Monday, May 2, 2022

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

My preferred way of preserving most foods is by canning. But the store here hasn't had canning jars on the shelves for several weeks. I did score 6 boxes of canning lids a couple of weeks ago, but those, too, are scarce as hen's teeth. Since I am nearly out of jars, having only 4 cases of half pint jars left in my stash, I spent part of the weekend looking for alternative ways to store food.

First, I claim none of what follows as my own ideas. Many others who are smarter than I am about these things have been my inspiration. I have added links to three of the videos that showed me how to do what I had in mind to do.

Note: The third link is to a video from “The Purposeful Pantry.” Darcy is my favorite dehydrating guru and I highly recommend her channel.

I have canned many 'meals in a jar,' consisting of soups and stews. But now that canning jars are so scarce in my area, and because I have lots of dehydrated food on hand, I have decided to see what I could do with putting together meals using dry ingredients. Instead of storing the mixes in jars, I am using ziploc freezer bags.


I know there are many prepackaged meals on the store shelves. And I do have some of those in my food storage. But things have changed. Much of that kind of packaged food is beyond my pay grade these days. With inflation headed skyward, I find it more important than ever to closely watch my expenditures. Especially because I am experiencing what many are experiencing and that is increases in rent and utilities.

So I am going through my recipe collection to find recipes I know my family likes that I can put together and store for future use. I don't dehydrate meat like some do, but prefer to add a jar of canned meat if needed for a recipe.

Here are the links. I hope they serve as an inspiration for just another way to be prepared.

*6 SOUP IN A JAR RECIPES- Gift Ideas - Emergency meals* - YouTube

Dry Soup Mix in Jars - YouTube

Dehydrate Canned Beans and Make a Meal in a Jar (Taco Soup) | Perfect Christmas Gift - YouTube

16 comments:

  1. Hi Vicki,

    It's always good to have some food ready to heat and eat or just add water kind of things.

    Another website you might like to check out is the RoseRedHomestead.com website and her Youtube channel of the same name. Years ago, Pam was our Sunday School teacher. She's a fabulous teacher, a PhD is some kind of science, and now does youtubes on various aspects of preparedness. Everything I've seen so far (she's got over 300, so I haven't watched them all yet) has been very, very good.

    Have a great day!

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    1. I love her, she is a wonderful resource. I watched her video on canning hamburger and did six pints today.

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  2. Jennifer...One of the links is for her YouTube channel. And she was one source I used for information on dehydrating eggs. I haven't looked at all of her videos, but from what I have seen, she has a wealth of information.

    As long as canning is not an option at present, I thought the idea of 'just add water' meals might be a good choice for emergency type meals. Or when I don't want to cook. Toss ingredients and water into a crock pot and a few hours later, dinner is served. I like it. :)

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  3. Thanks for all the links, Vicki. God bless.

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    1. LindaG...Seems to me that now, when our world is upside down and sideways, we need as many options to keep our families fed as we can find. May God truly bless you and yours!

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    2. Absolutely agree, Vicki. Thank you.

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  4. And here is a strange observation. On my computer, your post is normal. On my cell phone internet, your post is in cursive, which is mildly difficult to read. Just weird.

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    1. LindaG...I have had a couple of people complain about the font used here. Thing is, I always use the same one - comic sans. I think it might have to do with the settings on the devices used to access this blog. I have no other explination. :)

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    2. Or the little gremlins running around the ether, haha! :)

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    3. LindaG...I vote for gremlins. They are more fun than reality. :)

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  5. I have found jars at Fleet Farm and WalMart .

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  6. Thanks for the information. I will check that out.

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  7. Hi Vicki, I struggled for the longest time trying to find jars for canning. There is a 6 dozen limit; but, I am ordering jars online from Walmart.com now. The prices are fairly reasonable, as well.

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    1. Thanks, Ozarkana...I will absolutely check that out. I haven't been able to find jars locally, so I will have to order if I want to do any more canning.

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  8. Maybe those jars and large mouth lids went by way of formula to be later bartered? Oh sure you can buy the rings and lids together, but they cost more. It doesn't have to be expensive. There are used food savior mini systems available ...I've had success using it to seal dried meals such soups, etc. Leaving myself detailed instructions on how to rehydrate (prepare) these recipes. Putting in a small snack bag together with the spices which can then be sealed in the larger package. It's better than the expensive dehydrated soups...you can also add your jar meat to the final rebuild. Could add an oxygen absorber, but it adds to the cost.

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    1. ps you can find lower cost sealing bags at the "big river"

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