This is an article that I posted a while back and have brought it up to this newer blogspot. You will find that there will be a lot of chicken and ground beef on sale over the next month or so. Now is the time to preserve it!

Last week, one of the local stores had bottom round roasts for $1.77 a pound. They were willing to grind it for me, so I had them do 20 lbs. for Sarah to use in the break-the-fast meal last Sunday. By having them trim the visible, surface fat, it came out very lean. When she and her committee cooked it up, there was less than a quart of fat and juices from 20lbs. That is lean!

Hope this gives you some good ideas!

I’ve been pretty busy this past week, making those pennies squeal!

First, I went crazy buying & canning chicken breasts for $.87 per lb. When I priced the canned chicken at Costco and figured it out, it came to $2.35 per lb. For 34 lbs. I figured it was a savings of $ 57.00!

Next, I canned up 25 lbs. of boneless beef that I paid $1.77 per lb. When I figured up the cost of buying the 12 oz. cans at Costco it was $3.30 per lb. It came to a savingsof $38.25.

Last, I decided to can up some of the 4-H pig that I split with a friend last fall. This was just for the price of the lids … OK guys, I had some electricity to pay for, but when you figure all the power I wasn’t burning running the furnace, TV (too busy) and who knows what else, I figure it was a wash on that one!

For about $105.00 I now have:
1. Chicken--33 qts.
2. Beef------ 31 pints
3. Pork----- 14 pints
4. Sausage -- 8 pints

All stored, cooked, de-fatted & ready-to-eat.

I followed the guidelines found at:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/questions/FAQ_canning.html#top . I strongly suggest that if you do this kind of canning, you check out this website. The directions are simple and accurate.

***After taking a semester of food science classes at University of AZ (training to serve in one of the church canneries as a cannery operator) I cannot stress enough, how important it is that you use an information source such as this! The pathogens found in improperly processed foods can be deadly, please don’t just go by how “Aunt Bruhilda” always did it.

Cucumb-a-rama

Today I made my first cucumber salad. It was pretty straight forward.

Cucumber Tomato Basil Salad

• 2 cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and then sliced
• 3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 10 black olives, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• Fat Free Zesty Italian Dressing (Kraft is my favorite)
• Feta or mozarella cheese

Mix everything in a bowl, except the tomatoes and cheese. Chill for a couple of hours. Add the tomatoes just before serving. Sprinkle with mozarella cheese on individual servings.

*** All I had was a generic dressing and it wasn't as zingy as the Kraft is. A dressing made of wine vinegar and olive oil would be even better.