I just discovered your channel and blog yesterday and I have been absorbing every video. We moved to our little farm almost four years ago but we had to start completely from scratch. The former owners only raised a single beef steer every two years. We've put in permanent beds for berries and started an orchard, plus the kitchen garden. Seeing your homestead is inspiring for what may be possible on our own place, though we are vegetarians and likely won't raise any animals. Your place is wonderful but I am SO thankful to find a homesteading couple who also homeschools their children! We only have four children but most of the other videos and homesteading websites I have found either don't have children at all or they have a single preschool-aged child that they are "homeschooling". (Not dissing that, I've been there and it's still a handful, but not the same as juggling multiple school-aged children tackling serious subjects). Thanks so much for taking time from your busy days to make these videos and maintain your website!
You are freakin AMAZING! Your like a walking encyclopedia on self sufficiency! Thankyou for sharing a little of your beautiful life. I can’t imagine how you know so much about all this. I feel like I could study a lifetime and not know as much as you. You are my hero! Don’t ever change!
Who built your pantry shelves? They are beautifully done!!! I'd love to know how the shelves are supported at the back and sides as I don't see any supports visible.
Looking forward to next summer's harvest (both your and mine). I put up a lot of soups (both veggie, meat, fish base, and cream soup mixes) which came in handy this past week when I was hospitalize for 4 days after dental surgery. Keep up the good work.
So enjoyed you pantry tour. Love the idea of having the kids making pies! Time for more cherry pie. My family is loving my convenient canned meats--thanks for your inspiration and instruction. Truly blessed to find your channel.
Amazing. I am from Italy, we also put everything into jars by tradition. And yes, the green tomatoes jam is something we do! (especially in the North of Italy, where i live) I suggest to eat it with aged cheese and toasted bread. I made it a few years ago when i had tons of leftover green tomatoes from my garden, and i still have a few jars. But I have a suggestion to improve your pantry: you should put some labels on the jars to remember when you made it and what it is. I usually put one or two labels per batch (because labeling every jar is useless and crazy) but at least by doing this I'm sure that I know when that batch was made and i can tell someone else to go and pick that specific stuff without error because it is written on it. Usually i label the first jar on the front row of the shelf and i keep the labeled one for last to use. Anyway, thanks for the things you show, and have a good life darling! Your husband is a lucky guy :)
Love your videos! just found you recently. I'm curious, do you do all your preserving? You are so organized with so many children! God bless you both as you share your wealth of knowledge!
You can teach yourself if you by the Ball Bluebook of preserving. There are hundreds of recipes and lots of great information in the front of the book on all the basics you need to know. You can also go to the Ball website called freshpreserving.com
I'd love to know how you make the elderberry vinegar. My husband is a huge elderberry fan but it's hard to find any where I'm from, so I love seeing different recipes for it.
Beef suet is commonly used in Britain to make fabulous steamed puddings both savoury and sweet versions. My favourites are steak and kidney pudding and jam rolypoly pudding. They’re not pies but an all round crust in a pudding basin or rolled up in floured cotton cloth- the pudding is then usually steamed or , in some versions, baked. Do you make anything similar in USA?
We put up all kinds of food also....venison chunked and ground....veggies..jellies n jams. My granny did a lot more ! They only shopped for flour , sugar n such ! I enjoyed this, glad I ran ran across you ! I subscried.
Pear butter is my most favorite fruit product.😋 I like my morels the naughty way fried, and for years struggled to find a way to freeze them. I finally got it worked out. Prebread them and freeze them in individual layers on parchment not touching their neighbor, then consolidate into a more manageable container in the freezer. Straight from the freezer into the hot oil, if they thaw it becomes a clumped mess, so oil must be up to temperature. Don't overload and cool the oil too much if skillet frying.
just found your channel, a dream come true!!!! So surprised I didn't find it sooner, thank you thank you thank you for what you and your family do and God bless
Hmm some of those sound delicious, so reminds me when I was a child. We had a huge orchard and my mom made the best apricot jams and we canned almost everything. We had so many apricots we ended up making the dried rolls of apricot, spread the pulp on sheets of plastic (what you cover school books with) on the kitchen table we took outside, so they could sun-dry. Great snacks for hungry kids
I read many times from canning experts that pressure canning meat products in cans is the safest so companies selling these products by our laws have to b done in cans to sell them. Also have been told many times that if u do not keep the ring on the jar after canning it to store it, u never ever pick the jar up by its top as this can cause seals to break and u could b standing in a very big mess. Really enjoy your videos. Always enjoy seeing your pantry too. Who says u can't teach an old dog new tricks. Keep it up.
You can safely pressure can meats in canning jars. This is for your personal use, not to be sold. Just buy a Ball Bluebook of preserving for recipes and instructions.
@@wendydriggs1539In Canada, stores r not allowed to sell meat and meat products in anything but cans for food safety regulations. Many people still use jars but have been advised to do so by pressure canning only because of the countless food poisoning problems the hospitals and medical centres ran into. Better to b safe than sorry.
Anyone who owns a PRESSURE canner can safely can meats in glass canning jars. It is safe and easy. All you need are Mason jars, pressure canner and a canning book published by Ball or Kerr. Follow the directions for food safety.
