How to can potatoes

• How to can potatoes

  By Voicefor Theunheardcry in Lady Preppers USA · Edit Doc · Delete

  How to can potatoes

  By Voicefor Theunheardcry in Cheap & Frugal ·  Edit Doc · Delete

  Preparation of Potatoes

  Wash the potatoes and scrub or peel off skins. Wash them again. Leave small potatoes whole and quarter larger potatoes or cut into uniform cubes. Place in a stainless steel pot or bowl of cold water after cutting to prevent browning. If you’re going to hot-pack them, go ahead an put them in a large pot so you don’t have to switch them to something else before boiling them.

  You need 2-3 pounds (around a kilo) of potatoes for each quart/liter jar that you can. That’s about 15 medium sized potatoes…or several dozen tiny ones like we had. I started peeling them initially but the potatoes were so small that it became too tedious. So I just started scrubbing them down really well (still kinda tedious but it goes faster) and canned them that way. I used a pot scrubbing sponge with a course pad on it to clean the taters. If you go this route, I suggest wearing gloves because your fingers, nails and cuticles will begin to suffer before long.

  Canning Potatoes

  Potatoes, like many other vegetables, can be hot- or raw-packed. The process for canning potatoes with raw- and hot-pack methods is not all that different and both require a pressure canner because of the low acidity of potatoes. In general, the hot-pack method is recommended because the vegetables will be more pliable and you can get more vegetables packed into each jars But when you’re doing many, many jars of them and your pressure cooker only holds 3 jars at a time (going to have to get my hands on an American canning pressure cooker one day), you decide that the raw-pack method will do just fine. Just keep in mind that when you raw pack, the vegetables may shrink or soften and the jar may not end up as full as you initially intended. You may also end up with a much lower water level in the jars because the potatoes absorb it, but this is no cause for concern. And the white sediment in the bottom of some of the jars? That’s just starch from the potatoes–absolutely harmless.

  Always wash and clean your jars and lids before using them and keep them warm in a pot of boiling water until you are ready to pack them.

  To hot-pack potatoes, place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water (if you didn’t do this already after washing them). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil small cubes for 2 minutes and small whole potatoes or quartered potatoes for 10 minutes, until heated through but not soft. Drain, discarding cooking liquid. Pack hot potatoes into hot jars, leaving 1 inch (2.5cm) headspace, and pressure can as instructed below.

  To raw-pack potatoes, firmly pack cleaned potatoes into hot jars, leaving 1 inch (2.5cm) headspace, and proceed as follows for pressure canning.

  To pressure can potatoes:

  1. First add 1 teaspoon of salt to quart/liter jars or 1/2 teaspoon salt to pint/500mL jars. Ladle boiling water over potatoes, still leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary by adding more hot water. Put a lid on the jar and secure it.
  2. Place jars in the pressure canner. Adjust water level, lock lid and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close the vent. Continue heating to achieve 10 lbs (69kPa) pressure and maintain pressure to process. Pint (500mL) jars require 35 minutes and quart (1 L) jars 40 minutes. (Consult your pressure canner manual if you have a dial-guage canner or if you’re canning at higher altitudes.)
  3. Turn off the heatn and let the pressure return to zero naturally. Wait 2 minutes longer, then open the vent. Now you can remove the canner lid. Wait another 10 minutes, then remove the jars, let them cool and store in a cool, dark placeeaaaa.

  We ended up with 17 liter jars of potatoes. We will use them for mashed potatoes when we have no fresh taters at home, and they are also fantastic as home fries for breakfast or roasted potatoes with a little onion, bacon, salt & pepper. I used to make my home fries with potatoes I’d pre-cooked in the microwave, but this route is even faster because the potatoes are already cooked due to being canned in the pressure cooker.

  If you’d like to learn more about canning, get yourself a copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. 

Many Home remedies for dry skin and other parts

Dry Skin home remedies can relieve your skin problems to a great extent. Dry skin face appears dull, flaky and rough. A person having severe dry skin also suffers from dry skin patches, which looks very odd. Market is loaded with tons of dry skin products from mild to extremely cracked dry skin; but unfortunately they do not give expected result despite of having huge price tags. However, you can treat dry skin and get rid of it with the help of home remedies for dry skin. Continuous and consistence use of dry skin remedies can cure itchy dry skin on face.

