So, I've been using shelves in my freezer for a long time. It seems odd to me now to see people's freezers without them. At one point, I had 3 whole chickens, 2 whole hams, 4 different frozen meals, 8-10 frozen vegetable packets, 2-3 (1 lb) tubes of hamburger, a bag of onion cubes, a bag of lemon juice cubes, a bag of garlic, 4 boxes of butter, a couple pounds of bacon, a gallon of milk, plus 4 trays of ice and a few other things I know I'm forgetting. It didn't cost but about $10 for the wire shelves from W-mart. You know, those white plastic covered wire ones? They've served me well for the last 6 years at least!
Well, even with all that, I had started to run out of enough room in my freezer, so (after getting tired of using masking tape to hold my freezer door closed) I took to canning. I learned how to can stew, so that is where I started. Chicken stew. I know, weird first canning project. But chicken was on sale for $.59/ lb, and potatoes were buy five pounds get five free, and carrots were going bad in my fridge. It seemed quite logical at the time.
The steps were fairly simple. Peel and slice the potatoes and carrots, put them in. Chop the chicken and put that on top. Add the seasoning, add water to 1/2 way up the chicken since the chicken also makes its own juice. Wipe off the top of the jar, add the pre-boiled lid and screw it down. Then, I just turned the jar upside down, and sideways, while I shook it to be sure the seasoning was mixed in well.
Then, put the jars in cold water in the pot since they were cold and I didn't want to break them. Boiled them in the pressure cooker until there was a good stream of steam, added the weight, and left it at pressure (mine is 15 pounds here on the coast) for 90 minutes before turning off the stove and allowing everything to cool.
And, VIOLA!! Beautiful chicken stew.
When I use it, I will probably add a little more water and let it boil before adding thickener, but most of the work is done, and my freezer space can be used for other sales.
Since that first experience, I have also canned beef stew, chicken breasts, beans, and spaghetti sauce. Beef stew is the same as this. Chicken breasts, one pint is one pound (I am currently looking for half pint jars since we go easy on the meat here), add no water, and very little seasoning. The chicken makes it's own juice. For spaghetti sauce, I made my mother-in-law's recipe and canned it for a half hour in a water bath. Beans, I learned what to do and what not to do. Fill a 1 quart jar 1/3 full of dry beans. Fill the rest of the way with water. Let the beans soak overnight, drain and rinse before adding water, salt, and ham if you desire. Pressure cooker, under pressure for 45 minutes.
It's been fun, and my husband says my bookshelf which serves as my "Pantry" now looks like a science lab. I say that's fine as long as we have food for the winter!!!! (and room in my freezer!)
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