Reflections of katlupe

Friday, August 12, 2011

Time To Prep For Fall!

Green Bean Plants in August

I have been busy working on our food that has to be canned. Harvesting green and wax beans, then canning them. My husband will be pulling up the first bed of bean plants, today or tomorrow, as they have reached their production max. Hardly any beans on any of those plants in that bed. It was the first one I planted. Time to re-plow that bed and replant more beans.

Squash Is Producing!

The day before yesterday, I canned summer squash. Our plants are producing more and more squash, and I hate to be forced to eat it for every meal. So I canned it for some tasty winter squash casseroles! I know many people say not to can it. Even the canning books say not to can it. The reason they say that is because it gets very soft and mushy. But it doesn't matter if you are putting it into a casserole or soups. So I can it and we like it fine.

Fall 2010

As we get closer to fall, I start thinking and planning about winter. It is still summer, August, hot and humid. But not for long. September is the time when our weather turns and starts that feeling that winter will be here before we know it. So...........

Canned Summer Squash!

I am making an effort to get as much food as possible canned and stored. Making sure my pantry is organized and all things labeled for easy access. Getting rid of all extra items that we do not use anymore. No sense taking up our precious space with something that is useless to us.

Gathering Kindling

I will be going out into the woods with my garden cart gathering kindling to store for the late fall and winter. Small wood can be gathered for cook stove wood. I am always on the look out for extra firewood. After food, our next biggest prep is firewood for both wood stoves. After the winter we had last year, I want to be as prepared as possible for the upcoming winter season. Food and warmth.

Maple leaves will be the first to turn color!

What about you? How do you prepare for winter? Are you preparing now or are you already prepared? If you are, lucky you! I realize though, it is not luck that prepares, it is organizing skills and plain good hard work that does that job.

Monday, August 08, 2011

Canned Chicken

Newly Canned Chicken Breast!

Chicken is on sale a lot. So it the time to stock up. I like to buy about 30 lbs. of skinless chicken breast and can it. You can buy whatever you like, thighs, drumsticks, backs, wings, boneless or with bones. I know many people like to freeze it. But nothing in my mind, compares to it being canned. It flavors it over time and protects it in case of power outages. Then you will have many quick meals!

Shopping for deals!

I have mentioned on here in a previous post, How I Can Ground Beef, that I like to shop at my local restaurant supply warehouse. MaineSource Restaurant and Party Supply Warehouse has the best meat in our area. Their prices are much better than my local grocery stores. Keeping an eye on my budget means being careful of what stores I shop at. I also like relying on a store that repeatedly sells me high quality food for a fair price.

Cooked Chicken Breast

Canning the chicken is not hard at all. I precook it. If you'd rather can it raw, that is your choice. They are both safe and good methods. Just follow the recipe in your canning book.

Check Your Canning Book!

Be sure to have your canning book handy to refer to as you do your canning. It will give you clear instructions on how to do the canning. I always keep my book nearby and open to the recipe I am using. Even if I have done it many times. Just in case.

Be Sure You Use A Pressure Canner!

You have to use a pressure canner......NOT a pressure cooker.......and NOT a water bath canner! It must be canned in a pressure canner, as the other methods will not bring the jars of food up to a safe temperature for canning. This is your life and your family's life you are protecting by using a safe canning method for the type of food you are canning.

Cut Chicken In Cubes

After the chicken is cooked, since I am using boneless breast I cut it up in cubes. I think it is easier to use that way. I can use it in many recipes, shred it for salad or sandwiches. It is much more tastier than the canned chicken sold in the stores.

Chicken Cubes In Water

Then I fill the pan with water and put it on the stove to boil. I just want the water brought to the boiling point. Take it off then, and I am already to get started. This water is what I will be adding to the jars as I can. It becomes the broth and is very good.

Filled with hot boiling water

I fill my clean canning jars with hot boiling water and let them sit while waiting to be used. You can also immerse them in a pan of hot boiling water, but I find them hard to get out easily. This way works for me. It is up to you.

