This
past Fall and Winter season I used up six flats of pint jars and a flat of half
pints to make my meals so it was time for me to get busy and get some of them
filled back up. One of my favorite items
to can is seasoned meat which I use a lot to pull together a quick meal or two.
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| Beef au jus |
Stew
meat or chuck roast are tougher cuts of beef that take a while to cook and make
tender. By pressure canning them with
some au jus seasoning and a little bit of broth or water I can have it on the
shelf and ready to go to make a quick stew, soup or pot roast dinner.
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| Taco meat |
From
the deep freezer I pulled out seven pounds of lean ground beef. I browned it with a large diced onion. After adding a pint of crushed tomatoes and
some taco seasoning I filled up nine pint jars and pressure canned it. I use this regularly for tacos, burrito
filling, taco melts, nachos, taco salads, etc.
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| Carne asada |
Carne
asada is another really nice item to have on hand for quick tacos, salads or
burritos. I buy round steak and slice it,
then brown it lightly with chopped onions and green bell peppers. Once seasoned with taco spice and cumin I
filled six pint jars plus a half pint and pressure canned them. With two empty spaces in my canner I added two
pint jars of dried beans with ham broth and water to make my own canned
beans. My favorite is to can half pinto
and half black beans together to use to make a quick batch of refried
beans. I will also often add a jar of
beans to my taco meat to extend it and make it go further. I also enjoy the flavor of the meat and bean
combination for tacos or to use to make my burrito filling with.
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| Boneless skinless chicken breast |
Another
canning project was to pick up a package of boneless skinless chicken breast at
Costco. I cut it up into chunks filled
my pint jars adding salt and a bit of water to each jar before I pressure
canned the jars. Having canned chicken
ready makes it super easy to throw together a quick soup, casserole or batch of
chicken salad.
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| Chicken stock for soups & recipes |
I am
able to save quite a bit of money doing these types of canning projects. For one, I can take advantage of bulk buys
and larger quantities which tend to save me on the cost per pound. Home canning dry beans saves me quite a bit
of money over buying cans of beans at the supermarket. The best part is I am able to control the
quality of the ingredients I use so I always know what is in my food.
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| Before |
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| After - gaps filled & older jars are pushed to the front |
I also love how I am able to minimize waste by reusing the jars, time and again, and only having to dispose of a flat lid as opposed to an entire tin can. Reducing the amount of packaging used allows me to make my footprint smaller and become a more mindful consumer.
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| Home canned soups & chili |
Having
these jars refilled with healthy and nutritious shelf stable proteins allows me
to enjoy quick delicious meals or a bowl of soup any time I find myself too busy to cook or lacking
inspiration. It also gives me great
peace of mind knowing I am able to add them to my LTFS and ensure my ability to feed myself and others well into
the future.
I almost just sold my All-American pressure canner, thinking I wasn't going to do it anymore.s But then, when I was lowballed in price, I said forget it. I then pressure canned 8 pints of beans. We do love pintos and black beans. Your post got me thinking maybe I should do some beef and chicken. I've never done chicken, so that would be a new experience. Thanks for posting this is as now I feel inspired to do more.
ReplyDeleteDo try canning chicken. It is super easy to do and can be used in so many ways.
DeleteWell color me envious!!! Those jars are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWhat guide do you use for your processing instructions? I use my Ball “Complete Book of Home Preserving,” and the recipes in the little instruction book which came with my Presto canner.
I remember how nervous I was the first time I pressure canned something (green beans from our garden.) That was years ago. Now, I don’t give it a second thought. I pressure canned ANYTHING which I pack in a quart jar, because it’s so much quicker than boiling water bath canning.since you use so much less water.
I used to *always* can a batch of chicken broth after we had a roast chicken—even if it was a Costco rotisserie chicken (that was always the dinner after a Costco trip when the kids were little.) But I fell off doing that. I also have a GREAT home canned tomato soup recipe (cook tomatoes with onions, celery and spices, work through the FGSVA strainer on the kitchenaid, fill jars and process) but I haven’t made that in a while either because I haven’t managed to make it to the produce stand for the quick sale cases of tomatoes. ($12.00:case. When one of our “friend group” would see that, that we would call the others and ask if they wanted any and deliver.) When our kids got older we sort of let up on chasing the produce sales as we aren’t eating as much. But, we had a discussion earlier in the year, and we are returning to those ways.
Finally, last year on a whim, I made dandelion jelly! I wasn’t entirely comfortable with processing it in a boiling water bath, even with all the sugar, so I pressure canned it as if they were greens. Isn’t canning a satisfying hobby?
-Meg B.
Canning truly is a satisfying hobby and I love to do it. I don't have a book, but I do have the guide that came with my canner. I also take a lot of direction from more experienced people that do much more canning than I do.
Delete