Working With Food

How Many Jars Do You Need For Canning?

May 7, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Well, the short answer is all of them. No, I am not exaggerating. When you are gardening to produce food for your family, chances are you would like to preserve some of that harvest for the rest of the year. Or if you are trying to take advantage of a produce sale? Better to have too many jars than not enough. While you can Google recipes all day long, I am more interested in the nitty gritty deals that most people forget to tell you about. Like how many jars do you need for canning? That all depends on your goals.

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Before We Jump In

I’ve written a couple posts on canning, so I don’t feel the need to sound like a broken record. But if you haven’t already, check out my post on gearing up for canning season, my homestead buying guide, and my shelving systems. Trust me, you will be glad you did…. at least for the shelves.

Next, we need to ask some questions before we determine how many jars you need for canning. If you are a beginning homesteader or canner, you will need to answer some questions like the ones below.

Are you looking to supply food for the entire year?

If you are looking to supply your family with an entire year of tomato sauce, you need to look very carefully at how much tomato sauce you currently buy or make. For us, we eat spaghetti about once a week. That means I need at a minimum 52 jars of tomato sauce.

The next question is, is that enough? For us, 52 jars would be gone in about six months. Because we also make chili and other things with tomato sauce. Or we will double or triple recipes because we need left overs for work. It’s the same way with green beans, corn, peas, pickles, etc. If I only can enough for what we use, we will be out in no time. That lesson was learned the hard way.

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How many people are you feeding?

We are a family of four. But we homeschool and work 24-48 hour shifts. That means that we need left overs. Also we have two growing boys and that means we are also feeding I’m hungry, it’s not mine, and I didn’t do it. So when I am making my projection list for canning, I round WAY up.

What is your skill level with canning?

If you are a novice canner, you need to really consider if you are capable of canning more complex items like soups or stews. It’s not that soups and stews are SO hard to do. It’s actually more of a do you understand the actual process of canning.

For example; if your favorite soup has noodles, do you know that the noodles will turn to mush and become inedible. Same thing with rice, zucchini and other foods that are not as hardy. I’m a advanced but not pro level canner. I still make mistakes. So I know that I need to pay attention or all that hard work will be for not.

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Where are you going to put the jars?

I am extremely lucky that I have a full basement. I have sectioned off an entire food storage room. When it’s finished it will have walls, air vents, and a dehumidifier. Jared has also built me these fantastic shelves.

BUT if you don’t have that, you really need to consider how much you can actually can. If you have a tiny pantry, no basement, or other place to put them, you need to get really creative with where stuff will go.

I’ve seen under the bed storage systems for jars that will blow your mind. Keep in mind that your jars should be stored in a cool, dark place. So in a garage that is not temperature controlled probably isn’t the best idea.

Are you buying produce, or are you growing it?

We buy and grow a lot of our produce. Unfortunately, we can’t grow everything we need right now. That’s okay. It’s in the works to grow all the corn we need for a year. But it’s not here yet. If there are financial or garden space constraints, it’s better to identify them now.

Either way, knowing where you are going to source what goes in your jars is another key point in figuring out how many jars you need for canning.

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How far away is your local store?

Our local Wal-Mart is about 25 minutes from us. So if I run out of jars, lids, or anything else, I can get to it pretty quickly. The downside is, when it’s canning season in a farming community, there are no jars. You would be lucky to find anything.

Last year, I bought brand new cases of jars because Wal-Mart had no lids! The only way I could get them was to buy the entire set up. Which is fine! I needed more jars anyways.

If your local store is more than an hour away, I would make sure to always have extra jars on hand. Maybe 1 or 2 cases per type of jar.

So how many jars do you need for canning?

I hate to break it to you, but there is no magic formula here. After you answer the questions above, you can get a much better idea for how many you need. BUT I’m not going to leave you hanging. If you are a beginning homesteader and you are trying to figure out a realistic number, I will tell you what I did.

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I buy 2 cases per size, per person, per meal.

And yes, it is a TON of jars. Part of my yearly canning list looks something like this:

52 quarts and pints of corn

52 quarts and pints of green beans

104+ quarts of tomato sauce

50 quarts and 25 pints each of: chicken noodle soup base (no noodles), beef stew, enchilada soup, taco soup, beef roast, potato soup, and chili.

25 pints of salsa

25 quarts of pickles

50 quarts each of pinto, black, kidney beans

100+ jars of potatoes

We are a family of 4 and again, we need to have enough for left overs, lunches, if the boys are home alone for the day, etc. This helps to make sure that even if we don’t eat all that corn, we have some for next year.

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How many jars do YOU need?

Figuring out how many jars you actually need is going to come down to how much you enjoy canning, your storage, and your finances. Some people can’t afford to drop $12-$20/ person/ meal on jars.

At the end of the day, it’s really about what you can afford. If you can only afford two cases at a time, get them! Trust me, you will use them eventually. As you get more comfortable with canning, or you need to start making your own dog food, thanks Bear, you will appreciate having those extra cans.

Also please for the love of all that is good in this world, pick up lids every single time you see them! Come canning season, they have disappeared! Or you can buy reusable lids like Tattler. PS go to their website, they are a TON cheaper!

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Canning Dried Peas

April 27, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe

I combed the internet looking for how to can dried peas and came up with very little. Most posts where about canning beans with a little footnote about canning dried peas. Below I’m going to walk you through the step by step process of how to take those little dried marbles and turn them into a shelf stable jar of food that saves me a ton of time.

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Why Not Buy Canned Peas At The Store?

The short answer is because it’s expensive. A single can of good quality peas is easily $1.50 by me, but I’m cheap and the store brand is usually about $.60. When I buy food, I buy a lot in one shot. So by the time all is said and done, I’ve spent about $15 to $36 on 24 15oz cans of peas. Is that a lot? No. But I feel better knowing that the only thing in my jar of peas is peas.

The other part is that whole dried peas are a ton cheaper as well. I can buy a 10# of whole split peas for $15. Plus, if they are kept “right” they can last for a long time on the shelf just like they are. If I don’t want to can 10# of peas in one go, I can put them in a mylar bag with some oxygen absorbers and store it.

The reason I choose to can dried peas is because dried peas take a LONG time to cook. I have zero desire to stand in my kitchen that long so I go ahead and can them.

Canning Dried Peas

This recipe is the one I came up with a couple years ago and just followed the guidelines for beans. If you are a strict follower of the Ball Bible? Maybe not follow this recipe. I found Ball’s recipe produces very mushy peas that did not hold well. Since I don’t mind breaking the rules and this recipe is mine, you take on all risks associated with following it. I’ve never had a problem in all the years I’ve canned like this, but I can’t guarantee your kitchen or skills.

