Preserve food for long-term storage.
Frugal people and those who like to plan ahead know the value of creating a long-term food storage system. Food is purchased at the least expensive price and preserved in a variety of ways, so that dishes can be served months in the future. Plan a food storage system for your family home, with frozen, canned and dried foods. You will save a large percentage on your grocery bill, and keep a healthy large variety of foods in your kitchen year 'round. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Freezing
1. Pick through vegetables that are to be frozen to make sure that there are no bruises or bad spots. Cut away any blemishes that you may find.
2. Chop vegetables into uniform-sized pieces and place them into a large, heavy pot. Cover the vegetables with water and place the pot on a stove. Turn the burner on and boil the vegetables long enough to blanch them, which helps to preserve the food when it is frozen. The time needed for blanching is different for any vegetable. You can find charts for these times in food preservation books or online government sites.
3. Remove the pot from the stove as soon as the blanching time is up and drain the vegetables. Plunge the hot vegetables into a pot of ice water to cool them off immediately. This stops the vegetables from overcooking.
4. Pack the cooled vegetables into zip top bags or other freezer-safe containers. Label the containers with the name of the vegetable and the date on which it was frozen. Place the containers immediately into the freezer and allow them to freeze hard.
Canning
5. Inspect vegetables to be canned to ensure that there are no insects or bruises. Chop the vegetables so that all pieces are near uniform in size.
6. Sterilize canning jars and rings. Run the jars through a cycle in a dishwasher or boil the jars. Remove the jars with a jar lifter to prevent your fingers from touching the hot, clean glass.
7. Pack the vegetables into the clean jars and add any liquids or spices that you desire. Place the tops on the jars and screw on the rings loosely.
8. Process the jars of food, either in a water bath or in a pressure canner. The food determines the method of preservation. You can find detailed charts and recipes in commercial canning books and on government websites such as USDA.gov.
9. Remove the jars when the processing time has finished. Place the hot jars onto a towel-lined counter and allow them to cool. Tighten the rings on top of the jars when they have cooled, and store them in a cool, dry place.
Drying
10. Chop food to be dried into small, thin pieces. The smaller the piece, the easier it will dry. Make sure that there are no bruises or insects in with the food pieces.
11. Place the small pieces of food onto the racks in the food dryer. Smooth out the food into a single layer, with the food pieces as apart from each other as possible. Food dries faster with more air surrounding it, so keep as much room as you can around each piece.
12. Place the racks into the food dryer and turn on the heat source. Turn the food over when it is about halfway done drying. Your food dryer should come with a chart showing average drying times for various foods. You can also find many recipes and tips on government sites, such as the one the Virginia Extension service maintains.
13. Remove the food from the racks when the drying is complete and package it in zip top bags, plastic containers or glass jars. Store them on shelves in a cool place.
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