Last year I tried to keep a track of what all I canned and preserved. The deer and rabbit meat didn't make it on the list, but I think most of the produce did, except for the corn on the cob I froze, not sure how that didn't end up on my list. I also gathered about 10 gallons of whole pecans from our two trees, that I just keep in buckets in our shed and use as we need them. Below is a list of what put up last year
Total:
15 pints Strawberry Jam
3 half pints Strawberry Jam
1 quart Strawberry Jam
3 quarts Frozen Strawberries
7 pints Frozen Strawberries
1 quart pickled Asparagus
1 gallon Pickled Jalapenos
30 quarts Dill Pickles
21Quarts Bread and Butter Pickles
11 Quarts Bread And Butter Pickles ( ZESTY)
1 pint Bread and Butter Pickles
11 pints sweet cucumber relish
4 Quarts Blueberry pie filling
4 quarts pickled okra
14 pints hot salsa
6 jars Pepper sauce
6 quarts Pizza Sauce
You can see many of my posts linked to my 2015 Canning Total page here.
Now that canning season is here again ( I just got my first batch of strawberries that need put up). I thought it would be a good time to reflect on exactly what all we ate, what we didn't etc. I encourage you all to do the same so you'll have a better idea of what you need to focus on this year.
We have only 3 of the 15 pints of jam left.. so I'll certainly put more of that up this year. Also as the kids are getting older I assume they will eat more.
We have zero frozen strawberries left in our freezer... we ran out sometime in February. I use those in making strawberry shortcakes, strawberry cake and in smoothies and homemade popsicles. I'll certainly try to freeze as many as I can get my hands on this year.
The pickled asparagus is gone, i just used the last of it in my pickle tray, but honestly I kind of forgot we had it and I just opened it up a few weeks ago. If I can get my hands on some asparagus I'll pickle some more.
I certainly want to do more pickled jalapenos. We use them on nachos, pizza, sandwiches, burgers. All kinds of good stuff.
The zesty bread and butter pickles are GONE ( I gave some away for Christmas, and the others were just yummy so we ate them).
The blueberry pie filling also was a hit and I could have used more this winter if we had them. They are great to use in pies but also cobblers.
We are down to about one quart pickled okra and about 5 quarts of regular bread and butter pickles. We also have probably 5 dill pickles left also.
No hot salsa is left in this house. My husband LOVES it.
There is no pepper sauce left and 1 quart pizza sauce. No pasta sauce is left either.
We have about 5 pints of cucumber relish and about 5 pints of the hot pepper relish left also.
So there you have it. This year I would like to try to put up more tomato based items if we have tomatoes available as we all seem to eat that and they are very good meal starters. Besides that, I'll put up anything we have extra of, and hope to freeze more fruit and more corn also.
As of right now we have plenty of deer meat to last us until well into Fall, which hopefully we'll at least get one or two more. We also have about 15 meat rabbits and use their meat fresh when we butcher them.
How do you all do this past year? Make too much of anything? Not enough of something?
I try to look at my canning/freezing/preserving list each spring as well, and do an inventory of what's left over. I have a journal-type book that I keep the lists in, so I can refer back for the past several years to see what I've typically used. I always try to do extra and have some carry-over so I never run out of the basics, such as green beans, tomatoes, peaches, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis year will be different, as we are moving and our things will be in storage during this summer as we house hunt. I am planning on using up my extra from the last few years, and starting fresh next year. As my children have grown and gone, I notice I have quite a bit of carry-over and so I should have most of what I need. It is also likely that we will be in a new house before fall, so then I could can/freeze more then, if I think I need something badly.
Over time, you will know how much of everything your family can use in a year, and then you know how many to can if you can get ahold of the produce. It's a smart way to keep on top of it!