Canning Session 10/23

[Mother]

This is my go to dressing for lots of things.  Broccoli is one and potato salad is another but it goes with all kinds of greens too….

[Littlesister]

My dilemma is that my endo doctor wants me to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning which is not going to happen. And my new heart doctor said do not eat bacon at all. So, which is it? Can't have it both ways. So, cutting down on bacon which I don't eat every morning anyway and I haven't eating at all this whole week. But I will figure it out. 

 

I like that recipe also. And I love cabbage but have never canned it either. Might be something that would be worth a try. 

[Littlesister]

Midnight mom something popped up on screen saying to ignore and I think it meant to ignore you. I hope I didn't do that.  If so, I hope someone can fix it. I don't want to ignore anyone. Whatever that was that popped up. So don't know if I hit something or not. 

[Jeepers]

I'm not sure how it works because I don't have anyone blocked either but I experimented with my own profile and here's what I came up with:

 

Click on your own profile icon

At the top right click on  Account Settings

At the right see where it says Other Settings

The third one down says Ignore Users

Click on that to see if anyone has been added.

 

I would assume if you can still see her posts then you didn't block her. 

 

[Littlesister]

Thank you Jeepers, I checked, and no one is blocked. Don't know how that popped up but I really thought I blocked MidnightMom. Don't want to do that for anyone. 

[Midnightmom]

11 hours ago, Littlesister said:

And I love cabbage but have never canned it either. Might be something that would be worth a try.

 

Fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) tastes soooooooooooooooo good! It needs to be kept in the fridge though once it is completed. I am not sure you can "can" cabbage unless it is as sauerkraut - but then you lose the probiotic properties of the ferment. 

[Littlesister]

Getting ready to start a huge canning week shortly after the first of year. Was looking through the freezer a few days ago and making a list of everything I need to can.    

Making a huge pot of veg. beef soup to can, then chicken soup, navy beans and ham, beef stew, frozen corn, (I have 3 huge bags of those), great northern beans and ham, and some other types of beans as well. 

Going to can the beef I bought yesterday. But going to do that differently this time.  Going to cook it but not cook it through and season it as well. Then will can it. I am thinking beef that you can just eat out of the jar if you want. Already seasoned cooked and ready to go.  Usually, I raw pack my beef. But it is not seasoned with anything other than a small amount of salt. 

So, getting things together tomorrow to get the canning going next week. 

Pulling out a lot of jars to sit on bar in kitchen. 

Going to try to get a lot more of frozen veggies also to both can and dehydrate. 

Going to dehydrate more celery, green peppers and onions. 

 

[Jeepers]

That sounds awesome, Littlesister! I hope to start up canning in January too. 

 

I have been scouring the internet for new (to me) recipes to can. I have a list going too. The best things for me to can are meals in a jar, like soups and stews, that I can just pop the lid and heat and eat. 

 

I was very happy with my canned frozen peas and corn I did in Indiana. So easy too. I want to do some green beans next. I couldn't find the longer ones but later saw them at Gordon's Food Supply. Next summer I want to buy some nice long green beans and French them and add some mushrooms and onions to the jar and can them. 

 

I think I'm going to do some rebel type canning. I want some green beans cooked in bacon grease to can. Probably make up a big pot of them and can them that way. Not sure yet. I saw some dry canned potatoes coated with butter that looked heavenly when fried. Reminded me of the old Boston Market potatoes. I know it's not approved but darn, they looked good.  

[Midnightmom]

5 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I have been scouring the internet for new (to me) recipes to can.

Just saw this one over on Sutton's Daze and am planning to make a batch!

 

 

[Jeepers]

I just saw where she is hosting 'Canuary' again this year.   

[Midnightmom]

14 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

I just saw where she is hosting 'Canuary' again this year.   

Did you see all of the "prizes?" I would like to "win" the steam canner. Having the pressure canner would be nice, but I had ordered a larger canner soI could stack pint jars in 2 levels, but that thing was a BEAST! I could barely get it out of the box and had a very difficult time getting the empty canner onto the stovetop so I sent it back. The ForJars one allows for double stacking but is still only 32Qts, but I think it would be too tall for me to handle. Plus, I am not sure it would fit under the stove hood on my range - so, if I win and get a choice, it will be the steam canner. 

[Jeepers]

I'd like to have a steam canner for pickles and jams too. Beats having to lift a big water bath canner plus energy saver. Size and weight are the reasons I went with a Presto instead of the All American. And now the cost of one is astronomical. I have two canners. One is a double stack pints because I do marathon canning sessions. I usually make big pots of food to can. I rarely do quarts so the pint non-stackable canner is a good size for me. I use the smaller one for smaller baches and for canning quarts. I don't think I'd ever stack quarts. I usually only can tomato sauce in quarts. The little one is handy during mega canning sessions when I have more than 16 pints to can too. My big canner is the size of the ForJars canner and I can handle it pretty well. I fill it with a pitcher of water so I don't have to do too many liftings. I was just lucky it fits under the microwave. I hope it does at the Ohio house too. Yikes. 

 

I do have an electric water bath canner though. I first saw it on the Kneady Homesteader's channel. It is really small but it has a spigot on the side where you can drain the water out in the sink without lifting the canner. Unfortunately, the house happened and I haven't used it. Not even sure where it is right now. I just looked it up on line. I can't believe the price now! More than doubled what I paid for mine!  

