Canning Fruit

Sorry that it has been so long since I posted.
I am canning peaches, apples and raspberries right now. I found a great recipe for peach butter on a website called www.pickyourown.org. As you have all probably figured out I don't like to throw anything away so I have been using my peels to make juice and I had a friend forward me a link on how to make peach honey from the skins or juice of your peaches. It is at that same website.

For those of you who are not sure where to start canning but would like to please feel free to e-mail me at annascoupons@yahoo.com

Anna

Utah Fruit Is On The Way!!!!

Utah Fruit Is On The Way!!!

Here is a list of what we can get and prices:

Peaches - 32 lbs - $20.50

Large Pears - 38 lbs - $20.50

Jumbo Pears - 38 lbs - $22.00

Red Delicious - 38 lbs - $24.00

Ginger Gold Apples - 38 lbs - $25.00

Raspberries - 8 lbs -$25.00

Delivery will begin on September 8th and continue every Wednesday in September. We will have 3 pick-up locations this fall.
-The first location is in Gilbert at Chandler Heights and Higley
- The second is in Queen Creek at Ironwood and Ocotillo
-The third is in Mesa at Gilbert and McKellips. Please note if you want to use the Mesa pickup location you need to add $.50 per case to your order.

When your fruit arrives you will be e-mailed about pick-up. You will have 2 days to pickup your fruit, failure to do so will result in the resale with no refund. All orders must be paid for before your order will be placed.

Please e-mail orders or questions to rugettingprepared@yahoo.com.

Anna

Canning Jars Anyone?

We are doing another order of canning jars in two weeks. Below are the prices, there are 12 jars in each case except the 1/2 gallon there are 6 jars in that case. *Don't forget the jar shortage in the valley last year when peaches and apples came in, don't get caught up in that again.

1/2 pint - $6.60
reg mouth pint - $7.25
wide mouth pint - $8.00
reg mouth quart - $8.00
wide mouth quart - $9.00
1/2 gallon - $8.00
reg mouth lids - 1.50

There are 3 pick-up locations... Gilbert (Chandler Heights and Higley), Queen Creek (Ironwood/Ocotillo) and Mesa (Gilbert/Brown). If you choose the Mesa location you need to add $.25 per case to cover our cost of delivering the to that location.
E-mail rugettingprepared@yahoo.com if you are interested in ordering and we will confirm your order and give you a total. Payment is due before we order, we will give you the address on where to send your payment.
Thanks!

Blueberries

Hi All-

I just found out I can get a good deal on Blueberries and Strawberries. If you are interested in me canning either strawberry or blueberry jam for you please let me know. I can also do whole Blueberries if you would like. The price for the whole blueberries would be $1.65 per pint or $2.15 per quart. The jam would be $1.95 for a pint or $2.65 for a quart. I can also do Blueberry pie filling for you. The price on that would be 1.85 for a pint or 2.45 for a quart.
Please call me at 602-469-4692 if you are interested as I am going to be out and about today. I will be buying the supplies later this afternoon.

Anna

Blueberries

Hi All-

I just found out I can get a good deal on Blueberries and Strawberries. If you are interested in me canning either strawberry or blueberry jam for you please let me know. I can also do whole Blueberries if you would like. The price for the whole blueberries would be $1.65 per pint or $2.15 per quart. The jam would be $1.95 for a pint or $2.65 for a quart. I can also do Blueberry pie filling for you. The price on that would be 1.85 for a pint or 2.45 for a quart.
Please call me at 602-469-4692 if you are interested as I am going to be out and about today. I will be buying the supplies later this afternoon.

Anna

Canning 4 U

Good News for all those people requesting me to can for you:

After many requests and much thought I have decided that I would start canning for those of you who do not have the time, equipment or just do not want to do it. I know that canning is not everyone's cup of tea but I enjoy it so I figure I might as well offer up my services.

I have come up with a price list for some basic items (chicken, beef chunks, ground beef, sausage and beans) but will be posting specials as they come about.

