Preserving- A change in thinking.

[Durgan]

My comment is somewhat physiological.

Utilizing the bounty of Summer for off season use is the aim. People preserve produce and the product is only desirable for short periods. I know a lady who has a basement with many jars of preserves that never get used. They preserve (keep) but are palatable in small amounts. For example, How much sauerkraut, dill pickles, salsa, etc. can your eat and is it sufficient.

After musing about this issue for some time I decided to experiment with juicing and pressure canning. I find the end product to be desirable and it is probably nutritional. I add nothing to the produce except water. Preparation time is minimal, since I basically take the produce as is and process. This year I have about 150 litres of wholesome food and ingest about half a litre or more per day.

6 August 2011 Making Vegetable Juice 6 August 2011 Making Vegetable Juice
6 August 2011 Green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers for Juice. 6 August 2011 Green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers made into Juice.
10 August 2011 Tomato Juice 10 August 2011 Tomato Juice
15 August 2011 Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) Extracting Raw Juice 15 August 2011 Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) Extracting Raw Juice.
26 August 2011 Elderberry Twenty Pounds Processed. 26 August 2011 Elderberry Twenty pounds Processed.
31 August 2011 Niagara Grapes 31 August 2011 Niagara Grapes
12 September 2011 Pear Juice 12 September 2011 Pear Juice
14 September 2011 Boca Noir Grapes 14 September 2011 Boca Noir Grapes
15 September 2011 Tomatoes Processing. 15 September 2011 Tomatoes
16 September 2011 Concord Grapes. 16 September 2011 Concord Grapes
4 October 2011 Ground Cherry. (Physalis Pruinosa) 4 October 2011 Ground Cherry. (Physalis Pruinosa) aka Aunt Molly Ground Cherry

Reflect on it a bit and comment.

[frugalfranny]

You have a good point and I had to stop making pickles this year for that reason........now salsa, THAT is another matter.........I cook with it............A LOT... and always take a jar with chips when invited somewhere, so I go through a lot!

BUT.........I give a lot of my canned items away at Xmas as only one person I know also does canning. Always get comments about how much better tasting it is than store stuff......so figure it must be appreciated!

Plus.........don't have a pressure canner......so........

[Durgan]

You have a good point and I had to stop making pickles this year for that reason........now salsa, THAT is another matter.........I cook with it............A LOT... and always take a jar with chips when invited somewhere, so I go through a lot!

BUT.........I give a lot of my canned items away at Xmas as only one person I know also does canning. Always get comments about how much better tasting it is than store stuff......so figure it must be appreciated!

Plus.........don't have a pressure canner......so........

Presto Pressure Canner 23 Quart Presto. Cheap and the best on the market. No complicated silly mechanism. They last forever. All things are absolutely safe due to high temperature possible. Don't leave home without it.

[joyofsix]

It depends, of course, on your family. I easily use a quart of salsa and half pint of jam a week. I do make a point of only preserving what I know we will eat and what is worth my time investment tomato juice isn't something my family enjoys but salsa gets eaten 3 meals a day.

[Durgan]

It depends, of course, on your family. I easily use a quart of salsa and half pint of jam a week. I do make a point of only preserving what I know we will eat and what is worth my time investment tomato juice isn't something my family enjoys but salsa gets eaten 3 meals a day.

Ya can hardly live on salsa and jam. Condiments Only. You missed the essence of my post.

[frugalfranny]

Presto Pressure Canner 23 Quart Presto. Cheap and the best on the market. No complicated silly mechanism. They last forever. All things are absolutely safe due to high temperature possible. Don't leave home without it.

Thanks durgan.

Will have to think about it...........I don't do a 'huge' garden like some on here and not sure I could justify it.

My true taste preference for things are freezer goods..........but my freezer got too full.
The thought of 'canned meat' just about gags me........but.....would like to "try" it. My mother never did that so guess I am just sort of following her example.

OTOH...........you can't beat the taste of HOME CANNED fruit!!
And that is one thing that is a tad bit better when canned....though I like freezer and canned............HOME STUFF, of course.

[Durgan]

Thanks durgan.

Will have to think about it...........I don't do a 'huge' garden like some on here and not sure I could justify it.

My true taste preference for things are freezer goods..........but my freezer got too full.
The thought of 'canned meat' just about gags me........but.....would like to "try" it. My mother never did that so guess I am just sort of following her example.

OTOH...........you can't beat the taste of HOME CANNED fruit!!
And that is one thing that is a tad bit better when canned....though I like freezer and canned............HOME STUFF, of course.

All I cook is for Ginny, dog, and me. I probably have enough for the Winter season, and I do like it all. I am going to get a pumpkin today and give it a try, after reading up on its nutrient value.

Mind you I tend to look upon food with a view of adding gas to a car. It is something I need to function. Not that I don't enjoy a social meal now and then of the typical Western material. I tend to pay attention to my girlish figure.

I am of the opinion the Western diet has to be changed, since it is causing problems, evidenced by the obesity epidemic, and the many sickness of the aged, and not so aged.

