Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Talithahorse]

I have had the hardest time overcoming my fear of canning meat. I have a pressure canner and have canned some green beans. Some of the jars are going on two years old. Having survived microbiology class, I just have to work through and eat those dang green beans. I would love to can chicken broth when I process the chickens. Right now I have a few jars frozen in the freezer but with a full cow in the freezer, plus salmon (I buy the wild sockeye in season and freeze enough for the year so we only eat the wild salmon), plus some of the chickens that I processed, my freezers (yep, I have two) are pretty full. And I still want to buy a whole pig for the winter. Meat is so expensive and I really want good farm raised food. We raised two calves and put them in the freezer (enough for three families for a year) and am trying to decide if I am brave enough to take on raising a couple of piglets next year. I also plan on significantly increasing my chicken production for next year to raise enough for three families instead of one but my Dorking numbers are just starting to get to where I have enough for that. Anyone else have troubles with the idea of trusting yourself with canned meat?

Oh and I envy you people who can grow anything. I seem to only be able to grow invasive grass. Every year we battle, I lose....

I cannot even manage with the grow boxes that can run away from the grass!!!

 

[napdognewfie]

I've been lurking for a little while.

Been canning my whole life. First I helped mom & after she died I had to do it alone or go without my beans & tomatoes & spaghetti sauce & soup. I just had to. Lol

I dug out the books and made the first thing. Green beans. They looked wonderful. I don't know how long it was before I finally got the nerve to open a jar. I felt like I was serving my family a jar of potential death. Lol

That was 1988 & I'm still here. If you follow the directions then everything inside the jar is sterile. It will stay that way till something breaks the seal. I have heard that there is no limit to how long it will stay sealed but flavor, texture, color & nutrition are going to be affected.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Thats the one I bought at the same time as the Canner.... I also went to Barnes and Nobel and bought two recipe books... Mainly for the processing times.... I have my own recipes that I believe would survive the process of canning.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I bought a case of them when I bought the canner... and took a look....

they are pints. Its those detailes that sometimes mess me up.

Dry beans? you mean not cooked and put in the jar Dry?

Here are a couple of things I would love to have on the shelf:

BRoths/stocks:
Beef
Chicken
Vegetable
Fish
Bone

Fat:
Ghee (clarified butter)
bacon grease
Home rendered lard
Home rendered beef fat
Duck fat

Meat:
Beef
Chicken
lamb
Guinea
duck (Muscovy)

Fish:
Salmon
tuna
Home raised Tilapia

Fruits and veggies of course... but I am not a Jam person with a couple of exceptions
apricot preserves
Marmelade
apple jelly

preserved fruit
Spiced peaches
Apricots
Apple Butter
Apple Sacue

veggies
Asparagus
Carrots
corn
green beans
Beets
Rutabegas
potatoes
Tomatoes

The meals I would like to have on the shelf
Home made Tamales
Beef stew
Chicken pot pie (base)
chili

deb

 

[Beekissed]

Did you guys know that my simple Mirro pressure canner, that I got off Amazon for $38 and free s/h costs $315 plus s/h over on the UK Amazon site? I've always wondered why they seemed to can nothing but jams, chutneys and pickles and now I know...they don't have the wonderful access to cheap goods that we have here.

If ever you get to feeling like America's economy is bad or the price of things too high, just cruise on over to forums in the UK and see what they deal with...very much restriction of freedoms we take for granted every day, HUGE cost of living, have to rent small plots of land on which to garden and those allotments have all sorts of rules and restrictions, etc. It's no wonder they seem to resent us fat Americans...

Life is too short to wait until "someday" to start canning, Deb! I say, go for it! Can up left overs, sales on meat, anything you can get your hands on just for practice and enjoy the freedom of having a cheap way to put up food.

 

[perchie.girl]

Ok I just saw my first video on Dry Canning..... AWESOME.... 20 pounds of dry pinto beans and 20 pounds of rice

Just done in the oven.... they keep 15-20 years Have to be done on very low humidity days.... Perfect for me.

deb

 

[funnyfarmmom]

Ok I just saw my first video on Dry Canning..... AWESOME.... 20 pounds of dry pinto beans and 20 pounds of rice Just done in the oven.... they keep 15-20 years Have to be done on very low humidity days.... Perfect for me. deb

Uh-oh. Im curious now. Never heard of dry canning lol. But I do have all these beans growing...lol. Have to watch that video when I get a minute. Youngest DD's rabbit had babies last night, right in the middle of my candle-making. So have to finish the candles today, plus its baking and laundry day here. Plus I need to find time to weed the garden and add another row of twine for the peas to climb... might be midnight before I watch that video lol.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have all the ingredients for home made liquid laundry detergent... based on the recipe with Fels Naptha, washing soda, and Borax. Plan to make some this week. However, when I use a product up, I like to buy a replacement, so I'll always have more on hand. Couldn't find any more FN. But, WM stocked Zote. I saw a YT video re: using Zote for home made detergent. The same author (dry canning beans and rice) uses Zote, Borax, washing soda, baking soda, and an Oxyclean type of product. Have any readers tried this recipe, and do you like it? How does it compare to Fels Naptha??

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have all the ingredients for home made liquid laundry detergent... based on the recipe with Fels Naptha, washing soda, and Borax. Plan to make some this week. However, when I use a product up, I like to buy a replacement, so I'll always have more on hand. Couldn't find any more FN. But, WM stocked Zote. I saw a YT video re: using Zote for home made detergent. The same author (dry canning beans and rice) uses Zote, Borax, washing soda, baking soda, and an Oxyclean type of product. Have any readers tried this recipe, and do you like it? How does it compare to Fels Naptha??

Zote works fine but FN is a higher quality laundry soap IMO. I use both on occasion- I particularly like to hand scrub new stains with a bar of soap as a prewash. I don't make my laundry detergent anymore but I did try it for awhile. I buy the costco bucket kirkland brand.

So yes I would recommend buying a bar to try it. You may like it just fine. It is cheaper if I remember!

I tended to use a bit more of my detergent when I made it with Zote just since I felt it was less concentrated or something? It was just a feeling- nothing concrete.

I don't think baking soda adds anything. I tried adding baking soda and it didn't seem to change the efficacy of my detergent.

The reason I stopped making my detergent is that DH's cousin said that he had a problem with his septic when he switched to homemade detergent based on soap like I was using. So that kind of scared me and I went back to store bought. His theory was that the soap was not dissolved enough?

 

[funnyfarmmom]

Zote works fine but FN is a higher quality laundry soap IMO.  I use both on occasion- I particularly like to hand scrub new stains with a bar of soap as a prewash. I don't make my laundry detergent anymore but I did try it for awhile. I buy the costco bucket kirkland brand.

So yes I would recommend buying a bar to try it. You may like it just fine. It is cheaper if I remember!

I tended to use a bit more of my detergent when I made it with Zote just since I felt it was less concentrated or something? It was just a feeling- nothing concrete.

I don't think baking soda adds anything. I tried adding baking soda and it didn't seem to change the efficacy of my detergent.

The reason I stopped making  my detergent is that DH's cousin said that he had a problem with his septic when he switched to homemade detergent based on soap like I was using. So that kind of scared me and I went back to store bought. His theory was that the soap was not dissolved enough?

Has anyone had a problem with their homemade detergent eating holes in their clothes? Ive been using it for awhile now, but I noticed today two pieces of clothing that I know where fine when they went into the washer had several holes in each when they came out. One was brand new, had been worn once. I use the Fels-Naptha, Borax and washing soda recipe.