Home Life

Instead of chilling a warm meal in your fridge, or using your freezer to actually FREEZE something, use your porch when the temps are right.  You can give your fridge and freezer a break by adding already chilled or frozen items to it.  When we had the nice cold weather I cooked up a bunch of meals for my freezer.  I made 1.5 gallons of chicken stock today which is currently chilling on my back porch (I’ll end up canning/freezing it tomorrow depending on how I divide it up).  Tomorrow I’ll be making about the same in turkey and rabbit stock.

It’s live!  Finally!  I’ve gotten around to creating a resource website on the things my family and I do to ‘work with the land’ and save money.  It’s no where near done - I have a ton of articles I am still working on but felt I had enough content to put the site up.

http://www.motherhoodnaturally.com/homestead/home.htm is the link.  Bookmark it and check back often.  As I go through my day I keep getting reminded of things that might be helpful to add to there, so I add it to my list and when I have a few minutes to write it up, I will!

Let me know what you think!

With the rising cost of milk it pays to buy in bulk when it’s on sale. You can stick your milk in a freezer.

We have been doing this and don’t notice a difference in taste or consistency.  Some people say the milk seperates a little and never goes back the way it originally was.  I don’t notice that, but than again as our milk is thawing in the fridge and turns into a milky slush, my family drinks it up right away.  So I don’t think we’ve ever had milk thaw completely…

I take out about 1.5 cups of milk before freezing, for expansion, and milk can be good for around 3 months.  We stock our deep freezer every once in a while to keep it full!

My first canning adventure is complete!  I’ve been waiting all year to do this.  My garden didn’t yield enough tomatoes for me to can all of my own however the local orchard down the road has plenty so I went to buy a bunch from them (and you know I like to buy local!).  I also bought a bushel of apples – can you guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow?  Yep – applesauce and pie filling will be canned tomorrow, a few pies will be made up and frozen, and apple slices will be dried into apple chips!  I’ll likely have to run up to grab another one.

I have a few “first time” tips I wanted to share with anyone who hasn’t yet done their canning…. For you pros, this probably seems like second nature J  The following tips are things I wish I had thought of or read before doing this - the adventure took from mid-morning to mid-afternoon!

Read your instructions carefully.  For your pressure canner (or water bath canner) AND for your recipe.  You WILL spend a LOT of time the first few times you can following the instructions.  If you have a new pressure canner, there will be a few things you’ll need to do to it before your first use, so I can’t stress reading instructions thoroughly enough the first time.

Prepare what you’ll need for canning the night before.  Get your canner, pots and pans, lids and bands, jars, cooking utensils, kitchen machines (food processors, food mills, etc.), towels (a few!), your recipes, ruler, instruction manual for your canner, knives, cutting boards, etc, etc. together and ready to go. 

Get your sink clear, clean and shiny, and as much counter and table space as possible.  You may want one place to do your cutting/veggie and fruit prep, and another place to pack your jars.  Keep your jar packing spot close to your canner because your packed jars will be hot!

Study your recipes to see if any of them can be canned together.  If you’re lucky (and aren’t going to be filling the canner at once with one item), you can combine some recipes if they call for the same cook time and pressure. 

If necessary, make a “to do” list so you can keep track of all of your time limits.  For example, your jars, lids and bands will likely need to be warmed or sterilized in hot/boiling  water for about 10 minutes before you fill them.  Your recipes will most likely have cook times you’ll need to meet before you pack them.  Your canner will need to have boiling water in it and be ready to accept jars. You don’t want your packed jars to cool before canning, so it’s important to have your canner waiting with hot water to keep your packed jars hot while you pack the rest.

Don’t forget your citric acid if your recipe calls for it.  I almost did on 4 of my quarts and a pint before I caught my mistake and put it in. 

And yes – canning with small children around IS possible.  J  I was quite worried that the kids would be into everything (remember, we have 3 kids under 3.5 years and my youngest is almost 4 weeks old).  Then again, I was only canning one item today (tomato sauce).  Maybe that’s the way to go.  Do one thing at a time if possible!

