This one's for you Linda

I should probably clarify my blog title. My sister-in-law Linda had left a comment wanting to know how my chicken canning went when I finally tried it. So this one's for Linda.

Chicken went on sale . . . $1.79 a pound, although I had to buy 40 pounds of the stuff. I should have waited a week because Smith's had it for $1.69. I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, I'd been waiting for this chance to try canning chicken. I got 7 quarts filled up and it looked like I hadn't even made a dent in my 40 pounds of chicken. Seriously, all I did was put a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules in the jar and put my chicken breasts in the jar, leaving about an inch of head space (I actually cut my chicken up because man were they HUGE! I was pretty sure those chickens must have been fed some kind of growth hormone.).

I didn't even put water in the jar (it may look like it, but the chicken creates its own broth as it cooks); just wiped the rim of the jar, put my lid on and I was ready to pressurize. My only mishap was when the canner started to steam, it was coming out of the side also and I knew that wasn't right. So I shut the entire process down to check the seal and started over. Second time worked like a charm. Ninety minutes later . . . 

I can't say they're the prettiest things I've seen. In fact it all looks so unappetizing to me. But I knew I just couldn't let them sit on my storage shelf; I was going to have to actually try it.

Tonight's rainy, cold weather was calling for Chicken Noodle Soup. When I opened the jar, it smelled like canned chicken I buy from Sam's Club, it shredded very nicely, and it tasted wonderful in our soup.

Canned chicken was a success and by far the easiest canning I've done yet.

Now what to do with the rest of all that chicken. I froze some and grilled some to freeze for later use.
I just put the entire cooked chicken breast in a ziploc baggie instead of cutting it up or shredding it. That way I can use it how I want. You want to know the secret ingredient to cooking most meat:

Yep, it says steak on it, but I use it to season my chicken, ground beef, homemade fries . Just sprinkle some on whatever you're cooking. Definitely one of my favorite things.

You're gonna want to stay tuned for a later post. Last week I learned how to make wheat meat. What? You know . . . for that day you're going to want some meat and have nothing but all that wheat you've been told to store. All I can say is it was some funky stuff.

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CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP for those cold, rainy days that call for it
8 c. water, divided
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 c. carrots, cut up
2 c. celery, cut up
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cut into chunks
3 to 6 ounces of egg noodles (I use the noodles called Country Pasta rather than regular egg noodles, although you could just use those. I put in about 3 big handfuls of noodles.)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (a must!)

Heat 6 cups of water and bouillon until bouillon is dissolved. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add chicken and 2 MORE cups of water. Add noodles and cook until softened. When noodles are done, add cream of chicken soup and salt and pepper to taste.

My new hobby

I've been in canning mode . . . and loving it!

Shhhh! Don't tell my mom, but I think I've found a new hobby.

Today while the snow/sleet/hail fell (I know CRAZY; it's only the end of September),

I cut and cored and peeled apples to make applesauce. What I discovered is that applesauce is labor intensive if you do it the old-fashioned way. Next time I'm investing in a sauce maker. Erik, my applesauce lover, better be grateful for the love and time that went into these:

I hate to think about it, but he could down one of those jars in 5 minutes what took me about a 1/2 hour to get in that jar. I tried regular and cinnamon and yes, my bottles look hideously dirty; tomorrow I will make them sparkle.

In addition to my usual peaches and applesauce this year, I tried:

green beans -- first time using a pressure cooker myself

pears

I also came across the yummiest Pear Crisp. In my opinion, it's so much better than apple crisp. You'll have to try it (recipe's at the end). 

salsa -- oh, can't wait to open one of these up this winter

And, when chicken goes on sale, I want to try canning it.

Tyler has also worked hard the past couple of weeks putting together two of our five (or six) garden boxes. I'm so excited for spring planting and already bought the stuff to make my bean trellis. These garden boxes are a work of creative art. Tyler loves the game Tetris and that has been the catalyst for these boxes. You'll just have to wait until they're all done to see the final product.

And lest you think I have lazy children who enjoy watching their dad work, they are really putting their weight to work to hold those boxes together while he drills.

* * * * *
Pear Crisp
The Pioneer Woman Cooks

4 to 5 large pears, peeled, cored, diced
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt

Topping:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. pecans, very finely chopped
1 cube butter, melted (I tried 6 tablespoons and it worked just fine)

Place pears on bowl with sugar and salt. Coat the pears. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Mix. Add butter until all combined. Pour pears in to a baking dish and sprinkle topping mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream (or just plain tasted mighty good).

I am a canner

Hi!

My name is Missy and I am a canner.

It's true.

I've become quite domesticated this fall. Canning was never something that interested me. But ya know, it is kind of satisfying to stand back and look at my beautiful bottles that are going down on my shelf for the winter. Last year I tackled peaches and this year I added apples to my repertoire.

So, what DO you do with a box of apples?

Dried apples, of course.

Ya, that got old after a week. Drying takes a long time.

I tried making apple jelly. I had it once and remember it being so delicious. Well, I learned that jelly can be kind of tricky. It didn't seem to be setting up, so I figured I just needed to boil it longer than the minute the recipe was telling me to. And I was right. It turned out great with a tint of red because I chose the lazy way and didn't peel my red apples.

I made apple pie filling bars for Grandma Leary's 90th birthday party. Oooh la la. They were most excellent. BUT, I've been good this week. I brought leftovers home and haven't had a single one all week.

Today I made apple pie filling while the snow fell, and [tangent coming] can I just tell you how much I've been wanting hot chocolate these past two days. I'm afraid that next week when I've conquered this crazy no-sugar diet, I may just have a huge relapse and stuff myself silly with everything I've denied myself [end of tangent].

There are still apples left in my box. Some apple crisp just may be in the works tonight.

In case you were interested in those apple pie filling bars (I never did get the correct name for them), here's the recipe:

Fruit Pie Bars

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
3 c. flour

2 c. pie filling (or any fruit, sweetened and thickened)

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add almond, vanilla, and flour. Spread 2/3 of the batter onto greased cookie sheet. ( I just use parchment paper.) Spread pie filling over batter. Drop the remaining batter by spoonfuls over the top of the filling. Don’t worry that it doesn’t look pretty. It will puff up. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Just until the edges are a light golden brown. After you take it out, let it cool then drizzle icing over the top.

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar
1– 2 T. milk