa comes in a variety of degrees and my favorite was the mild, but my local grocery store doesn't seem to carry it so I just use twice as many tomatoes and make the medium.

You will need: 6lbs of fresh tomatoes, 1 packet of salsa mix, 1/2 cup of vinegar.

• Scald and peel the tomatoes

• Dice the tomatoes and place into a large kettle (if they are really juicy I add some tomato paste)

• Optional - add any extras such as corn, black beans (already cooked and drained), peppers and onions.

• Stir in salsa mix and vinegar

• Bring to a boil

• Place into clean hot pint jars allowing a half inch of head room

• Top with a heated canning jar lid and screw on the ring to fit snuggly

• Place into the canner which is pre-heated with hot water

• Pressure can for 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure

• Once the pressure drops completely, carefully remove the lid from the canner and set the jars on a clean towel.

• Allow the jars to rest overnight then check the seal and remove the rings.

Lesson learned: Don't delay any longer than overnight to remove the rings because on my first batch when I removed the rings four of the jars came unsealed and because I had waited for four days to remove the rings the contents had to be pitched :-(

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