Anyone want to add in some helpful tips for first time and/or novice canners??

“Storey’s Basic Country Skills” is an awesome resource for anyone interested in developing more self reliance.  There is something in there for everyone.  It’s on my list to buy (I just borrowed it from the library) and am very impressed with the amount of information in there.  It’s inspired me to make a zucchini chocolate cake and saltwater taffy, has great information on canning/drying/freezing (how to do it, what veggies/fruits are best, etc.), extensive gardening information (including helpful charts), lots of information on livestock/farming/building building, butchering, storing/smoking/curing meats and the information is put together in clear, easy to read and understand directions.  I am going to add additional herbs next year for some “herbal remedies” (first aid garden or cold/flu garden anyone?) and would love to put together a butterfly garden for the kids! 

I finally did it - I bought a pressure canner today.  As you may or may not know, this will be my first season canning.  I’ve never done it before, but have been researching it since last year in preperation.  This year is full of many “firsts” for us!  Though my garden is not big enough to produce fresh food and extra for canning enough to get us through the winter, I do plan to visit the farmers markets and local farmers stands to buy what we’ll need to put a decent amount of food on the shelves, in the freezer, and for dehydration. 

My goal for next year is to grow a garden big enough to provide fresh produce for us during the warm months, and can/freeze/dry the rest to get us through the winter (I already have my list of seed sources to use, what varieties I want to plant and am working on a map of next years garden to get an idea of where I’m going to put everything).  I don’t want to depend on storebought items any more than I have to, simply because of all of the recalls and the way in which many of the products are prepared.  Plus, the cost of EVERYTHING seems to be going up - what better way to save money than to grow your own produce that you can then turn into meals.

Another benefit to canning that I enjoy, is the fact that storing canned foods does not require electricity.  This means if we have another blackout, I won’t loose an entire deep-freezer full of food (ok, I probably will because we still keep our deep freeze and regular fridge stocked, but at least this way I know I’ll have healthy canned options to get us through, without an ingredient list a mile long that you can’t pronounce!)

I am trying to gather recipes for soups, sauces, and meals that have been used successfully with the canning process.  Do you have any favorites?  I’d also like to hear your personal canning tips and hear about your experiences.  Is this a lost art in Monroe or are there still people out there who do their own canning?

http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/home/1.php is a GREAT resource.

Hold your mouse over the “how to” section on the menu bar and click on your topic of choice from the drop down menu.  Guides to canning high and low acid foods, and more.  Super resource.

The seminar was mostly focused on canning.  I hope you can follow my notes - had to type fast at some points to get all the good information!

Food Preservation

Grow what your family eats and preserve it

Pro’s/Con’s of Preservation

-         canning: Food will be preserved without the need for electricity so you don’t need to worry about power outages, extra cost of electricity/appliance if you need to purchase/use an additional freezer.

-         More efficient to can than take up freezer space

-         Canned foods last longer than frozen

-         Less labor to freeze, no extra heat in the house while preserving, retain more nutritional content.

-         Dehydrating – not worrying about electricity, food stores on shelf, less space than canning.  Great for fruit.  Very easy, little preparation.

-         Freezing takes up a lot of valuable space

Basic Equipment to get started:

-         Good books to get: “Stocking Up” (covers a lot) and “Putting Food By” and Balls Blue Book of Canning (step by step pictures, good basic info, very inexpensive go to homecanning.com), “The Busy Persons Guide to Food Preserving”

-         Water bath canner or pressure canner (some can be used for water baths and pressure canning).  NOT Pressure cooker = is not going to be a proper piece of equipment for canning (not big enough to accommodate jars plus amount of headroom you need above jars to have enough water or enough pressure).  You can pressure cook in your pressure canner, but don’t can in your pressure cooker.  If you have a pressure canner you don’t need to invest in a water bath canner.

o       Water bath canning is less expensive and easier. Fruits, jams, relishes.  These can be found nearly anywhere and cost around $15-30 and can be found at garage sales and in thrift stores.  Used is fine if in good condition.

o       Big pots = don’t use unless you have a rack on the bottom to keep jars off the bottom of the pot.  Make sure enough water can be put over jars (about 2 inches) and at least about 2 inches above that so it doesn’t boil over and you need a tight fitting lid.