[frugalfranny]

I am going to get a pumpkin today and give it a try, after reading up on its nutrient value.

That is one of the things that I told myself I was going to experiment with more this year.....That and sweet potatoes and/or yams.......same as you, nutrient value.

Also going to try a variety of toppings on reg. potatoes so I can 'back off' the butter and/or gravy.........except at holidays, of course!!

I tried salsa (just a bit) on reg. potatoes this week.........not bad, and much lower in calories than my normal!

Potatoes are good for you..........if we would just leave off the STUFF we put on them.

[Durgan]

That is one of the things that I told myself I was going to experiment with more this year.....That and sweet potatoes and/or yams.......same as you, nutrient value.

Also going to try a variety of toppings on reg. potatoes so I can 'back off' the butter and/or gravy.........except at holidays, of course!!

I tried salsa (just a bit) on reg. potatoes this week.........not bad, and much lower in calories than my normal!

Potatoes are good for you..........if we would just leave off the STUFF we put on them.

I don't eat bread and use a potato almost daily for some carbohydrates. Butter is used, since I only eat about a pound per month. The potato is nuked on the setting on the micro and is almost as if baked. With my attention to food and nutrition, I will be vigorously digging my own grave just before expiring, then jumping in.

[daylily]

Good thoughts Durgan.

I don't can salsas, jams, etc. because we don't eat them. OTOH, I do can lots of fruits and vegetables because we do eat them. We grow a big garden and try to can everything (or freeze or dehydrate it) so we can have a variety for winter.

Some things we can include-corn, greens, carrots, green beans, dried beans, okra, tomatoes, celery, applesauce, apple slices, apple juice, blueberries, pears,pear juice, nectarines, gooseberries, cherries if we can get them. If we didn't can all this when it's abundant, we wouldn't have it to eat. We do not have money to buy this stuff in winter. It's just that simple

We also store winter squash, turnips, potatoes, apples, etc to be eaten fresh for as long as they will keep. We freeze and dry some of the same things and some different things.

[Durgan]

Good thoughts Durgan.

I don't can salsas, jams, etc. because we don't eat them. OTOH, I do can lots of fruits and vegetables because we do eat them. We grow a big garden and try to can everything (or freeze or dehydrate it) so we can have a variety for winter.

Some things we can include-corn, greens, carrots, green beans, dried beans, okra, tomatoes, celery, applesauce, apple slices, apple juice, blueberries, pears,pear juice, nectarines, gooseberries, cherries if we can get them. If we didn't can all this when it's abundant, we wouldn't have it to eat. We do not have money to buy this stuff in winter. It's just that simple

We also store winter squash, turnips, potatoes, apples, etc to be eaten fresh for as long as they will keep. We freeze and dry some of the same things and some different things.

Not many like you around. Sincere congratulations.

[Early Bird]

It depends, of course, on your family. I easily use a quart of salsa and half pint of jam a week. I do make a point of only preserving what I know we will eat and what is worth my time investment tomato juice isn't something my family enjoys but salsa gets eaten 3 meals a day.

I'm with you! If I ever get a nicely-producing garden -- and some canning skills, I'm gonna make enough salsa to even satisfy DH! That man could live on salsa!

If he ever needs life support, they'll have to put salsa in his IV drip.

[peanut]

Hmmm...interesting post. This is something DH and I faced this year. I decided I was only going to can what we ate on a regular basis. There were some condiments, but we use them too. However the bulk of our space went to sugar free canned fruit (canned in apple juice). DH loves applesauce, and I use it to replace fat in baking. So we had 52 jars of applesauce at the beginning of the fall. Not anymore.

I made just enough jam to see us through the year, but we're going through it faster...I think because it IS homemade. It's also sugar-free.

We have lots of salsa, but then we eat lots of salsa. And we tried some apple chutney, another condiment, and it's received rave reviews from everyone. Truthfully, it is not sugar-free and I've been gifting it to people, just keeping one small jar for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas.

We eat pickles and the people who gave us garden produce this year are pickle people. So I made B & B pickles and Dilled Carrots and Beans to gift to them on occasion, and to eat up ourselves.

I tend to freeze most of my vegetables and fruit. I've frozen apples, grapes, canteloupe, peach cubes, rhubarb, etc. As well as beans, cauliflower, squash of various types, beet greens, Swiss chard, green pepper, tomatoes, pumpkin, etc.

I have such limited space for storage that I do have to be careful to only put up what we eat, and keep control of the quantity to cover just ourselves and any gifts to others who have helped us out throughout the year.

[Durgan]

Hmmm...interesting post.

Where do you live? I was born on a homestead in Carrot River, Saskatchewan.

[peanut]

I'm in Regina now. But I started out in the Maritimes. Love your take on food preserving though. We've gone the route of having a cold room full of food we wouldn't normally eat. One problem is we could use a jar or two of something (say pickled beets), but a full recipe is anywhere from 6 - 10 jars of something! Depending what it is. That is frustrating.