Planning on canning or freezing produce?It is always cute how they display the end product in the cabinet after it was canned and put on the shelf. Notice, a few jars! That's where I seem to get my little chuckle. A few jars... for the whole year? NOT! ... Not unless you don't like to eat much during the 365 days ahead. One batch of 7 jars does not cover the whole year, that is if you are trying to save $$$$ in the process. If you plan on canning to save $$$, then plan ahead and figure out about how much you will need for that year, not just for a meal or two. That's novelty canning!
First of all, do some calculating. Let's figure how many spaghetti meals might you be planning for the year. Maybe one a month? Do you use 2 quarts of sauce or 3 quarts each time you make a spaghetti meal? I'll figure 3, since I cook mine down. That's 3 jars x 12 months, guess what, that's 36 jars of spaghetti sauce to be canned. Not counting all my other tomato recipes.
You do the same for chili sauce, stewed tomatoes and just plain canned tomatoes. That is already over 100 jars of canned tomato product. Not counting salsas! I make more because we snack on salsa and chips often.
Now, how about the vegetables and fruits your family consumes! Maybe you will be freezing them. Do the same calculation. Figure approximately how much you will need for a full year. If you are able to get extra produce, somehow, do so. Make sure you have a place to store all your treasures and have a dependable freezer.
Growing your own is the best way to save $$$, but sometimes you might need to purchase fresh produce at a Farmers Market. Maybe one of your friends grew more than she could use, offer to help take it off her hands, so nothing goes to waste.
All in all, it does save $ throughout the year and I don't chase to town every time I get an idea to make something. I also know what went into the jars... no preservatives, additives or foreign objects. Just fresh produce and lots of love!
No comments:
Post a Comment