-         Jars: easy to find, thrift stores, grocery stores.  Just don’t use mayo or pickle jars – not made to withstand abuse they’ll go through in water bath or canner.  Canning jars are made to be used over and over again, thicker gauge of glass, lids are made to fit specifically on these jars and may not fit right on others.  Make sure any used jars don’t have any nicks or cracks around the top edge, if there is the slightest nick you won’t get a good seal and may break.  Use mason or ball jars. Stay away from collector type jars (or use for dried beans).

-         Lids – lids and rims are needed and usually come with new boxes of jars.  Instructions will be in the box.  Can be bought separately, good to stock up on (don’t want to run out when you need them).  Not expensive - $1 or $2 per package.

What gets pressure canned: all veggies and meats must be pressure canned with the exception of relish or pickled product, then water bath is ok. Acid content of product is raised by vinegar and acid is what is so important to help kill off bad bugs. Fruits naturally have high acid levels so water bath canning is ok. Sugar doesn’t add any “safety” and is not necessary to make product safe, just there to enhance taste.  Same with salt.  Only time you may need to use salt is for brines and things like that. Not necessary for canning.

How to be sure foods are safe to eat after first try canning: use recipes that are in valid canning books so you know proportions of vinegar to veggies will be safe.  Follow directions to the letter.  Have all utensils and equipment clean, clean work surface, fresh fruits and veggies (don’t ever use anything with mold).  Once you’ve followed instructions and have taken all the steps, pull jar out and first thing you want to do with water bath canned products is listen for the “ping” that happens when your jar seals (it’s the vacuum that sucks the lid down and creates the seal).  Once the jar cools completely, check each lid by pressing down on them in the center. If they’re concave and no give, you have a good seal.  If there is give or you can push down, you can re-can or put in the fridge to use soon, don’t store.  Once perfectly cool you can take screw bands off and check to see if any liquid or food material has seeped through the seal.  Occasionally some liquid gets sucked out of the jar and it’s ok as long as there is no actual food.  If there is liquid loss, put a towel on the counter, set the jar on the towel and try to pick it up by the lid. If there is a bad seal, the weight of the jar will pull the lid off otherwise the lid will stay on.  If these tests go ok, food is safe to store.  Once food is in storage, there are more signs you can look for before use: any sign of mold – don’t use, bubbling or gassiness in the jar – don’t use, bad odor or food looks slimy or has gotten really dark – don’t use (safely discard – burn if necessary or flush down toilet to keep out of the reach of children or animals).

Can when things reach the peak of ripeness.  Canning wont ripen, just cooks.  Canning with something sweet will help enhance flavor.

Alternatives to sugar: pomonas universal pectin (in health food stores, or urbanhomemaking.com), honey, all fruit/no sugar, stevia, artificial sweetners

Jars can sit on the shelf indefinitely.  Some books will tell you to can enough to use through the year ‘till next harvest.

Read instructions for your jars/lids because each manufacturer will have different instructions for prepping them. 

Jam/Jelly is fine if it’s runny as long as there is a good seal – makes good syrup, can thicken up with pomona’s universal pectin on a can-by-can basis.

Things that can effect crunchiness (with dill pickles): check water, if there is hard water it will effect crunchiness of pickles.  When pickles go in the brine, you want the water to be soft water.  Distilled water or hard water boiled for 15 minutes and left to sit overnight so sediment falls to the bottom of the pot (keep sediment on bottom when pouring) and use the clear water.

A drawback to canning, enzymes will be destroyed in the canning process.  But it is something that won’t take a lot of electricity to store.  There is still nutritional quality, especially things that don’t need to be water bath canned for long periods of time. 

Stocking Up or Busy Persons Guide to Canning, Home Canning Kit etc. can be found at website: www.urbanhomemaker.com I couldn’t find the Pumona’s Universal Pectin without doing a search on the site for “pectin” and it shows up under “Preserving” 

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