This method of canning peas is called dry canning. I’m not really sure why because when you dry can potatoes, you don’t add any liquid, on this one you do. I think the difference between the two is that when you are done, your peas should have soaked up most of the water.

You can find all the supplies you need on this blog post.

Step 1:

You should always be in the practice of soaking your peas or beans. This helps get all the dirt and debris off your peas and that was in the bag. However, I’ve never soaked peas or beans because there has never been a problem. I do rinse them though.

Step 2:

If you have soaked your peas, GENTLY, scoop your peas with either a cup (for quarts) or half cup measuring cup (for pints) and put them in your mason jar. If you haven’t soaked them, you don’t have to be as careful but I wouldn’t be overly rough either. Also, I suggest wide mouth but whatever works for you. At this point you can add salt if you wish, we don’t. 1 teaspoon for quarts 1/2 teaspoon for pints.

Step 3:

I work in batches, so I only fill however many jars my canner will hold. Also, I only can peas in pint jars. I don’t have a lot of use for a quart of peas. So I will fill 10 jars with peas, then fill the rest with water leaving 1″ head space. This allows for expansion of the pea.

Step 4:

Fill your canner with the recommended water amount. My Presto 23-Qt with 3 quarts of water but be sure to check your manufacture recommendations. Then add your filled jars to the canner.

Step 5:

Bring your canner up to pressure by using your manufacture recommendations. I will usually fill my canner with 3 qts of hot water and put the burner on high. Then as my canner is reaching temperature, I will fill my jars with hot water. After about 5 minutes I will secure the lid. 10 minutes after that I add my weight. I process for meat times 90 minutes for quarts and 75 minutes for pints. For my altitude I use a 15# weight.

Step 6: When you are done processing your jars, let the canner naturally depressurize. This can take a long time but don’t rush it! Once it’s depressurized, you can use your jar grabber and take your jars out to cool on a towel. Make sure to label!

That’s really it!

Pressure Canning Dried Peas

I’m going to give it to you straight, you CAN can dried peas. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Pressure canning dried peas creates a mush that is hard to get out of a jar. On top of that, they are extremely mushy and not a good texture.

I would not throw away the pints and pints of peas in my basement, because I think they could be put in stews or made into split pea soup. But to eat as a side? Probably not.

I will still purchase dried peas and I will probably put them in an instapot before I canned them again. Not my favorite way to enjoy peas.

That being said, I would definitely dehydrate or freeze them.

Pressure Canning Dried Peas

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Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

5 Lbs Whole Peas
Salt if desired

Equipment

1 Pressure Canner
2 Cases Pint Jars
Basic Canning Supplies

Method

Rinse peas and disguard any rocks, bugs, etc that may be in the bag. I've never had this problem so to be fair, I don't usually rinse.
Scoop 1 cup of peas into a quart jar or 1/2 cup into a pint jar
Fill the rest of the way with water, making sure to leave 1" headspace
Optional! Add 1 teaspoon for quart or 1/2 teaspoon for pint
Fill your pressure canner with water to manufacture recommended level
Add jars to canner
Process for 90 minutes for quarts or 75 minutes for pints
Allow canner to completely depressurize before opening
Once depressurized, pull out jars and place on a towel until you hear the beautiful *ping*
If any jars fail to seal, refrigerate and use within 4 days.
Be sure to label your jars!

Cleaning Cast Iron- The Easy Way

March 2, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I was reading a forum the other day that absolutely shocked me. A lady was freaking out because she had scratched her cast iron and the advise that she got ranged from “You can never use it again” to “It’s cast iron!” If cast iron can be handed down through generations and that’s all the old homesteaders and farmers had? There’s very little you can do to break it. Unless you get cheap cast iron. But cleaning cast iron doesn’t have to be hard or difficult.

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Cleaning Cast Iron Isn’t Rocket Science

Using cast iron isn’t hard. Cleaning cast iron is not hard. But for some reason there are a lot of people out there that think that this is the holy grail of pans that must not be tarnished and never used. Cast iron cookware has been around for thousands of years. They didn’t have rubber sponges, soft spatulas and other nifty gadgets we have today. So use it, clean it, and enjoy it.

PS: No cast iron was hurt in the making of this post. Although, I think Jared considered killing me when he saw the state of the skillet.

How to Clean Cast Iron

In my other cast iron post, I talked about how to cook with cast iron and briefly touched on how to clean it. This post is about the various ways to clean cast iron. None of these methods are wrong. In fact, some people throw their cast iron in the dishwasher *gasp*. Others use soap, the horror! But technically speaking, they aren’t wrong to do so. Lodge says “You can use a small amount of soap”, in their post about cleaning cast iron.

I do use soap to clean cast iron. But I cannot think of a reason that I would throw it in the dishwasher…. I’m sure I would though. Instead, what I do is a mix of different cleaning methods based off of how nasty the pan got.

When Jared saw this pan, I really thought divorce was coming. But he just raised his eye brow at me when I told him I was doing it for a blog post. He said, “fix it” and walked away. So that’s what I did.

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Cleaning Cast Iron: Step 1

If your pan is a caked, baked, and nasty, fill it approximately half way with water and set it to boil for about 5-10 minutes. As you are letting it boil, start scraping the bottom of the pan to help get everything unstuck.

Boiling water in ANY pan allows the pan to heat up without any additional scorching to the food stuck inside it. As you become accustomed to cooking and cleaning cast iron, you will find that the hotter the pan, the less things stick to the pan. Which is pretty cool.

Step 2:

Scrape off any stuff that still stuck on the bottom of the pan with a scrubber or scraper. I use one like this. If the mess in the pan isn’t that bad, I will skip the boiling step and just scrape the pan. Either way the pan is clean and that’s what matters.

The downside to using a chainmail scrubber is that it can scratch the seasoning. So being very diligent in your seasoning after use is going to be key here.

Step 3:

Now we add a fat of your choosing. I like avocado oil because it has a higher smoke point and that is really important when breaking down the oil and getting it to start seasoning the pan. But you can use grapeseed, corn, peanut and canola.

This step is very important for creating that glassy, non stick surface. But again, there are a million different ways that people season their pans. Some put a thin layer of oil on a paper towel and smear it all over the pan, some put a dollop of oil in the pan (shown below) and heat the pan. I don’t think it matters as long as the pan is hot and that oil moves around to coat the pan.

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Some people also do this in the oven to allow for the entire pan to heat up, spread the oil, and bake in. Again, it doesn’t really matter. As long as the oil gets into the crevices of the pan, you are good to go.

Step 4:

Once the oil has moved around the pan and coated the bottom and sides, let the pan cool. If I can touch the handle, I will wipe out the excess oil and allow to finish cooling until it’s safe to hang up.

