Canning Chicken

Written night before last:
We made it to the Flying J truck stop in Brunswick, GA before stopping for the night.  A few minutes ago, I learned that my son had just returned to base at Kings Bay, GA after being on his boat (submarine) for months.  It turns out, I'm only about a half hour from him tonight!  Welcome home Son!


Now: 
We were able to see Zach for a few minutes yesterday. Today is my birthday... and we'll spend the day with "she who gave birth to me" ;).   We're in Sebastian Florida at my mom's house.  Yay! 

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Canning Chicken

Also written night before last: I decided to make Chicken Alfredo over pasta tonight.  Before we left Washington, I pressure canned half pint jars of boneless chicken breast (using the raw pack method).  For an easy meal, I added it to some Alfredo sauce. It was wonderful!  The best part is that I know exactly what's in it... just chicken!

I first learned about canning chicken from a Wendy Dewitt YouTube video (part 6 in the series... I think): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33bovjbt8nk.  She also has a pdf called Everything Under The Sun that has some great information.


Before you can anything, it's a good idea to check the latest USDA guidelines to make sure you're canning safely.  Consult your pressure canner manual for the specific times and further recommendations. 


One further recommendation:
After doing a ton of research, we decided this was the only pressure canner for us:
Our Pressure Cooker/Canner.  I'll have a lot more information to share about this canner in other posts!  Our pressure canner fits under the bed and I store our dry goods in it... so it isn't really taking up additional space.

Wandering Plants and Walking Onion, Part 2

This is the second part of an email from Walking onion:

Walking Onion's Food Storage

"In the spring, I often start my seeds in TX, and bring the plants north as I go, planting them in May in WI.  This is the first year I'll be bringing plants south with me.  I'm also going to start some cold weather crops here, (kale, lettuce, etc) and bring it to TX to plant this fall.  It's often challenging to start a fall garden in the south, because the weather is too hot for cold weather crops to germinate.  This way, they'll germinate in the cool weather up north, and by the time I get south, the weather will be cool enough for them to thrive.

So. The second pic I'm sending, is my food pantry when I left WI.  In the pic, you can see some of the food I have in "long term storage" or in the pantry.  I dried a TON of apples, broccoli, and tomatoes(not pictured).  I also canned plums (second shelf from the bottom, left side) apple sauce (the rest of the left side), strawberry (upper right) and blueberry jam. I won't survive on this the whole winter, but it helps, and it's so good!"

To be continued...