Canning more still...

It's been a very busy canning season for me this year. So far in just this month I have put up the following:

1 quart jar of dehydrated cherry tomatoes (trust me, that's a lot of tomatoes!)
1/2 gallon bag of green beans for the freezer
15 quarts of canned green beans
13 half pints of apple/pear butter
12 pints and 10 half pints of salsa
6 Quart jars of dehydrated sliced Zucchini and Squash
4 quart jars of dehdrated shreaded zucchini and squash
13 half pints and a 1/4 pint of Jalapeno jelly
10 half pints of strawberry freezer jam
9 half pints of cooked strawberry jam
10 half pints of peach freezer jam
19 half pints of cooked peach jam
2- 1 gallon bags of green beans for the freezer
4 pints and 3 half pints of strawberry fig jam
12 half pints of apple-pear butter-need to make more of that.


In June I did the following:
25 or so Various pints and half pints of pickles (cukes and zucchini), relishs, etc, picked vegies, etc. All have tasted good so far.
22 pints of roma bush beans
5 quarts of kosher dill pickles
13 pints of Kentucky Wonder beans
2- 1 gallon ziplock bags of green beans
6- 1 quart bags of green beans
6 bags of shreaded zucchini (2 cup measurements)
16 bags(1 cup measurement) shreaded yellow squash.
26 quarts of canned green beans
Lots of shreaded/sliced zucchini and squash run through the dehydrator
8 bags of 2 cup portions of zucchini into freezer
8- 1 cup portions of zucchini -freezer
6 half pints and 1 large container of salsa for the freezer
15 1/2 pints and 12 pints of salsa canned
10 zucchini (some quite large) shreaded and dehydrated -filled 2 1/2 quarts
Various amounts of other squash, zucchini and tomatoes dehydrated.

From the storehouse I canned in #10 cans:
6 cans of dried apples
6 cans of potato flakes
Then 45 #10 cans of various amounts of flour, sugar, beans, white rice and oats.

In May I did over 80 pints of canned (previously dried) black, white and pinto beans-now I have instant beans like you'd buy in the can at the stores for a fraction of the cost. A 25 lb bag of beans was around $9 when I bought them. Some of the beans went into #10 cans, the leftovers went into the jars. It only takes about a 1/4 a cup of dried beans to make a full pint.

Yummy Bread!

I have to admit that I did buy two loaves of bread since I began making our own...I truely don't want to do that again; it's like eating fluff...there is not much to it. Homemade bread is just way better once you find the right recipe that your family enjoys. I have found it...it was another recipe that I found and then did a little tweaking with for our own likes. It's an oatmeal wheat bread that is just Yum! I'll have to post the recipe if anyone wants to try it. I do mix it in my bread machine, but take it out to rise and bake. I do not like the way my machine does it.

There is nothing better than a warm slice of this bread slathered with butter and homemade jam. Today my jam of choice happens to be peach...tomorrow may be blueberry or blackberry! The kids love it this way too, although J prefers it 2 slices toasted and buttered with one of our farm fresh eggs fried and put in between. That is just a little piece of heaven right there!