Adventures in Preserving : Stocking Up Begins

Been a busy mama lately, as I am getting our pantry stocked with all the amazing produce I have purchased the last month or so. Our freezers are also VERY stocked. Actually our chest freezer is nearly full of frozen veggies, sauce and bread. My pantry shelves are filling quickly as well, and I have had to buy more mason jars to keep up with all that we have. I am shocked at how many I have gone through in the past several weeks.

Crazy to think it was about a year ago I began my adventures in canning. I am finally starting to feel more comfortable, but still learning. I am enjoying restocking our pantry after taking a break over the fall and winter, which in that time pretty much emptied all the mason jars on the shelves.

So far this year, I have canned...

{Whole Roma Tomatoes - recipe can be found here}

{Marinated Roasted Mini Peppers - recipe can be found here}

{Green Beans - recipe can be found here}

{Hot Salsa - recipe posted below}

{Dill Pickles - used a packaged mix}

{Nectarines - recipe can be found here}

{Applesauce - recipe can be found here}

{Sweet Relish - used a packaged mix}

{Mild Salsa - recipe posted below}

Over all I have gone through about 70 jars this month. And have currently over a hundred filled on our shelf. One shelf is completely full, so time to start filling the next one!

Whatever I have not canned I have frozen. So our chest freezer is nearly full. Not sure how much more we will be able to fit in there. It may be about time to upgrade to something bigger!  It is stocked full with applesauce, green beans, zucchini, grey squash, corn on the cob, cauliflower, avocado, asparagus, carrots, grape tomatoes, green bell peppers, red & yellow peppers, sweet mini peppers, spaghetti squash, chinese cabbage, butternut squash, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, eggplant, homemade pasta sauce, pizza dough & various loaves of bread.

Over all, we have quite the stock pile started. I still have lots I want to try and do. Eventually, I would love to be able to eliminate buying any canned or frozen goods from the store. Excited to keep going in this journey and continuing to try new things and learn more along the way!

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Salsa Recipe : Makes about 10 pints

10 cups tomatoes - peeled and crushed

6 cups various peppers, chopped (Below you can see combinations I have used.)

4 cups onions, chopped

1 cup vinegar

3 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Pepper combinations. I mix it up based on what I have on hand. I do seed most of the peppers. Leaving seeds in will increase the hotness of the salsa.

Mild : 1/2 cup jalapenos, 1 cup anaheim, 4 cups bell peppers, 1/2 cup serranos

Medium : 1/2 cup jalapenos, 1 cup anaheim. 3 cups bell peppers, 1 1/2 cups serranos

Hot : 1 cup jalapenos, 1 cup anaheim, 2 cups bell peppers, 2 cups serranos

Put all together in a deep pot. Bring to a boil. Puree to chunkiness desired (I use a immersion blender or food processor). Bring back to a boil and simmer for at least 10 minutes. 

Prepare your jars, as you normally would. Fill jars to 1/2 inch of top of jar. Water bath pints for 15 minutes.