[Littlesister]

I wouldn't mine the steam canner either. I can't go any higher on a canner because of clearance on stove.  Sutton Daze was using the same canner I have. I have 2 of those. 

I have a freezer full of green peppers so I will be trying out this unstuffed pepper soup. That was perfect timing to get the peppers in freezer used up. 

Will be getting some things together in the morning to start on freezer canning. 

[snapshotmiki]

I steam can in my pressure canner instead of water bathing.  Same amount of time and only uses 3 quarts of water and no extra pot for water baths.  Just google steam canning.  First thing up was South Dakota State education website.  Plenty of other info available, too.

[Jeepers]

 Thank You Miki.  

I never even thought about that! I bought a small water bath canner for small batch jam canning that I could use that way. 

[Littlesister]

I didn't think of it either. I have a huge pot I steam can in but something smaller would also be nice. When I can food, I go big as the garden most years puts out enough food that will last me a year when canned. In some cases, it will last longer. I still have green beans I am using up from 2018. Those were the only things that was a bumper crop that year. But I have put a huge dent in those. I think I will have to replant those in 2025 if I am still able to garden then. 

 

[Midnightmom]

2 hours ago, snapshotmiki said:

I steam can in my pressure canner instead of water bathing.  Same amount of time and only uses 3 quarts of water and no extra pot for water baths.  Just google steam canning.  First thing up was South Dakota State education website.  Plenty of other info available, too.

 

 

[Jeepers]

She is always so thorough. 

I was thinking a little more low tech and smaller.

 

 

Amazon.com: Kitchen Crop VKP Brands Fruit Saver Steam Canner, 7 Quart Jar Capacity, Silver : Home & Kitchen

 

 

[Littlesister]

Got 8 jars of steak canned. It was Angus chuck tender steak. Cut in packs of small no bone steaks. I sauteed onions and used garlic, meat tenderizer, and a beef flavoring and marinaded the steaks in Red cooking wine and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Then lightly browned the steaks on each side. Then put in jars to can with beef broth. Got 2 steaks in 6 jars and 3 of the smaller ones in 2 jars. I used pint jars for them. I have done it this way before, and they turned out really good.  Great with gravy and mashed potatoes or rice. 

[Jeepers]

      

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, if you are ever back in VA again, you will have to come to my house in Suffolk. You would flip out if you saw my pantry. It is overflowing but not all of it is food right now. but there are 5 8ft racks of food in there. I will be eating from the pantry all of next year. And only canning up when the garden comes in. I should be done with canning what's in the freezers long before harvest time. Just need to reorganize now.

After church tomorrow I am going to can up some chicken thighs that were in freezer. I just went ahead and pulled those out. Maybe will get 6 pints out of those. Then I am going to on Monday make that unstuffed pepper soup that I watched on Sutton Daze. I wrote down the recipe as I can't print anything right now. I am loaded with green peppers in freezer, and I have the hamburger and everything I need right here to make it. It sounds really good and easy to make.

[Jeepers]

Would love to see your pantry to get ideas. My pantry room is a total wreck. And I mean it. I can barely step foot in it. I just put things in there to get them carried in and also to keep them out of the garage. There is food in there, meds, crafts, paper products, office supplies and who knows what else. The other bedroom looks nearly as bad. Son just put stuff in there when he unloaded the trailer the last time. I don't blame him at all. It had to go someplace and he was just getting it in the house. But now I really have to get on it sorting it all out and organizing it. I think I have enough shelves now but to be honest, I don't think I have enough room in there to work on getting them set up. I want to get the craft stuff etc. out of the pantry room and into the spare bedroom. It really is awful. The hall closet isn't much better. When I'm over there I spend a lot of the evenings at sons house because the ask me for supper and during the day I'm working on making the rest of the house (that is actually seen) presentable. I can't wait to get moved over there. I want an orderly home. 

[Littlesister]

I know what you mean about an orderly home. Right now, my bedroom, the bedroom I turned into an office/sewing room/craft room is a disaster. Took things that was in living room and piled it all into that bedroom. Some of my kitchen appliances are now sitting in the pantry bedroom. Needed the counter space for the food for Christmas so cleared that off. So, 3 bedrooms that I need to go through, organize and pitch out anything I can't use. I need to start making baby clothes for the baby and use up that material. I want to make a few more baby blankets as well. I have 6 doz. cloth diapers that I was going to make burp cloths with but now thinking might need those for diapers down the line. So, for now will just hold on to those. I was also going to make baby bibs from them as well. 

I also have a lot of things for incase of EMP or something that is scattered everywhere. flashlights, batteries, solar chargers, etc. Some of that stuff is in a metal can I made up for a faraday cage. My emergency radios are also in there. But other things are scattered all over the place. I need to get it all together and organize it all and have a central location for all of it. Won't even go there on my bedroom closet. Can't get into it right now. I have no idea what all is in there as I had just boxed stuff up and put in there before the construction started and haven't been able to get back to cleaning it out. But I did buy some organizer stuff to get things together and properly put away. 

Between wanting to do some DIY projects, sewing, gardening, canning, and also getting the house back in order, I think I will be too busy to care what is going on in the world. But I want it all done by middle of next year.

[Jeepers]

I know exactly what you are going through. Although I hate it for you, it sort of gives me comfort to know I'm not the only one. Misery loves company huh, sister. 

[Littlesister]

Don't you know it. Your issues are because of the broken pipes and moving and mine is just the construction and remodeling I had done. I think you have it worse because you are moving from one state to another and not just packing for construction.