Canning Potatoes

Today Ron and I canned 67 pints of red potatoes, just a little over 50 lbs.  Ron said he thought he was in the Army and on KP duty.  Next I will dehydrate hash brown potatoes and then can potatoes, carrots and onions together for when we have roast.  We bought 100 lbs on Saturday afternoon at 50 lbs for $8.99.
We canned about 100 lbs last year as plain potatoes, roast mix, vegetable soup mix and potato soup mix.  I have a few of the potato soup mix left and a a few of the vegetable soup mix left so I won't be making those this year.  Tomorrow I hope to get the hash brown potatoes started and that will take a couple days to do.  Dehydrated hash brown potatoes come in so handy and take so little space.

Another Batch of Leather Britches Going

The green beans were done for the year so we pulled the plants up and then picked the beans off.  We got a nice bunch and decided to go ahead and make some more dried green beans.  Last week I got almost 1/2 gallon jar full and they will come in very handy.  The first cool day I am going to make a pot of vegetable beef soup.  I have been wanting some for a while now, I can almost taste it now.  I love soup weather, vegetable beef soup, potato soup, chili, chicken noodle soup, chicken vegetable soup, chicken and wild rice soup, taco soup and beef stew.
I wish I had more dehydrated peas and corn to use for soup, maybe next year I will do more of them.  Just called the hardware, yes hardware store where I get 50 lbs of red potatoes for $8.  They should be in this weekend so I will call again next week to make sure they are in and will be getting 100 lbs.  I will can some, dehydrate small cubes for soup and dehydrated some shredded potatoes.  I have a couple recipes I use shredded potatoes in and making dehydrated shredded potatoes is very easy and they keep forever.  Last time I made some I had them 2 years before I ran out.

1/2 gallon jar of dried green beans that I did last week.

Dried green beans.

 

Leather Britches

I am making leather britches the modern way and have my dehydrator full of green beans right now.   Leather britches were done years ago by taking a nice strong piece of thread.string, tying a knot on one end and sticking the needle through one end of the green bean.  After your piece of thread/string was full you would hang it in an airy spot out of direct sunlight until they were completely dry.  You would then store them in an airtight container until ready to use.
After mine are dry I will put them in quart of half gallon Ball jars and use them in soups.  I also will try them by cooking them just like I would fresh beans and add some onion, bacon or ham and potatoes.  We are not a can green bean family, we eat them fresh or in vegetable soups.

Fruit Rollups

Last week I ordered some non stick drying sheets for my Excalibur Food Dehydrator.  I wanted to make some fruit roll-ups from some of the fruit I canned this summer.  They arrived on Tuesday and I put them to use right away.  So far I have made apple and pear/apple fruit roll-ups and they are super. A good way to get in some fruit and a good way to use up fruit.   I plan to take some of the peaches that I canned and run them through the blender to make some roll-ups.   Pure fruit, no additives and good for you. 

The dried fruit waiting to be be cut up.

2 half gallon jars of fruit roll-ups, these will be nice for the kids to snack on when there over.

Dehydrating Celery

I picked up 8 bunches of celery for 49 cents each so I could dehydrate some to use for the next year.  Got all of the celery cleaned and use the Kitchen-Aid slicing tool to cut the celery.  This cut the celery up very fine so it will dry faster.  I stacked the celery on the 5 trays as deep as I could so I would have 1 batch only. When slicing the celery a lot of the liquid drained from the slices and I kept this to use when making the dressing for Thanksgiving.  The celery scraps went to the chickens and turkeys for a nice green treat so nothing went to waste.

8 bunches of celery.

One of the 5 trays celery.

The dehydrator full of celery.

Some of the liquid from the celery that I saved to use when making dressing.

This is the 8 bunches of celery dehydrated.

One quart and about 1/3 of a pint of dehydrated celery from 8 bunches of celery.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html

Check Your Weekly Grocery Ads

Now is the time to check your weekly local grocery ads to check for items that you use and are on sale.  You can dehydrate, freeze or can these items to enjoy later.  Items to check for right now that will be on sale will be:
turkeys; can, freeze, grind your own ground turkey
hams; can or freeze
celery; dehydrate or freeze
cranberries; can, dehydrate, freeze
sweet potatoes; can or dehydrate
potatoes; can or dehydrate
onions; freeze or dehydrate
If you are too busy this week to put up any of the above items up remember you can freeze the meats until you have time, cranberries can be put in the freezer right from the store and done later and the potatoes and onions will be OK for a couple weeks.  The only thing that really needs done immediately is the celery.