Please feel free to e-mail me for the price list or more details: annascoupons@yahoo.com

canning..canning..canning

I am canning all kinds of stuff today...
jalopenos,
applesauce,
grape juice,
mixed fruit juice,
vegetable soup

I will post pictures soon!!!

Gardening Update

My garden at home is flourishing...
Watermelons are coming on
Tomatoes are about done for this season
Beets, corn, and cucumbers are about ready to harvest
Peppers are going crazy

My land garden is giving me tomatoes and the melons are coming on also. My corn is struggling a little but surviving.

I am excited as I prep my ground an plant my cantalops and pumpkins for the fall harvest.

Canningpalooza.....is that a word???

Hi-

WOW!! Where do I begin???

First my week began by making Applesauce. I had a bunch of apples off a friends tree, so I made applesauce. Then on Tuesday I taught a strawberry jam class for my ward and a couple friends. Then Wed not much except clean up the mess from Mon and Tue. Then on Thursday I made banana bread and muffins, dehydrated some herbs and prepared for Friday.

My friend Erin will be coming down on Friday and we will canning more stuff.
We will be doing:
Vegetables
Strawberry Jam
Mixed Berry Jam
Grape Jelly
Applesauce
Jalopenos

I love this time of year, but it is also a very busy time.

Canning Hamburger today

Thanks to a water leak in my ice maker I will be canning 30 lbs of hamburger today. I am excited because I needed to do it, just been procrastinating.

I will also be doing 40 lbs of chicken an Friday. It is a good week for my food storage meat supply.

**On a side note, we will be getting Cherries down out fo Utah in about 3 weeks. We should get prices later this week. We are featuring the Cherry Pitter for 21.99 ($3 off) and a couple other items to go with the cherries and other fruit we will be getting throughout the summer. Please feel free to e-mail rugetingprepared@yahoo.com if you want more information.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions about canning or if you want to learn, I often can with people at my house so they can learn, just ask!!!!

Dry Pack Canning

Today my friend Erin will be coming to visit and we are going to do some dry packing. I have beans, rice, milk, and some carrots to do. She will be doing cereal and oatmeal. It should be a lot of fun and we should get alot done. We are also going to be packing some chocolate chips into canning jars and vacuum sealing them. I am really looking forward to spending the day taking steps toward being more prepared as well as spending time with a friend.

Restaurant Store

Hi All-
I am going to a store that serves restaurants tomorrow. I have been getting boneless, skinless, chicken breast pieces for $1.00 per pound.

There are many things available. If you would like more information please e-mail me at annascoupons@yahoo.com

Anna

How does your garden grow?

My backyard garden in my planter bed is going great. My garden on the land is slow, but I am seeing progress. My potatoes are starting to come up and my peas are growing like weeds. I also have pumpkins, watermelon, squash and tomatoes that are starting to show signs of life and new growth. I am excited about the results on the land. I have corn that is about 8 inches high and that is very exciting to me.

Well I better get off to CO-OP so I will post more later.

Anyone feel like Canning?

As you all know we are headed into canning season here in AZ. I have made a connection with a gentleman who buys jars in bulk. Here are the prices. I need all orders and money by Monday, April 27th. I will check back with him today and post an approximate delivery date.

Golden Harvest - small mouth
1/2 Pint - $6.60
Pint - $7.25
Quart - $8.00

Ball - wide mouth
Pint - $8.00
Quart - $9.00

Please e-mail if you have any questions.

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam Recipe:

4 cups of strawberry puree (I clean mine then blend them in the blender, mine is still chunky)
sugar to your taste, let sit 10 minutes
add 2/3 cup of ultra gel

ladle into jars, wipe tops and boil bath for 20 minutes

You can get ultra gel from Shars (expensive), www.grainsplus.com, or someone said you can get it from Costco (not sure).

Canning Cheese

I was told that I was able to can cheese at home. I did some about 3 months ago and it is great. I tried it and it is good. I did some more on Monday so I thought I would post instructions.