Add some oil and coat the bottom and sides of the pan

Nice glassy surface and it’s ready for storage

Tips for Cleaning Cast Iron

Pre-seasoned cast iron

If you have just bought your cast iron and it came pre-seasoned, go ahead and just repeat steps 3 and 4. I normally season a brand new pan 2-3 times before I am ready to use it. In my head, that pan is not seasoned enough for use. If I don’t want to go through the seasoning process, I just cook bacon in that pan for a couple of weeks.

Stuck on messes

For stubborn stuck on messes that boiling and scraping aren’t getting off, I will take salt and some water and scrub with that. Sometimes, it just needs a little extra muscle. This is very rare. If that doesn’t work, you can use salt and a half lemon. You’ll need to rinse thoroughly and then season multiple times but it should get it off.

If it is super stuck, I bring out the big guns. I use oven cleaner (outside) and wash with Dawn dish soap. My goal is to strip the pan down as far as I can and start the seasoning process over. I’ve had to do this with a couple of pans that got too nasty for regular methods to work.

Restoring cast iron

If you are getting a yard sale find, or Granny has given you a pan that came from the basement, I would put a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack of the oven and set it to 500. Put the pan upside down and let it go for about 2 hours.

If you have a self cleaning oven, use that setting. Be warned it will smoke like crazy and stink to high heaven. If you have the option of doing on a grill outside, I prefer that way. After that, just repeat steps 3 and 4 until there is a nice layer of seasoning on the pan. It will take time and maybe a few repeated attempts.

It is not hard to clean cast iron from the left and make it look like the right. Just a little bit of patience and elbow grease and you will have a pan that will last you and your family a life time.

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What Does Homestead Mean?

February 27, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

There is no hard fast definition for what homestead means. For some people a homestead means completely off grid with no reliance on anyone but themselves. Others believe that homesteading means growing their own vegetables. But as time goes on, the meaning changes for those people as well. Regardless of what this means to others, I am going to tell you what homesteading means to me and what it has come mean as well.

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What Does Homestead Mean

Well, the formal definition of homestead I pulled from Oxford Dictionary is:

“A house, especially farm, and outbuildings.”

The good thing about that definition is that it’s as broad and vague as how homesteaders, or aspiring homesteaders define homesteading.

Really, any piece of property can be a homestead! You don’t HAVE to have hundreds of acres. You can homestead on a city lot or out in the country.

What Does Homestead Mean To Me?

At first, homesteading meant a way to take care of my family without relying so much on others. The thought of being at the mercy of grocery stores to have my food was slightly worrisome. If we couldn’t get food, where would we be? Not having access meat, veggies, fruit, dog or cat food, has the potential for disaster. There were a ton of holes in our food security.

It meant learning skills and building a legacy for my children. Things like building barns, fences, and gardens. It meant learning how to cook from scratch.

Learning Skills Ma Ingle Would Have Been Proud Of

From scratch cooking is surprisingly easy. I wonder if we were raised to believe that it was so much harder so that there was more reliance on boxed and canned meals. Since being on the homestead, we have learned a ton when it comes to cooking, canning, and other food related skills.

Homesteading can mean bringing animals into this world, learning how to milk and make cheese and processing animals. It means learning to depend on yourself in ways that you never really valued or thought you could do.

I learned that if I can raise my own hens, I can get eggs that I don’t have to go to the store for. I could raise my own meat birds and rabbits to help save on meat costs. Also, I learned that if I learn to preserve those things, I can have them on stand by and make everything easier.

Sometimes meanings change

But as time has gone by and the continued strain on our supply chain, homestead has come to mean other things as well. It means being prepared and stocking up on items that we use a lot of: coffee, tea, noodles, canning jars and lids, and other necessities. Making sure that we have enough supplies if another snow storm hits. Will we have plenty of firewood, canned food, and fuel for the chainsaws and other equipment?

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Homesteading means community. We realize that we are stronger together and we stand with our neighbors when times are good and we help pick them up when they have hard times. It’s knowing that they will stand with us in our hard times too.

It has also come to mean finding random eggs in the hay barn, playing with goats, and impatiently awaiting the arrival of Champ’s babies.

Update: She gave us a beautiful doeling that we named Stella.

It means caring for the new chicks that will not only give us eggs but also lay our next meat chickens. Homesteading means learning new skills, facing challenges, and not giving up. It means doing the things you thought you couldn’t, only to realize that you are more than capable of building fences, buildings, and fixing all the things.

Poor Champ is uncomfortable as she comes to the end of her pregnancy.

What Homesteading Doesn’t Mean

I can tell you that homesteading doesn’t mean judging others. Whether you have a quarter acre in the city or a hundred acres in the country, you are still homesteading regardless of if you purchase your food from a grocery store or farmers market, or if you grow your own.

It doesn’t mean being unaffected when creatures die or need to be butchered. For some people, taking the life of a chicken is okay, but it still affects them in some way, even if it’s only gratitude.

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Homesteading doesn’t mean easy. There is no part of this life that is easy. If you are hauling lumber for a barn or feed to your animals, homesteading is hard work. It can be heart and back breaking when you have to put down your favorite bottle baby because she got sick.

You can’t be lazy and a homesteader. There is simply too much to do. Gardening, canning, working with livestock and more, there is not a ton of downtime. But when you see the fruits of your labor? It’s worth every aching joint, pulled muscle, cut and bruise.

What Does Homestead Mean?

I don’t know that homesteading has a meaning. I think homesteading is a spirit. It’s the spirit of being less dependent on the power grids, grocery stores, and other commodities. These people who want to homestead do it because they want to be independent. Whether that is a completely or partially independent, is not the point. Homesteaders simply want to take care of themselves and their community. Which is what homestead means to us.

I think that as long as people want to take ownership of their little plot of land, we will keep the spirit of homesteading alive. I think as long as people desperately want to learn the skills of their ancestors, they will lead a full and productive life. And I think that as long as we are here fighting for our community and independence, we will see the resurgence of a way of life that mixes the old with the new. And we will be better for it.

What does homesteading mean to you?

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Quieting The Pantry

February 20, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I talked about starting a stricter diet at the end of last year (December 2023) and there are some truly amazing things that have happened as a result. I’ve lost some weight, which is always nice but never my goal. I noticed a significant improvement in my stomach pains, bloat, etc. But the coolest part about this stricter diet is the quieting the pantry.

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Quieting The Pantry

In October 2023, I got really sick. Like, overnight stay in the hospital sick because I couldn’t stop vomiting. They had me so doped up on anti-psych meds (because you can’t puke if you’re unconscious) and I was still vomiting through them. Finally, we were able to get it somewhat under control and they started me on some pretty stout meds to take home for “correcting” the stomach acid, easing the vomiting, etc. But I knew that if I wanted to get better, I needed to change my diet.

