Food Storage - Where do you start?

Three posts in a week?  Don't pass out, anyone!



The Shelf Reliance Cansolidator Pantry Plus

 The other day my friend Shirley asked me about food storage and how to get started with it.  Now, I'm a Mormon an I make no secret of it!  But I often wonder what people who aren't Mormon think about us and our desire to store food.  We really aren't nuts, I promise.  There's just something so wonderful in the security that a good store of food.  Plus, we've been counseled by many Prophets to do it, and we kind of like to be obedient.

Our Church leaders have advised us for years to be prepared for emergencies, both financial, physical (temporal) and spiritual.  One of the things they've asked us to do is store a 3-month supply of everyday food, a two week supply (at least) of drinking water, a one year "longer term" supply of staples like whole grains and beans, and (the hardest for us personally) a financial reserve. 

So, when she read about our January Financial Experiment, my friend, Shirley, asked me about it.  She and her hubby are interested in getting started storing some basic food items, "just in case."  They aren't sure how to get started.  She said:

"So how do you do it?  How do you keep it?  Do you continue to use out of your stockpile or just put it away for emergency use (like invasion or whatever reason).  [We want] to buy large quantities staples.  I'm confused on how to put these things away without them going bad and then having to replace them occasionally.  We're brand new to this type stuff."

I wrote up a big long email with lots of resources in it and sent it off.  I imagine it was more than she anticipated.  I have a tendency to spew out large amounts of information at people.  Probably why I like blogging. 

Then I started thinking... maybe there are others out there that don't know where to start and who to ask.  So, I decided to post the information here.  And here it is!

First of all, I think that food storage is fun!  I love the feeling of putting up 40 pounds of apples.  Seeing those jars lined up and gleaming.  It makes me feel safe. I know where my next meal is coming from. 

Getting Started
Not sure what to store? You can keep a short term storage (1 year or less) of just regularly packaged foods.  You can also store foods appropriately for 20-30 years, if you want.  I prefer to have some long term and some short term.  We try to have a 3 month supply of the foods we normally eat on hand. I do this just by stocking up on the things we normally eat.  Then we rotate through it. 

I think the most important things are to A) store only products you will use and B) learn how to use the long term storage products available C) DON'T just buy it and store it away and forget about it.  It should be a contantly rotated and used system. 

It makes no sense for you to store 600 pounds of wheat if you have no idea what to do with it, if you suddenly needed it.  I have a lot of wheat stored.  I have a wheat grinder and make bread every week.  If you suddenly start introducing large amounts of whole wheat into your diet and you aren't used to it, it can actually make you sick (lots more fiber than white flour)!

Planning a 3 Month Supply
The best way to plan a 3 month supply of food for your family is to make a list of the meals you make all the time.  What are your favorites?  Then make a two or three week menu for dinners.  List out everything you need to make those meals and add them up. If you can, substitute canned, dried or frozen ingredients for fresh.  Now you know what you'll need to store for that 2-3 week period.  Multiply it out to make three months.  Now you have a three month supply list.  Once you have Dinner under control, expand the process for Lunch and then Breakfast.  A good website for this method is I Dare You to Eat It.  I have her book and love it. 

Practical Storage
As far as how to store all this stuff, my favorite place for shelving and such is Shelf Reliance.  They are pricey but awesome!  You can sometimes get them at Costco or Costco Online for less.  I have their pantry can racks and love them!  We keep most of our food storage in a big closet under our stairs.  You want to keep it somewhere that not going to get very hot.  It will shorten the life of your food. 

Online Resources
Like I said before, our Church and it's members are big into food storage and being prepared for emergencies.  The Provident Living website talks about the four important aspects of being prepared and "living providently":
Main Family Home Storage Page - the longer term supply link has some good info on storage life and containers
Family Home Storage FAQ page
Family Home Storage Calculator - A calculator to figure out how much of long term grains/beans to have