Also on sale will be cream of mushroom soup, green beans, sugar, flour, baking items.  If you use any of these items now would be the time to stock your pantry.  If you buy items ONLY when on sale you can save  a lot of money.  I can't remember the last time I purchased an item that wasn't on sale.  Even when I did not can I always purchased items when on sale only.  If you can change your buying habits and buy on sale items only and stock up this is the only way to do it.

Example, if you eat canned green beans regularly, buy a case when on sale and put them up.  Then when you see something else you use all the time purchase it in bulk.  Slowly you can build up your pantry and save money doing so.  Don't forget watching for meat items to be on sale and stock your freezer.

To me it's a challenge, be a wise shopper and buy when on sale only.

Cloudy, Ugly Day

It was a icky day today.  It was wet, cool and the sun was nowhere to be seen.  Made a trip into the village to the post office; then back home to list several jars on EBay.
For supper tonight I took a package of ground chicken and made a meatloaf, a quart of potatoes, drained them, drizzled some olive oil on them and sprinkled some garlic powder then baked uncovered for about an hour.  I also heated up a pint of calico butter beans and called it a perfect meal.  I love to open the pantry and see what wonderful things I can use.  Since I have been canning we eat a wide variety of things.  Before if I couldn't find an item on sale I wouldn't get it.  Now if I find it on sale I preserve it to enjoy for a long time.   Someone said to me once that they didn't can because they didn't have a garden.  You don't need a garden to can, watch for things to go on sale or glean the neighbor's garden/orchard.  Every week I look at Aldi's ad to see what fruit or veggies are on sale to see if there is something I want to put up.  Examples: carrots can be canned plain, pickled, dehydrated or add to jars of soup veggies; mushrooms can be canned or dehydrated; onions can be dehydrated or frozen; celery dehydrated; potatoes canned and dehydrated the possibilities are endless.  The key is to make sure you wait until things are on sale.   November and December you can get celery, cranberries, sweet potatoes, turkey and ham on sale.  The week between Christmas and New Years you can get lemons on sale; I dehydrate slices to add to ice or hot tea.  Again the key is to wait until you find things in season and on sale.

Using the Items You Put Up

After the time and money spent on canning items you need to make sure you use them.  I recently got almost 100 canning jars that had to be emptied of food that was canned in the 70s and 80s.  It was interesting that someone took all that time to put up the stuff and then they didn't use it.
This past week this is how I have used several jars of items I canned; made taco soup using corn, black beans, chili beans and tomatoes.  Had potato soup using the potato soup mix I made and added a can of evaporated milk.  Beef roast and used a jar of potatoes; ham and beans and made some corn bread to go with it; bacon, fried potatoes and eggs using canned bacon and canned potatoes.  Chicken noodle soup using canned chicken broth, a pot of chili made with chili beans, tomatoes and tomato juice.  Tonight we are having meat loaf made with ground turkey, calico lima beans and squash.  Several nights a week I eat beets and pickled carrots that I canned and will open peaches for a snack.  Several of these meals also contained dehydrated items and a couple were made using convenience mixes that I have made up.  So use the stuff you can, dehydrate, mix up or freeze; don't let it go to waste.

Right side of canning closet.

Left side of closet, note the pull ring (white jar ring) to turn on the light.

Back row; l to r; shredded yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, lemon and orange slices.  Middle row; l to r; vegetable powder, peppers, carrots, garlic, cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup.  Front row; l to r; cilantro, coriander seeds, tomato powder and cream of chicken soup.

Please note this is where I use those mayo type of jars.  Also this week at Aldi they have mushrooms on sale for 49 cents for 8 oz so it would be a wonderful time to dehydrate some or can some.  Hum, I've never canned mushrooms before so this might be the perfect time to do it, I usually dehydrate them. 

