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Recipes, Save Money · March 3, 2019

Save Money with Home Canning for Beginners (it’s easier than you think!)

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Save money groceries home canning beginners

I bet you’d agree, we’re all looking for ways to save money and eat healthier. Canning our own foods can do that for us and I’ve asked my friend Jenny to walk us through the process today. Don’t worry, we’re totally doing “canning for beginners” here – no experience needed!

Home canning for beginners save money thumbnail(This post probably contains affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is quite boring, but you can read it here if you’d like!)

Canning is one of the most overlooked ways that you can save money on groceries. Especially if you have a garden, have access to homegrown food, or can get produce at a really good price (like with a CSA or Misfit Markets). It’s also an amazing way to eat healthier, and eat fewer processed foods.

And it’s not just for your grammy, I promise!

My friend, Jenny from The Domestic Wildflower is going to show us what canning is, walk us through a simple tomato sauce recipe to can, and she even has a free download for a canning process pdf that will help us in the kitchen!

Let’s get started! Here’s Jenny…

Home Canning and how it will save you money:

Simple Canning Definition

Canning is a way of preserving food in jars so the food inside is shelf stable. The very basic process of canning is taking jars that have been getting hot n’ clean in boiling water, putting hot food (hot jam, hot applesauce, etc) into the hot jars, putting hot lids on, and putting them back in the hot water. Hot food goes into hot jars, and they go back into hot water.

Are you with me so far? Then you set a timer for a specified time for the jars of hot food to process in the boiling water bath. When the time is up, you can take the hot jars out one by one and the lids magically seal.

It is a time investment up front for a huge time, money, and effort savings later. Canning a large batch of tomato sauce might take you 2 hours from start to finish, but the end result is many jars of healthy sauce that you can store pretty much anywhere in your home for up to a year or more.

I love this tomato sauce recipe in particular because I use it to make an adaptable sauce that I can open months after I have canned it and have a kid-pleasing pasta sauce ready at the snap of my fingers.

Canning is an ideal accompaniment to meal preparation and for moms interested in feeding their crew healthier meals.

Home Canning equipment

The first thing you need to begin canning is a canning pot. These are often the black with white speckled enamel pots that are really large and are frequently sold with a wire rack inside. You don’t have to have a huge pot like this, and if you are a single person or a small family (read: not canning to feed a small army) a pasta pot will work just fine.

In the pot you will need either a rack made of wire or a silicone trivet. Both keep the bottom of the jars off the bottom of the pot. This is not an optional piece of equipment.

You need a small or medium sized saucepan that will hold the 4-8 lids and rings where they will warm in simmering water. You probably have one of these!

You need another regular pot (we’ll call this the preserving pan). This is the pot/pan you will cook the fruit or vegetable in before you pour it into the hot jars. You probably have this too!

You need canning jars. There are many different sizes – just choose the size you prefer for whatever you’re preserving. Here’s a good size for this tomato sauce recipe. Also note, there are regular mouth and wide mouth – just make sure your lids and rings match the type of jar you get.

You need rings (they come with most sets of jars).

You need NEW canning lids each time (that’s right – keep the jars and the rings but the lids get thrown out after you eat up whatever you’ve canned!). Again, make sure you match the right “mouth size” – regular or wide.

You need a utensil kit that includes a jar lifter, a funnel, and a lid lifter.

Here’s a super cheap canning pot + utensil set all in one.

Simple Canning Tomato Sauce Recipe

Here’s the recipe that I use to work up 12 pound batches of Romas, that usually yields 4-5 pints (1 pint =2 measuring cups) adapted from a great canning book that I warmly recommend, Canning for a New Generation.

12 pounds peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

12 ounces onion, diced (about 2 small or 1 large)

2 large cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

about 2 teaspoons citric acid (a white powder sold in stores, usually near the new lids)

Prepare your largest pot with the rack inside, on the bottom of the pot. Put the jars inside (I am fond of large mouth pints for tomato sauce personally) and fill the jars and then the rest of the pot with hot tap water. Bring to a boil.

Fill the saucepan halfway with hot tap water. Put a corresponding number of brand new lids and rings to simmer in the saucepan.

In a wide preserving pan, heat the oil and saute the onions on medium high for about five minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another five. Combine the peeled tomatoes with the alliums and cook on medium high for about 45 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and darkened in color. Add salt to taste. Stir occasionally and beware of the sauce boiling over the edge.

Use the jar lifter to remove one canning jar from the boiling water bath at a time. Pour the hot water within back into the pot, into the nearby saucepan, or into the sink. Set the hot jar gently on a towel-covered countertop.

