Pantry Items Going Fast

I canned a lot of food last year from our garden's bounty. I spent countless hours in the garden and then the kitchen and filled every quart and pint jar that we owned. There are a lot of them, and I was amazed that they were all filled. We have now emptied many of those jars. Sometimes they seem to be flowing out of our ears. Empty jars can be a storage frustration, but when the summer harvest comes they are worth all the effort. We have used well over half of the canned and frozen goods that we put up last year. The green beans are gone and the tomato sauce will be used up shortly. One of the greatest new canning finds last year was the apple pie filling that I made. I have used it for breakfast treats and desserts. Our family loves it on homemade dessert pizza. I will can Apple Pie filling again this year. It will be among the staples in our pantry.

I will spend the next few days working in our pantry area getting ready for this year's garden bounty. I only have a small window of time before my hands are once again filled with major garden and canning projects. I am trying to make the next month count with a lot of indoor projects that I just won't have time to complete once garden season is in full swing. I am also needing to get our freezers defrosted and organized. The freezers are getting empty. There is still some corn and jam left, but the bottom can be seen. All the pork is gone. Soon we will be adding 6 lambs and 1 beef cow so now is the time to get those freezers cleaned. I am almost certain we will have to buy another freezer for all the meat.

I am satisfied with the amount of food we stored last year. I know that we were covered in the event of an emergency. I am hoping to fill all of our jars again this year.

grace and peace,
julie