Bake your wide mouth jars for 15 minutes at 245 degrees.
Melt cheese in pan and ladle into jars.
Wipe top of jars
Water bath for 45 minutes.

I will post a picture later today.
Anna

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!!

Superstition Ranch Market has Strawberries for $.50 per pound container. That is a good deal! I will be making jam and canning strawberries.
Anyone who is interested in learning to make jam feel free to e-mail me at annascoupons@yahoo.com and I will be more than willing to teach you in person or help you over the phone. I use a product called Ultragel to make my jam, I can use less sugar and no cooking.

Good Luck if you do a canning project or at the very least Happy Eating!

My wife is a geek.

Fry's Sale Today

Fry's is having a sale today from 3-11 and there are a couple things I will be purchasing.

Ground Beef: $.88 lb for 5lb chubs 73%, limit 2 (great for canning)
Nabisco Crackers: between $.63 and $.75 each, limit 4

Couponsense Class this week!!!

I do have a coupon class on Saturday. I will be teaching several people how to cut their grocery bill by up to 50%. The class will be a Power and McDowell. If you are interested in going please contact me at 602-469-4692 for more specific directions. Here is a list of things that I bought last week and the cost of them after coupons:

Fruit Loops $.50
Mini Wheat Little Bites $.50
Ziplock Bags $.50
Ziplock Steam Bags $.50
Country Crock Butter FREE
Cottonelle Toilet Paper 4 Pack $.50
Huggies Diapers $1.99
Huggies Diapers $3.99
Peppridge Farms Garlic Bread $.70
Chex Mix $.50
Quaker Rice Cakes FREE
Cinnamon Chex $.70
Colgate Toothpaste $.25
Irish Spring 3 pack $.50
Hunts Tomato Sauce FREE

This is last week. I will post my shopping list this week either later today or tomorrow.

Anna

Backyard Garden

This is my wall that I built in my back yard. It is 43 ft long and 3 ft wide. I am planting it in three stages so that I can have a rotating crop production. I will hopefully be producing enough fruits and vegetables this year to feed my family. I also have planted 2 apple trees, a plum, 2 pears, 2 peaches and grapes. This week I will be planting 3 blueberries, and 5 seaberries. If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me and I would love to help you with your gardens.

Group Gardening Update

I have started the garden on the land that was donated by the Phelps this week. There are three families taking advantage of the offer. So far I have tomatoes, potatoes, okra, jalopeno peppers, watermelon, cantalope, cucumbers and onions planted. I am still going to put in squash, corn, broccoli and more tomatoes. I will post some pictures on here if I remember my camera.

My Finished Chicken

My canned chicken. I just thought I would post a picture of my most recent canning project. This picture is all done with the chicken from the restaurant store. I figure each quart will provide 2 meals for my family. This represents 80 meals for my family. *I have 14 jars in my canner that are not in the picture.

Canning This Week

I canned 40 lbs of my chicken and I have another 40 to go, hopefully tomorrow. I juiced about 50 oranges today to freeze. My dad loves fresh OJ, but by the time he comes in April the oranges are gone. This year he can have fresh frozen :) OJ.
Up next, hopefully some berries...tis the season.

*I have been kicking around the idea of offering canning classes, anyone interested? E-mail me at annascoupons@yahoo.com

I ordered Garden Plants Today :)

Today I placed an order that will help me with taking advantage of every inch of my lot that I live on. For those of you who I have not told this yet, any plant that does not produce a consumable product has a big red X on it. I am on a mission to make the best of what I have available. I will soon post pictures of my garden bed I built.
Today I ordered: Seaberries and Blueberries
In the last few weeks I have had potatoes, garlic, carrots, onions and lettuce to sprout. I have also planted a pear, plum and two apple trees.

Again I want to stress to everyone that you should be making every effort to become as self sufficient.

My trip to the Restaurant Store

Another trip to the restaurant store, another good day for food storage...
80 lbs of chicken
3 lbs of cheese
5 lbs of pastrami and
30 lbs of beef for chunks, roasts and jerky

I will be very busy over the next few days, not to mention tomorrow is Bountiful Baskets so I will have all the fruits and vegy's to deal with. Good times at my house the next few days.

