For the last little while I have been trying to use all my food to the last little bit and not let anything go to waste. Sometimes I am really good at this, other times I slack off a bit! Sunday I made a big Turkey dinner and Monday morning I set that big old Turkey carcass in my biggest stock pot and let it boil all day. Usually when I make broth I freeze it, but Monday I decided that I was going to try something different. A couple of weeks ago I canned potatoes, it was my first attempt at using a pressure canner and since nothing blew up I figured I could give it another try. This is what I ended up with, and I am so proud!
12 pints of homemade turkey broth, ready to sit on my shelf and become dinner at some point.
As I mentioned before, I like canning because it give me the ability to control what is in my food without spending a fortune. I wanted to see what is in a store bought can of chicken broth, so I dug one up one lonely can and read the label.
It really as very few ingredients, there are some that I can’t pronounce and have no idea what they are. There is one big bad ingredient that I like to avoid completely and that would be Monosodium Glutamate, or also known as MSG. It isn’t good for our bodies, and a lot of people (including me) have sensitivities to it, there are some people who are very allergic to it. Cooking and preserving from scratch makes it possible for me to avoid all the unwanted ingredients. I know exactly what is in my broth: turkey; onions; garlic; salt; pepper; sage; thyme; and parsley.
Cooking and canning from scratch also gives me the flexibility to alter recipes to the tastes of my family. I know that the broth I made is going to be exactly how I like it with as much or as little salt as I want.
What kinds of things do you cook from scratch?
Inspiring! Recently I found some ham on sale so I canned up the hams in pints to use later and then I made a big pot of split pea soup. I didn’t can it, but I froze it in pint jars and man, am I loving having it for a quick lunch (after thawing of course) It tastes so good and I make it with less salt. My husband has high blood pressure so I’m trying to cook without using so many processed foods, which have a TON of salt in them. Thanks for sharing!
Looks Great! You can do beef broth as well and veggie broth. I love canning broth well canning anything really.
Erika
You are an inspiration. I try to make as much as possible from scratch, but I’m still learning. I freeze A LOT, but haven’t canned yet. I have a flat porcelain to stovetop which doesn’t allow it. Argh! But I’m hoping to do some with a friend this summer. I recently started making yogurt, but haven’t had great success. I think you’ve mentioned before that you make your own. If you are ever looking for something to blog about you can fill me in on your secrets. Your broth looks tasty!
Wow… once again you amaze me 🙂 I’ve been freezing broth, but I don’t even want to attempt to pressure can things. My mom gave me a pressure cooker once (I’m not even sure if that’s the same thing) and I never used it. I finally took it to DI.
Great job!
I’m frightful of the canner. I let my hubby do that part of it! lol!
My hubby is sensitive to MSG. I usually freeze my broth but it’s a pain. I’m going to start doing this.
We can everything that comes out of our garden. We canned kidney beans, pinto beans…that we grew and they are good! Squash is good canned to. I’ll be blogging about that soon. 😀
Hugs!
Wow, way to go! I’m trying to do all our dry beans from scratch, although I haven’t tried my hand at canning yet. I’m also trying to bake more and buy less bread, crackers, and such. I’m disturbed by some of the ingredients I see on a lot of things, especially crackers.
I would be interested in knowing what the cost difference is between a jar of broth and a can of store bought broth. Could ‘ya figure that out for me? Pretty please? And is this something you can can without a pressure canner? Like in a water bath?
Love the pictures. It always looks so pretty all lined up in a row.
That’s exactly what I’ve spent most of the day doing but using beef soup bones. I keep wondering why we buy some of the stuff we buy when it’s so easy and so much better tasting and better for us when we make our own.
I am always amazed at everything you can. Things I would never even have considered. Then I see your posts and think, “well why not?”