DON'T PUT THAT CANNER AWAY

 

 

After the last crop is out of the garden and the pantry shelves are full, most folks wash up that canner and put it on the shelf for the winter. You just may want to think twice about that.

Usually, fruits and vegetables come to mind when you think of canning but they are only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many foods that can be preserved in this manner. The more you can, the more freezer space it frees up and canned foods have longer shelf lives than frozen ones.

The perfect time to try some of these unusual canned foods is after the regular canning season is over. Let’s face it, it’s hard to keep up with regular garden produce since it all seems to mature at the same time. After the season, then comes the time to experiment with other foods.

I have always made applesauce in the spring. So many people rush to orchards in the fall to get apples for applesauce. There is certainly nothing wrong with doing it then. There is nothing that says “fall” like the aroma of apples simmering on the stove. The trouble is that it is still a busy time with so many other activities going on.

Rather than rush to get this one more chore done now, we eat apples all winter, make pies and dumplings and when they begin to lose their texture in early spring is when I make applesauce. There usually isn’t much going on in the last days of winter and this is a welcome diversion.

I do the same with jam. Strawberry season here in Michigan is usually around the first of June. You guessed it, trying to get the garden in, starting summer projects and a host of other activities fill the days. I pick the berries, wash them, throw them in the freezer and make sure I buy the pectin to have on hand. Then, on cold dreary winter days I thaw the berries and make jam. The same holds true for black raspberries and other berries.

You can also save money by buying in bulk when foods are in season and prices are lower and canning them for later. It just makes sense to take advantage of savings and preserving foods for later use when they are out of season and the price rises.

There has been a surge of folks in recent years that choose to live in remote areas that are off the grid. They need ways of preserving food since they are usually miles from the nearest supermarket. The same techniques that they use can work for all of us for times that supermarket shelves are bare, there are power outages or other disasters.

So, just what un-ordinary foods do you can in the off season? For starters, meals in jars are always welcome when you are in a hurry. They are similar to their counterparts, freezer meals, except they don’t take up your freezer space. Beef stew and many soups are excellent candidates for preserving in a jar.

Meat is another great option. Most meats can with very few ingredients like only meat and salt in a jar. Beef, pork, chicken, salmon, tuna and other meats lend themselves well to this method of preservation. It’s so nice to open a jar and have a meal ready in minutes. One of our favorites is opening a can of beef and cooking some noodles for a quick weeknight meal.

 

Now, for some choices that may not have come to mind that can be canned:

 

*Flower jellies. Many flowers are edible and there is nothing easier than plucking some blooms from ones such as honeysuckle and turning them into something delicious when fruits aren’t accessible. They can also fill in the gap in years like this when fruit is scarce and expensive.

*Butter or ghee (clarified butter). Folks who live off the grid rely on canning butter to get them through the year. Even if they churn their own, it only stays fresh for so long so when you have access to cream, making and canning butter assures that you will have a steady supply.

*Nuts. Because of the oils in them, they tend to have a short shelf life. Even canning them will not make them last forever, but it will extend their shelf life.

*Cheese. You have to be careful on this one because it is dairy, but certain cheeses can be canned.

*Chicken feet stock. Yep, you read that right. After proper cleaning, chicken feet make some of the most nutritious broth. It can be canned like homemade bone broth.

*Pickled pigs’ feet. Some even consider this a delicacy. It used to be you could only have this when you butchered a hog, but they can be canned and enjoyed all year long.

*Shrimp and clams. I know a couple who brought back pounds of shrimp fresh from the coast. But, one can only eat so many shrimp, so they canned the rest to enjoy throughout the year.

*Boiled peanuts. This is a southern thing, either you are in love with them or not at all. If you are a fan, when peanuts are in season, they can be boiled and canned in the shell to preserve the harvest. They last years on the shelf and they are a protein-packed snack.

*Pickled fiddlehead ferns. These are immature fronds of the Ostrich fern. These are foraged springtime treats and can be canned for year-long enjoyment.

*Canned flour and dry goods. Many beans and other dry goods lend themselves well to this method of preservation. Flour will go rancid but can be dry canned for a few months.