My shopping List for today

Bashas:
Banana Nut Cheerios $.50
Fiber One Cereal $.50
Shamrock Farms Sour Cream $.49

Fry's
Cheese $1.00
Dole Canned Pineapple $.50
Right Guard Deodorant $1.00
Del Monte Fruit Cups Free

Safeway:
2 liter pepsi Free
Kelloggs Raisin Bran Free

Canning This Week

Bacon:
I canned 6 quarts of bacon. First you cook it then you put it in the jar and cover with water. You have to the pressure it for 90 minutes.
Cheese:
The coolest thing I have canned in a while is cheese. You bake your jars at 250 degrees for 20 minutes then you melt your cheese on the stove. Pour your melted cheese into the jars then boil bath them for 45 minutes. It is very cool.
Orange Syrup:
I am also canning orange syrup (for pancakes). You put 5 cups of OJ and 4 cups of sugar in a pan and boil down to the consistence that you desire. Then boil bath for 20 minutes.

E-mail me if you have any questions.

Coupon Savings this week!

Part of my shopping list this week:

Dial Liquid Hand Soap $.18
Gallon Milk $1.58
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $.50
Betty Crocker Frosting $.45
Kens Salad Dressing $.50
Multigrain Cheerios $.47
Trix $.47
Manwich $.49
Hormel Chili $.49
Ragu Pasta Sauce $.49
Cottonelle Toilet Paper FREE

If you would like more information or help with your groceries please feel free to e-mail me or call me for more information.

Class on Saturday the 21st at 2:00PM in Mesa
Class on Saturday the 28 at 10:00AM in Queen Creek

annascoupons@yahoo.com
480-988-3234

This week in Canning....

This past Sunday we had friends over for dinner (it was very nice). I had made a ham so with the leftovers I put 1 cup of beans in the jar, filled the 3/4 of the way with ham chunks and then covered it with ham stock. I got the ham stock by boiling my bones and fat pieces. Then I processed the jars for 90 minutes in my pressure canner. It turned out great and now I have a protein packed meal in a jar. Just a note. I only got 6 jars with ham so I went ahead and did a 7th jar of just beans so I didn't leave an empty space.

Today I am going to blend up some Strawberries, Blueberries, and Pears to make fruit roll-ups in my dehydrator. Yesterday I dried some basil and oregano and ground them for spices.

What's up next? I don't know, let's see what come in my Bountiful Basket this weekend or what is on sale at Superstition Ranch Market.

Gardening Update

As I checked my gardens today I noticed that I have lettuce and carrots sprouting. My bare root trees also have buds and baby leaves all over them. I am excited that maybe I will be eating plums and pears from my patio in a year or so.
My retaining wall is coming along great. 3 more blocks and I will be ready to start stacking. It will go fast then. Still trying to decide what exactly I want to plant in it. I can guarantee it will be production items as I am slowly replacing all my landscape with plants that we can eat.

Coupons

It is very well known that I am a huge fan of coupons for building food storage so I am going to be posting tips for that on here. I will also be putting out information on classes that I am teaching.

February 21st 2:00pm Power/Baseline
February 28th 10:00am Chandler Heights/Ironwood

If you would like information on either of the classes or information on how to get started please feel free to e-mail me at annascoupons@yahoo.com.

Retaining Wall Garden and Shared Garden

I am in the process of replacing my curbing with a retaining wall. I am hoping that with all the new space that it will give me to garden that I can produce some stellar results. I am hoping that it goes well and I do not have to many problems. I will post some pictures when I am done.

My other project is a shared garden with my friend Danielle. A family in our Ward was gracious enough to let us use some of there land to put in a garden. I am going to use it as a canning garden, focusing on growing just a few items, but in bulk to store.

There is a lot of work to be done on both projects so I will be very busy over the next couple weeks.