Diets Vs Lifestyle Changes

Now, I’ve said it before that we eat “healthy” about 85% of the time. Sometimes, we just can’t because of our jobs. Other times, because of stress. But for the most part, we don’t consume a lot of junk food. Things like soda, candy, and other overly processed foods are a treat if they ever happen at all.

I started looking into various “elimination diets” as a way to heal my gut. But all of the diets seemed to be a band aid. Think about it, you diet to lose weight. Or maybe you diet so that you can figure out what is causing an issue (me). But at the end of the day, a diet means that you plan on going back to the way you were eating after the thing is corrected, with maybe a couple of adjustments. But that’s not what I wanted.

I wanted to completely, maybe even radically, change the way we were eating. Even if it was only one step at a time. I wanted to move my family away from the loud pantry.

What Is A Quiet Pantry?

Well, to be honest, I didn’t know what a quiet pantry was until I had one. Jill Winger over at The Prairie Homestead nailed the one feeling that I have been coming back to over the last several months. But I just couldn’t put my finger on why I felt so much better opening my cabinets. My pantry, now full of jars of rice, soups, dehydrated veggies, and many more simple ingredients, had become quiet.

As I look at my pantry, I don’t see the hydrogenated oils masquerading as cheese. Or quick boxes of pasta that somehow only needed a few ingredients from me to turn into a “delicious” meal. I no longer see “quick”, “easy”, or “ready to serve” keywords jumping out at me. The bright packaging has been replaced by clear jars. Where you can clearly see what you are getting. And as odd as it is, the stress of figuring out what’s for dinner has just about vanished.

Now, I am not the type of person to throw out food. I will continue to use it until it’s gone or I will give it to the chickens. But over the last several months, there are less of those keywords in my pantry. It’s so cool, opening my cupboards and seeing jars and jars of dried beans, flour, rice, and other simple ingredients. And the fact that I know how to cook with them!

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When I tell you that figuring out what to do for dinner has gotten easier, it really has. But not in the way you’re probably thinking. When you get stuck in the drag of “quick”, “easy”, or “ready to eat” your creative energy gets stuck in neutral. I’ll go over more of that below.

Quieting The Pantry Has Extended To The Fridge

I am a coffee junkie. Actually, to be fair, I am a creamer junkie. I absolutely love flavored creamers. My favorite was Cinnamon Toast Crunch from Coffee Mate. But in 2021-2022 it was difficult to find, then as time went on, it was harder and harder to find other creamers that I liked. I will make my own creamers from goat milk, but if I don’t have goat milk, I don’t have creamer. When I got sick in October, I knew that the first thing to go needed to be the creamer.

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Why? Well, most commercial, flavored creamers are not actually diary. Those creamers are mostly oil and most oils are made from either soy or corn…. Do I need to go on?

After cutting the creamer, I started really looking at the rest of the stuff in the fridge. Y’all, I didn’t realize how much junk was in my fridge. Looking past the creamer, we also had a ton of sauces, marinades, and other processed stuff. It really opened my eyes to just how much junk we were still consuming. But it also clued me in to how much we were still relying on the store for things that I can make.

And The Freezer!

I don’t know how your freezer looks. But in our freezers, it looks like about 90% meat. But there are still a fair amount of packing. Not as much as it could be, and it’s definitely a lot better than what I was expecting. But realizing just how much of the non-meat products in there were probably not good for us either. I love frozen corn, but the vast majority of corn bought from a store is going to be GMO. I don’t think I need to go in depth about why that isn’t ideal….

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Freeing Your Creative Energy

When you allow the quieting of the pantry to actually take affect, it forces you to become more creative with dinner. And as weird as it sounds, it makes figuring out what’s for dinner a lot easier. For example, you can transform basic rice into chicken flavored rice with chicken bullion or stocks. Add in some peppers, beans and corn (non-gmo of course) and you’ve got dirty rice. Throw in some shredded chicken or andouille sausage and you’ve got a meal.

By giving yourself the creativity to make dinner fun, you end up with some really fun recipes that are quick, easy, and HEALTHY!

Last night, we had chicken tacos. They were absolutely delicious and not one thing came out of a box, can or packaging. No taco seasoning packets, plastic wrapped tortillas, or box and packet of flavoring for the rice.

The other really cool thing about having these very basic staples in your pantry is that when you know you’ve got something getting ready to go bad, you can plan a meal around it. Or you just need to use up the very last of this item, you can just throw it in the pot. To give you an example, every week I make a Brunswick stew style dinner. This is literally any fresh produce that is about to turn, or the very last bit of dehydrated leeks that need a home.

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Grocery Shopping Is Cheaper!

For years, we have been conditioned to think that eating from scratch or “healthy” is too expensive. And yes, it can be. When you are talking about getting two weeks worth of groceries and half of your meals are “quick”, “easy”, or “ready to eat”, yea it’s going to be more expensive. Or when $75 of your food budget goes to creamer **raises hand** yes, it’s going to get expensive.

Since the quieting in the pantry, I have cut our grocery budget in half. Now, some of that is because we have bulk purchased rice, beans, sugar, etc. But the other part of that is because I am more deliberate in what I am buying. I am not buying prepackaged meals, or cans of soup. We are also using more meat instead of filling the plate with over processed junk.

Quieting The Pantry Takes Time

You can absolutely go nuts and clean out the pantry, fridge and freezer. Or you could slowly use everything up. I’m not going to tell you how to cook your dinners. But I will say that if you are not a strong cook, it can be VERY difficult to move away from packaged foods and dinners.

To be honest, I’m kind of in between a strong cook and great cook. There are a lot of meals that I do really well… Tacos for example. But there are still others that I am learning. When you walk into ANYTHING that you are learning, please give yourself grace. Your dinner may not look just like the recipe. That’s okay! Just don’t give up!

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How We Cook With Cast Iron

February 13, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I know here in the south cast iron is king… or queen. Either way it rules the south with an iron fist and for good reason. Cast iron is easily the most versatile item in your kitchen. No need for six million pans, one cast iron skillet and a good Dutch oven/ stock pot is really all you need. Big dinner or small, it can do it all. Yes, it’s corny but it’s true. There are so many benefits to cast iron that it is definitely worth using. Here’s why we cook with cook with cast iron.

Cast Iron Is King

For years I have been a firm believer in my non stick skillets and other cookware. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really last that long. We’re talking five years tops before the coating comes off the pan and into our food. Not to mention that most non stick coatings are toxic. After listening to me complain for years Jared, being from the south, asked, “Why not cast iron?”

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Why Not Cast Iron?