UPDATE: According to the USDA guidelines, you no longer have to heat the jars or simmer them in boiling water. I never did that anyway. I still put hot water heated to the boiling point in them so that they are hot when I put the hot food in them. I do not want to take the chance of one breaking from the hot food going into a cold jar.

Dry the rim and lid

I put the rims and lids in hot water until I need each one. Wipe your jar lids and rims so they are as dry as possible. Remember the main reason why foods don't seal is due to grease between the rims of the jars and the lids. So make sure there isn't any there and you will get a good seal on all your food.

Then fill each jar one by one, with the chicken and add the hot boiling water. You may add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for pints or 1 teaspoon of salt for quarts if you want for flavor. I do not. Wipe the rim of the jar and add your lid and rim and put into the canner which should be on the stove with about 3" of water simmering on the stove. Make sure you have a rack in the bottom of the canner or your jars will break.

Canner Exhausting

After the canner is full, put the lid on and fasten it. Then turn your heat up a bit and wait for it to exhaust. You will see the steam coming out of the exhaust on the lid. It must do that for 10 minutes. It will make noise and sound like it is a rocket taking off. That is normal! Don't get scared of that.

Regulator and gauge tell the pressure point

Then I put the regulator on it and let it come up to pressure. I use a regulator so it jiggles while at pressure. If it gets below the pressure point I am using, usually 10 pounds for my area, it will be silent. Then I know to check it. My canners have gauges so I can use them either way.

Canning Season!

When the time is up, I turn the stove off and let the pressure go down. It can take about 20 to 30 minutes to do so. Leave the lid alone until is done. First I take the regulator off, then let it sit for a few minutes before I loosen the lid. Open the lid away from you because the steam will be very hot. I let my jars sit about five minutes in the canner before removing them with the jar lifter to a thick towel in a safe place. Try to put them in a place where no one will touch them or cold air will hit them immediately on being taken out of the canner. Then let them sit for 24 hours.

Canned beef and chicken!

Canned meats, as well as canned vegetables, fruits and other foods will last many years in a safe spot. As long as your lids stay sealed they should be safe to eat. I have used jars of food canned many years ago. They taste like they were canned yesterday!

Saturday, August 06, 2011

The Peaceful Forest Summer Garden

One of our many squash plants!

I seem to be pretty good at growing squash and green beans. What happened was I planted some squash seeds and they didn't come up. So I started more plants inside and by the time they were ready to transplant outside, the seeds had come up. So I have a good constant supply of squash this year.

Dandelions are good for you!

This morning I took a walk around to see what I had. I hadn't been out there the last few days. With raised beds you don't have to weed daily. I have been leaving the dandelions and red clover in. I think they help the plants. The beds that have them in seem to do really well. We eat the dandelions and lambs quarters in salads all summer long. I really don't like to cook them, but you can. I have thought of putting up some jars for the winter and they can be eaten as canned spinach or kale is.

Lambs Quarters is another wonderful weed!

A few of my squash plants have that powdery mildew on them. I always have that on cucumbers and squash plants. It could be because our yard is surrounded by trees and has more shade than they should have. I will have to try mixing up a homemade natural solution for it. Though it may be too late for mine now. They are still producing so it doesn't seem to prevent the squash from forming.

Cherry Tomato plants!

Tomatoes used to be plentiful too. But now that the air is full of those nasty spores that bring the Late Blight to NY gardens, I haven't grown them this year. The cherry tomatoes, as I told before on here, came up on their own. What is funny about that, is that they say to get rid of all the volunteers, so you don't get the blight. But these are the only tomatoes that I can grow, that do not get the blight! So we keep them. Have to at least have some fresh tomatoes for our salads! I cannot stand the ones bought in the stores as they have no taste.

Another raised bed of green beans in the backyard!

Green beans is a vegetable that I serve a lot. I like to add Italian dressing to it or cook it in bacon grease for a great flavor. I have even made it into my famous squash casserole by substituting it for the squash in the recipe. Cooking a pot of green beans with little potatoes is also a way I serve it. Last year my on line friend, Shawn, alerted me to the nice touch of canning the wax beans with the green beans. Now that is how I do it. Makes for a pretty dish!