The Home Storage Center
The LDS (Mormon) Church also runs places called "Home Storage Centers".  We call them canneries :-).   Anyone can go and purchase long term storage goods there.  You don't have to be Mormon to go there.  The products are there to serve people not to make a profit so it's usually a good deal.  Plus it's packaged properly.  It's in the same building usually as our Bishop's Storehouses which are the Church's welfare facilities.  Usually when you go, you actually do the work of canning your products yourself.  But each one is run a little differently.  You'd just have to call them and ask.  Explain you aren't a member of the Church and I know they'll be helpful and explain it all.  You can get a lot of good stuff there, wheat, rice, beans, dry milk, sugar, flour, dehydrated apples, carrots, onions, macaroni, oats, spaghetti, potato flakes and some other things.  All packaged for long term storage.
Home Storage Centers in the Western United States - You can just call the number listed and see when they have time available for you to come in.
Home Storage Center Order Form - the current order form for the home Storage Center.  Lists all the products, the storage life and packaging available.

Commercial Websites
Some good commercial places for information or to purchase supplies are:
Emergency Essentials
Walton Feed
Honeyville Grain
Most or all of these places will also do group orders if you get a bunch of friends together to order. 

I hope you find this information helpful.  If I could give you one piece of advice to get you going it's this: Start small, store for one week, then two weeks, then a month.  Remember, how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!  Wow, that's kind of a gross saying now that I think of it...

Jan

Slow Cooker Swiss Steak

Here's recipe #3 for the day: Slow Cooker Swiss Steak.  This is quite possibly one of the easiest slow cooker recipes on the planet.  You can't go wrong with it!  This is my mother's recipe.  I think this was probably my most favorite dish when I was a kid.  It makes a fabulous Sunday dinner.  In a pinch, make little patties of ground beef in place of the stew meat.  I think my kids liked it better that way!  I've also substituted a jar of spaghetti sauce for the tomato sauce with delicious results.

Slow Cooker Swiss Steak - printable version

2 pounds stew beef, cut into 1 to 2 inch cubes
1 large (29 ounce) can tomato sauce or tomato puree
salt
pepper

Yield - 8 servings

In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, place a layer of beef cubes. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper
Spoon tomato sauce over each piece.
Repeat layers of beef, salt and pepepr, and tomato sauce.
Cover and cook on low heat setting for 10-11 hours or on high heat setting for 5-6 hours.
Serve over potatoes.

Perhaps this will become your kids' new favorite!
Thanks for playing!
Jan

Slow Cooker Spicy Sausage Soup

Hidie Ho, Everyone! This is recipe #2 for the day!

I've been making my Spicy Sausage Soup for quite a few years.  It's always a hit!  If you don't like spicy, you could substitute sweet italian sausage for the spicy italian sausage and also leave out the red pepper.  I often make this with the spicy sausage, but leave out the pepper anyway.  My kids don't like it too spicy.

Slow Cooker Spicy Sausage Soup - printable version

1 beaten egg
2 Tbl. milk
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 slice)
1 pound hot italian sausage (removed from casings, if in them)
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
1 () can diced tomatoes
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 pkg. wide egg noodles

Yield - 8 servings

1. To make meatballs: In a large bowl combine egg, milk, bread crumbs, and sausage. Mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Cook meatballs over medium heat in a skillet until brown on all sides. Drain. 
2. In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, place beans, tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, and spices. Add meatballs and pour broth over all. 
3. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 10-11 hours or on high heat setting for 5-6 hours. 
4. Add noodles to last half hour of cooking.

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Beef & Bean Enchilada Casserole

Wow, has it been that long since my last post?  I guess the dates don't lie.  Well, today I hope to make up for that by posting several recipes for you!  So that I can easily index these recipes, I'm going to make separate posts for each one.  Hey, does that make up for a month of no new posts?

Here's Recipe #1 for the day, Beef & Bean Enchilada Casserole.  I recently came up with this recipe and we are really enjoying it!  This is my own take on a recipe I found somewhere and photocopied.  Too bad the copy doesn't say the name of the cookbook it came out of.  No matter, I've changed it quite a bit so it's really mine now.

This makes an excellent freezer meal.  I quadrupled the recipe and froze four dishes of this last night!

