A Great Day To Can...

Chicken Stew

I managed to get quite a bit done yesterday! First up was a batch of chicken stew. 

In the past, a quart jar always had leftovers, so when I found pint and a half jars from Azure Standard, I had to get some. These are the perfect size for hearty meals for two. I'll definitely use them again. Also, I started the day with nine pounds of chicken breasts to fill all these jars.

My chicken stew includes cut up chicken breast meat, Yukon gold potatoes, frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, and peas), and onions. 

Now there are six jars of stewed goodness on the shelf. All I need to do is add baked French rolls or buttermilk biscuits for a quick, easy, and healthy meal.

Cubed Chicken and Chicken Fajita 

Next was to cut up the rest of the chicken we bought for two pints of cubed chicken, and six pints of chicken fajita meat.  

I started by putting the taco seasoning in the bottom of each jar, followed by chopped green chilies, cut up chicken, and topped with roasted red peppers. 

Canned Yellow Onions

Last on my list was to chop up four beautiful, huge yellow onions I bought on my last trip to the grocery store.

For these, I used eight ounce jars, which are just right for opening and adding to any meal prep. They're almost like caramelized onions. 

It's my first time canning them, and I can't wait to try them soon. I went to bed "happy tired" having created all this goodness for the pantry. I have more to can later this week. More about that later, though, as I'm out the door to work today.

A Little Bit Of This...

I baked my usual loaves of Farmhouse Sandwich bread yesterday, but made a different shape, too. This loaf is for my aunt and uncle, and Uncle prefers round loaves. I place the risen loaf into my Pampered Chef large covered baker and look how it turned out! I'll definitely be doing more of these in the future.

 

Even though it's only been a few days, my basil seeds have already sprouted. I'll need to thin them as they get bigger, but I'm hoping I'll be able to transplant the culls into my larger raised beds. Oh! I also planted the garlic and onions, too. The roots had developed even more overnight, so I think they're ready to be put into the soil. I'll keep watch over them for the next few days to see how they grow. More photos soon.

All the dirt for my raised beds will be here Friday. The price per yard was reasonable enough, but whew! The delivery charges almost equaled my five yard order. I'm glad I'll be able to amortize the cost over the coming growing seasons. It's added incentive to be extra productive, too.

Once the soil mix is delivered, I'll get right to planting my seeds, and I'll likely purchase a few started plants to populate parts of the beds right away - especially my planned marigold border to keep pests away. I'm going to have to decide what I want as a barrier, too. Bella is a tomato thief, so I'm going to have to protect them when they start producing. I'm glad I have a little time to contemplate that.

So, that's all for a bit of this and a bit of that for today. I'll be back tomorrow to share what I can accomplish today. See you then!

Regenerating...

Recently, when I looked in my veggie bin in the pantry, I had a Vidalia onion that was getting soft and had sprouted. I decided to let it go for a while, and a few days ago I decided to see just how many new onions I had growing inside that skin.

 

I started peeling back all the layers and by the time I was finished, there were four distinct plants growing inside. I finished separating them and placed them in a jar with just a bit of spring water so the new onions could sprout roots. 

I change the water twice a day, and yesterday morning each onion had new roots. I'll give it another couple of days, and then these will also be planted in my metal sinks in my garden.

 

 

I also pulled a head of garlic, separated all the cloves and then peeled each one. Some of the cloves already had green sprouts, but they needed roots, too.

 

I grabbed the sweet, little bowl that used to belong to Shelly's great grandmother. Shelly gifted it to me, saying that it belonged in the farmhouse. I use it quite often, and it seemed perfect for this purpose. Again I added spring water and floated the cloves in it. After only one day, the garlic had sprouted new roots and tops. 

 

Most garlic is planted in the fall, but I know it can be planted in the spring, too. I decided to give it a try and see how it does through the summer. I'll likely cover it when the weather is particularly hot, but other than watering early morning or late day, it won't get further special treatment.

 

So, from what some might call a rotting onion, and a sprouted head of garlic, I'll end up with four more onions and six new heads of garlic. This can also be done with celery and potatoes. I'll likely salvage the roots from the next head of celery I purchase, and all the potatoes that sprout before we use them. I kind of love this process of not wasting food. What do you think?