Monday was quite productive. Let me first explain my motivation for canning the sorts of things I show you. When prices started climbing a few years ago, I got miffed because the Pastorelli Pizza Sauce we used to purchase by the case had gone from $.99 a can to $1.79. We were already growing tomatoes, so canning our own pizza sauce was the first thing on my list.
Then, I looked in our pantry cupboards and assessed what sorts of things I regularly purchased at the grocery store, and what I might be able to do here myself. I'm talking about the things you usually find in the center of the store...not the things around the edges. I refer to the "edges" as produce, meat, dairy, but not the bakery area. I already handle that myself.
That's why you'll see many of the things I can are from the "center of the store"...jams, cake/muffin/brownie mixes; canned tomatoes and other tomato derivatives; spices; beans. You get the idea.
About the beans. I've been asked why I can beans when the dry beans last indefinitely. My reply is that in order to cook said beans, they're usually either quick cooked - which isn't really quick, or soaked overnight and then cooked. By pressure canning, I'm essentially cooking them as they're preserved, and I only need to crack open a jar and reheat them. Much simpler, don't you agree?
In the first photograph, I've canned chicken breasts (cubed). I found the Amish chicken breasts (no preservatives, no additives, no medicines in the meat) on sale, so I bought four and a half pounds. Three pints are seasoned with a taco seasoning, and the other two are plain, in their own broth.
I also canned half of an eight pound bag of pinto beans, which yielded eleven pints of finished beans. Are you getting the idea we like Mexican food? You'd be right.
The other bean I canned on Monday was a red kidney bean to which I added home mixed chili seasoning. When I want to make up a batch of chili, I chop onions and celery, brown them in a large pot, and then add my home canned beef, chili beans, and home canned tomatoes. I also add a bit of beef broth into the mix. I have a tender meat chili in less than an hour! The best part is that I know what's in every ingredient, and know I'm serving healthy food. I have sixteen pints to put on the shelf.
While the canning was going on, I took all the beef fat I'd trimmed over the past few months (that I'd frozen until I had a good batch) and cut it into 2" square pieces. Into an aluminum pan, and into a 350º oven. That roasted for the entire time I was canning, so I think that was close to four hours. At the end, I checked the temperature of the oil to be sure it was around 225º F, at which time I pulled the pan out of the oven.
I removed the remaining solids, and strained the liquid gold through a fine sieve, lined with multiple layers of cheese cloth. When that was done, I ended up with a full pint jar, plus half of a small one. I set it aside to solidify.