The main reason was simple: I’m not used to it. I grew up with everything crappy pots and pans to the best of the best. We wrecked every one of them. So when we made the move to the homestead, out went the non stick and in came the cast iron. The learning curve was huge. I had no clue what I was doing. But with Jared and YouTube’s help? I’ve got the glassiest cast iron on the planet. Well, not quite but we are getting there.

If you’re anything like I was, you have no idea what the best brand is, how to use it, or even how to cook with it. Rest assured, I’ve got you covered. After a ton of research, I could tell you just about everything when it comes to brands and oil. What’s the best, the worst, and the in between. But the reality is that it’s a lot of information. Or, I could just tell you what I did and you can take some of the learning curve out of it.

What Brand to Buy?

Well this one is pretty simple. Lodge. I don’t say this lightly, remember we beat the crap out of every single product that comes into this house. It has to stand up to that. So far my Lodge pans are the only ones that have done that. The other reason I’m a fan of Lodge is because I can find it at pretty much any store. Living in a rural community, that is important to me. I don’t want to have to go around the world to find what I need. Almost every town has a Wal-Mart or at least the next town over does, so it’s easy to find. If you live in an area where stores are minimal, here are some links to the cast iron I bought from them.

Lodge Pre-Seasoned 12in Cast Iron

Lodge 12in double handle pan (corn bread pan)

Lodge 13in Cast Iron

You can also buy them on Amazon here. If you are only looking for one or two to start with I suggest this one and this one.

If you are just starting out cooking with cast iron, I don’t recommend going to the yard/garage/junk sales. The reason I say don’t is this; do you know how to strip, grind, and season? If not, then maybe not start there. Let’s set you up for success instead of frustration and possible failure.

Just be forewarned, it is addictive . You will end up with all the cast iron!

How To Cook With Cast Iron?

Again, it’s pretty simple. Turn on your burner, put your cast iron on it and add your fat. Once the pan is hot, start cooking. That’s pretty much it.

But You’ve Heard….

You’ll see groups, posts, articles, etc that will tell you that you can only cook certain things in cast iron. You’ve probably heard that you can’t use soap. Or that there are rules as to what can go into cast iron. Y’all! It is simply not true! I cook everything in cast iron. Everything! Gumbo, fish, eggs, you name it, it goes in the cast iron. I have used *gasp* soap on my cast iron. I’ve burnt cinnamon rolls on my cast iron…. Though that one almost ended in a fight between the hubbins and I….oops.

Maybe you’ve heard that you can’t use cast iron on electric stoves or glass top stoves? Literally, none of these things are true. But I feel like some guidelines would be helpful to those that don’t know anything about cast iron.

Cast Iron Guidelines

I was going to say rules, but I believe that rules (especially around cooking) are made to be broken. So here are some of my guidelines for cooking with cast iron.

Acidic Foods- Tomato bases, lemon juice or vinegar bases, and the like, should be treated with caution. I still do it, all the time in fact. But I make sure to clean, scrub and season my pan after every use. It’s not something I’m super worried about

Limited or No Soap- I’m not going to go in depth about using soap here because I go over it more below, but I feel like it needs to be repeated. If you are going to use soap on cast iron, try not to use harsh soaps that “cut grease”. You will wreck your seasoning with prolonged use. I use Mrs. Myers soaps on my cast iron and it hasn’t wrecked the seasoning.

Truly Non Stick- Uh, unless your pan has been used many times, seasoned many times, and so on. Your pan is probably not going to be non stick for a minute. It takes time to build up the layers of seasoning. I can cook eggs in my pan without them sticking, but not when we first got them. So make sure you are using a good fat and heating up your pan before cooking.

What Fat to Use?

This is totally up to you. I prefer the higher smoke points. For example: avocado oil has a smoke point of 520*. Grapeseed oil is 420*. Olive oil is 375*. Why is this important? The smoke point is when the oil starts to break down. The best temperatures to season cast iron is over 400*. That being said, I normally reach for grapeseed oil when searing, seasoning, or just general cooking.

Clean Up

Clean up is just as easy as using it. However, you will hear every possible way to clean your cast iron. Jared boils water in it to help loosen up whatever is stuck on and then after a good rinse he will re-season it. I scrub whatever is stuck on off with one of these these. Other times, I will boil…. And even other times, I will was it with soap. It really all depends on what is going on with the pan and what we cooked.

When you have scrubbed off all your dinner and wiped it out, put back on the stove heat it back up, add a light smear of fat and let it absorb. Once that oil is moving, turn off the burner and let it cool. Once you can comfortably touch it, wipe out that excess oil and store it.

The pan above is clean but not oiled (seasoned). You can see in the middle that it still needs to be oiled. I will usually add grapeseed oil to a lint free towel and then smear the oil around. Once the pan is cool, I wipe out all the excess and then store.

Can You Use Soap?

I might lose some followers here, but yes, you can. And yes, I do. But I only use mild soaps like Mrs. Myers, or a Castile soap. The reason why is because the cast iron has gotten nasty for some reason. I don’t always do it and I immediately re-season it, but it does happen. So don’t feel bad about it. Your seasoning won’t come off just because you used soap. And if it does? Your pan wasn’t seasoned in the first place.

That’s pretty much it. If you have any questions feel free to let me know! If you like this post hit that subscribe button and share it!

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What To Do With Those Cherry Tomatoes

August 27, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Every year I say, “I only need to plant 5 cherry tomato plants.” Only to turn around and end up with at least 10 plants and a million cherry tomatoes! I don’t know how these plants do it but they are machines when it comes to cranking out pounds and pounds of fruit. But come the end of July, I am drowning in them. So here is my favorite round up of cherry tomato recipes and other things we do to use them all up.

Even if you aren’t an amazing gardener, you can probably grow all of the cherry tomatoes you could ever want. Trust me. Every year I struggle with our tomatoes. We lose a lot to pest pressure and blossom end rot. Despite various different methods of treating both, we end up with very few tomatoes. I’ll never stop trying to grow them because when I finally get it right, it will be glorious.

Cherry Tomato Ideas

Fresh eating!

That’s the first and best way to use cherry tomatoes. Now, I’m not a big raw tomato lover. In fact, I can’t stand the taste of raw tomatoes. BUT the sweet million cherry tomato variety? It is my favorite and I can usually eat those raw without being grossed out. I much prefer doing something with those tomatoes. I usually make my own sauce, even with cherry tomatoes. It makes a really great sweet sauce.

This recipe for Marinated Cherry Tomatoes from Natasha’s Kitchen is great for hot weather snacking. My family doesn’t like big heavy meals when it’s hot out. So something like this is really great for us.

We eat a lot of pasta and sometimes the heavy tomato/pasta sauce is a bit much when you are wanting a quick lunch. This recipe from A Spicy Perspective is a great way to use up some cherry tomatoes and have a great quick lunch. Add some protein and you have a easy dinner too.

