Boy oh boy, is it! Because we have so much meat from the two steers we had butchered (folks who got a half are on vacation and we have lots of extra ground beef too), we emptied out one freezer which held older meat to receive the new meat. But we still had lots of meat in boxes! So, we ran to Virginia (the city) and bought a mid-sized chest freezer. Will and I unloaded it and plugged it in. Now it’s stuffed with frozen beef. Not enough room for the three boxes of bones though. So, I ran to town and got three huge bags of ice to put on them and threw a quilt over them to keep them nice and fresh. We still have three boxes of bones at the processing plant I’d planned on canning beef broth with. But with hundreds of pounds of “old” meat, I’m passing them on to friends, Sherri and Dara.
A little of the old meat was freezer burned a bit as it had been in there for a long time. That, I’m canning up for pet food. But some, which I’d thought was dog food meat turned out to be fine! I’m talking about boneless chicken breasts that I bought family packs just as COVID was hitting hard. Now that’s old meat, just packaged in store plastic wrap. But, as I opened it, there was no freezer burn at all! I canned some of it up then opened a jar and tasted it. It was perfectly fine! (Sorry dogs and cats!) I cut the breast meat into chunks and pack the jars lightly. Then I add boiling water. Yes, I know they say raw meat can be packed without liquid, but I’ve found, after years and years, the meat is more tender when liquid (broth or boiling water) is added.
I also did nine pints of ground beef yesterday and nine are in the canner now with more chicken breast. Meanwhile, I had boiled a bunch of the old chicken hind quarters in Mexican seasoned broth and today I took the meat from the bones and tasted it. It, too, was perfect! That’s in the canner now, in quarts of chicken soup. Only a 5-gallon pail full of thawing ground beef and more chicken to go. Whew! But what a blessing!
I took a golf cart ride around as the canner is cooling off so I can remove the processed jars. Will is working on adding a large bucket to the big Kubota so he can load gravel and manure with that tractor. I checked out the flower beds, where tulips and daffodils are coming up in the sunny 55-degree F warmth. The beaver pond is all thawed out and looking pretty. Soon our pair of Canadian geese will be nesting on the island to raise their new batch of goslings. Can’t wait!
— Jackie
That canned meat sure looks good! I love having canned meat on hand because I can whip up a meal in a flash. This is so handy when you have unexpected company or are just tired and need a meal. I wish I had known how to do this when my kids were home and in sports. It would have made life a lot easier then. I have been mowing my yard and weed eating. My mower needs some repair work, so it can be a challenge some days. My garden is peeking up. Lettuce and radishes are coming up and the cabbage plants look good. I still have some planting to do, but its still pretty early. Soon you will be in your garden and enjoying the warm sun and smell of the good earth. Sending prayers for a blessed week.
Dear Jackie,
I, too, made ham broth from our Easter ham. I put the bone, that was nearly picked clean, into my slow cooker and filled with water. I brought to a boil and then slow cooked for a 24-hour period. It got 4 pints of really good broth. In fact, I may have to dilute it when I make white beans!! Waste not, want not. That is a very true statement.
Amen to that! I have an older ham in the freezer that, as soon as the older beef and chicken is finished, I want to can up and make beans and ham to bake. How handy that is when you’re tired and simply must find something quick and easy for supper.
It makes me tired thinking about all you do. Here we have had rain nearly daily -I’ll quit praying for rain. What kind of watering schedule do you have for your vegetable starts? I have a couple hundred of seedling starts and always the concern of either too little or too much watering-and I’ve been growing vegetable plants for years. I do add miracle grow as the nutrients in the potting soil are soon depleted. We have made piles of manure with the skid steer and will spread it on the fields. I think the skid steer is essential and a whole lot better than using a pitch fork. I’ve never made beef broth and will have to check on that. Soon some weather with heat-I quit feeding the wood stove yesterday.
Yep, we did stop burning the woods stove yesterday too. For how long? Don’t know. Sometimes when it turns rainy and raw, that stove sure feels good. I wish we had a skid steer. They’re so very handy! Will uses our crawler/loader to shove manure piles up. He’s got the manure spreader all fixed and the manure piles are just thawing out. We’ll be spreading manure too, very soon. I’ve used a pitchfork a lot in the past and you’re right; equipment is much better when you have it. If it’s sunny I water the greenhouse every day as it gets very hot in there and the plants dry out quickly. On rainy days, it’s probably every other day.
Your canned goods look great. I need to do that to my freezer too. Your plants look so happy and I admire your greenhouse.
thanks for sharing
I’m so grateful to have that greenhouse!! It saves me so much work, moving flats of plants in and out, watering them individually, etc. I’m still canning but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank God!
Boy, you sure are busy!!! I admire your energy 😊
No energy, it’s just got to get done. I can’t bear to waste anything, especially food.
WOW Are you a Busy canner! Mexican broth, this sounds delicious Any specific ingredients you recommend? Green house is amazing So Full healthy green growing plants!Freezer burnless ,store wrap! Always thought one had to rewrap to prevent freeze burn. Covid time no less!! Amazing, Having a golf cart ride,while canner is cooling down is good way to relax before the next canner!!Enjoy reading your days events! Thank you
We have an oversize bucket on our skid steer (skid loader). Only bucket we have but its size means less trips of whatever we’re hauling.
Daffodils and tulips are a viewing pleasure. We did NOT get the rain per the weather prognosticator. Time to water the taters, garlic, asparagus, and strawberries.
You can’t go wrong with another chest freezer – unplug it if not needed but is there if needed. NOT wasting food should be everyone’s golden rule. Waste of any sort is sinful (and remember I am not a religious person) and waste of anything (including time), has a cost. Remember cost does not always mean money. When it comes to wasting time, one cannot make more time.