Add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid to each hot jar that is removed from the waterbath. Ladle boiling sauce into sterilized jars. Add lids and rings, tightened about as tight as you’d like a bathroom faucet, and return the jars to the boiling water bath. Bring the water back up to boil if need be, and add water from the tap to cover the tops of the jars with 3 inches of water if necessary. Process in a water bath for 35 minutes, adding 5 additional minutes of processing time for every 1000 feet you live above sea level.

When the time is up, you can carefully remove the jars one by one, using the jar lifter, to the towel covered countertop. You will likely hear the lids seal with their tell-tale “ping” sound. The lid will become concave and firm to the touch. If you have a lid fail to seal, never fear. That means there was probably a tiny bit of sauce on the edge of the jar and you should refrigerate that jar and eat it within a week. Label sealed jars and store.

Canning process pdf

Download the Canning Process PDF so you can have a handy-dandy reference in your kitchen when you start to can!

And that’s it! Canning is a perfect fit for a busy, modern home and once you understand the process, you can preserve countless recipes to help make mealtime a breeze. If you want to learn more about canning, head toThe Domestic Wildflower . I’m always sharing new recipes and techniques you’ll love.


Save money groceries home canning beginners

Learn to can home canning simple tomato sauce recipe

In: Recipes, Save Money · Tagged: canning

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The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us from it. 
❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day!
Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m a thinker and have  always lived in my head. It’s the Enneagram 5 in me. 
Bonus: it’s allowed me to be able to talk my way out of any situation. (Except that one time in social studies in 10th grade when a girl was bullying me and I had to fight back. Let’s just say she left me alone after that!😂).
Anyhoo. A friend recently said to me “it makes sense that your face betrays you because you’re so in control of your tongue”. 
My face betrays me 😂 
She’s right, I can hold my tongue pretty well unless it’s something that really gets my goat. 
🐐Fun fact #2: “gets my goat” is one of my favorite phrases ever!
🤢 Fun fact #3: I am not a picky eater and will eat just about anything but don’t you dare make me eat a sandwich with the cheese and Mayo touching!! 
Tell me: are you a thinker too?!? What are some fun facts about you?
One of the most common misconceptions I hear about One of the most common misconceptions I hear about planning for more than one week is that it takes so much time...

But the reason this is such a big misconception is because if you think it take a lot of time to make a seasonal meal plan, think about how much time it takes you to meal plan from a blank slate every week. 
Let's look at it over the course of a year.
1. weekly meal planning 1 hour x 52 weeks = 52 hours
2. monthly meal planning 1 hour x 12 months = 12 hours
3. seasonal meal planning 2 hours x 4 seasons = 8 hours 

And we're not even talking about how much time you're losing by following a weekly meal plan and subsequently grocery shopping. 

Think about how much you're missing out on with your family by spending so much time planning and shopping so often. An hour meal planning + 2 hours grocery shopping every single week is 3 hours a week you could have back to do fun things with them!

I mean, I get it...you NEED to feed your family every day, right? (kinda something we hafta do...).
But you can  do 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 differently 👏🏼
A seasonal meal plan with not only help you spend less time in planning-mode, but also help with your grocery shopping so that you can go to the grocery store less, and stop making emergency trips to the store because you forgot something.

And while you're here, let me tell ya this: avoiding a seasonal meal plan because you don't have TIME is HOGWASH... because I have lots of short cuts and tricks to show you that will maximize your time. 

PS. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - I'm sharing my newest meal planning formula calendar... It's only around for a few days...see ya tomorrow!

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Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer of ours and I need to share her with you.
 
She bought the Daily Dinner Blueprint calendar, dug right in, and told me she was so excited because she got these results:

📆 her meals are planned until SPRING (and she said it was painless!)!
🛒 a streamlined grocery shopping list!
🥣 an ingredient-based plan that doesn't limit what her family is eating!

She also said how every month "will be even quicker and easier"!

Here’s what she had to say about our business in her own words...
"My husband and I just did our first plan using your system and I wanted to drop you a line to say THANK YOU! Once you wrap your head around the process, and you start using it, it's easy to see how it will streamline grocery shopping without limiting what you are eating!

WOW! I would have to say this was pretty painless! Another benefit is I can see a clear way to categorize my recipes for future use! Each successive month will be even quicker and easier!

Back in the day, Emeril would've said "BAM, kick it up a notch!" I love that my meals are planned UNTIL SPRING! 🙌."