This Roasted Cherry Tomato Spread from A Salty Pot is another delicious option. You can spread it on crackers, salad or even a cold pasta salad.

Have you ever had Bruschetta? Get some crusty sourdough bread or Italian loaf and enjoy this Bruschetta recipe from The Sunshine Hustle. Here is another amazing snack, appetizer, or in my house, a meal.

Meal Prepping With Cherry Tomatoes

Most of the recipes above can be used in meal prep, whether it’s for lunches or dinners. Really, you could cook your cherry tomatoes with some eggs. Delicious.

But making up a couple of meals with these beauties and storing them for the week would use up a lot of these babies.

Preserving Cherry Tomatoes

After a couple handfuls of tomatoes, even the biggest tomato lover will be burned out on them. So another option is dehydrating. I love to dehydrate these guys for sundried tomatoes. I have a huge dehydrator that I can put several hundred in. Usually, you set your dehydrator to 145* to 155* and let them go until they are dry. This can take anywhere from 5-24hrs depending on your temps, humidity, and water content of the tomatoes.

Cherry tomatoes also freeze okay. But remember, when you thaw them out they are usually extremely mushy. This is due to the high water content in them.

My favorite method, second to dehydrating them, is to can them. This can be done either by keeping them whole or halving them. I prefer to pack the jars, fill with water to 1/2″ head space and then process for 40 min (pints) or 45 min (quarts).

Lastly, give it to your livestock. We grow extra plants of everything for two reasons. 1) if one plant fails, we need to have a back up. 2) if that plant doesn’t fail, we can feed it to the animals. My pigs pack on the pounds every summer.

Before we get too far into this post, I wanted to give a suggestion about keeping a garden journal. A digital garden journal is a fantastic way to keep track of past, present and future gardens. Our Digital Garden Journal is a great way to keep up with everything without getting too overwhelmed.

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Cut Back On Next Year’s Garden

If you are anything like me this is absolutely not going to happen. I am still going to plan for 5 cherry tomato plants and then start 15. That’s how it works. Because an overabundance is better than under.

But if you are consistently getting more than you can handle, look at cutting back on your numbers for next year. I hope this post helps you figure out what to do with all those maters. Just remember, there is a blessing in overabundance.

Easy, Cold Pasta Salad

August 20, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe

It’s the dog days of summer and getting a good lunch on the table is surprisingly difficult. At my house, lunch is usually covered by left overs. But over the last several days, the boys have eaten EVERYTHING in my fridge. So I had to dig deep to figure something out. So enter the easy, cold pasta salad.

What’s So Great About My Pasta Salad?

Well, it’s literally the easiest, laziest, and good pasta salad I’ve ever had. Now, as a rule, I don’t like pasta salad. I’ve tried so many different kinds and they are all pretty gross. Sometimes it’s a texture thing, other times it’s an ingredient issue, but it’s always nasty. But my easy, cold pasta salad is a pretty great treat when your hungry and it’s freaking hot outside.

Easily Sourced Ingredients

The only thing I put in my pasta salads are things that are easily found in my fridge, freezers, or cabinets. Sometimes, that makes for a very interesting lunch, but so far it’s worked pretty well. In fact, I have never gone to the store to get ingredients specifically for this. I’ve also never set out to specifically make this.

The caveat to that is that I always have shredded chicken, small steaks, and veggies in my freezer. I’ve also got some weird salad dressing that needs to be used up too.

Good Texture

I have a lot of sensory issues when it comes to texture, specifically with my food. I can usually get down a couple bites of scrambled eggs before I am gagging and can’t eat anymore. Which sucks, because I actually like eggs. But these sensory issues has created a lot of problems when it comes to trying new foods. Including pasta salads.

The reason I came up with this recipe is simply because I was hungry and didn’t want anything hot or heavy in the middle of summer. And let’s be real, a salad isn’t going to cut it right now.

My Easy, Cold Pasta Salad

The steps are incredibly easy and really, you don’t need a recipe. I like to experiment with recipes and cooking so rarely, if ever, do I have a solid plan in place. If you need a step by step recipe? I’m probably not your girl. But if you just need a foundation to create your own, I got you covered.

The Recipe

Are you ready for the easiest recipe you’ll read?

Boil pasta of your choice to your done-ness (I like al dente for pasta salad)
Prep your protein
Drain your pasta and run cold water over it
Add in your veggies or fruit
Add your salad dressing
Mix everything. Store in fridge if needed.

That’s it

Making Your Own Pasta Salad

The options are endless for making your own easy, cold pasta salad. You could put pretty much whatever you want into it. But I try to make sure it’s got a good protein (I prefer shredded chicken or small steak) and some frozen veggies to help cool everything off faster.

Combinations

Steak with frozen corn and peas with Caesar dressing
Shredded chicken with frozen strawberries and walnuts (or some nut) with a flavored baslamic
Mini shrimp with with bacon bits, peas and baby corn with oil and flavored vinegar
Crab with wanton strips and peppers and soy sauce

Try It And Let Me Know

I love making these different combinations and hope you do too! Let me know in the comments what you like to do with your easy, cold pasta salad!

Easy, Cold Pasta Salad

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 20

Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

1 box Noodles
2 cup vegetables or fruit
1.5 cup salad dressing
1/2 lb protien
1/4 cup cheese
Pinch Salt for pasta water
2 Tbsp Oil for pasta water

Method

Start your pasta water. Once at a boil, add noodles and cook till just done (al dente)
While your pasta is cooking, cook your protein if needed
When protein is done, place in freezer
Prep your veggies or fruit. The recipe that I am using above was with frozen veggies, so I didn't have to prep anything
When pasta is done, drain and then rinse with cold water for about 30 sec to 1 minute.
Add everything into a big bowl and mix with salad dressing of choice.
You can serve immediately or place in refrigerator.

Easy Meal Prep Ideas

August 13, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Everyone knows that you should meal prep, right? We know that it saves money, it’s healthier, and can save a ton of time. But the reality is that sometimes, it’s absolutely…. boring. Some people can’t stand the thought of eating the same thing over and over again. Others love the ease of meal prep but just don’t have the time. Or if you’re like me, you have 3 jobs, homeschool, homestead and run a blog. I absolutely LOVE left overs, but I just don’t have a lot of time to make 2-3 different meals a day for 4 people for 5-7 days. I just can’t do it. But I am going to start this series why I meal prep, how I save money, and the ease of doing it. So let’s get started with my easy meal prep ideas.

Why Should You Meal Prep

The better question is, why don’t you meal prep? Is it because of time constraints or money concerns? The thought of making a week’s worth of veggies sound like a terrible idea? Maybe you don’t know how?

