Canning Frozen Veg. From A Store

[Mother]

Thanks everyone for all your responses. The more we can inform and educate the better we will all be.  The info on Vitamin K is not only important for those of us on blood thinners but also for everyone to learn about the different sources of vitamin K. I would not put down life saving medicines. They have a definite place in people's lives but I believe food should be our first medicine of choice and pharmaceutical meds if needed.  I take antiarrhythmics and blood thinners because of a brush with death (twice) during open heart surgery.  Modern medicine saved my Mom's life more than once to give her to us until she was 96.  My sister is an insulin dependent diabetic.  YES!  I'm grateful for modern medicine but I worked for a long time with an Alternative Functional Health doctor who taught me that there CAN be a blend of the old and the new.  And that includes not just health but prepping and survival as well.  

 

You people ROCK!  I LOVE THIS THREAD!  

 

Okay now back to the OP.... canning frozen foods.  Which I have to say was an excellent topic..... I have been giving a LOT of thought to ALL the food I have in three (yup 3) freezers in the event of a long term power outage.  During our summer derecho we were fortunately only without power for days instead of weeks like some. We were able to keep our freezers running with help from a generator but we did lose the foods in our two refrigerators for the simple reason that those refrigerators both have 'mother boards' that don't take kindly to the 'dirty' power from our small generator.  We've had to replace one before by using it so didn't even bother.  We have a nice gas stove top that we use for canning as well as two nice old LP canning stoves. BUT what we didn't have was a lot of water.  No water, no CLEAN sanitized jars.     Since then I've managed to seal clean ready to use jars, each with a lid turned upside down to protect the seal, in totes that will keep them clean for if/when I might need them in an emergency.  Probably not enough to can everything in those freezers but at least to salvage the meat. I've been contemplating storing water in those clean jars just to have extra water but now I'm wondering if I could use the jars for canning when they were emptied.  Not sure about the lids though. ????    I've also figured out how I would use the racks from my dehydrators (Yeah I have several) to dehydrate a lot of the foods in those freezers.  I believe I could hang them over our two wood stoves if wintertime and outside from the wide overhang in summer??   I also have a hanging mesh rack we used in the motorhome.  It has three shelves and would hold a lot of veggies or fruit.  

 

Thoughts please? 

[Homesteader]

On 2/9/2021 at 9:44 AM, Mother said:

I also grind/powder (in my coffee/spice grinder or blender) the dried veggies with dried onions, peppers, celery, spices, and sometimes powdered bullion to make a quick soup to have when we travel or when I don't feel well.  It's not exactly instant but good none the less and the powdered base makes a good seasoning for other foods as well.  I usually boil water, put it in a thermos with the powdered veggies and in an hour or three it's a nice creamy soup to drink.  The amounts really do vary with the type of veggie but I use 1-2 tablespoon of veggie powder to a cup of water.   I've used a lot of different veggies that way and even have used cooked and dehydrated legumes to make a sort of instant chili out of.  Pureed dried Tomatoes rehydrate fast and make a good cup-a-soup.  The time is really dependent on what the ingredients are. Some can even be done in the microwave in minutes. 

 

I have several gallons of dried, sliced, tomatoes. I generally forget to toss them into tomato-based soups on the stove. Can I just grind them and start adding them as a thickener? My mom is VERY picky about anything floating in a soup that she can't identify. 

[Mother]

Homey, you can grind the tomatoes as long as they are dried very dry.   Tomatoes will keep if dried leathery like most fruit but they don't grind well in that state, depending on what grinder you are using.  I HAVE used a meat grinder for things like fruit and tomatoes but they will be softer and best used right away or kept in the freezer for longer storage.  I have taken my dried tomatoes and put them in a low oven for a short time to finish drying them if they are too soft to grind and have even roasted them a bit in that way for a nice different taste.   Powdered/ground dried tomatoes will keep a long time if well dried and yes, they make GREAT additions to soups or even to make a sort of instant sauce or catsup.  

[Midnightmom]

8 hours ago, Mother said:

Thoughts please? 

Why couldn't you just put "purified" water in your empty jars and cap them w/o "sealing" them to preserve the integrity of the lid? If you think they might "seal" on their own over time, you could just use plastic lids on them. Ball sell them for capping open jars that you need to refrigerate, and some peanut butter lids would fit the wide mouth jars.

 

Sounds like you might need to look into how to turn some of your meats into jerky.

[Jeepers]

I tried to get links from different people. Another good site is Canning & preserving - YouTube

 

CANNING FROZEN CORN! Step by Step - YouTube

 

Canning Frozen Peas - YouTube

 

Pressure Canning Frozen Green Beans - YouTube

 

Frugal Canning: Frozen Mixed Veggies and Corn - YouTube

[Mt_Rider]

Mother, you and others may have thought of this already but.....  If you have enough flats for the canning lids, the best way to store water might be to 'can' the water in your empties.  Then you know for sure you have

1) sterile water for any medical injuries

2) water for inside the canning jar if you're needing it with whatever contents you're canning quick in the electric outage 

3)  some water can be used in the canners, as you said.