Beef & Bean Enchilada Casserole - printable version

1/2 pound extgra-lean ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 tsp. chili powder or taco seasoning
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 cup salsa
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream, light or regular
2 Tbl. flour
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese

Yield - 4 servings

1. Cook the ground beef, onions, chilid powder or taco seasoning, and cumin until meet is browned and onions are tender. Drain fat. 
2. Stir in beans and salsa. Set aside. 
3. In a bowl, mix together sour cream, flour, garlic powder, and 1 cup of shredded cheese. 
4. Coat the bottom of an 8x8 pan with a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce. 
5. Place three tortillas in the bottom of the pan, cutting to fit. 
6. Top with 1/2 the meat mixture, then 1/2 the sour cream mixture, and 1/2 the enchilada sauce. 
7. Place three more tortillas on top and repeat the layers. 
8. Bake, covered with foil, at 350° for 30 minutes or until nearly heated through. 
9. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, and bake for 10 additional minutes or until bubbly. 

To freeze: After step #7, cover dish tightly with foil. Place remaining 1/2 cup of cheese in a small zipper baggie. Lay the zipper baggie on top of the dish and cover with another layer of foil. Label and date.

Thawing and heating: Thaw completely. Remove top foil and cheese packet. Proceed with steps 8 & 9 above.

Okay, that's the first recipe.  Let's see how many more I can get posted today! 

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a few weeks.  Victor and I love mushrooms, so any time I can hide it in a recipe I will.  Samantha usually catches on about half way through the meal.  Then I tell her, "You've been eating them all along, so you might as well finish them up." 

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore - printable version

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green, red or yellow pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound boneless chicken pieces (breasts, tenders, thighs etc.)
1 cube (1 tsp.) chicken bouillon
1 cup water
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can undrained diced tomatoes
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste

Yield - 6 servings

1. Combine mushrooms, celery, carrots, onion, peppers, and garlic in a slow cooker.
2. Place chicken pieces on top of vegetables.
3. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over top of chicken.
4. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
5. Break up chicken pieces with a wooden spoon before serving.
6. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.

If you can find find frozen mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions) blend, frozen onions and peppers blend, or frozen onions, you can subsitute those for some or all of the equivalent veggies.  I have all three on hand in my freezer at all times which saves me a ton of time on preparation.  Or next time you are chopping up any of those ingredients, chop up some extra and freeze 1 to 2 cup portions in individual freezer bags.

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Slow Cooker Chicken & Butternut Ragout

Last week I was trying to use up some vegetables that I'd received in my Bountiful Baskets order and was struggling to come up with a good use for the butternut squash.  I came up with this recipe to use it like a potato in the slow cooker. It was really easy and quite delicious!

I love butternut squash and so does Victor.  But my girls?  I didn't even dare say the word squash or they think they won't like it.  I don't know why, but I was the same way as a kid.  Samantha came down on Sunday morning and saw me cutting up the big thing. 

"What's that, Mom?" she asked.

"It's Butternut!" I promptly replied

We referred to it as Butternut instead of Butternut Squash throughout the preparation and the eating.  And you know what?  They ate up every bite of it's delicious goodness!  Sometimes it's all in a name!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Butternut Ragout - printable version

1 pound boneless chicken pieces (breast, tenders, thigh, etc.)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seedded and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1 (28 ounce) can of baked beans with onions (if using regular baked beans add 1/2 cup chopped onion)
1 (14.5 ounce) can undrained diced tomatoes (chili or italian style)

Yield - 6 servings

1. Mix all ingredients in a large crock pot, placing chicken breasts on top.
2. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
3. Break up chicken pieces with a wooden spoon before serving.
4. Serve in soup bowls with bread or biscuits.

And that's it!  Only four ingredients that I happened to have in the pantry and freezer.  I love that kind of Sunday morning recipe!  We will definitely be having this the next time we get a "butternut" and I know the kids will be excited!  If you don't have one, you could probably substitute potatoes in it's place or perhaps another kind of squash.  Just don't tell the kids!

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew

Having church at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday makes for a very hungry family when we finally get home around 5:30.  I've been resorting to the crock pot for meals and we are absolutely loving it!  Yesterday we had a mock chicken pot pie that was to die for.  I know if the girls finish their meals at the same time Victor and I do (and without any coaching) then it was a good one.  And if they ask for more? A really good one!  Both of those things happened yesterday, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you today.