*Preserved lemons. If you are a lemon lover, these can be canned and enjoyed later.

*Pickled eggs. Boiled eggs, combined with spices, can be canned and will pack a tasty, protein-packed treat for months on shelves. These fill the gap when eggs are scarce.

*Bacon. Pressure can pre-cooked bacon wrapped in parchment paper to keep the strips from sticking together. This works for regular pork bacon, turkey bacon and other varieties.

This is only a partial list. There are many foods that you typically don’t think of as being canned that actually lend themselves quite well to this method. You will hear folks say they have been canning certain things for years. Even so, always remember to follow the guidelines of the National Center for Home Food Preservation. This is the gold standard of what is safe to be canned, what is not and the exact method that is safe for every type of food.

Having a wide variety of canned food products ensures sustainability during uncertain times and also offers variety. Food fatigue is a real condition where people will actually choose starvation over eating the same items like rice and beans over and over.

Not only does home canning various foods ensure an ample food supply, but it also ensures a greater variety. So, don’t store that canner quite yet.

 

 

UN-ORDINARY LIVES OF FARMERS' WIVES

 

 

A farmer’s life is anything but ordinary. There is never a schedule; no plans for anything; the weather dictates chores of the day; he dabbles in welding, forging, woodworking, mechanics, predicting the grain markets, among other things; and works the most unusual hours.

Needless to say, it takes a special kind of woman to be a farmer’s wife, partner or significant other. During planting and harvest seasons, there are other titles that she also holds, some of them we probably shouldn’t talk about. If she wasn’t born into this kind of life, it doesn’t take long to find out if she has what it takes to hack it year after year.

DRESSES…A LOT.  When you are on a farm and you venture out of the house, you get dirty…period. Even if it is only to walk to the barn to ask hubby a question. That does not exist. It never fails, there are always innocent little tasks like, “can you hand me that wrench,” “grab the grease gun (really, can you not see that I have a white shirt on!), “I lost a nut under there, can you just crawl down and get it” and a lot of other little tasks. So, in five minutes or less, you go from clean to grubby.

Even when he tells you to go to town and get groceries because it’s too wet to get in the field until at least noon, so you put on your clean clothes and head out the door when you hear the roar of the combine heading to the field. OK, so you head back in and put your grubbies on.

But, you really need a few groceries so, after a long day, he says he is just finishing up a couple things in the barn. So, you wash up a bit, change clothes and finally make it to town. On the way home, you get a text (which you just know what it is and your first thought is to ignore it, but you don’t). “When you get back, I need just a little help holding something.” OK, change clothes again.

I used to wonder how comedians on TV changed costumes so quickly between skits. Now I know!

 

MEALS. We gals all have best friends, but they all take a back seat during planting and harvest season. Crockpots and Instapots become our new best friends. Supper is when the day is done, whenever that is and it can be anywhere between noon and midnight. You guessed it…it all depends on the weather.

It’s a good thing that we are good at multi-tasking. We can get breakfast, lunch and dinner ready at the same time. We need to be creative for lunch, making something that can stay hot or cold and is easy to transport to the field besides sandwiches. Most things will stay hot or cold for the trip there, but sometimes it is a “hurry up and wait” for just the right time for the guys to take a break to eat.

Even more challenging is if you also help in the field and need to have lunch ready so you can run, grab and go.

Of course, when all else is done for the day, there is meal prepping for the next day. Freezer meals are also a lifesaver during these times. After surviving yet another spring planting and fall harvest season, any farmer’s wife could easily be a short order cook anywhere.

 

SILENT REGULAR TASKS. Many farmers don’t realize it, but life actually does go on in the outside world, even during their busy times. Hard as it is to believe, people actually still get married, have kids and celebrate other life events during planting and harvest. Imagine that!

Go on and send us invitations to birthday parties and anniversaries but it’s a pretty sure bet that we won’t be there. Whoever thought of getting married or having a child in the spring or fall anyway! Nope, instead we’ll be dropping off a gift, making a phone call and giving quick hugs early mornings, way late at night or during quick breaks during the day.