 

In the present canning lid shortage....losing the flats might not be feasible if you don't have enough to put on a new lids during Salvage The Fridge/Freezers Episode.  If you do have extra....store them with the boxes of 'canned' sterile water.

 

Question: .....how long will 'canned' water remain sterile?  I've got some ....from when I first started canning ??? 15 yrs ago?  I'd think it would still remain cuz no contact with anything outside the jar????  I think canned water was a Westie suggestion.... 

 

MtRider   

[Jeepers]

I canned some water to have for a medical emergency. Eye wash and wound care mainly. I THINK it would remain sterile as long as it is sealed. 

 

The only issue might be if it goes flat. That would probably only matter if you were drinking it. Water can go flat but they say all you have to do is to shake it really well and it, what's the word, unflats itself.  

[Mother]

Mt_R, I have canned water that way in the past and had it keep for a long time but as I used our water it has too much lime in it to be really useful.  It would be handy to have extra water in those stored jars but our house is small and the only place to store them would be in the attic where it gets really hot and really cold.  I'm not sure about lids though.  I suspect they might be hard to find or expensive for a while with so many people turning to gardening and canning now.  This is definitely something I need to decide on and get it done.  Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.   

[Midnightmom]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:56 PM, Littlesister said:

Midnightmom, I also am a type 2 diabetic. I am under control and have been using a carb blocker for when I do eat carbs. I am also taken VirMax blood sugar stabilization formula. 

 

This info is from that Diabetes Rebel FB group that I mentioned earlier:

Quote

I had to look it up. It contains several items which are known to be beneficial to any of us, especially diabetics. The issue is the amounts found in them are so small that they really have little effect IF you have been eating a well formulated low carb nutritional plan.

It claims to increase insulin secretion, what we don’t need since we already have high circulating insulin levels. Some issues I see is that what they call stable are higher than any diabetic should be (they use the ADA), D3 without K2 is poorly absorbed, calcium needs phosphorus for better absorption, the type of magnesium they use is cheap and poorly absorbed, plus they do not identify which type of cinnamon they use (one is like a blood thinner and one can help with glucose control).

 

Another comment on it was:

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The major problem is that it’s a tiny bit of several things meant to help. But not enough of anything to truly be very beneficial.

 

Someone else shared a link to an herb called Berberine (in case you are into herbal remedies). It is quite extensive so I will only post the link here.

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BERBERINE – WORTH IT OR MYTHICAL UNICORN?

As an advocate of low carb nutrition, I find that many people want to avoid medications, but will take herbs, supplements, and vitamins if provided with adequate information.  For years, I have taught my clients to use specific supplements for optimal nutrition, but to avoid any that seem to be “miracle cures” or “magic pills.”  Media hype always seeks to offer “snake oil” remedies for “anything that ails ya.” Until recently, I believed and taught my patients that berberine was one of these such remedies.  A couple of months ago, I was reading something authored by Dr.  Jeffry Gerber who mentioned berberine, so I began to study and research.  Studies I found astonished me; so I studied even more.  I sought advice from a couple of well-educated professionals who read and studied a couple of links to research articles I had found.   They came to similar conclusions as I did.  To be honest, we were all pretty amazed to find the use of berberine actually seems to be of more clinical benefit than metformin without the troublesome gastrointestinal side effects.  Here is detailed information about what we found.

https://joyfulhearthousecalls.com/berberine-worth-it-or-mythical-unicorn/?fbclid=

And, finally, there's this comment:

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My thought on using supplements is that we should be reducing our carbs, to about 20 and see where that takes you. If by then, you don’t have normal, non-diabetic BG, then you could try some supplements to some how they work. However we should not use supplements to counter our bad food choices.  .....just don’t use it to counter bad food choices.

 

[Mother]

Berberine is a chemical compound found in many plants, especially those in the berberis family.  Barberry is probably the most well known one but it might be wise to be sure where your supplement has come from.  

 

Cinnamon does come from the inner bark of several different trees but be aware that most 'cinnamon' we have today is actually cassia, a different species that has been allowed to carry the name cinnamon in the US.  It is usually cheaper to buy.  I use both for different purposes depending on the taste or medicinal properties I'm looking for. Always be sure to learn as much as you can about the herbs and spices you are planning to use as medicinal.  

[Jeepers]

I always look for and buy Ceylon cinnamon. It's the real stuff. 

[Littlesister]

Yes, I do take Berberine as well and I have been using Ceylon cinnamon for years.  I knew that the VirMax was low in some vitamins and I take those vitamins in a multivitamin as well. My sugars have been well controlled and if I do take in to much sweets, I can take this VirMax and my sugars do stablelize and my levels will come back down. So for me it works for when I eat to much sweets. The Carb blocker has bought both my A1C and my Chol. down. So they are working for me. I do however double the VirMax because the vitamins in it are to low. My body does not produce enough insulin at times and this seems to help with that and does help to stablelize my levels.  Might not work for everyone but does help for me. The Carb blocker is to help with both sugar levels and Chol.  I don't eat bread very much nor other carbs. But this commination does help me.  Though over this past year I really have not eating like I should while taking care of DH. I would just grab a bite of something here or there and go back to be with DH as much as I could. So once I get back to eating right again I will be more than likely stopping some of the vitamins and the VirMax.