I've been known to make a pretty good chicken pot pie in my day.  I don't do it very often because my recipe is a bit on the labor intensive side.  For this crock pot version, I decided to simplify it a bit and use canned cream of chicken soup with milk and sour cream rather than making a white sauce.  This would make a great freezer or "once a month cooking" recipe.  Just mix all the ingredients except for the chicken and pour into a gallon freezer bag.  Freeze the chicken seperately and store together.   Then on the day you want to eat it, just thaw, place it in your slow cooker with chicken and cook as directed.

We served this over "Home Storage Biscuits" (recipe below). There was enough left over for Victor to take for lunch today and for Hailey and I at home, too.   Served over the biscuits, it really does taste just like chicken pot pie!  I'm just sorry that it all was eaten before I remembered to take a picture of it.

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew - printable version


1-1/2 cups Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 (8 ounce) package baby carrots
1 cup frozen peas or mixed vegetables
1 (26 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cubes (2 tsp.) chicken bouillon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. celery salt (or regular salt)
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2-3 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Yield - 6 servings

1. Mix all ingredients in a large crock pot, placing chicken breasts on top.
2. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
3. Break up chicken pieces with a wooden spoon before serving.
4. Serve over split biscuits.

Okay, now for those biscuits.  I buy "Pancake and Waffle Mix" in bulk at the LDS Family Home Storage Center.  If you want to know if there's one in your area, check out this list of locations.  Anyway, there's no recipe on the package for anything but pancakes and waffles.  I didn't want to have to buy another mix for biscuits, so I came up with this recipe for biscuits to make from the mix.  This will work for any pancake mix, really.

Home Storage Biscuits - printable version

2 1/2 cups pancake mix (any brand)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil or melted butter
1 egg

Yield - About 9 biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients until a soft dough forms.
3. To make Drop Biscuits: Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. To make Cut Biscuits: On a floured surface, roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

I love having a versatile mix around.  I think I'll need to come up with some more recipes for it!

I've got some more slow cooker recipes that I'm working on.  I'll share them another day.  Hopefully, this one will get you inspired to try it!

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Making Pasta Sauce - First Attempt

Remember last week when I said I was going to make pasta sauce on Saturday?  Well, I finally got it made yesterday.  I guess I'm proving to you what a procrastinator I am.   I'm titling this post "First Attempt" because I'm thinking I might make it again one of these days.

Making the sauce went quite well, actually.  If I'd know it was going to be that easy (and that I could get Victor to turn the crank on the Squeezo for me), I wouldn't have procrastinated it so much.  I divided the work up over two days, which made it even easier.  Here's the recipe I used and what I did:

This is a variation on the National Center for Home Food Preservation's Spaghetti Sauce without Meat recipe.

Basic Pasta Sauce - printable version

15 lbs tomatoes (about 40 medium sized ~6 oz tomatoes)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup green pepper
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2-1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced fresh oregano
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp minced fresh basil
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp brown sugar

Yield - About 6 pints

Step 1 (I did this the night before) - Cut the tomatoes into quarters.  Place in a large stock pot.  If the tomatoes aren't very juicy put a little bit of water in the bottom of the pan (a cup or less) just so the tomatoes on the bottom don't scorch before they start producing juice.  Bring tomatoes to a rolling boil and cook for 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly.

Step 2 (I did this the night before, too) - Put the tomatoes through a food mill or sieve and place back into the large stockpot.  I use a Squeezo Strainer (thanks MOM!) which works like a dream.  My tomatoes resembled tomato juice or tomato soup when I was done.  I was skeptical that this would turn into sauce, but it absolutely did by the end.  At this point I put my stockpot of tomatoes into the fridge because it was late and I was tired.

Step 3 (The next morning for me) - Saute the onions, peppers, and mushrooms (optional) in the oil until tender.  Towards the end of the cooking time, add the garlic.  This is so the garlic doesn't get burned and bitter.  Stir the cooked vegetables into the tomatoes in the stock pot.

Step 4 - Chop up the herbs and add them along with the salt, pepper, and sugar to the tomatoes.

Step 5 - Bring the tomato mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat so that you get a low, not too excited, boil.  Boil the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it reduces to the texture and consistency you like for pasta sauce.  This took me about 5 hours, stirring every half hour or so. 

