Preserving Nature's Bounty

It's no secret that I like to save money where I can.  One of the best ways is to preserve summer produce when it's plentiful so you can eat that food through the off-season.  Each year I garden in hopes that I will grow enough for us to eat through the summer and can or freeze it to have later.  It didn't work out this year the way I'd hoped.  We planted tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, cantaloupe, green peppers and pumpkins.  Well we got 1 cucumber, 1 green pepper and enough grape tomatoes to keep our salad plates pretty but that's it.  I still hold out hope for the peppers, as they have several blooms but otherwise I think we're done.

I found roma tomatoes for $.99/pound and bought 5 pounds of those to dice for chili, hamburger helper and such.  I've also been buying strawberries any time I see them reasonably priced and making jam.  Unfortunately we go through that so quickly I think I only have 2 pints left.  That probably won't get us very far!  LOL

One of the things that has been in the back of my mind is green chilies.  I love white chicken chili and my recipe calls for an 8 oz. can of green chilies.  Since I ditched can goods a while back I've wondered what I'm going to do for the chilies.  I guessed that it would be expensive to buy 2-3 for each batch.  I searched for a jarred variety, but was unsuccessful.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  That is, until I was wandering the produce section the other night and found a great sale on Hatch chilies.  They were $1.68/pound.  I purchased 2 big bags.  At the checkout the guy couldn't find the code, so he gave me each bag for $1.68.  I did tell him that there was more than a pound in there, but he said it was too much trouble to figure it out in his head.  This would be the bonus of grocery shopping at 1 am! 

I headed home and planned to work on them the next night... and the next... and the next.  Well I finally got around to it last night and a few were mush (grrr!).  I cleaned up and diced everything that was good and managed to get 10-8 oz. jars of chilies.  I froze them just because the thought of getting the canner out at 10 pm wasn't appealing.  Hopefully they will work well in my chicken chli.  I figured I would saute them with the onions to get them soft.  That's the plan-if that doesn't work, I'll try something else.

As far as money goes, I spent $3.36 on the peppers.  I already had the jars, lids and rings, so no new expense there.  If I recall correctly, a 4 oz. can of chilies at the store was $.74.  So, multiplied by 20 (the amount of 4 oz. jars I would have), the total is $14.80.  I saved $11.44 by doing it myself, plus I have the added benefit of not having BPA in my chilies!  Woo-hoo!

Hamburger Cabbage Casserole

Wouldn't ya know that I didn't get a picture before the meal was devoured!  This seems to be a common thread with my evening meals.  Perhaps I should start cooking earlier so the food would be done before 7:00 and my children wouldn't be so hungry that they start eating as I am scooping it on the plates.  Yeah, that might help. 

Last night I made Hamburger Cabbage Casesrole.  I sort of made it up when I was cleaning out the fridge one night a few months ago.  Since then, it has become a popular meal, with everyone except Little Man (and he doesn't care for most casseroles). 

Here's what you need:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 head of cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. of minced garlic (I used the jarred garlic.)
1 large tomato, chopped (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
2 cups tomato juice (more if needed)
1/2 cup hamburger helper seasoning mix
1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used colby jack cheese b/c that's what I had in the fridge.)

In a large skillet, begin browning the ground beef over medium high heat.  Add the cabbage, onion and garlic while the beef is cooking.  When the beef is completely browned, drain any excess fat off (you can use a strainer if needed).  Add the tomato, tomato juice and seasoning mix.  Stir, cover and  reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the cabbage has cooked down.  If it's too juicy, I remove the cover and let some of that extra liquid evaporate.  Add the cheese and stir throughout.  When the cheese is incorporated and melted, the casserole is done.

We served ours over brown rice last night.  We have served it over both mashed potatoes and whole wheat noodles.  Personally I like it over potatoes, but the girls prefer rice.  It's good no matter what.  You can try it out all the different ways and decide for yourself.

Week 12: No more cans!

Just to start, I apologize for falling off the face of the Earth!  We were out of town this weekend, and so far this week, I have the remnants of a sinus infection, two daycare babies who are teething and have at least one drop-in daycare kiddo (and on Thursday, I'll have two).  This week has been crazy and there's been no time for blogging during nap... maybe tomorrow! LOL!

Of course,  I've still been cooking.  I've made breadsticks (I revamped the garlic twists recipe.), oatmeal muffins and strawberry jam (canned 5 pints).  Hopefully I'll get the chance to blog about those things sometime this week.

Also, this is a new week, so there's a new baby step.  I will no longer buy canned foods.  The vast majority of foods are put in cans lined with BPA.  The few that aren't are much more expensive due to the extra cost of the BPA-free lining, and aren't carried in my regular grocery store.  I could get things online, through Amazon or similar places, but I am choosing to find alternatives. 

I haven't purchased canned vegetables in years.  My family likes fresh or frozen better and since I have tons of fridge and freezer space, but very little pantry space, that has always worked in our favor.  Until recently, I kept a small stash of canned fruit for an"emergency."  After the same four cans stayed on the shelf for 7 or 8 months, I decided that an "emergency" probably wasn't going to happen, and if it did, canned fruit probably wouldn't solve the problem.  I let my daughter make a couple of fruit salads to get rid of those.

The two items that have been the biggest to overcome are tuna and tomato products.  This past month I stopped buying tuna in a can and purchased the pouch instead.  So far I'm happy with it.  I bought 7, but I've only used one, so I don't have a lot of experience.  The one thing that I did notice was the lack of water/oil to drain from the pouch.  That's a plus-I hated getting tuna water on my hands when I drained the can! 

Tomato products are my last hold out.  Typically I try to keep a case of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce on hand to make my own spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce or for use in casseroles, chili, etc.  Originally I planned to get rid of all the cans except the tomato ones, but after doing more reading on BPA, I know that I need to stop buying them as well.  So right now, I have 5 cans of diced tomatoes, 8 cans of tomato paste and 4 cans of tomato sauce.  When those are gone, there will be no more.  So, what will I do?  One thought was to never eats tomatoes again, but I know that isn't realistic. =)   I have 5-gallon bags of tomatoes in my freezer from last year's garden.  I will start by using those and then I'll have to buy tomatoes/sauce until summer canning begins. 

I will have to do some cost analysis, because it might be cheaper to buy organic pasta sauce ($2.50/ 32 oz. jar) than it would be to buy an equivalent amount of tomatoes to make it, especially since tomatoes aren't in season now.  That is also something that I might be able to find coupons for to make it more affordable.  I will definitely have to do some checking on that.

My only other food that I usually buy in a can is diced green chilies.  I don't buy that many (maybe a dozen little cans a year), but I use them in white chicken chili.  Surely there's a jarred variety of those I can find.

So, that's it.  Just a few more cans and we will be a can-free house.  Is anyone else "can free?"