My Favorite Food Storage Pins of the Week

I love it when I find pins that inspire me to get working in the kitchen.  Check these ones out:

Source: country-magazine.com via Katherine on Pinterest

This pin for bread is salt-rising bread.  It's an old, old pioneer recipe that uses a cornmeal mixture in place of yeast.  I can't wait to try it.

Source: allthingsprovident.blogspot.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: myfoodstoragecookbook.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I love the idea of using applesauce to make fruit roll ups.  Jello is the flavoring.  How easy is that?












Maybe you have had the problem of getting crackers thin enough?  How about using a pasta roller?  I totally want a pasta roller now!











This is an interesting canning recipe to use up zucchini.  It's called pineapple zucchini and can be used in place of crushed pineapple in recipes.  This could make a super healthy sweet and sour sauce.









And who doesn't need these cool storage boxes for jars?

Source: jarbox.com via Katherine on Pinterest

How to Can Rice-A-Roni in a Jar: Make it a Party

This is my best friend Fiona.  She's awesome.  A few weeks ago she called me all excited because she had found a deal on a large bag of converted rice.  (If you don't want to follow the link, converted rice is rice that as been steamed before husked and is non-sticky when cooked).  She wanted to make homemade rice-a-roni.

I immediately thought of my friend Chef Tess (aka Stephanie Peterson) and her 52 meals in a jar method.  She cans meals with dry ingredients and oxygen absorbers in mason jars.  It's cool, you should check her out.  I knew this method would be perfect for a rice-a-roni project.

I set about trying to figure out everything else we would need and in what amount.  I gave Fiona my calculations based upon her 25 pound bag of rice and 10 pounds I had on hand.  That's when she told me that it was a 50 pound bag!  Oh.  This was going to be a lot of rice-a-roni!!

I have made rice-a-roni mixes before, but never canned them.  I have to say, canning them was so much more fun.  I especially love knowing these are shelf stable for 5-7 years!  (And it might take us that long to eat it all.  Ha ha.)

Here's how we put together our canning party:

1.  Get all your ingredients together.  I'll put the recipes at the end of this post so you can see what we made.  They are a little different than my last version.  Wash all your jars and make sure they are completely dry.  You don't want any moisture in your jars.

2.  Add 2 cups rice and 1 cup pasta to each jar.

3.  Next you will add all the seasonings.  You can add them straight to the jar like Fiona did, or you can use little sandwich baggies like I did.  The difference comes when you cook it.  You will brown the rice a bit of butter.  Some people like to have their seasonings separate from the rice for browning.  Some don't care.  I've made it both ways and both work fine.  The only thing is that if the seasonings are a part of the mix you run the risk of burning the onions if the heat is too high.  This can of course be compensated for by using a lower heat.  So do what you want.  It's your rice-a-roni.

4.  If you elected to use the bags then tuck them in tight and shake everything so it's snug and there is room for the oxygen absorber.  If you didn't bother with the bags, just jiggle everything in the jar to help it settle.

5.  Wipe the rims of your jar with a dry towel to make sure there are no powdery things preventing the seal. Add your oxygen absorbers and seal with a lid and band.  Label your jars and include instructions to saute rice/pasta in 4 T. butter and then bring 6 cups of water to boil before covering and reducing.  Each jar is at least two boxes of rice-a-roni.  One jar makes a LOT.  I usually only make 1/2 jar for my family of 4.

6.  Step back and admire your work.  In about an hour you will hear your jars "popping" which is evidence that they are sealing.  Yea!

All told, Fi and I made 57 jars of rice-a-roni.  Then since we didn't want the oxygen absorbers to go to waste after opening them, we made another 16 jars of beans with seasonings for quick bean soups.

I thought I was being so clever to create a chart with the recipe, but it's really small on the blog.  Just click on the image to get a downloadable PDF.

2011 Canning Roundup

I wish I could say that this list was exact, but I didn't do a very good job of keeping track of what I canned.

