Food Preservation

I've caught the bug - I'm infected and now I want to spread it to everyone else! Food preservation is easier and more obtainable than I ever expected...it just takes dedication and comitment.

I've learned some new skills in the last few months. One is how to can meat. This is a fantastic skill to have! It makes dinner time a cinch because the most time consuming part of meal preparation is cooking the raw meat. It's also cost effective because you can buy in bulk and store long term.

I've canned hundreds of pounds of meat, and most of the time everything went very smoothly. I did have one mishap, though. Apparently I packed one of our quart jars a bit too full of meat and after I opened the pressure canner one lid exploded. It was rather exciting, to say the least. It is incredible how big of a mess on quart of meat can make. Every single surface in my entire kitchen was covered in it. Yuck!

We've also started grinding our own wheat. If flour is kept on a shelf more than three days it loses a huge percentage of the protein and other nutrients in it. I enjoy making healthier, yummier breads and other items.

For some great tips, search for Wendy DeWitt on youtube and check out her website for helpful hints!