You know when everyone else is going to greenhouses and picking out their flowers for the deck in the spring or enjoying a sunny fall day at the local apple orchard during autumn? Well, we get to do the same things except it’s usually on cold, wet and miserable days. By the way, what is it like to go on a beautiful sunny day…just curious.

 

YOGA PAYOFFS. Many have discovered the benefits of yoga and other exercise. Even though some of our hubbies guffaw at these practices, they should be truly thankful when they need someone agile enough to “crawl in that tiny space” or “wriggle under there and loosen that bolt.”

Did you ever wonder how many steps…and minutes…we save them by “climbing up there,” crawling under that,” and “running for that”?

 

MIND READERS. Two-way radios, cell phones and hand signals (ugh!) are great but there are still those times when we are just supposed to “know” what they need. There are those looks that say a hammer will fix it, get the grease gun, or grab a wrench and socket. Heaven forbid that we don’t know the correct size socket that fits every part of every piece of machinery. This is complicated, do they want a deep socket or a short one? Usually, they crawl down and get it themselves. Of course, this involves a little or lot of grumbling.

 

SILENT “I TOLD YOU SO’S”. If we have learned nothing else over the course of being with our farmer, it is that there is no such thing as normal conversation for a farmer during planting or harvest. If it concerns the crops, well they are all ears. Words on any other subject just blow right on through.

After it winds down, we hear things such as, “I didn’t know the mower blades were that bad!”

You want to say, “I told you so,” but you don’t.

“I didn’t know these parts were here.”

 Again, you almost blurt out, “I told you so,” but you don’t.

When they finally catch up on their reading, there are remarks of such surprise like, “I didn’t know so and so got married” or “Did you know so and so passed?”

Ahh, you don’t even think of saying “I told you so.” At this point you just shake your head and walk away.

We love our farmers and we know they love us. We just hope they appreciate the un-ordinary lives we take on by being farmers’ wives. Only the strong survive!

 

 

WHAT'S IN YOUR FOOD

 

 

As most of you know, I like to write about fun, uplifting things since there is already enough bad in the news. However, sometimes you hear something that is too shocking to be true and yet it is. This was the case recently when I learned what’s in some of our foods and, quite honestly, after discovering these food facts, it’s definitely changing some things on my diet.

To begin with, some of these food ingredients are so gross that I researched quite a few different sources to make sure they were true. I was hoping to find otherwise but, unfortunately, not. I am talking ingredients like bugs, poo and rodent hair…really gross, right?

Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration keeps a document titled DEFECT LEVELS HANDBOOK which outlines exactly what types of defects mass-produced food can have and still be considered safe to eat. Their statement reads, “It is economically impractical to grow, harvest or process raw products that are totally free of non-hazardous, naturally-occurring, unavoidable defects.”

As an example, one rodent hair for every 100 grams of chocolate, 22 rodent hairs for every 100 grams of cinnamon and five for every 18-ounce jar of peanut butter is considered safe.

Some things in our processed foods are naturally-occurring and, although gross, won’t necessarily make us sick. Then there are the additives that do affect our health. Here are a few of them from both lists…just a thought, you may want to eat before you read the list!

 

GROSS THINGS IN OUR FOODS.

 

*Chocolate. Nearly every processed food, at one time or another, contain fragments of bugs and chocolate is no exception. The FDA currently allows up to 60 insect fragments per 100 grams of chocolate. However, it is not just bug fragments, chocolate is known for containing cockroach fragments.

 

*Coffee. The FDA allows 10 milligrams…or more….of animal poop per pound of coffee. Four to six percent of coffee beans by count are allowed to be insect-infested or moldy.

 

*Black Pepper. Forty insect fragments per teaspoon are allowed, with a smidge of rodent hair.

*Peanut Butter. They allow 30 or so insect fragments and one or more rodent hairs for every 3.5 ounces.

*Apple Butter. There can be four or more rodent hairs, five whole insects and also mites, aphids and thripes for every 3.5 ounces.

*Bread. Human hair is a common find, not strands of it by accident, but rather in the form of L-cysteine, a proteinogenic amino acid that is obtained industrially by the hydrolysis of poultry feathers, hog hair and human hair. It is added as a commercial dough conditioner and flavor enhancer to improve the flaky texture of breads and other baked goods.

