freemotion
Food Guru
This is for SheriM, who will be undergoing cancer treatment and wants to prepare 
I found this site to be the most helpful when I first got my pressure canner: www.canningusa.com It has lots of recipes and clearly outlined instructions. It also has wonderful videos that make pressure canning far less intimidating, especially after reading all the warnings in the instruction booklet!! If you don't have a high-speed connection, it is worth a trip to the library or a friend's house to watch these short videos.
Follow the instructions on that site for canning soups, meatloaf, and Chili Con Carne, just substitute your own recipes. Leave out eggs and binders like bread or oatmeal when making canned meatloaf. It will have a different texture, but will still be very good. I used their recipe for meatloaf and I liked it. A half-pint jar makes one sandwich, a pint jar will feed two adults. Warning: the fat from the meat will congeal on the outside of the meatloaf and other meats and will look nasty. When you re-heat the meat, it will be incorporated back into the broth. You can scrape it off it you like, but I leave it and enjoy it!
Canned meat chunks like beef or pork are wonderful and tender, kind of like crockpot meat. If you want to use bay leaf, I just make a quick cup of bay tea in my microwave and add this to the water that I fill the jars with. Add a pinch of your favorite herbs and a little garlic to each jar for flavor, and you have an instant main dish.
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Make a huge batch of this soup and don't simmer it, just brown the meat, it will cook in the canning process.
HAMBURGER SOUP
lb ground beef (or turkey), cooked, crumbled (or use beef chunks)
c diced onion (may add chopped scallion, too)
2 Tbs chopped garlic
4 cups beef broth
1 small or large red pepper, diced
1 cup frozen chopped collards
1 can diced tomatoes (about 16 oz)
1 cup turnip or rutabaga, inch dice
1 cup carrots, inch slices
1 bay leaf
1 tsp basil or fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste
In a 6 qt sauce pan, saut onion in a little olive oil until translucent, add garlic, and brown carefully. Add broth, cooked meat, collards, peppers, tomatoes, bay, basil, and parsley and simmer 10 minutes. Add turnip and simmer 5 minutes. Add carrots and simmer another 6-8 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
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Here is my chili recipe, higher on the veggies. Again, don't simmer it for canning, just brown the meat. You can also do the overnight soak with dry beans and add them uncooked. They will cook perfectly in the canning process. Also, make a bay leaf tea with the juice from the diced tomatoes and add it back into the mix.
CHILI
2 cups chopped onion
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 28 oz cans crushed or diced tomatoes
3 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 cups chopped carrot
cup chopped peppers
1 lb bag frozen green beans
1 lb bag frozen cut leaf spinach
2 lbs ground turkey or beef, cooked, crumbled
4-6 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2-3 cans black beans, drained, optional
In a large pot, saut onions and garlic in a little olive oil. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, cooked turkey, and spices. Chop vegetables in batches in a food processor to match the texture of the ground meat, and add to the pot. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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I also canned my basic chicken soup recipe, just leave out the grains (noodles, rice, etc.) You can add them later when serving, it's a great way to use leftovers, too. Beef stew works well, too, just don't thicken the gravy, you can do that when reheating....or not! For some reason, I can't find my bean/ham soup recipe, I think I got it off a bag of mixed beans and just adjusted the method for the canner. Instead of using a hambone, I bought a nice ham steak and cubed it. I added a handful of ham to each jar, then added the hot bean soup. That way there are no jars with just a piece or two of ham!
This is a start, I am sure others will post their recipes, too. I will post more as I think of them, too.
I found this site to be the most helpful when I first got my pressure canner: www.canningusa.com It has lots of recipes and clearly outlined instructions. It also has wonderful videos that make pressure canning far less intimidating, especially after reading all the warnings in the instruction booklet!! If you don't have a high-speed connection, it is worth a trip to the library or a friend's house to watch these short videos.
Follow the instructions on that site for canning soups, meatloaf, and Chili Con Carne, just substitute your own recipes. Leave out eggs and binders like bread or oatmeal when making canned meatloaf. It will have a different texture, but will still be very good. I used their recipe for meatloaf and I liked it. A half-pint jar makes one sandwich, a pint jar will feed two adults. Warning: the fat from the meat will congeal on the outside of the meatloaf and other meats and will look nasty. When you re-heat the meat, it will be incorporated back into the broth. You can scrape it off it you like, but I leave it and enjoy it!
Canned meat chunks like beef or pork are wonderful and tender, kind of like crockpot meat. If you want to use bay leaf, I just make a quick cup of bay tea in my microwave and add this to the water that I fill the jars with. Add a pinch of your favorite herbs and a little garlic to each jar for flavor, and you have an instant main dish.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Make a huge batch of this soup and don't simmer it, just brown the meat, it will cook in the canning process.
HAMBURGER SOUP
lb ground beef (or turkey), cooked, crumbled (or use beef chunks)
c diced onion (may add chopped scallion, too)
2 Tbs chopped garlic
4 cups beef broth
1 small or large red pepper, diced
1 cup frozen chopped collards
1 can diced tomatoes (about 16 oz)
1 cup turnip or rutabaga, inch dice
1 cup carrots, inch slices
1 bay leaf
1 tsp basil or fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste
In a 6 qt sauce pan, saut onion in a little olive oil until translucent, add garlic, and brown carefully. Add broth, cooked meat, collards, peppers, tomatoes, bay, basil, and parsley and simmer 10 minutes. Add turnip and simmer 5 minutes. Add carrots and simmer another 6-8 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Here is my chili recipe, higher on the veggies. Again, don't simmer it for canning, just brown the meat. You can also do the overnight soak with dry beans and add them uncooked. They will cook perfectly in the canning process. Also, make a bay leaf tea with the juice from the diced tomatoes and add it back into the mix.
CHILI
2 cups chopped onion
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 28 oz cans crushed or diced tomatoes
3 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 cups chopped carrot
cup chopped peppers
1 lb bag frozen green beans
1 lb bag frozen cut leaf spinach
2 lbs ground turkey or beef, cooked, crumbled
4-6 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2-3 cans black beans, drained, optional
In a large pot, saut onions and garlic in a little olive oil. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, cooked turkey, and spices. Chop vegetables in batches in a food processor to match the texture of the ground meat, and add to the pot. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
I also canned my basic chicken soup recipe, just leave out the grains (noodles, rice, etc.) You can add them later when serving, it's a great way to use leftovers, too. Beef stew works well, too, just don't thicken the gravy, you can do that when reheating....or not! For some reason, I can't find my bean/ham soup recipe, I think I got it off a bag of mixed beans and just adjusted the method for the canner. Instead of using a hambone, I bought a nice ham steak and cubed it. I added a handful of ham to each jar, then added the hot bean soup. That way there are no jars with just a piece or two of ham!
This is a start, I am sure others will post their recipes, too. I will post more as I think of them, too.
I love my pressure cooker for making meals though!
Probably gonna have to replace the old upright freezer--I think it's about 30 years old. Guess inhereited thing don't last forever, but I've sure enjoyed it.