Another squash plant!

By planting vegetables and harvesting wild foods, such as the good weeds and berries, wild grapes, apples and whatever else grows in our area, we are able to preserve foods for the winter. We eat some fresh and can the rest. I love coming up with new ways to cook the foods. It gets to be like a game, storing more food by finding new ones to can or preserve. What foods do you preserve for your winter supply?

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Water Is On Everyone's Mind Today

Ludlow Creek

It has been a dry summer here in upstate New York. Not as bad as many other states though. I feel bad for the people suffering in Texas. One town has issued an order of watering restrictions. That is not that unusual in times of drought I am sure. When we lived in St. Petersburg, FL, we lived with drought conditions. It wasn't a hardship for us, as at that time, we didn't even have a garden.

Sharing!

But one of the restrictions of this town in Texas, was that watering of livestock was prohibited. How can that be? We have three horses and a large dog. They drink a lot of water. Do you think I would refuse to give them water? No way! I'd make sure they had water. If I had to buy it from the store, as much as I hate those plastic bottles, I'd do it. I'd probably go broke doing that though since they can easily drink a five gallon bucket down in a few minutes. When you bring a bucket of water into the barn the first one to drink will usually drink the whole bucket down. Then it is two more trips to the pump before you are done hauling water.

Our Pitcher Pump

There are ways to conserve water in times like this. For us, since our water has to be pumped and carried means we are used to using less water than most people. When we take showers in the summer, we use green soda bottle that sit in the sun all day. My son just took a shower and said it was hot. I use 6 bottles usually, sometimes less, but never more than that.

You may have read my post, Gray Water System For Watering The Garden, that I wrote in April of this year. I told about my husband putting a drain from the house sinks and bath tub to our raised beds. When we empty the sink or tub, the water goes somewhere that it is needed. We are very conservative with the water. Cleaning the horses' water buckets means dumping the dirty water onto our raised beds or trees.

All that snow melts into our ground water table!

Monday, August 01, 2011

Prepare Right Now For Winter

Green Beans Are My Best Crop!

I have seen many people searching Google for storing foods or stocking up food for the winter. So regardless of whether you are into homesteading or not, we all need to eat! How to do that with the economy in such pits? Is there a way you know of putting your food up for the winter months at least?

Yellow Summer Squash

Right now it the perfect time! Are you intimidated by planting a garden? Do you think it is too late? It is not too late. I plant in the spring and replant when the plants stop producing. Right through to the fall, I am replanting. The more food I can get out of my garden the more money I save in our food budget. Then I have extra money to spend on meat and the products we cannot produce ourselves.

Zucchini Is Another Good Producer!

I like to make up my own mixes for items like cream soups, puddings, hot cocoa mix, baking mix, etc. They are cheaper that way and you can put the ingredients in them that you want. I like to make my mixes sugar free and low carbs. But you can make your own mixes to suit yourself.

Potatoes!

I learned from the tightwad tips on Homesteading Today to plant my potato eyes from my store bought potatoes. They don't come up every time, but all the potatoes I have growing this year are from those.

Cherry Tomatoes!

The past two years I have not had one tomato besides the cherry tomatoes due to the late blight. So I have no tomatoes to can. I have to buy them from a produce market in our area. You can also buy the larger cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste and can them into the sizes you need. Quarts or pints.

Hubbard Squash, Thought It was Supposed To Be Green!

Try to come up with a plan. A plan will help you figure out what foods you eat and really like. Then you can plant them more and more each year. Maybe you will be able to plant foods that you can't afford right now. Like asparagus. That is my plan for next year. Asparagus and blueberries. Learn to can, dehydrate and freeze if you have that option and want to do it. But don't do all your food in the freezer. In case of a power outage, you would need some quick foods like the canned ones. If there was an emergency, you would not have the time or energy to can foods that are stored in your freezer. I hear so many people say that is what they would do. Not a smart option in the middle of a power outage! What is your plan?

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