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/10/barn-hop-84.html

Tomato Powder and Vegetable Powder

After the tomatoes finished drying today I put them through the food processor and made them into tomato powder.  I will be able to use this in soups, stews and anywhere I want a little extra tomato flavoring.  I then took some dehydrated onions, mushrooms, peppers, carrots and celery and made some vegetable powder,  I will use this in soups,  Both jars of the powder look so nice and they take up so little room.  Hopefully I will make some more of both.  When I look at the things I make I am so proud.
We are going down to the Amish Produce Auction this Friday and to a couple of bulk food stores.  I will be getting several boxes of bacon and will can it.  I hope to get some more potatoes, beets and some tomatoes.  This fall I will start watching the ads for meat, the stuff in the freezer will be running out in a couple months.  I am determined that I will not buy any more meat or make any cheese until what is in the freezer is gone.  When turkeys go on sale in November we will get several and will make ground turkey again.  I prefer ground turkey over ground beef and it is better for you, we will also grid some chicken this year.  When we get the turkeys and chickens I will use the bones to make stock for canning some soups.

Pint jars with vegetable powder and tomato powder.

Tomatoes, Zucchini and Herbs

I had a few ripe tomatoes and my daughter Renee gave me 4 nice tomatoes so I canned 5 pints this morning.  I don't have that many tomato plants this year so I will have to can a few jars at a time when I get enough; a little here and a little there adds up.  When the tomatoes were processing I grated then froze 5 bags (2 cups each) of zucchini for zucchini bread.  I think I have enough froze now so I will need to get creative and find some new zucchini recipes to try.  For supper tonight we are having leftovers and I am going to make a small batch of zucchini pancakes.  I've never made or ate them but they sure sound good.  There are many recipes on the internet and I will be using one of them.
I put the stevia leaves through the small food chopper and made it into a fine powder.  I did this several times and also used a find mesh strainer and strained it.  Right now I have chocolate mint and spearmint drying and the aroma in the house is very nice.

Orange/citrus mint, apple mint, stevia, tomatoes.

Dehydrating Herbs

The stevia that I put in the dehydrator yesterday is out and ready to be ground.  I picked some herbs for my daughter Gina this morning and went ahead and picked some apple mint and some orange/citrus mint for myself.  Right now both are in the dehydrator and I will be using them to make herbal tea.  Tomorrow morning I will pick some spearmint and some chocolate mint and dry them and then hopefully I will get the cooking herbs dried this weekend.  After this I will leave them alone and dry them again this fall. 

Dried Stevia.

Apple Mint in the dehydrator.

Washing and adding the Orange/Citrus Mint to the dehydrator tray.

Stevia and Canned Bacon

My grandson Brandon came to spend a couple of days with me so we started our day by cutting some of the stevia and putting it in the dehydrator.  I was cutting each leaf one by one from the stalks and Brandon came in and ran his fingers down the stalk and completely stripped it in just a second.  Young minds come in handy sometimes.  I now have my 5 trays filled and in the dehydrator.  When it is dried I will crush it and use to sweeten my tea.
Then we proceeded to can some bacon.  We canned 2 lbs and will try a jar of it on Thursday for supper to see how it tastes.  If it turns out I will pick up a few 10lb boxes of bacon when we go down to Beachies Bulk Food store in Arthur and can it.  I will keep you posted when we have it for supper Thursday and how it tastes.  This is the link where I found out how to can bacon:

http://www.rural-revolution.com/search/label/canning%20bacon

Brandon stripping the leaves from the stevia stalks.

Stevia going in the dehydrator.

Roll of masking paper, 12" X 180', found at Menards, isle where the green paint tape is for $2.97 a roll.

Bacon going on the masking paper.

1 lb of bacon.

Adding masking paper to the top of the bacon.

1 lb of bacon ready to be folded and rolled.

Took the handle of a long wooden spoon, put it in the middle of the bacon, fold it in half.

Ready to rolled.

Roll tightly.

All rolled up.

Putting in a wide mouth quart jar.

Putting in the caner.

Bacon out of the caner, 10lbs for 90 minutes.
 h


ttp://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/introducing-carnival-of-home-preserving.html

Freezer Cooking Day

Started my day about 7 and finally sat down at 2.  I mixed up 4 double batches of dough to make Ham and Cheese Buns; Cheeseburgers with Mushrooms and Onions Buns and Pizza Buns.  My first double batch of dough was made exactly as the below recipe (the recipe is a single batch) the second I used wheat flour instead of rye flour and the 3rd and 4th double batch I used 10 grain flour instead of the rye.  I put 5 buns in each freezer bag and have the following in the freezer:

6 bags of Ham and Cheese

2 bags of Hamburgers with Mushrooms and Onions

2 bags of Pizza Buns

1 bag with variety

and 1 bag with 2 Ham and Cheese Buns.  So I made 57 buns total.  I had enough dough for more but ran out of meat so I made a loaf of mozzarella cheese bread which we will eat with the leftovers we are having for supper.