Thank you Karyn for being a customer! 💜
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One of the most common mistakes I see people make One of the most common mistakes I see people make when it comes to meal planning ​is doing it backwards.
BACKWARDS = planning your meals THEN doing your grocery shopping. 
Honestly, I used to teach it this way. 
But I found this doesn't work because:
🕳 you buy single, hard-to-find ingredients that end up in a black hole after you use it for just one recipe (oyster sauce in the back of the fridge, I'm looking at you...)
💰 you overbuy ingredients thinking this is the week your toddler finally eats broccoli, or this is the week you're totally going to cook every night...but end up eating the same thing over and over anyway.
🤷🏻‍♀️ you have too many options and if your plan gets interrupted (which it WILL), you're left staring at a full pantry or fridge wondering "what can I make???" And then end up ordering takeout!

Don't worry, I've got ideas for you. Check out my stories for 3 things you can do instead of backwards planning!
I could tell you so many things about this girl... I could tell you so many things about this girl... 
...my BFF Cara @apurposedrivenmom 
...but I want to focus on how she KILLS it at going after her goals. And loves teaching other busy mamas to do the same. 
She helped me map out an action plan for my goals on Saturday and wow, guys. Just wow. 
So I asked her if she would help my audience with their goal setting for the new year...
...and she agreed! 
Join both of us this Thursday (LIVE!) for “How to Take MASSIVE ACTION on your Goals (without burnout or overwhelm)”.
Sound like something you want to chat about with us?!? Link is in my bio (just click this picture of Cara and I!).
Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten prod Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten produce at the end of the week as much as I do? 
Focus on an ingredient-based meal plan instead of the other way around. That's what the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar does. Here's this week's meal plan...
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Monday: Dinner Blueprint # 51 (A4+B1+C3)
Homemade Pizza Dough & Pizza Sauce (two recipes)
‣‣‣Tuesday: Dinner Blueprint # 33 (A3+B1+C1)
Blackened Tilapia Tacos
‣‣‣Wednesday: Dinner Blueprint # 10 (A1+B3+C2)
Crispy Lemon Chicken & Veggies
‣‣‣Thursday: Dinner Blueprint # 5 (A1+B2+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 40 (A3+B2+C4)
Baked Fish Sticks (+ leftover veggies or salad)
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 13 (A1+B4+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken Soup (just add a carton of chicken broth to leftovers to make soup)
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 3 (A1+B1+C3)
Chicken Parmesan w/Pasta
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍉🥬Tell me... what fruit or veggie do you always end up throwing away? (watermelon and fresh spinach here!)
I don't know about you, but I can waste time like I don't know about you, but I can waste time like a CHAMP. Like re-drying the same load of laundry 3 times or scrolling IG like a zombie in bed.
Anyone else?
But I don't like it. 
And I definitely try to be more intentional on the things that give me more time back than what I spent on it. 
Meal planning is one of those things. Spend ONE hour a month meal planning, and you'll gain so many more hours each day (and *bonus* - it's during that dreaded pre-dinner time when the kids are maniacs!)

P.S. Please stop weekly meal planning. That doesn't actually save you time. (you can watch the ✨free training✨ in my link in bio if you want to know how often I suggest!)
Tell me...what would you do with an extra 30 mins each day?
New Month...new meal plan! Take an hour and make a New Month...new meal plan!
Take an hour and make an easy, monthly meal plan that focuses on the ingredients you eat and love - not one that tells you what to make (and then you have to go grocery shopping to get everything!) 
That's a backwards-based meal plan, friend.
Here's a sneak peek at my method:
Make a quick grid of 3 rows and 4 columns.
3 rows: A, B, C
A - main ingredient
B - side dish
C - flavor profile
4 columns: 1, 2, 3,4
Assign each space an ingredient and then mix and match... 
Here is each "formula of the day" for the rest of the week (since Jan 1st lands mid-week). Straight outta the January meal plan from the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar... 
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 36 (A3+B1+C4)
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia w/butter pasta
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 14 (A1+B4+C2)
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 23 (A2+B2+C4)
Italian Stuffed Peppers
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍔 Tell me... what's on your meal plan this week?
The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overw The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overwhelms me.
You too?
One of the many reasons I love chicken is because it's just so versatile. I mean, it cooks quick and there's sooooo many options out there. Just search "chicken recipes" and you'll come up with tens of thousands. 
(I'm looking at you again, Pinterest...). 
These are way too many options for me, so I created a simple mix and match method to come up with new dinner ideas.
✔️ limited ingredients means I'm not overwhelmed 
✔️ starts with flavors my family already loves to eat
✔️ less options means I can get dinner on the table quicker instead of staring into the fridge hoping dinner will just jump out at me!
Here's a few of these ideas on my meal plan (right outta my Annual Meal Planning calendar...).
What's your family's favorite chicken recipe?
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