Step 6 - You can either freeze or can your sauce.  Freeze in airtight containers or food saver bags.  Can in a pressure canner at 11 pounds of pressure; 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts. 

So, that's how to make it.  Here's what I thought of the end product.  I found that it had a nice cooked tomato taste, but didn't have enough spice to it.  If I make it again I'll probably double the amount of the fresh herbs I used. 

I also wasn't impressed much by the yield.  It took a lot of tomatoes to produce 6 pints of sauce.  It wasn't particularly cost effective.  The tomatoes alone cost me about $7.00 and produced 96 ounces of sauce.  I can regularly find 28 ounce jars of pasta sauce on sale for $1.50 a jar.  I could get 4 - 28 ounce jars for that $7.00 which is 112 ounces.  And that wouldn't require much work.  I go to the store anyway.  The key money saver would be home grown tomatoes, which I'm going to attempt this year.  I'm not sure how well they'll do here in Arizona but I'm going to try.  The key, I've been told, is that Arizona Shade (with some morning sun) equals Full Sun everywhere else.  Otherwise, the tomatoes get hot inside and burst their skins before you can pick them.

I will most likely be trying this process again.  I want to use Roma Tomatoes and see if they produce less juice that has to be reduced and therefore more sauce yeild.  The tomatoes that we got on the good deal by the case were round and more juicy. 

Click here for a printable version of the recipe without all my commentary.

Are you going to give it a try?  Let me know how yours turns out!

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Adventures in Salsa Making

Happy Friday! I've been working on this post all week! I knew starting this blog would add another thing for me to do, so I might not get to it every day. But, for those of you who are interested in making and canning salsa, here's how our big Salsa Making Day went!

First off, there are a few lessons we learned...

1. You always seem to need more chili peppers, so buy more.  We were pulling them out of the freezer and even resorted to canned by the end of the day!  If you end up with extra, just peel, seed and chop them anyway.  Freeze them for next time!
2. SIT DOWN!  No, not right now, I mean when you are having a canning day (no matter what you are canning)... If you want to save your feet and back, do all the chopping sitting at your kitchen table.  This means that when your friends arrive to can with you, don't dump all the stuff they bring on the table! 
3. Never ever, under any circumstances, attempt a big canning day without an extra supply of Diet Coke!  Ha ha ha ha ha!  I was ready to do just about anything for a Diet Coke by the end of the day, and I wasn't the only one!

Okie dokie... with those little guidelines out of the way.  Here's how our day really went.

We had planned to get started just after 7:00 am, but we really didn't get going until almost 9:00.  Chalk it up to trying to get stuff done before we went to Alyson's and the yakking we did when we first got there.  Oh well.  Of course, I forgot half of what I needed and had to run back home and get things.  Luckily Alyson only lives a couple of blocks away from me.

We decided to divide up the duties which worked quite well.  I highly recommend it.  We had an Onion Chopping Station manned by Destiny, a Chili Chopping Station manned by Me, and a Tomatillo Chopping Station manned by Alyson.  After the Tomatillos were chopped Alyson moved to the Tomato Blanching Station.  After all the onions were chopped, (thanks to the Onion Chopper my mom gave once.  I love that thing.) Destiny switched to the Tomato Peeling Station.  Then they both merged into the Tomato Seeding and Chopping Station.  In the meantime, I gave myself a nice blister chopping all those chilis!  But that was fine by me, I'd rather have a blister than handle raw tomatoes about any day.

Our tomatoes were surprisingly meaty considering they were the round kind.  We got 7-8 quarts of chopped tomatoes out of a 20 pound box.  We decided to use my favorite salsa recipe, after all, which is normally used with Roma Tomatoes.  These ones seemed firm enough to give it a try.  I'll list the recipe below.  We piled up Mount Tomato in a giant bowl while we worked.  It was kind of like building a sand castle.

We varied the kinds of chilis we used.  In one batch we used poblano and jalapeno chilis.  In another we used anaheim, jalapeno, and habanero chilis.  The last batch was by the book and we used anaheim and jalapeno chilis.  It was fun to try the different varieties and see how the flavor changed.  The poblano and anaheim chilis all had to be roasted and peeled.  That's kind of a pain, but doable.  The skins on the jalapeno and habanero is thinner and you don't have to peel them. 