• Peaches: 40 quarts (lost 2 to failed seals, plus what I gave to my mother-in law.  They were her peaches)
• Peach Jam: 10 pints, 2 quarts, 1 12 oz. jar (plus what I gave to my mother-in-law)
• Pears: 5 quarts
• Pear Sauce (Like apple sauce but with pears; my kids love the stuff): 2 24 oz. jars and 2 pints (plus what I gave to my sister-in-law for baby food)
• Pear Chutney: 9 half pints
• Apple Sauce: 28 quarts (plus all the sauce we canned for my siblings.  Over 65 quarts total!)
• Apple Chipotle BBQ Sauce: 6 pints, 1 12 oz. jar
• Apple Pie Filling: 6 quarts
• Apple Pie Jam: 9 pints
• Apple Slices: 6 quarts, 1 pint
• Pickles: 1 pint, 1 half pint
• Peach Pepper Sauce: 1 pint, 4 half pints
• Tomatoes: 3 pints (already gone!)
• Tomato Salsa: 3 pints, 1 12 oz. jar
• Raspberry Jam: ?  I only have one half pint left.
• Fig and Strawberry Jam: 2 8 oz. jars
• Plum Chutney with curry (This stuff makes the most amazing deviled eggs, maybe I'll post the recipe): 8 half pints (or so, I forget)
• Jalapeno Jelly: 8ish half pints (plus over 40 half pints for my sister-in-law.  They were her peppers and she had back surgery.)
• Green Tomato Enchilada Sauce: 7 1/2 pints (plus more for my sister-in-law, also her green tomatoes)

I think that's it.  I'd say I'm done but I have about 8 cups of chopped plums in my freezer and I'm thinking of making an Asian plum sauce.

Canning Chicken Stock

A draft of this post has been sitting on my computer for months.  I guess I should get my act together an finish it.

I've canned chicken and turkey stock a few times in the past year.  And I like doing it.  I know I could freeze the stuff, but cooking with canned is so much easier--no defrosting.  So, if you are up to it, here's how it goes:

1.  In a big stock pot put a turkey carcass or chicken bones.  Cover with water (about 4-8 quarts).  For this version I bought some bone-in split chicken breasts on sale, de-boned them myself and saved the bones, skin and fat.  It's a nice rectangular shape because I froze them until I was ready to make stock.

2.  Throw in some carrots, celery and onions.  No need to peel or chop here, although I highly recommend washing them off.  I don't bother with any seasoning because I will season whatever dish the stock goes into.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours.

3.  Get your cheese cloth ready.  You really need some quality cheese cloth with a fine mesh.  I put the cheese cloth in the colander and the colander on another pot.  Drain the broth into the second pot.  Cool it.  Refrigerate over night.

4.  The following day you will see all the fat is on the top.  Remove as much as you can.

5.  Now you have nice pretty broth.  Bring it back to a boil.

6.  While waiting for the broth to boil, get your pressure canner and jars ready according to the instructions for your canner.  I always read the instructions again every time I use my pressure canner since I have no desire to blow up my house.

7.  Fill your jars with hot stock leaving 1 inch headspace and place them in the prepared canner.  Process for 20 minutes (25 for quarts) at the appropriate pressure for your altitude.  (14 pounds for me).

8.  Let your canner cool, and there you have it.  Homemade chicken stock.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

It appears that I have been taking pictures for who knows how long without an SD card in the camera.  So the only picture I have of the jam is what it looks like completed in my freezer.

This was a super easy way to make jam.  It only has 4 ingredients.  I made this with my friend, Jessica.  We quadrupled the recipe and split the proceeds.

5 cups rhubarb, sliced into small pieces
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 c. juice (I used a tart grape juice made from the vines out back.  It was all I had.)
1 small pkg. strawberry Jello

Combine first three ingredients and let sit for about an hour.  Bring to a boil and stir while boiling for 12 minutes.  Add Jello and then place in freezer containers.  Yield: about 5 cups.

We ate this for lunch today.  It's super sweet.  But who doesn't love Jello?  And, my friends, here is another reason to keep Jello in food storage--with a little fruit and a lot of sugar, you get jam.  I have a feeling you might be seeing more rhubarb recipes because that is what is growing out back.

Vanilla Syrup, The cure for the common powdered milk

In some things I have failed as a parent.  My 2 and a half year old will not drink milk without some form of sugar in it.  Be it powdered or otherwise, I am doomed to provide something sweet so he will get his calcium. Lecture me if you want.  I'm just here to share his favorite mix-in (and mine!)--vanilla syrup.

1.  Get yourself some vanilla beans.  I got mine on eBay before my grocery abstinence began.

2.  Add 2 cups sugar for every cup of water to a big pot.  (For this batch I did 8 cups sugar and 4 cups water, which somehow came out to 9 cups of syrup).

3.  For each cup of sugar slice open a vanilla bean and scrape out the tiny seeds.  You know, the little black specks in vanilla bean ice cream.  Add both the scrapings and the pods to the pot.

4.  Heat until all the sugar is melted.

5.  Pour into sterile canning jars, add some beans so they can keep infusing, wipe rims, put on lids and bands.

6.  Water bath for 20 minutes.

There you have it.  Yummy vanilla syrup.  And yes, I did can quarts of the stuff.  In addition to adding it to milk, it's great on pancakes!