My Spinach Has Gone to Seed

My spinach went to seed before I had the chance to pick it all.  But I still found an excellent use for it.  I picked off all the leaves, washed them, lightly steamed them, and then froze them in muffin tins.  Once they were frozen I placed these spinach patties in a freezer a bag.  Now whenever I make a smoothie, I throw one or two of these patties in.  Tastes great!

Introducing Quinoa!

 I cooked quinoa (a very healthy grain) earlier this week for the first time.  My husband has never had a good thing to say about quinoa, but liked this meal.  One big hint I learned is to cook it in broth.  This gives it so much more flavor.  Otherwise it is very bland.
I found this Mango Quinoa Salad recipe at ourbestbites.com.  I didn't think I'd make it any time soon, because quinoa is not cheap.  In fact it is expensive.  But when I saw that Lee's had red peppers and mangoes on sale, I couldn't resist.  More information on quinoa can be found here.

Canning Meat

Canning meat is so easy, although a little time consuming.  It takes me about 2 hours to can 18 pints of chicken.  This includes washing the jars, cutting the meat, filling jars, and a little bit of clean up.  This does not include the processing time.  If I had an adult helper I think I could do this same amount of work in less than an hour.  Washing hands frequently (because I'm working with raw meat) is the big time waster.
That said, here are the basic steps on how to can meat.  You should consult the manual that came with your pressure canner or Ball Blue Book prior to canning meat, or anything else for that matter.

1. Cut meat into uniform pieces.
2. If using ground meat, cook.
3. Fill clean jars, leaving 1-inch head space.
4. Place in pressure canner filled with 3 quarts water.
5. Place lid on pressure canner, according to canner instructions.
6. Cook 75 minutes at 13 pounds pressure.  (Pressure changes according to altitude)

Enjoy!

People often ask how the meat tastes.  Chicken tastes like boiled chicken.  It's good.  I use it in enchiladas, soups, barbecue chicken, and other meals calling for cooked chicken.

Pressure Canning Basics

Back in January I bought a pressure canner.  This allows me to can meat and vegetables.  Actually, I can can pretty much anything except dairy products and eggs with it.  Since I bought a lot of meat in June, while it was on sale, I have been using my pressure canner quite a bit, as well.  Since I knew very little about pressure cookers and canners until about a year ago, I'd like to start with some basics about them.

The basic idea behind pressure canning and cooking is that steam is hotter than boiling water.  This allows food to cook faster, and allows you to preserve foods in a pressure canner that you cannot in a boiling water bath canner.

Pressure Cooker-  Pressure cookers are amazing!  I have done very little myself, since mine is huge, but I understand the basic idea.  Just imagine a crockpot that cooks food in less than hour, and you have a pressure cooker.  In addition to the traditional pressure cooker that you put on the stove and watch the pressure gauge, you can now buy electric pressure cookers that do all the work for you (you just press a few buttons).  A pressure canner can be used as a cooker, but a cooker cannot be used as a canner.

Pressure Canner-  This is what I own.  It is a 23-quart canner.  I can can 20 pints at a time.  I can also use this pot as a boiling water canner, in which case I cannot double layer jars, allowing me to can up to 7 jars at a time (I think-better check on that).

Did I leave something out?  Let me know if you still have questions.  I will post next about canning chicken.  So easy!