I also baked 2 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread, I figured I was baking and had a mess so why not.  I have been wanting to make some but just never find the time.  I will freeze one loaf for later.

First batch of dough, making the Ham and Cheese

I cut the cheese the night before so I would have everything ready to go.  I used homemade mozzarella and home made farmer's cheese; you can use what ever kind of cheese you want. 

Dough cut into 16 portions and flattened with hand.

First put on some ham; I used deli sliced black forest ham and add the cheese and then more ham.

Ham first and then some cheese.

Then add more ham.

Stretch the sides up to form a bun.

Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper seam side down.

Hamburgers

I cooked the hamburger patties the night before, I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, dehydrated mushrooms and dehydrated onions to the meat before I cooked them.  You can add what ever you like to the meat or just leave it plain.

Cheese first and them the hamburger patty.

The sides were stretched to form a bun.

This is the first batch after about 35 minutes, they are ready for the oven.

This is the pizza bun.

For the pizza buns I used homemade Italian sausage that I added some dehydrated mushrooms, onions, peppers and some pizza spice that I get at the Amish store.  I also made these up the night before.  You add only 1 tsp of pizza or spaghetti sauce, cheese and then the patty.

I ran out of meat so I flattened out the rest of the dough, added mozzarella cheese and rolled it tightly to form a loaf.

Here it is and ready to go in the bread pan, seam side down.  I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on the top.

This is the double batch of dough for the cinnamon raisin bread.  I used a recipe from a blog I follow.

I patted each piece out with my hands.  Note that I put the loaf pan at the end of the dough so I know how wide to flatten it out.  I then spread some butter on the dough.

Sprinkled the cinnamon sugar and raisins and rolled tightly.  Put it in the pan seam side down.

I know you are saying "What"?   As things were baking I was doing the dishes and happened to look up and out the window and there was this deer out in the field for a long time so I went out back and took its picture.  See doing the dishes dose come with some rewards.

Everything all baked and cooling.  When it was cool I packed them in freezer bags and put them in the freezer.

2 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread and the cheese bread we are having tonight.  I should have split the dough into 3 parts and made 3 loaves of the cinnamon bread.  It raised over the sides of the pan so I'm sure it would have made 3 medium loaves instead of 2 giant loaves.

Ham and Cheese Buns

2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup medium rye flour

1/2 cup instant potato flakes

1 cup warm water

Put all ingredients in Kitchen-Aid and kneed for 10 minutes.  Drizzle with olive oil and put into a bowl, cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.  Flour work surface and turn dough out and kneed for 1 minute.  Divide into 8 pieces, form each into a ball and then flatten out each piece into a disk.  Stretch each disk to about 4" in diameter.  In the center of each piece put a piece of ham, piece of favorite cheese and then another piece of ham.  Pull up the sides of the dough to meet in the center and press to seal the seams.

Place the buns seam side down on baking sheet, cover and let rise for about 35 minutes.

If you are making these for later then bake in preheated 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes until barely browned.  Remove the buns from the pan and cool.  When cool put in freezer bags and freeze.  

On the day you are going to eat them, thaw and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes until nicely browned.

If you are going to eat now then bake at 350 degrees until brown about 35 minutes.

For Pizza Buns or Cheeseburger Buns I add wheat flour instead of rye.

For Cheeseburger buns put a precooked hamburger patty with a slice of cheese on the disk of dough and follow the above directions.

For Pizza Buns put a precooked Italian sausage patty, cheese and your favorite pizza topping on the disk of dough and follow the above directions.

You could also make Shredded BBQ Pork Buns, Italian Beef Buns or come up with your own filling by using this same method and dough.

My daughter Renee makes the Ham and Cheese buns and the Pizza Buns and her son Derek will eat them cold.  These are very easy and you can make up several batches and finishing cooking them when needed.  These make a wonderful quick meal on those days you don't feel like cooking.