But I’ve got you covered! The meals that I will be dropping over the next couple of weeks will not take any additional time and will save you money. Well, unless you use a more expensive ingredient. The recipes are easy to follow, make and reheat. I feed 3 growing boys (yes, the husband is included there) on these meals and I’m not stranger to a good meal either.

At the end of the day, you should meal prep because it’s easier than constantly try to make various meals every night for dinner. Or figure out what you are going to do for lunch for the next week. The dreaded question of what’s for dinner is finally answered!

My Meal Prep

Well, first let me disclose my definition of meal prep…. it’s left overs. That’s it. But there is a lot more to it than that. First, when I make my meal plan (which you can see in our members only area), I look at the entire family’s schedule. For example, in July I worked about 100 hours a week between my three jobs. August wasn’t much better. Jared was working on my greenhouse and I didn’t want him to have to try to figure out what to do for dinner. So when I made my meal plans, I made sure that when I worked a 48 hour shift, I had plenty of left overs. Or when it was Jared’s turn to cook dinner, he had plenty of left overs to choose from. Or the random days that the boys were home alone for a few hours, they had virtually whatever they wanted.

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How I Meal Prep

Above I said I make a meal plan after looking at the schedules. But the easy part is that I double or triple the recipe. Yup, when I make tacos, I double the recipe so I can have tacos, nachos, or burritos. When I need to use up some eggs? I make a huge batch of my breakfast scramble. Then I end up with breakfast burritos or breakfast bowls.

Tools For Meal Prep

Containers

You can use whatever containers you want. Really, there is no wrong container to use. Well, if you use paper, they aren’t going to last long. But glass or plastic are good choices. I personally use these, these and these. When I meal prep, I am putting up anywhere from 2-20 meals. So glass isn’t an affordable option for me. However, one really good option is mason jars with plastic lids.

Labels

When you are meal prepping you want to know when you cooked something and what it is. Sometimes, it’s just not easy to tell what something is in a container. Or when you cooked that batch of rice. I like these labels because they have been pretty easy to use and remove. These are dissolvable which I like.

Misc. Items

I would recommend having huge stock pots whenever possible. When you are trying to mix up a batch of spaghetti in a small pot? Disaster. I have these in 22Qt and 20qt (I have 2 of these).

Also, grab an instapot. I have used it to cook a frozen chuck roast that are fall of the bone tender in just a couple hours. I’ve also made huge batches of beans, rice, etc. It’s a very handy little gadget.

Easy Meal Prep Ideas

I am currently working on the recipes for you guys. But like most of us that are looking to start meal prepping, I am insanely busy. I am working on the spaghetti first and will keep them coming as the weeks progress. But I wanted to give you ideas to get you started with your own meals that you already cook at home.

Kitchen Journal

Also, I highly recommend getting a kitchen journal. The reason is because you will find that something you make doesn’t freeze well. Or you find that you don’t like the taste of second day pasta. Or a certain recipe is fantastic when it is tripled. It’s better to write it down than forget it. Your journal doesn’t have to be anything crazy, I use these bullet journals for everything.

Make A List

I know you are probably hoping for some recipes. But before I start dropping those recipes, I want you to think about your own meals that you make. Do any of them taste good reheated? Write those down. Then I want you to think about your standard sides that you make every week. Write those down too. Things like pasta, rice, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, etc. How many of those can you make ahead? Then I want you to think about any combinations that you can put together. Once you have made your list, we are going to start brainstorming various ways to use it.

Combining For Easy Meal Prep Ideas

To give you some examples, my meal plan will look something like this:

Breakfast

S: Sausage, bacon, eggs, biscuits

M: Breakfast Bowl

T: Breakfast Burrito

W: Breakfast Bowl

Th: Breakfast Burrito

F: Breakfast Bowl

S: Slow Cooker French toast

Lunch

S: Pasta Salad

M: Steak with noodles

T: Steak sandwiches

W: Shredded chicken with rice and mixed veggies

Th: Steak Nachos

F: Spaghetti

S: mac n cheese with shredded chicken

Dinner

S: Steak with rice and mixed vegies

M: Spaghetti with garlic bread

T: Whole Chicken with noodles and mixed veggies

W: Tacos with Spanish rice and beans

Th: Pork chops with rice and mac n cheese

F: Homemade Pizza

S: Chicken Veggie Soup

Now before you get overwhelmed, because I KNOW it’s a lot, start with your dinners first. What are you going to have for the week? Once that is figured out, you can try to figure out what you want to do with your left overs. Or you can purposefully make extras so you can have them later.

Explaining My Easy Meal Prep Ideas

For example, on Sunday pasta salad is for lunch. Look at all the times you have pasta for the week. The answer is 8 times. While that may seem like a lot, and it kind of is, you are looking at 21 meals for the week. If you make rotini noodles like these, you can make all of your pasta at once. This is where that kitchen journal will come in handy. I know that one box of pasta is enough for lunch for our family. Also, I know that one box of pasta is enough for a side for my family. So by the time everything is all said and done, I only need 4 boxes of pasta for 7 meals and I need 2 or 3 for spaghetti night.

But you’re not going to add any sauce or seasoning to this pasta. Instead, you are going to make all of your boxes (except for the spaghetti night) and then toss the pasta with oil, and separate into containers. So if you used 5 boxes of pasta, you’ll use 5 bowls. Same with your rice.

Let’s check out meats next. I have steak 4 times on the menu. I talked about cow sharing here, and that’s the only reason I can afford to have steak as often as we do. But if you don’t cow share, this one may be a little more difficult. When I cook steak for the family, I usually do the “good” steak; ribeye, sirloin, etc. But when you are cooking in batches, a flank steak or round is just as good for steak nachos, or steak sandwiches.

Finally, Saturday night we are having chicken veggie soup. But the more accurate term would be a Brunswick stew. You know, the stew that puts everything but the kitchen sink in it? This soup is the end of the week, left overs are going to the pigs meal. Any unseasoned rice, no sauced pasta, meats, veggies, etc is getting added into this pot. And it is freaking amazing….90% of the time. Sometimes, it’s not very good and we just plan for a hodge podge meal of whatever is left over. The meal plan above would be a good hodge podge or stew. The combinations we have come up with over the years is unusual. Steak nachos with mac n cheese for example.

But What About Breakfast

Really, any meal that you can put in a crock pot is a winner at this house. For breakfast, I will usually start them in the evening before bed so it’s hot and ready in the morning. I have a tiny crock pot I reserve for this. I’ve done breakfast scrambles, french toast, oatmeal, etc and the all time favorite tends to be the scramble.

