The Organic Canner: A Guide to Preserving Real Food

I’m very excited to introduce my new book, The Organic Canner. The book has been 3 years in the making, and those years were filled with measuring, adjusting, tasting, and testing the recipes out on my children. It contains 242 pages of information, how-tos, and delicious recipes. I wrote this to help provide an alternative to our dependence on the grocery store, with its toxic, chemical-laden faux food.

The instructions are written with the beginning canner in mind, and USDA guidelines are strictly adhered to for maximum safety. The recipes cover a broad scope: everything from jams and salsas to full meals that only need to be heated up. Nearly every page has a charming sketch, lending to the book’s old-fashioned charm.

Below, you can find the introduction and the Table of Contents.

Introduction   

From time immemorial, preserving the harvest was a vital preparation to face the barren winter months ahead. Different methods have been used throughout the ages and many of them, although modernized somewhat, are still used today.

One of my favorite methods of preservation is canning. Canning is the perfect solution for those seeking natural food sources, for gardeners, for those seeking a more self-reliant life, and for those interested in preparedness.

Once you have a pressure canner (and you conquer the fear of blowing yourself up with it!) you can preserve nearly anything. By creating meals right in the jars, you can provide your family with instant tasty nutrition.

For a year, we lived in an area with an occasionally shaky grasp on electricity. We were able to test out our preps several times when living there and our home canned meals turned out to be one of the best time investments that I have made.

During a power outage situation, a hot meal can be as simple as opening a jar, pouring the contents into a pot, and placing it on the woodstove for about half an hour.

I love to go into the pantry and look at my shelves full of gleaming jars, full of meat, fruits, and vegetables that I either grew myself or carefully selected. My favorite canned item of all has to be “meals”. We have shelves full of soups, stews, and other entrees.

These items are very simple to prepare. If you use garden produce when possible and combine it with ingredients purchased on sale, you can have many “instant” meals prepared at a very affordable price – and the best part is, you know exactly what’s in it!!!!  

Another valuable benefit to canning is that you are not reliant on the electrical system for your food – if the power goes out, you won’t have these items rotting in your freezer. They will be sitting there on a shelf, awaiting your mealtime. In an absolute worst case scenario, since all foods are thoroughly cooked by the pressure canning process, you could eat them at room temperature, right out of the jar.

Thank you for reading and I wish you happy canning!

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Organic Canning Manifesto…4
Canning 101…9
We Be Jammin’…28
Just Call Me Condimental…52
Pickles with Pizzazz…84
Fruit Frenzy…95
Venerable Vegetables…119
Are You Nuts?..137
The Meat of the Matter…143
Making the Most of Leftovers…159
Meals in Jars…177
Beans, Beans, Good for Your…194
Soups and Stews…207
Canning Your Own Recipes…225
Appendices…230

Thank you.

Without you, the readers, this book would not be possible. Over the years, when you asked questions about processes or the recipes I posted, it helped me to provide the clearest instructions possible in the book and to predict the questions that others might have.

I hope you like The Organic Canner. I couldn’t have done it without you.