 |
| The free plums I got in my backyard |
For the past month, my mom and I have been canning crazy ladies (at least that's what Nathan thinks of us!). We have prepared so much food with such little money, it really is quite remarkable. I've had a couple people ask me what recipes I use and how to can some of the foods I've done. So today I'm going to do a quick rundown of everything I've done.
Quick little side note, if you can't get your produce for free or close to free, there's no sense in canning to save money. Now if you just want superior tasting food, canning is definitely the way to go!
Jam:
 |
| Spiced Pear Jam |
 |
| Peach Jam |
I'm gonna be honest here, jam is so easy to make. The key for me, is the right pectin; I only use MCP Pectin.
I've tried other brands and when I use them my jam never sets up. MCP is tried and true for me. The best part about this pectin is it comes with a recipe pamphlet and their recipes are
good. I used MCP's recipes for all but one of my jams.
 |
| MCP's Jams and Jellys recipes. |
I made five different kinds of jam this fall: Strawberry Rhubarb, Raspberry Rhubarb, Peach, Plum, and Spiced Pear. The spiced pear is my mother-in-law's recipe, it's my favorite of all the jams I made!
Beans:
Green beans are incredibly easy to do as well. My aunt planted a huge row of beans this year and then decided that she didn't have the time to can them. She let my mom and I have them as long as we would come pick them! We ended up with 90 pints and 10 quarts of green beans!
With beans all you do is snap them (cut off the blossom ends and cut up into reasonable sizes). Shove as many as you can into the bottle, put 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon white vinegar. Put your lids on and cook in a pressure cooker with the pressure on 12 for 20 minutes. TaDA! You have the best green beans ever!
Tomatoes:
 |
| Such a neat place! |
My previous blog post was all about how to can your tomatoes, so I won't go over that again. But I have a funny post-blog story. Yesterday my mom and grandma and I went to Ogden and on our way back, I had them stop by the tomato field. I wanted them to see how cool this place was and why I got so many tomatoes. They freaked out and ended up buying another bushel and half of tomatoes! So today I get to go can more tomatoes. But I'm excited, these home canned tomatoes are so my better than any you could buy!
 |
| Rows and rows of vine ripened tomatoes |
 |
| Sometimes you find odd things when you pick your own. |
 |
| My mom and grandma working hard |
|
|
Dried Fruit:
We had such a surplus of plums that we dried our own and they are
so good! My mom and I fortunate enough to a guy who has free apples, so we're also going to dry apples. For Christmas, we're gonna give close friends a bag mixed with dried plums, dried apples, and nuts. Once you dry your own, you can never go back to the stuff in the store!
Secrets:
I had a lot of help in making all of this. I had my mom, my great grandmas' receipes and a neat little book I found in (of all places) Wal-Mart. If you're just starting to get into the wonderful world of canning, I suggest getting this book: Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.
It's chuck full of recipes, helpful hints, and step-by-step picture guides. It's a fantastic resource for beginners!
I still have a few more things to can like salsa, pears and another giant box of tomatoes. I'm so happy to be almost done! But this winter is going to be so nice with all our own canned food! Nathan sure is happy with all of my hard work!
 |
| Nathan needed a midnight snack, so he ate the jam right out of the jar! |
I'm gonna be honest here, jam is so easy to make. The key for me, is the right pectin; I only use MCP Pectin.
With beans all you do is snap them (cut off the blossom ends and cut up into reasonable sizes). Shove as many as you can into the bottle, put 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon white vinegar. Put your lids on and cook in a pressure cooker with the pressure on 12 for 20 minutes. TaDA! You have the best green beans ever!
We had such a surplus of plums that we dried our own and they are so good! My mom and I fortunate enough to a guy who has free apples, so we're also going to dry apples. For Christmas, we're gonna give close friends a bag mixed with dried plums, dried apples, and nuts. Once you dry your own, you can never go back to the stuff in the store!