But usually what I do is pick a time where I am going to be off for at least 6 hours. Then I make 5# of bacon, 5doz scrambled eggs, 5# of southern style hashbrowns, 3# of sausage, and 3# of diced/ chunked ham. I cut the bacon to bite sized bits and cook everything separately. Then I get these bowls and assemble. It’s a ton of work. But it will literally feed us for months.

These bowls do great in the freezer and I pull out enough for Jared and I to take to work, as well as a couple extra for the boys. It’s a lot of work on the front end, but man does it save time in the mornings.

The Easy Part Of Easy Meal Prep Ideas

You don’t have to have entire boards on Pinterest to have easy meal prep ideas. Instead, look at what you are already making and see if you can make a little extra for lunch for a couple days. It doesn’t have to be Insta-worthy. It just has to feed you, save some money and be healthy.

I will keep posting recipes under this tag and category as well as on my other social media, which you can find below.

Dehydrating Foods: My New Hobby

April 24, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

This series is going to go over the ins and outs of dehydrating foods. We are going to look at the last 9 months of work, from dehydrating and reconstituting to mishaps and successes. As always on this blog, you will get the real story about dehydrating foods, not the glamorous jars and packages of foods. You’ll see our mistakes and failures but also the successes! Welcome to the first installment of my new favorite hobby: Dehydrating Foods.

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Dehydrating Foods Journey

I always shied away from dehydrating foods, though I’m not really sure why. It’s a pretty simple process, but I’ve always stuck with canning. I’ve owned an Excalibur dehydrator for over 10 years and used it a hand full of times, usually making small patches of yogurt. About six months ago, I ordered dehydrated peppers from Azure Standard. It was a game changer! No longer having to go out and buy peppers for taco night? Having an item on hand that doesn’t take up space in my freezer? Sign Me Up!

Last year, I had quarts of peppers coming in every day from the garden. Most of them rotted before we could use them. Then I realized that I could roast them, grind them and turn them into a seasoning powder. But I used my oven instead of my dehydrator…Why? Because I didn’t feel like getting my dehydrator out. Let’s not talk about a waste of electricity. But this year? I have so many plans for that dehydrator.

Dehydrating Foods Save Money On Pantry Staples

Onions are a staple in my pantry. I freaking love onions. Onion powder, chopped onions, diced onions, you name it. There’s usually onion in 75% of my dishes. Because I buy big bags of them, they tend to go bad before I can use all of them. If I buy smaller bags or single onions, it’s never enough. Plus, I don’t want or need an entire onion in some dishes. So what did I do? Freeze the other half of the onion, or fed it to the chickens. While it’s not necessarily wasted, I usually forget about the other half of the onion in the freezer and spend the money at the store for more.

Another pantry staple is celery. In the depths of winter, we eat a ton of soup. But celery doesn’t can or freeze well. Usually it turns to mush in either of those two preservation methods. And buying an entire bunch of celery isn’t economic when you need a cup of chopped celery.

Dehydrating Foods Reduces Waste

One of the things I hate the most in the entire world is wasting food. It drives me insane to dump food in the trash because it rotted, gets freezer burn, or we were just too lazy to do something with it. I go back to onions and celery. We don’t eat either of those raw. One for obvious reasons. But there is still a far amount of food waste when you lose food in the freezer. Dehydrating these foods helps make sure that waste is minimized.

How many times have you bought limes only to have them rot before you get a chance to use them? Or thought for sure you would use that entire batch of potatoes for mashed potatoes? Throwing them in the dehydrator is a great way to reduce food waste.

Dehydrating Foods Help Clear Out The Freezer

For the last two years, we have purchased a half or whole cow from a local farm. The first year, a half cow lasted us a little over 8 months. This year, we purchased a whole cow. Let me tell you, we struggled to find enough freezer space and end up buying another freezer. I talk more in depth about buying meat in bulk in this post.

But dehydrating food helps to clear out the freezers from that bulk purchase of frozen corn, or random bag of onions that you forgot about. I don’t know about your freezers, but in our house, they become a jumbled mess of food. We try to keep our freezers “separated” by animal, but the reality is that doesn’t always work. Especially when veggies aren’t animals and most creamer is not actually dairy.

Should You Learn How To Dehydrate Food?

In short, yes. Dehydrators are relatively cheap, when compared to canning setups and the DIY options for building your own dehydrator are endless. I also think that having a well rounded approach to preserving your garden harvest is a must. Some things just aren’t going to freeze or can well like peas, celery, melons, zucchini, and summer squash.

Is Dehydrating Foods Sustainable?

Meh. Take this from someone who *gasp* reuses canning lids that are in good shape. Dehydrating foods really isn’t sustainable DEPENDING on how you do it. It usually requires electricity and sometimes requires a steady influx of mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. But canning sometimes requires electricity (you can can on a wood burning stove if you can get it hot enough or a propane camp stove), and after the initial purchase of jars, doesn’t REQUIRE additional purchase unless there is damage or a lot of use.

I don’t know that there is a truly sustainable food preservation method, except maybe fermentation, that ALL food can go through. So I think the question should be what food method is the most sustainable, but whatever.

What Do You Need To Get Started?

Pretty simple list here:

Dehydrator- with trays I like my Excalibur but I would recommend one with a door that actually shuts.

Mylar Bags– I would recommend different sizes. Also grab a heat sealer while you’re at it. It’ll make your life easier

Oxygen Absorbers– This one is based on the size of the bags or jars you are using. So again, I would get a multi pack if you can.

Mason Jars– This is what I use. I’m not a fan of the mylar bags only because I’m set up for jars. I’ve got 8 storage units built in the basement that are the perfect height for jars. Plus I have a bunch of jars and I don’t want to spend more money.

Silicone Mats– These are the mats I use for things that are a little gooey or rollie (like peas). They are great!

Funnels– If you’re a canner, you have funnels. If not the link provided are the ones I have.

Dehydrating Foods Is Easy

This is literally the most set it and forget it way of preserving food. While not technically forget it, it allows you to not be chained to your stove, in a hot kitchen for hours. Over the years, I have spent hours and hours in my kitchen, every summer and fall, canning hundreds of jars of food. Please don’t misunderstand, I absolutely LOVE it. Especially in the winter when I have quarts and quarts of soup at the ready. Or on days when I come from a 24 hour shift and hit the ground running for another 12 hours on the farm, having beef stew on standby is amazing.

I will always be a canner. But now? Now, I’m a food preserver. I can, freeze, and dehydrate.

Reaching into my cabinet for a colorful jar of dehydrated mixed veggies, adding it to a soup, and serve? Yes, please.

Seeing more food in my basement, knowing that no matter if the entire world crumbles, or just my own, we have food.

Knowing that I am teaching my children the value of nurturing a garden, harvesting the bounty, and not wasting food? Invaluable.