Canning Jars, Lots of Canning Jars

Someone answered my ad I had on CraigsList that I posted that said I was looking for canning jars and we went out to pick them up.  I have enough jars to last me forever now.  If my daughters need some they can get them from me.  Almost all the approximately 600 jars are quarts.  I only paid $140 for all the jars and at about $3 a dozen that's pretty good.  There are 17 old blue Ball jars that I will use for storage items.
The house where we got the stuff is going to be sold and they are having an auction the end of the month.  We will watch for the auction and go to see all what else is in this huge old house.  The property was his parents and both have died.  They are moving to the Ozarks or they plan to when they sell the property.  They have turkeys and chickens that they will also sell and I asked them to let me know if and when they get ready to sell them.  Several of the chickens were silkies and Brandon wanted a silkie so I will let him know if they call me.  The turkeys were huge and were just hatched in April and the hens were just starting to lay.  Oh how I want some turkeys, will wait and see what happens.
 

Making Ground White Meat Chicken

First thing this morning I cut the chicken breasts from the bone, returned it to the fridge to make sure it was nice and cold before grinding it.  The chicken breasts were very large so it made it really easy to cut the meat from the bones, I used a good knife and my poultry scissors.   As I cut the meat off of the bone I threw the bones and scraps in the roaster, added water and spices and it is simmering.  I will turn it off about 3, strain it and put it in the fridge to cool down.  If there is any fat it will solidify by morning and I will remove it and then can the broth; I'm guessing I'll get around 8 qts.  The ground chicken resulted in 21 lbs and that makes it $1.42 a lb, not bad.  I made myself a nice fresh ground chicken patty for lunch and it is delicious.  No additives, bones or gristle; just ground chicken.  I do grind the skin with mine to give it added flavor and texture but that is up to you.

Everything ready to remove the bones.

Grinding the chicken, LOVE my Kitchen-Aid and the attachments.

Ready to bag the ground chicken; the roaster in the background simmering the bones for the broth.

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2012/10/carnival-of-home-preserving-32-come.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LauraWilliamsMusings+%28Laura+Williams%27+Musings%29

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/10/barn-hop-83.html

Busy Cold Weekend

This weekend was the first weekend of the Spoon River Drive and we sat up our yard sale.  We had a very cold weekend with frost both mornings.   We had a fairly busy and profitable day yesterday, today was not as busy but still OK.   We will set up again next weekend and hopefully do as nice.  I'm going to use the money to purchase some more canning jars to use.  I've found some used canning jars on Craigslist and Ron and I are going after work to get them.  I will let you know tomorrow more about it.
Went tonight to Kroger and got about 30 chicken breasts that were on sale for 97 cents a pound.  I will cut the meat off the bone tomorrow morning then grind it for ground white chicken.  I will then take the bones and scraps and simmer them in the roaster to make chicken broth and then can it.  Making my own ground chicken gives me control over what goes into it.  Heavens knows what is in the stuff they sell as ground chicken at the store.  After next weekend Ron and I will thaw out the 5 whole turkey breasts we got on sale a couple weeks ago for 99 cents a lb and do the same thing with it.  We have been eating more ground chicken and turkey than ground beef.  We are completely out of ground chicken and turkey and I've been out of broth for over a month now.

Cooking for the Busy Weekend

This weekend my daughter Renee and I are having a yard sale so I thought I would make up some snacks for everyone.  Plus it is rainy and cool and the heat from the oven feels good; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  I baked a batch of chocolate cookies using the brownie mix that I posted about on May 31st.   I also made a batch of pumpkin cookies using my canned pumpkin.  I was on a roll so I baked a peach cobbler, apple cobbler and raspberry cobbler.  I used a quart each of the peach pie filling, apple pie filling and raspberry pie filling that I canned this year.
I also have a pot of chili started that I will put in the crock pot Saturday morning so we can at least have something a little healthier and hot for the cool day.  Sunday we will have shredded BBQ pork sandwiches for lunch.  I have some in the freezer so all I have to do is add a little more BBQ sauce to it and put it on low in the crock pot to heat it up.   All the canning I did is sure coming in handy.  I used 2 qts of the chili beans that I did earlier this week and 2 quarts of chopped tomatoes I did this summer for the chili.   I love to cook for others so I don't consider it work; just some love.  After all the cooking for this weekend I will have some empty canning jars.  :)

Pumpkin Cookies

1 Cup shortening
2 Cups white sugar
2 Cups pumpkin
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger

Cream shortening and sugar.
Add eggs and pumpkin.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add to shortening and sugar mixture.
Mix well.
Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.
I mixed some powdered sugar with a little cinnamon and sprinkled on the cookies as I removed them from the oven.

