Ingredients Instructions
This week I decided to try making marmalade. Now as I had mentioned before, my hubby and I don’t like the peels that in most marm
http://homestead-acres.com/blog/recipes/smooth-marmalade/
Canning ground beef is so easy to do and very convenient to keep on hand! I prefer to keep canned meat on hand rather then frozen for a few reasons. It is always ready to use, no waiting for frozen meat to thaw out. Yes, I know I could take it out of the freezer the day before but I always forget. Canned meat keeps longer then frozen, and it never gets freezer burned! Also more then once I’ve had someone unplug my freezer with disastrous results. However a long power outage would have the same results.
A few years ago, I changed the way I canned ground beef. Instead of pan frying it in small batches, then having to drain and rinse the fat off I started boiling it. I can place large amounts of ground beef in my stock pot, cover it with water and let it simmer until it’s cooked. This saves me time, I no longer have to cook in small batches. I can get it ready then go and attend to other jobs. I no longer have grease splatting around my stove. One of the best advantages is a nice large pot of soup stock! After boiling the ground beef, I strain the broth and set it in the fridge to cool over night. The next day skim the fat off the top. You can now season the broth however you like.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef
- Water
Instructions
- Place meat in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer until cooked through.
- Drain off stock, reserving to use latter for soups.
- Spoon meat into jars and leave 1 inch of head space. Cover with boiling water or beef stock.
- Wipe rims and add lids. Tighten rings finger tight.
- Place into canner.
- Pressure can for 90 minutes.
- After canner depressurizes set on a towel to cool, let sit for 24 hour so the seal can harden.
- Take jar rings off, wipe the jars clean. Label and store in a cool dry place.
Our Canadian winters are long and cold. A favorite treat during that time is our homemade hot chocolet. Nothing taste better after coming in from shoveling the driveway sledding with the kids.
I’ve found this a much taster and cheaper alternative then buying little cans at the store.
This also makes a wonderful gift! Fill a quart canning jar with the mix. Add some pretty ribbon around the top and you have a quick and easy gift.
Ingredients
- 5 cups powdered milk
- 1 cup non dairy creamer
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup coco powder
Instructions
- Combine in a bowl and mix all together.
- Place 3 TBS in a mug, top with boiling water and enjoy!
I love making no sew fleece blankets for gifts. They are so quick and easy to make, yet beautiful and useful as well. This year I’m making smaller lap blanket size ones, 1 meter long. Hope you enjoy the video. To read step by step instructions see here.
I have always been inclined to have a pantry, perhaps it comes from being around my Grandma. Who’s generation lived through the depression and was very skilled at stretching things. It seems that more and more people have fallen into the practice of shopping weekly for all their grocery’s. Keeping just enough food on hand for a few days. Through out my live I’ve seen many times why this is not a good idea. You really never know when having some staples stored up will be a huge help.
Storms
We live in a snow belt. Just last week the schools were closed for 3 days and the roads also. Yes they did open for short spells, but do you really want to drive on bad roads and then get stuck at town when they close again? It’s a wonderful feeling to see the snow falling and not have to worry that your short on food, water and other supplies. In the summer like wise storms can knock power out for hours or days.
Job loss
Another good reason for stocking a pantry is income loss. I can’t count the times hubby has been laid off work with little notice, or weather has reduced his work hours. Even a tax mix up can happen leading to your refunds being cut off. Yes that happened to us a few years ago. We went to town to shop and found a bill in the mail. We knew we didn’t owe it but it took months to sort out. Our income was greatly reduced during that time and we were able to live almost entirely off our pantry stores.
Price increases
Prices are always going up. In the past few years we have seen more frequent price jumps as inflation affects all sectors. Do you remember the grain crises a few years ago? Almost over night a 8 kg bag of rice went from $6.00 to nearly $20.00! Like wise wheat berries, as well as processed flour more then doubled. With the price of grains rising it drove the prices of all grocery’s up. Having a good stock of goods at home can help protect you from sudden increases. It allows you time to save up to restock your goods, and to watch for sales.
Savings
Keeping a pantry saves a lot of money! I don’t buy the same things every week. Instead I have a master list of what our family uses. I keep a base amount on hand at all times. I mark off a list how many we have used and when I see a good sale I can replace them. It’s even better if you can use coupons on sale items. This helps since I normally don’t get caught having to replace all items that go up in price at the same time.
Check back soon to learn how to keep track of your pantry.
I enjoy canning our own conveniences food. Store bought soups are expensive and high in salt and other additives. I love having home cooked suppers on our pantry shelves. Lets face it we ALL have crazy days that we are tempted to pick up fast food. I try to keep a stock of home canned food available for times I’m just to tired or sick to cook supper.
How to can beef soup
- Place soup bones in a roasting pan and roast at 350F for 1 hour. This doesn’t have to be an exact time, just until they are nicely browned.
- Remove bones from pan and place in a stock pot. Cover with water and add chopped onions, celery ends, what ever you have on hand. Bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer until broth has cooked down into a nice dark rich tasting liquid.
- Strain the broth and place in the fridge to cool over night.
- The next day skim off the fat and reheat broth. Season to taste.
- Peel and dice potatoes and carrots. I use approximately half a cup per quart jar.
- Add vegetables to jars then add desired amount of meat.
- Cover with hot stock. Run a spatula around the sides to remove any air bubbles.
- Wipe rims, add lids and rings finger tight.
- Can at 10 pounds pressure for 90 minutes quarts, 75 minutes for pints.
We are going up to do our monthly shopping trip and the snow has begun!
CurrClick is having a huge Christmas sale! I’ve found many great deals to stock our shelves with and wanted to share this with you. Click here to visit CurrClick and check out hundreds of titles up to 50% off!
- Gifts you are making this year.
- Gifts you have made in previous years.
- Tutorials for making gifts.
- Favorite holiday recipes. I love giving baked gifts!
- What are your favorite family Christmas traditions?
- Are you starting new traditions?
- Nov. 25 (yes I’m late, this should have been on the 23rd but we’ve been sick)
- Nov 30
- Dec. 7
- Dec. 14
- Dec. 21
- Dec. 28 This last week will be to share gifts we couldn’t share before Christmas.
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From Stephanie Bingham
2 T. Borax
1/4 C. Lemon juice
2 C. Hot water
20 drops tea tree oil
Mix well, place in spray bottle. Keeps indefinitely.
