Strawberry Jam

I have made this jam and liked how simple it was.
Yields about 4 pints

Ingredients:
6 Cups Sugar
2 Quarts Strawberries

Utensils:
Water Bath Canner
Mason Jars and Lids
Sauce Pan
Potato Masher
Large Bowl
Mixing Spoon


Wash and drain the strawberries. Remove the stems. Cut the strawberries in half or into fourth (easier to crush). Then place them in a bowl and crush. It is easiest to add a small amount of the strawberries at a time to crush them. Combine the strawberries and the sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil until all the sugar has dissolved. Then let it cook until it reaches the gelling point. Make sure to stir frequently the enter time. Once the gelling point is reached, remove it from the stove. If any foam developed skim it from the top with a spoon.

While the jam is cooking down make sure the jars are washed with hot water. Boil the lid to soften the seal, leave it in the water until it is needed. Fill the water boiler half full and bring to a boil. Put the jam into each of the jars leaving about a 1/2 of an inch in the top. (1/2 in head-space). Wipe the top of the jar clean and place the lid on top. Place the rack for the canner inside and place the jars on the rack. The jars should be covered by water by at least an inch.. Add boiling water if necessary. Place the canner lid and let boil for 15 minutes. (aka process for 15 minutes) Then turn the heat off and take the lid off of the canner. Let cool for 5 minutes than remove the jars. Place them on a towel at least 1 inch apart and let cool completely 12-24 hours. The canning process will have been successful if the lid does not pop up and down anymore.

Make sure you write the date on the lid and they will be good in the jar for 5-10 years.
**Never eat anything that the lid has not be sealed the whole time. If it pops up and down just throw it away.

Gelling Test

When canning jams or jellies you need to learn what the sheeting or gelling point is. When stirring, lift the spoon out of the mix, the syrup should slide off as a sheet. It should not drip off. Once it seems to be at the sheeting or gelling point. Put a small amount of it on a chilled plate and put it in the fridge. Once it is at room temperature, check it consistency. If it is as thick as you want, then you are done. If not, let it cook some more and repeat the process the checking process.

This is not at gelling point.


This is at gelling point. The drops are coming off in a sheet together.

Fruits and Veggies

The summer is ending and that means fruits and vegetables are going on sale. Sometimes really on sale! That also means if you have a garden you have probably accumulated like 30 tomatoes that will start to spoil soon if you don't do something with the,The other day I saw strawberries a dollar a pound. When fruits and veggies go on sale that means canning time. I will start with some jams and go through to canning whole fruits.

Lets begin canning!

To start canning there are a couples of things you will need depending on what you decided to can. These are just some pictures they are not the exact brands you need to buy:

To do fruits and jams you need a water bath canner.




To do vegetables and meat you need a pressure canner.




To do something that needs to stay dry like nuts, you need a vacuum sealer.




You will also need the jars you plan on putting the items you process in.




Also needed will be Mason Jar lifters. They will keep you from burning your hands.




There are lots of other handy gadgets but they are technically not needed. One that I like and use a lot is a large funnel. Its practical but not mandatory.

Do the Math

Once you have your recipe book it's time to do the math!

The basic process is to multiple each recipe's ingredients by how many times you will eat it in a year.
For instance, say I have 7 items for breakfast I would multiple each recipe's ingredients by 52 to cover a full year's food supply.
I would repeat this for each of the other recipes.

When I did this I put it all in a spreadsheet to make sure the math was correct and to keep up with duplicate ingredients.
Some useful equivalencies to know are:

3 Teaspoons = 1 Tablespoon
16 Tablespoons = 1 Cup
2 Cups = 1 Pint
2 Pints = 1 Quart
4 Quarts = 1 Gallon

Doing the math takes a while, but it helps keep things accurate so that you don't end up with twice the amount of flour and not enough yeast for your year supply of food.

This is a great FHE activity (hint hint to get the men involved)!

Recipe Book

Once everyone has their list of meals it is easiest to put them in a book so you can physically see what each recipe requires and what you will need to buy for food storage. I made one for my family. This is just what our cover page looks like:

Breakfast
• Granola pg. 2
• Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal pg. 2
• Plain Oatmeal pg. 2
• Malt-O-Meal pg. 3
• Eggs and Toast pg. 3
• Jam and Toast pg. 3
• Cereal pg. 3
• Biscuits and Gravy pg. 3
• Pancakes pg. 4
Lunch
• Beans and Rice pg. 5
• Shepherds Pie pg. 5
• Cottage Pie pg. 5
• Tuna Casserole pg. 6
• Alfredo pg. 6
• Roast and Potatoes pg. 6
• Spaghetti pg. 7
• Chicken Pot Pie pg. 7
• Salmon and Rice pg. 8
Dinner
• Peanut Butter Sandwiches pg. 9
• Tuna Salad Sandwiches pg. 9
• Chicken Salad Sandwiches pg. 9
• Chicken and Rice Soup pg. 9
• Lentil Soup pg. 10
• Chili pg. 10
• Taco Soup pg. 11
Desserts
• Chocolate Chip Cookies pg. 12
• Brownies pg. 12
• Chocolate Lava Cake pg. 12
• Cake/Cupcakes pg. 13
Misc.
• Kool-Aid pg. 14
• Milk pg. 14
• Butter Milk pg. 14
• Bread pg. 14
• Egg Substitute pg. 14
• Instant Potatoes pg. 15
• Traditional Frosting pg. 15
• Chocolate Frosting pg. 15

I then proceeded to have a copy of each recipe.
I keep it all in a folder to keep it all in one spot.

I you want any of these recipes just let me know and I will email it to you.
Also a great source for food storage recipes is from Wendy Dewitt's book of Everything Under the Sun. (The same one she talks about in the video)

Here is the link:
http://theideadoor.com/Preparedness/everything_under_the_sun.htm

Then click on either the pdf or the word document. (it is 17 pages)

Wendy Dewitt Video

To get started I recommend you watch the Wendy Dewitt video. It is available on you tube. (I embedded them at the bottom in order to watch them.) If anyone would like a copy of the Wendy Dewitt Video let me know. I can either email it to you or burn a copy on to a disk for you to have. This is the process for which I use and what I am basing the blog off of. T
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9