Meanwhile, picture all our children going crazy running around the house and backyard.  Thank goodness we live in Arizona and it was a beautiful day!  We even managed to remember to feed them lunch.  Impressive!

By about 5:00 pm we were pretty wiped out and were faced with 1 1/2 boxes of tomatoes.  We made up a batch and send it home with Destiny.  She was just soooo exhausted.  Alyson and I cranked through one box of tomatoes with the help of her wonderful hubby Chris.  We made up our batch and I took half of it home to finish up there.   I also took the last of the tomatoes to try making spaghetti sauce with (maybe tomorrow). 

The easiest part of the day was probably the actual canning part!  If you use a pH tested recipe like the one we used from the NCFHP website, then you can water bath can the jars.  15 minutes in the canner and they were done! 

The next day we met back up at Alyson's and exchanged jars.  All total we made 52 pints.  Pretty amazing, if you ask me.  And tasty, too!  I'm going to crack open my first pint at Game Night at the Davidson's tonight.  Yummmmm!

Don't they look pretty?

One last thing, Alyson saved up the tomato cores and seeds in a bowl while we were working.  I gave her my juicer to try juicing the leftovers.  She ended up with three quarts of tomato juice out of the stuff we normally would throw away!  Talk about Provident Living!!!!

Okay, here's the recipe.  This recipe comes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.  You can read the original recipe by clicking on the title below.

Tomato Salsa with Paste Tomatoes - printable version

7 quarts peeled, cored, chopped paste tomatoes

4 cups seeded, chopped long green chiles
5 cups chopped onion
½ cup seeded, finely chopped jalapeño peppers
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups bottled lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons ground cumin (optional)
3 tablespoons oregano leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (optional)

Note: This recipe works best with paste tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes require a much longer cooking time to achieve a desirable consistency.

Yield: About 16 to 18 pints

Hot Pack: Combine all ingredients except cumin, oregano and cilantro in a large saucepot and heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spices and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot into clean, hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner  for 15 minutes (adjust for altitude).

A word of note: Don't mess with the recipe beyond chaging types of peppers or the amount of seasonings and herbs.  You don't want to change the acidity of the salsa to be less acid (more vegetables than tomatoes will do this).  Less acid will mean that the salsa is unsafe to can with a water bath canner.

There you go... Salsa Making Day was amazing and exhausting!  I'll report on how the pasta sauce turns out next week! 

Thanks for playing!
Jan

It's Salsa Day!

Happy Tuesday! Today I'm heading over to my friend Alyson's house to make and can salsa.

I think I'm going to try a new recipe, so I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Lately, when I've been canning, I've been using recipes from the USDA canning website: The National Center for Home Food Preservation. It's a mouthful of a name, but it's got a ton of great info for safe canning. I made their Salsa from Paste Tomatoes recipe in the fall and really liked it. This time I was able to order a 20 pound case of tomatoes from Bountiful Baskets. Unfortunately, they are the round slicing kind of tomatoes. So, I'll be trying NCHFP's recipes for Tomato/Tomato Paste Salsa so it won't be watery. Look for a report tomorrow!

Thanks for playing!
Jan

Grocery Shopping Strategies

Happy Monday!  Today I'm pondering my kitchen agenda for the day.  There are a few things on my list:

1. Make bread
2. Make jam out of the blueberries I bought on a great deal last week.  Don't want them to go bad before I get the jam made!
3. Prepare my list of things I need for my big tomato canning day tomorrow.
4. Make the rest of my shopping list and do a little grocery shopping.
5. Plan meals for the week based on what I have in the freezer, what's on sale, and what I got from Bountiful Baskets this past weekend.

Hmmm... will I accomplish it all?  We shall see.

Speaking of grocery shopping... I thought you might like to see how I try and save a few dollars on the groceries.  I use a great website called Pinching Your Pennies to look at all the grocery ads for the week.  The grocery ads are all done by state in the State Forums.  They usually have them posted on Wednesday.  The nice people there on the forums go through the ads for you, list everything out with the price and any matching coupons.  They also let you know if the price is a good "stock up" price.  Many times I've gotten free or nearly free things at the store because of a deal I saw on Pinching Your Pennies.