Cobbler Topping

1 c flour

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1/2 c oil

Combine all ingredients, it will be very thick and you might think this isn't going to work.  Drop by spoonfuls over the fruit and bake for 45 - 50 minutes at 375 degrees.

Peach, raspberry and apple cobblers.   My daughter Gina was over so I sent a piece of each home for my son in law Ali.

Pumpkin cookies, cake type of cookie and oh so good.

Chocolate brownie cookies.

Chili for Saturday.

Seventies Today Fifties Tomorrow

It was in the 70s today and tomorrow it will be in the 50s.  The temp dropped 20 degrees in 4 hours and we have a storm coming.  I cleaned out the garden yesterday and got a 4 nice size egg plants, 3 1/2 gallon bucket of peppers, a few ripe tomatoes and a lot of green tomatoes.  My husband took some of the green tomatoes to work for some guys, I made stuffed peppers for supper and will put out the rest of the peppers at our sale this weekend.  I've dried peppers several times this year and don't need anymore.  I pulled all the plants and added them to the compost pile.  The only thing that is still in the gardens is peas.  I see a lot of pea pods on the plants but are not ready to pick yet.  Peas are a cool weather crop so I'm sure they will make it.
After canning for the last 3 months I'm ready for a little rest.  I do have a couple things on my list I want to try and can.  I want to can some white chicken chili, black beans and want to try and can some meat.  Except for bacon I've never canned just meat before and it is on my list of things to try.  At least the things on the list are not something I need to do right away.
Our local Kroger store has chicken breasts on sale for 97 cents a pound this week so I am going to get some, cut the meat off of the bone and grind it for ground chicken and then take the bones and can some chicken broth.  I like to use ground turkey or chicken to make meatloaf or hamburgers.  Chicken and turkey are both less expensive than beef and much better for you.  

Product Review, Tattler Lids

While canning chili beans this week I used some Tattler Lids for the first time.  I read the directions several times to make sure I did everything correctly.   Of the 12 one did not seal because of obvious user error and 2 others did not seal, reason unknown.  I also used 9 standard lids and 1 did not seal so the sealing rate is about the same.  The recipe used had tomatoes and tomato juice in it and the lids are stained now because of the tomatoes.  You know how if you put tomato based items in a plastic bowl and it will stain the plastic.  I use bleach in my water to wash my canning items and it did not remove the stains.  I also tried using a scrubby with baking soda with no luck.  The 9 jars that did seal are going to have the same problem.  The lids like I said earlier were stained from the canning so I soaked the 3 that did not seal overnight in a little water, bleach and soap.
I reprocessed the chili beans this morning and when they were cool I removed the rings and noticed that the lids are coming apart, pealing.  They are now two colors of white and you can see where the rings were and it won't wash off.   I contacted Tattler and they said "It appears the lids have been damaged by the bleach in your attempt to remove the stains.  Bleach is a strong oxidizing agent which is incompatible with the plastic used in Tattler lids.  The same is true for strong acids such as hydrochloric acid and both are not recommended for use in conjunction with this type of plastic."   I so wanted this to turn out better so I could find an alternative to buying the metal lids constantly but at this time I will not be purchasing this product.  
Everyone's experience is different and this was mine.  If you do purchase these or own them don't use bleach to wash them.  If you put them in a dishwasher you should check to make sure there isn't bleach in it.

Jar on left was done yesterday, the jar on the right was done today.  The lid used on the right was one I soaked in water, bleach and soap to remove the stains from the tomatoes.  If you look closely you can see the plastic on the lid is pealing.

I received this product free for the purpose of reviewing it and no other compensation was received for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my honest opinions.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

On Monday I say a recipe on moneysavingmom.com that caught my eye.  The recipe was for pumpkin pie oatmeal.  I love pumpkin pie and oatmeal so I thought I would give it a try.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal For One

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup whole milk (can also use skim, almond, or rice milk)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmug
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• Brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup

Mix oats, milk, water, and spices together in a small saucepan on the stove. Bring to slow simmer. Stir in the pumpkin and cook until done, approximately 3-4 minutes.
Sprinkle with sugar or drizzle with honey or maple syrup and serve warm with milk.

The above was her version but I changed it a little to suit my taste and ingredients I had on hand.

To a small pan I added the following:

3 TBSP powdered milk
1/2 c oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c water
1/2 c pumpkin (used pumpkin cubes I canned)

I took a fork and smashed the pumpkin and cooked on low until done.  I sprinkled brown sugar on top and it was very good.  I made my first bowl on Tuesday while canning and again this morning while I was canning.
You could also make up packets of this ahead of time and add the wet ingredients when you cook it.
Put the powdered milk, oatmeal and spice in a baggie or small container.  This is a wonderful way to get a little fruit for breakfast.

Pumpkin oatmeal with brown sugar on top.