Pearsons Progress

My Pantry

It’s been busy around here! As you’ve already read, we had family for a visit, then another young woman came from France for 4 days and finally this weekend, we will have another gal in one of our ‘guestrooms’.

Work is busy, church is busy and our house is staying full! In spite of all of the activity, I’ve found time in the evenings to do some canning. These past 2 weeks I have canned 10 kilos of pork cubes (some with Chipotle seasoning), 10 kilos of potatoes and I ground, seasoned, made and canned 10 lbs of sausage patties.

My PANTRY is filling! It’s sure nice to have a jar of ground beef ready to pop open (I use reusable canning jars) and add to a casserole. This week when I was rushed for time due to work and meetings, I opened a jar of beans, & one pork cubes to make nachos for lunch. I add some fresh lettuce, scallions and cilantro from my garden, some salsa and cheese over chips.

I sure look forward to the summer tomatoes, peppers and onions for making enough salsa that will last us a year.

These are my 3 shelves of canned food. The photos are slightly overlapping each other and you can get a ‘larger’ view by clicking on the photo.

The benefits of canning for me:

1. fresh food canned with the seasoning I want and use
2. I buy at the cheapest prices to stretch my grocery money
3. I always have food on hand when we travel or have friends over
4. I enjoy the process and like to see the pantry full of options for meal times

The downside of canning for me:

1. my hands & nails have taken a beating
2. I have to be careful not to strain my wrists
3. I’m usually up pretty late at night getting it all done