If the grocery items I want are at a local store, I print out my list and coupons and use that as my shopping list.  I try not to buy anything not on the list while I'm there.  It helps to go by yourself so things don't end up in your cart by accident.  In general I only clip online printable coupons.  Mainly it's because I don't want to take the Sunday paper since I really would only use it for the coupons.  It seems more than a little wasteful to me.

If the grocery items I want are not at a local store, I print out the list and coupons, grab the actual newspaper ad (I get them in the mail) for the non-local store, and got to Walmart.  Walmart will price match groceries just like they will electronics or anything else.   You just have to have the print ad with you in case they want you to prove it.  If I haven't gotten the print ad in the mail for some reason, I have gone to the store's website and printed a shopping list from the online ad.  I've had no trouble using that at Walmart.  Here are some helpful hints on price matching at Walmart:

1. The first rule of Walmart Price Matching is... DO NOT GO WHEN IT'S BUSY!  People will get really cranky with you if you try to price match a ton of stuff on a Saturday afternoon.  Ask me how I know! I find Monday morning to be a nice quiet time at Walmart.
2. Walmart will allow you to substitute their store brand for another store brand.
3. Walmart will usually allow you to substitute their store brand for an advertised brand they don't carry.
4. Always check the Walmart store brand price versus the sale price on a name brand item you are thinking of price matching.  The Walmart store brand might be cheaper.
5. Sometimes Walmat has already lowered their price to match a competitors ad and then you don't have to go through the hassle of price matching.  They often do this on milk and sometimes on other popular items.
6. When filling your cart, try to separate your price matching and non-price matching items in your cart.  I usually divide my cart down the middle.  You'll understand why when you get to the cashier.
7. When you are shopping for meat and you aren't sure what the right package is, try and flag down a meat department employee and ask them.  After they show you the right package, make a note on your shopping list of the employee's name in case the cashier gives you a hard time.
8. Get to know your cashiers and try to go to the ones that are nicer and more experienced.  They will be less stressed about doing the price matching on a lot of items, which in turn will help you (and the people in line behind you) be less stressed.
9. When I get in line to check out, I'll often warn people that come up behind me.  "I'm price matching, so my order might be a little slow.  Just wanted to warn you."  Most people will either move to another line or say they don't mind, thus sparing you dirty looks while your order takes forever to ring up.
10. It's really important to separate your price matching and non-price matching items on the check out conveyor.  Put your non-price match items on the conveyor first, then add one of those divider bars and put up your price matching items.  Make sure you put like items together. 
11. Tell the cashier before he or she starts your order that you are price matching.  Let them know that after the divider everything is price match.
12. When it's time for price matching, stand at the register and tell the cashier each price BEFORE they scan the item.  It's helpful to have your lists and ads right there with you so they know you are serious and know what you are talking about.  Be prepared for them to challenge you if something is a significantly lower price.  I've only had this happen to me a couple of times.  If you are challenged, just calmly look in the ad for the item in question and show them the price.
13. Don't forget coupons. I had one cashier tell me that I couldn't do a price match AND a coupon on the same item.  I usually try anyway and have only been told that once.  It's not included on their official price matching policy on the internet so I figure it's perfectly fine to use a coupon and price match at the same time.
14. Lastly, be sure to thank your cashier for doing all that extra work for you.  It is stressful for them, especially if the store is busy and there are people in line behind you.

That's how to price match at Walmart!  Here's a link to Walmart's Price Matching Policy if you are curious.  There are a few things they won't price match, like buy one get one free deals and fresh bakery items.  But for the most part, I've had very good luck with it.  It is a bit stressful to do and not for the faint of heart, but if you can get over that you can save a lot of money. 


One last note, I only price match at Walmart for store ads that are more than 10 minutes from my house.  It's just not worth the hassle for stores that are close.  Plus, Walmart won't double or triple coupons, so if you do a lot of coupons you will save more money by going to the local store.

Well, I'd better stop yakking on here or I won't get any of that to-do list done!  I'm such a procrastinator! 

Thanks for playing!
Jan