I wouldn't necessarily call myself a "prepper", But... I have always wanted to be able to provide for my family's needs. Food, water and shelter are basics.
When I was a single mom there were times I went without to make sure my child was never hungry.
Those years are passed,but the past few years,and events that occurred with empty shelves and fears of being around the general public made me realize my hobby of canning was more of a necessity.
I want to talk about how to prepare for the shortages that are going on and the increase in the prices of everything and about preparing a pantry that can sustain emergencies or just save you some money at the grocery store. We converted our spare room into a pantry we call “ The country store”.
One of the reasons we can is to control what we eat. We want less salt and no preservatives in our food. For a few years now my husband and I have been preparing to retire on a homestead up north. We want to be self-sufficient. That means growing and preserving our own food. But in the meantime I am still in the city and have very little lawn. So I started by growing some food in buckets outside of my house and buying in bulk and canning and dehydrating.
Most people think that canning is mostly pickling vegetables. Some of you may have had a grandmother who canned pickles or vegetables from their garden. Grandma might have made jam and gave it for gifts at Christmas, I thought so too,but oh it is so much more than that.
Canning is not hard. I will repeat that, Canning is not hard. Canning is not scary. Your pressure caner will not explode all over your kitchen. There are safety's.
Canned foods can last for years on your shelf. We can fruits, vegetables and even meat. Yes, I said meat. This is where some people get scared. A lot of people are afraid of canning meat. You shouldn't be."You mean you have meat in jars on your shelves? Not in the freezer?" We hear on a regular basis. I just simply ask " Do you buy canned Tuna, Chicken or Ham? How about Beef stew or soup?" Yep. Same thing.It's the same process except you're eliminating all of the preservatives and you can decide how much salt you want to put in. You can also pickle all of the above.Whether you're canning meat or vegetables there is a guide for the FDA canning online and it will tell you how much pressure and how long to can it. It's very easy when you can items, they can last for decades. We have also saved a lot of money because we will buy when things are on sale such as turkey at Thanksgiving for 49 cents a pound and then de-bone it and can it. The canning process fully cooks meat such as a turkey which therefore makes it ready to eat whenever you want without even having to heat it up. That is especially good in cases of hurricanes where you might have extended time without any power. We also dehydrate fruits and mushrooms when they are on sale and then we have them around. So when we find a good deal on meat or fruit or vegetables we decide whether we're going to dehydrate it ,freeze it, or can it. We converted our spare room into a pantry and now that the prices are high and things are limited we have food security. It might be something that you would like to try.
This is a website I use The national center for home food preservation.
So let's can Chicken vegetable soup, I will walk you through the process. I have my pressure caner, mason jars, lids, and rings ready, I make chicken stock the day before. Then I cut up raw chicken and my vegetables. I heat both my stock and the water in my caner to the same general heat. I put 1/4 teaspoon canning salt in the jar and then as much chicken and veg I can fit in the jar leaving 1/2 inch space on top then pour the stock over to cover..Then I wipe the rim with vinegar to keep a good seal. Place the lid on top and tighten the ring finger tight, Place in caner and can according to the NCFHP. usually around 75 to 90 mins at 10 pressure for my area.
We spend 3 days processing a whole turkey. At .49 a pound for meat, you bet it's worth it! The first day my husband cut up and de-boned the whole turkey.
The second day we roasted the bones and made stock and picked the meat for soup. As well as my husband ground the breast and thighs.
Today we canned 12 pints which is 12 lb of ground turkey and 7 quarts of turkey vegetable soup. You may ask why we do this when it might be easier just to go to the store and buy ground turkey or buy cans of soup.
Two things you're not going to pay as low as $0.49 a pound for your meat most of time, and second of all we control everything that goes into it: how much salt, how much seasoning, and no preservatives. And that's important to us.
Now I can go into my pantry, grab a pint of ground turkey and make tacos or spaghetti or shepherd's pie in a Flash and haven't filled up my freezer with food that may end up freezer burnt.
Homemade canned goods can last years. We save a lot of money by buying when prices are low. The other benefits are food security and having ready to eat food when you are on the go.Often I open a can of roast beef or chicken and pull a meal together in minutes.
Here are some pictures of me using some canned chicken stock and dehydrated mushrooms to make my rice and beans for tonight's meal.
Canned items are really good indefinitely in the pantry but it's best nutritional life is 5 years
I do all this because I can find deals on meat and stock up. I only have a small freezer. Also you can waste food due to freezer burn.
If you are not ready to can, or do not want to, then how about buying a few extra cans each time you shop? A few extra packs of toilet paper? An extra bottle of Tylenol? Think outside the box to make sure your family is covered!
