Food Storage...dehydration style..!

I love to dehydrate all my herbs so I have them handy when I can't just use fresh..which of course being fresh I would definetly use first. But I have to say this comes second when it comes to flavor! Actually you usually have to use more of the fresh herb than the dehydrated to get a good taste..don't know why though!
Funny story...Ray and I got this little friend for our wedding...and we were both like....UM OKAY!! but somehow through 13 years of marriage, 7 moves, an apartment fire in which we lost everything if not due to the smoke damage...we have managed to save this baby! I guess Heavenly Father knew I would someday make it a part of my life....lol!!
We have done everything in this...my favorite is of course the beef jerky and banana chips...which Bella loves!! So if anyone has some good recipes..PLEASE pass them on!!I took a trip to Superstition Market today for all my fruits and vegies...they had parsley for 5 bunches for 1.00...can't beat that price..so I kept one fresh one and dehydrated the rest!

Family Night at the Cannery..!

I called in last month to make an appt for the cannery......it has changed since the LAST time I was there, which was a long time ago! You can't just show up and can whatever you want, now they have you make appts. and only to can what they have scheduled for that month...The Johnstons came with us since they are family and they were all jokin about not havin the "mormon" badge...lol! It was sooo funny not to mention the big silver canister lookin things as we pulled up..I was sayin yeah we gotta take a "secret" passage down under ground and show them our badge...heehee!! We were laughin like crazy!!
The kids had such a good time we are planning on coming once a month for a while ...that'll be fun!!

Kellee and I didn't read the instructions about not wearing jewelry, she ended up losing one of her earrings...and so we were jokin about that too..! Luckily my earring broke at dinner afterwards..lol! Ray ended up seeing a longtime friend from high school and of course he said..."You Mormon??!!!??!! He gets that alot....he was a crazy kid back then...WAY back then..!

More Canning...!

So yesterday and today I did all of my peaches (25lber) half of my pears and a quarter of my apples.....DANG!! I am so tired of canning, luckily I only have to do apple pie filling in quart jars and then I will be making apple pies and freezing them for the holidays. YEAH!!!

I made applesauce that was so good, ( we had some after it cooled off) WAY better than store bought. My kids were like "Mom don't ever buy it from the store again!" ....I boiled my apples (after I used my apple peeler corer slicer thing) in water with cinnamon, cinnamon sticks and allspice. I love how my house smells like fall.... After that I made peach jam...yum!! I froze some peaches too for our breakfast smoothies.

Look what I did today...!

Canned for the very first time.....Dang it was easy peasy, but a little scary at first! Maybe because my friend and I had two going at the same time...mmmm! But this actually was alot of fun...a little long but definetly worth it. We decided we would do this a some more times for our food storage and then every year can like when we make our strawberry freezer jam!!









I know I know...I am definetly in the canning mode! But it's nice to know that I am not the only one! My friend went to 4 Walmarts, Fry's, Sam's, Target and Michaels and they were all OUT of jars...I finally told her to check out Hobby Lobby and she was able to get some. Luckily I had some stored away...relief!



So we just canned chicken breast with different seasonings and the hamburger meat....they WERE pretty, but now the meat looks a little like yucky, but I know it's good..(I just have to remind myself that!) The chicken looks like....well um brain (Sabrina's words!), I just told my kids it was for a future Halloween dinner...hee hee they believed ...me for now) they got all excited!LOL!

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year’s supply of food … and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.”
President Thomas S. Monson
Food storage and being prepared isn't about "Doomsday", it's about the next life changing event; be it, sickness, loss of job or a decline in the economy. But, if you are prepared you can have peace of mind knowing that you and your family will be OK!
The White House Web site notes that bad guys may already be out to get us, and government-sponsored billboards and TV ads will soon urge us all to "Be Ready." Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge says Americans should keep a three-day supply of food, water and medical supplies on hand. "We can be afraid, or we can be ready," he said. By Greg Toppo, USA TODAYPosted 2/27/2003

So there is this blog: youcancan.blogspot.com that has updates available about anything that has to do with canning...or better word(s) Being Prepared! Mindy's husband did this amazing stacking water barrels....great idea!!

Also check out rugettingprepared.blogspot.com They have cheaper prices on water barrels, pressure cookers everything pretty much, maybe because they are located here in AZ. Anyhow they DO PARTIES!! really cool, I might do this, or for an enrichment would be awesome!

This site safelygatheredin.blogspot.com has recipes and PRINTABLES for your food storage! She has alot to offer and has great ideas!
Here is another cool site called: everydayfoodstorage.blogspot.com...She is also super amazing and has several tutorials, recipes and PICTURES of everything she does...WOW!!! She is all about changing the stigma of Food Storage and making it HIP...my kind of gal..woohoo!!

I will be adding more updates as I found them, I know there are many but this is such an important thing and I am really on a kick to get prepared for my family! Any insights or info would be greatly appreciated!!