*Raisins. Golden raisins are allowed 35 fruit fly eggs and 10 whole insects for every 8 ounces.

*Spaghetti. For every 16-ounce box, there can be 450 insect parts and 9 rodent hairs.

*Canned Tomatoes and Pasta Sauce. Each 16-ounce can may contain 2 maggots.

*Canned Mushrooms. 20 or more maggots and 74 mites are allowed in each 4-ounce can.

*Cornmeal. Each quarter cup may contain one or more whole insects.

*Jelly Beans. Beetle poop is indeed the secret ingredient that makes jelly beans shiny. The FDA prefers to call it shellac and it is also found in Hershey’s Milk Duds, Junior Mints, Godiva chocolate and candy corn.

*Spices. Spices also are not exempt. Oregano can have 300 or more insect pieces and two rodent hairs for every 10 grams, which is a little over a third of an ounce. Paprika is allowed 75 insect parts, 11 rodent hairs and up to 20 percent mold for every 25 grams, which is just under an ounce.

 

 

Random samples are taken periodically to see just how much of these gross ingredients are in our processed food. Guess what, the food that contains too much is not thrown out, but instead it is usually sent for a process known as “rework.” This just means that it is sent on to use in another process such as a canning operation which will make the bugs float to the top so they can be skimmed off. It’s all about the bottom dollar.

These things won’t necessarily make us sick, gross as they may be. However, there are additives that are used all the time that are detrimental to our health. A partial list of those include:

*Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is contained in most all our soft drinks including Mountain Dew, Fanta and even the “healthy” Gatorade. Now banned in Europe and Japan, it causes skin lesions, memory loss, early onset puberty and impaired neurological abilities.

*Arsenic. Naturally occurring in water and soil, this earthly element is referred to as organic arsenic. Mining and the use of pesticides produces inorganic arsenic and this is what is found in grains, especially rice and infant foods. Brown rice absorbs it more than white rice and it is a contributor to liver, skin and bladder cancer as well as diabetes and heart disease. Boiling rice in a 6 to 1 ratio of water to rice and then draining the excess water will remove up to 60 percent of it.

*Crushed Bugs. Cochineal insects, especially, are used to make red food dye that we use to make red velvet cakes and other baked goods. It is what gives these their “natural” red color and also why some folks get sick from being allergic to these bugs.

*Fifty percent of grocery store meats test positive for staph bacteria, including the lethal MRSA strain. To counteract this, the FDA allows the food industry to inject deli meats with the same bacteriophages that hospitals and veterinarians use to kill germs, which can cause a whole host of problems when ingested. It’s better to pay the higher dollar for grass-fed organic meats.

*Ractopamine. Pigs, cattle and turkeys are injected with this drug which is a muscle relaxer and reduces the fat content in meat. Twenty percent stays in the meat and causes cardiovascular and chromosomal damage.

*Salad Dressings. Titanium dioxide, which is used in paints and sunscreens, is often added to salad dressings and other foods to make them whiter and more appealing. That thick and creamy texture in salad dressing often comes from propylene glycol, a component of antifreeze.

*Microwave Popcorn. Nonstick elements, classified as perfluorinated  chemicals, are commonly used to treat the inside of the bags to prevent the oils from leaking out. It has been linked to impaired immune systems, high cholesterol, ADHD, sperm damage and infertility. Luckily, there is a quick fix to this one, just make regular popcorn in a pot on the stove.

*Boxed Macaroni and Cheese. They contain yellow dyes 5 and 6 which are petroleum based and leads to various cancers.

*Brominated Flour. This increases the elasticity in bread and is very toxic. Either look for breads without it or make your own.

These are only partial lists. Not every brand of every food contains these things but enough do to make us want to be aware. Also, when have you seen any label listing bug parts or rodent hairs? This isn’t meant to gross anyone out, just saying we need to be more aware of what we eat. We have traded wholesome for convenience.

Our grandmothers had it right; make your own breads, can your fruits and veggies and raise your meat. You know what’s in them.