Monday, January 9, 2023

Canning Success and Failure


Sweet boy, napping in the sun


Hello, friends.  During the winter, the low sun shines in the front door, and I move one of the pup beds there during the day, so they're able to lay in it.  Last week, I was able to use a 10% coupon code for a business purchase.  There were some crumbled black bean burgers I needed to use up.  I decided to make a lentil sloppy joe recipe, and also added some mushrooms that needed using.  It was excellent, and no food waste..  Then later in the week, the last of the sloppy joe was added to vegetable soup, along with leftover beans and rice, and a small amount of lambs quarter and spaghetti squash.  I want to be sure to use it all up, especially these days.  J & I gathered all the metal scrap we'd been collecting, and took it to the salvage yard, which brought us $47 and change.  I enjoyed the cranberry quinoa salad so much on Christmas, I made some more, and baked one of our butternut squash to go with it.



During the week, I had a canning fail, with apple pie filling.  I'm not sure if it was because I used Ultragel, which I haven't used very many times in the past, or because I used Tattler lids, but two out of three quarts spewed when I took them out of the canner, and the third didn't seal.  It wasn't what I planned, but it won't be wasted.  I realized the ultragel is a corn product, which I'm not supposed to have, so made a pie for J with the first half of the filling.  Happily, there was canning success with vegetable broth.  Vegetable scraps were defrosted on the woodstove before processing, and 11 pts were added to the pantry.  There are many more bags of frozen vegetable scraps to process, but I wanted to work on just one large pot of scraps at a time that day.  J took down a tree that was blocking a portion of the solar panels, and let me know there were branches with usnea.  I was able to forage a nice basketful, and began a jar of glycerite with it.



The handle to the spout on our tea kettle broke, and J fabricated a new one.  The usual composting, saving veggie scraps for broth, washing ziploc bags for reuse, saving warm up water, and shredding paper happened.  After reading about mache at The Prudent Homemaker, I ordered seeds, as well as two new to me paste tomatoes, and borage, with a 10% off coupon.  After a dinner out with our granddaughter, we stopped at Harris Teeter, and looked through their marked down Christmas.  J got candy canes and a pack of chapsticks ("holiday flavors"), marked down.  Sadly, the sale priced produce I wanted had sold out, and what was available wasn't the best quality.  Still, I'm thankful to get what I could.  A coupon code was used for supplements, saving 24%.



Soapmaking is back in gear, and the oils were melted on the woodstove to save propane.  I wrapped soap, while it was raining Sunday, and the nearly bare shelf is beginning to be replenished.  I'm greatly enjoying reading The Rose Code, a WWII historical fiction.  A small amount of bread crumbs were found in the freezer, and were added to the chicken mash one day.  There were also everything bagels that I mentioned to my husband months ago, but as he hasn't eaten them, they'll also be used in chicken mash.  No sense in keeping them, as I'm GF now.  I used to love using them for egg sandwiches.  The band that played at our wedding celebration was at a local brewery Saturday, and  J & I went to enjoy the show. Friends joined us, and there were a number of people we knew there.  It was a most enjoyable date night.  Take good care of yourselves, friends.


12 comments:

daisy g said...

I just love your attention to thrift and having so little waste in your kitchen. It sounds like you are enjoying some wonderful comfort food. Even the chooks are benefitting!

The rain was a blessing, but I'm hoping the sunshine this week can dry out the grass a bit, so that we can get woodchips delivered here. Feast or famine, it seems.

Enjoy your week my friend!

Laurie said...

Things are pretty muddy here at the moment. Are the wood chips from the chip drop folks? Here's to abundant sunshine this week!

Barbara Rogers said...

I really enjoy reading your blogs, but haven't commented before. I'm near Asheville, in Black Mountain...and live in a senior apartment. But I do enjoy hearing about all your wonderful techniques in cooking and life chores. I had to look up usnea today, not being familiar with it. Sorry your apple pie canning didn't work. THanks for sharing here.

Staci D said...

I enjoy mache - it's delicious! Your soap packaging is beautiful. That's too bad about the apple pie filling. Happy you found out about the Ultragel before you ate it. I bet it's very difficult to avoid corn. My cousin's daughter has a corn allergy, and I couldn't believe how many different foods have corn/corn products in them. I agree with Daisy - your ability to keep kitchen waste so low and find great prices is something I admire. Reading your posts is so inspiring!
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

daisy g said...

The wood chips will come from the tree trimmer who worked on our trees out back. He said he'd bring me a load anytime I wanted. He actually had brought a load that I couldn't receive because I was working on spreading what I already had! I've gotten two loads from ChipDrop in the several years I've been registered with them.

Laurie said...

Thank you, Barbara and Staci! Barbara, I love the Asheville/Black Mt. area. I've found usnea on hikes in Asheville before, and expect it's pretty abundant where you are.

Staci, happy to know! I'm looking forward to trying mache, and hope it will grow well here. So many things are difficult to avoid, especially if eating out... corn, vinegar, citric acid (in tomato products, olives, etc). Often, GF offerings are heavy on corn based items. I was so happy to find a vegan restaurant for my GD's birthday, which had something I could eat. Thankfully, she and my husband were happy with the veggie burger and quesadilla they got.

How excellent, Daisy, to have made a connection with a tree trimmer, who will share his bounty with you!

Sandy Miller said...

January is a month I have time for thrifting! I worked for a woman from France several years ago and mache was the one and only thing she insisted on having in her garden! Spring will be here soon, I hope. Enjoyed the read this morning❣️

Laurie said...

I hope you find some excellent treasures! My sister and I have a day planned next week. I need to start thinking about planting seeds soon.

Jeannie said...

I am having a horrible time with my Tattler lids and I can't figure out what is wrong. Some of them have warped and are crooked which you can see if you put them flat on a table. Others have bludged up, and others have sunk in. I put an "X" on the ones that don't seal, but then the next time they will seal. They cost a fortune and should be lasting better than this.

The one thing I have found that is successful is to use the rubber seal with regular metal lids. Both can be used again if you carefully lift the metal lids off the jar. It was tested by Rose Red Homestead on Youtube after Tattler was not pleased with her comments. She tried using them and then tested it for a year to see if the seals held. You can follow her on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0eQEEqx-SQ&ab_channel=RoseRedHomestead--That%22WomanwithaGadget%22

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Laurie said...

That's terrible about your Tattler lids. I haven't noticed any warping on mine, but they definitely have a lower success rate. One change I've made that's working surprisingly well is to reuse the metal lids. I use a JarKey lid remover, and make sure none of the lids look warped. I've used a number of them three times without problem. Does the rubber seal increase the rate of success on metal lids? Just wondering why you'd add it? I've watched a few of her videos.

Jeannie said...

I have something similar to the JarKey that I purchased from Tattler. If one of my guys is close by, I have them pop the lid off with their hands. They can do that without bending anything, I don't have the strength.

I use the rubber rings with metal lids to save money. I have an electric Nesco canner and am constantly canning leftover soups, beans, and meals in jars. I use my canner like other people use their freezers. It helps avoid going down the basement steps to the freezer. I am rotating through jars rapidly and use a lot of lids every month. It does add up.

Some jars are given to my bachelor sons when they return home in exchange for helping their dad do maintenance chores. This past weekend one son visited and soldered my (expensive) infrared healing light back together and I sent him home with canned beans, chicken, soup, and homemade bread. We both were thrilled with the trade. He will return the jars and lids and I will fill them up again.

Laurie said...

OK, so it helps save lids! Got it. It sounds like you and your sons have a mutually beneficial agreement!