Canning: Green Beans

Every so often I participate in Bountiful Baskets. Usually I do it when they have special offerings. This time around, it was green beans. I had just bought my pressure canner and wanted to use it for green beans. Grandpa and Grandma B always canned green beans, and I was longing for their home-canned beans. I ordered 60 pounds of green beans (this was before I burned my wrist). I had to pick up the beans the morning after my burn, so that was kind of tricky. There was no way that I could do it all on my own, so I made the kids help me. We spread out a blanket in front of the tv and the kids all helped to break the beans and fill the jars. We watched a few movies from Netflix. The kids weren't too happy about spending their Saturday with green beans, but they didn't have much of a choice because I bit off more than I could handle, especially with my burn. It all ended up working out ok, other than it taking all day and part of Monday. I was afraid that after this adventure in canning, my kids would no longer eat green beans. However, that hasn't been the case. They have been excited when we eat the beans we canned. We ended up with 80 pints of green beans.

Canning: Peaches

Canning. I started out learning about pressure canning from people in my new ward. It's quite easy to do, so I've invested in a pressure canner and now do dried beans and meats about once a month. This also sparked my interest in water bath canning. I was shopping at a produce market and found a great deal on Utah peaches, so I bought close to 60 pounds and canned them. It took 2 days to get them all done, but it was a fun experience. I got about 60 jars of peaches that my kids devour at any meal. I love how pretty the peaches look in the jars.

I was trying to get stuff done quickly before I had to take Kaylen to school, so I gave Colton a couple suckers to keep him calm so I could work.

Tomatoes

I made and canned tomato juice today! I am excited about it because:

1. I have never canned anything on my own before. I did it without calling my mom or sister.

2. I used and didn't waste the 23 lbs. of tomatoes I bought (couldn't afford to miss the fabulous price).

3. I used a strainer that my grandparents would use to make tomato juice.

4. I heard all the lids "pop" when they sealed.

5. I figured out how to reset my cooktop after it shut off because it was too hot.

6. We now have 9 more items to add to our food storage.