It is not recommended to store the jars with the rings on them. They are only needed long enough for the jars to seal. Storing with the rings on leaves sticky food particles under the ring which attracts insects. It also makes the rings rust faster.
@@wendydriggs1539 I didn't say u had to leave the rings on, just not to pick up the full jar by the top as the seal can release and everything falls and can make a big mess.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! For showing us your pantry goodies. For being so generous with your time and knowledge. And for setting it straight about why not to store canned foods with the rings on. I have been called names for sharing that same information by people who have "been doing it this for a long time and never had a problem". Luck is not a good reason to keep doing it wrong.
Thanks for the tour. We have been trying to build ours up. We do a lot of salsa..and some meats, mainly chicken and ground beef. The Sloppy Joe mis sounds great, we will have to look into it. Thanks again!!!
You made this video 3 years ago. I'm wondering if you have shared your recipe for loaded baked potato soup? I have searched all your videos .. but maybe I missed it. I recently saw your video about auto-immune diseases and healing through the right foods. I just want to stock my pantry the way you do and it's super overwhelming, I am not sure where to start (I'm sure you have a video on that too I should search for;) but I'm determined for my child to do this right however I start. So. Thank you for all of your videos and shared information.
I love your channel! So much useful information and I can not wait to start on my canning pantry! You definitely inspired some huge goals and dreams for me. Thank you so much!
outstanding video. I don't use rings either for the exact reasoning you gave in the video. I love the way your cupboards are arranged. mine aren't quiet as deep as yours, but I wish they were. God Bless You
My spice cabinet is a total nightmare. I even bought two spice organizers and now I have multiple levels of chaos LOL. I'd really like to buy spices in bulk and put it in Mason jars for better organization and visual appeal. Any tips or advice on this is greatly appreciated. 🥰
Love this, Carolyn! Can hardly wait for your series (although I think I'm repeating myself). I do have a question, though. I've had problems with canning ground meats. I've found that canning alters the taste in an unpleasant way. Wondering if you have a way to prevent this, or ingredients that would help. Stew meat or meat chunks don't seem to do this.
I have par-cooked mine, drained and then added water and garlic then canned. I honestly don’t do a lot of it though. The taco meat I did eat wasn’t bad. Do you add spices to it then can it? It could be that. Some spices I’ve heard don’t preserve well when pressure canned.
There will be a bad taste when canned at too high a pressure or for too long a period of time. I ALWAYS WRITE DOWN time started at pressure so know what time I finish and don't need to use a possibly faulty timer.
Great pantry! I always have people ask me why I don't keep the rings on my pressure and water bath canned foods too...I always say "you either have a proper seal or you don't". lol❤😉
Im sorry I know this is an old video, but, how do you wrap up your pie dough that you freeze? I absolutely love this idea! Im teaching my kids to cook and bake and this would be awesome for them.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I am currently watching the breasmaking series you just put out. I can’t comment on there for some reason. But I am learning so much! Thank you again! Warmly KarolAnn Clopton
I love and admire your pantry, but i fear for the safety or your beautiful jars if there is an earthquake. Perhaps a good lip on each shelf would be a good idea. Along with a stretchy cord about halfway up each shelf. Forgive me for being picky, but it worrys me. Aroha from New Zealand.
I thought I lived in a no earthquake zone too but we actually experienced one here in Northern Virginia a few years back. Fortunately I did not lose any of my canned goods but you bet I put a stretchy string across all of the shelves to prevent any loss should we have another earthquake in the future!
Just found your channel and do enjoy it. As a youngster in the 1940's my mom canned every year and our basement was full of goodies. Today my wife and can each fall. But.....I am surprised...no tomatoes ( we do at least 100 jars every fall), green beans, pickled beets ( a favorite), corn relish, asparagus, or beans? We also can chicken which is, as you say, ugly but delicious.
Can you tell us how to get tallow and how to prepare it for lotion, candles and soap?! Grat vid by the way! I love your channel! It inspires me to go back and live like the old days 💪.
The ring/lid thing is regional. It's never been about "holding the lid on". We always check that the flat has retained its seal when opening it. If you don't hear the vacuum release, you don't use whatever is in the jar. I had NEVER seen or heard of ANYONE removing the rings for storage until I moved to Utah. In the South, we all store rings ON the jars...if for no other reason than to keep them with the jars as a set. After the product has been consumed, the flats are discarded and the ring is stored ON the clean, empty jar on the shelf. You lose far less of them when they STAY with the jar as a unit. :) AND...where in the world are you going to STORE 1000 rings?!?
I’ve been storing tallow in the freezer. I had one go bad on the counter. No issues with lard going bad on the counter though. How long does the tallow last on the shelf?
Wait, did you make the elderberry wine vinegar from those tiny blue elderberries? The ones growing wild around here are probably less than a quarter inch in diameter. It would take forever to pick enough to do anything with them.
With your lard, I have always kept it in the freezer. Is yours canned, shelf stable? This may be a silly question but never thought about keeping on shelf and would be great for it to not take up freezer space
Can you post the chicken recipe with lemon in the description below video please? Love the video btw. Looking forward to the recipes. I always hear people talking about Apple cider vinegar. First hearing about elderberry. Thanks again!
What are the rules for canning jams and jellies in larger jars? All the times are based on half pints and that’s really not enough for our family of 6.