Home Remedies for Dry skin

Homemade Facial mask for dry skin helps to retain moisture and get rid of dry skin problems.

• Dry skin is the result of lack of water in the body. Start drinking lots of water when you observe your skin is beginning to get dry as this will keep the body hydrated. You can treat dry skin with this simple home remedy.

• Hot water reduces the natural skin oils. Avoid washing your dry skin face with hot and soapy water. Instead use lukewarm water to clean your dry skin followed by an emollient or moisturizer. This way your face skin will be less likely to become dry and cracked. This is the best remedy for dry skin.

• Dry fruits especially almonds help to retain moisture in the skin. Consume dry fruits regularly; continuous intake can help in treating extremely dry skin.

• Few drops of Almond oil added in warm milk at the time of sleeping is an effective home remedies for dry skin.

• Rubbing sesame oil on the affected area after your shower is one of the best home remedies for dry skin.

• Severe cases of dry skin can be treated with the help of avocado oil. You can also apply a paste of avocados on your dry skin face to nourish the skin.

• Glycerin also works very well on dry skin and dry lips. This dry skin home remedy can be combined with rose water to have better results. You can also read more home remedies for dryer cracked lips• Avoid the intake of alcohol and drinks high in content of caffeine, if you are suffering from very dry skin because this can worse the condition• This may surprise you but milk bath once in a month can help you to get rid of dry skin.

• A gentle massage of lukewarm olive oil can do wonder to cure the dry skin. Leave it overnight and wash off the face with warm water. This is an excellent natural remedy for dry skin.

• What you put in is what comes out, so be conscious what you are eating. A diet rich in Vitamin A, B and E is also a dry skin remedy as deficiency of these vitamins lead to dry skin.

• Dry patch of skin on chin, mouth, nose, hands and dry skin around lips can be treated by peanut butter. Application of peanut butter will moist these areas for long time. Peanut butter really works on dry skin areas and patches.

• A tablespoon of yogurt applied on dry skin areas is one of the greatest home remedies for the dry skin.

• Poppy seeds is an natural remedy to treat itchy and rough skin. Soak poppy seeds) for overnight. Grind it with milk to prepare a paste. Apply the paste on your face.

• Dry cracked, flaky skin can be treated well with the application of honey. Spread honey on the dry skin patches and wash off after half an hour. You can also add few drops of rose water in honey as a natural remedy for dry skin.

•Apple cider vinegar on dry skin areas can cure dry itchy skin.

• Cold weather causes dry skin and banana on face can treat dry skin. Mash banana and add few drops of honey in it. Mix well and spread on your dry skin face. Massage it for 10 minutes and leave it to dry. Rinse off and feel the result. This is a good home remedy for dry skin.

• Dry skin products with high content of aloe vera can help to get rid of dry skin. You can also apply aloe vera pulp for 10 to 20 minutes on your dry skin face to treat dry skin.

• Coconut oil is an easily available home remedy for dry skin.

• Take one teaspoon of milk cream, a pinch of turmeric and four to five drops of olive oil. Spread the paste on your dry skin and leave it to dry. Wash after 15 minutes.

• Beeswax can be used for curing dry scaly and cracked skin. This will reduce your dry skin symptoms, giving you soft and smoother skin.

• Dry and cracked heels is a skin problem which hurts a lot. A very effective home remedy is rubbing of the inside part of a banana peel on the heels.

• Papaya is a fruit, which is used in facial mask for dry skin. You can also massage mashed papaya on your face. It will exfoliate your dry skin, removing the dead cells making it glow and soft.

• The natural oil found in peanuts assists to moisturize the dry skin. Make a paste of peanuts and mix it with milk and honey. Apply on your dry skin face. Leave it to dry. Then rinse off the water and pat dry.

Place an air humidifier in your home to moist your surrounding. Avoid soaps with strong chemicals instead switch to natural soaps. You can also use a baby lotion as your moisturizing dry skin lotion as it contains lesser chemicals. You can try any natural remedy from the above list of home remedies for dry skin. Stick to the one, which you feel is the best to treat your dry skin problems.

How to get Gum out of clothing

I did a little research and here are the top 3 ways to get gum out of clothes using normal everyday items you should already have around your house.

1. Stick the gum in a freezer for about an hour or until hard.  Use a butter knife and pry the gum off and scrape the residue off.  Wash normally.  Note: may not work for clothes that are thin because it may cause holes to form from the scraping.
2. Warm up some vinegar  and soak the gum in it for a bit. After the gum is soft, it should come right off with a little scrubbing.  Wash normally.  Note: this can get quite strong smelling so have good ventilation.

3. Take some creamy peanut butter and rub it on the gum.  The oils in it should loosen the gum allowing it to be scraped off.  Wash normally.  Note: don’t use on clothing that you don’t want peanut butter or potential oil stains to get on (though the oil stains should wash off).

Canning milk

Now, fill the jars, leaving 1/2" of headspace at the top of each container. (Because I like to be sure that no uninvited particles have a chance to stumble into the milk, I filter the harvest a second time during this step.) After wiping the rims with a clean, damp cloth, cap the jars with the sterilized lids and rings. When that's done, gently set the flasks on the rack of your pressure canner, add the appropriate amount of water (check the instructions that came with your cooker), and place the whole shebang over the hottest part of the stove.

Next, following the manufacturer's instructions, bring the canner to 10 pounds of pressure and process the milk for 25 minutes if you're using quarts and 20 minutes for pint-size containers. It's imperative that you pay close attention at this point: If the pressure falls below 10 pounds while the milk is being processed, you'll have to start timing all over again.

Once the jars have been boiled for the allotted period, remove the canner from the heat and let it sit untouched until all pressure has left the chamber (this usually takes an hour or so). Then set the jars in a draft-free spot on a rack, a towel, or several sheets of newspaper . . . shroud the bottles with a towel . . . and leave them "tucked in" overnight. Check the seals for leakage the next morning and store the milk on a cool, dark shelf.

Can Condensed Milk

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 or 2/3 cup unrefined sugar (organic cane sugar, evensucanat depending on your final goal for the condensed milk)
3 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Mix sugar and milk together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stirring often, bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat. As soon as steam starts lifting off the milk, lower the heat even further, and when the sugar is entirely dissolved, put the heat as low as it can go. A simmer burner is great for this.

The goal is to reduce the quantity in the pot (which is now about 1 3/4 cups) by approximately half. It takes about 2 hours at very low heat to reduce to one cup of liquid. You could speed it up a bit if you watch carefully and stir often. I preferred the freedom to wander the house doing other tasks, and thus allowed my process to take quite some time.

Once reduced to your satisfaction, whisk in the butter and vanilla. The recipe is equivalent to just less than one whole can of brand name sweetened condensed milk. (One can = 14 ounces, which is 2 ounces shy of 2 cups. by weight, oops! The can is equal to 1 1/4 cups liquid. Substitute tables for homemade condensed milk vary from 1 1/4 cups all the way to 2 cups. Use your judgment!)

Depending on what final product your sweetened condensed milk will be used in, you will probably need to allow the mixture to cool considerably before using.

One other option for a homemade sweetened condensed milk is to add 1/2 or 2/3 cup unrefined sugar to a can of evaporated milk. You may need to heat to fully dissolve. However, you still have to deal with the unhealthy can lining and whatever over-processing makes the milk shelf stable.

French vanilla coffee creamer

Coffee is my best friend in the mornings.  Sometimes it is even my best friend in the afternoon.  I take mine with cream & sugar. 
Needless to say, coffee creamer is as much of a necessity in our house as a loaf of bread. Making my own coffee creamer has long replaced the store bought here.  It's cheap, easy, & you know what's in it.


Interested?  Here's what you need:

• 14oz sweetened condensed milk
• 14oz milk (whole, lowfat, or skim - doesn't matter)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract OR Vanilla Coffee Syrup for a stronger flavor
• a mason jar (quart is perfect)

Combine it all in a jar, and shake vigorously to combine.
Pour all of the ingredients into your mason jar.  Screw the lid on tightly, and shake vigorously for a few minutes until well combined.

To Make it creamier, substitute the milk for heavy cream