Another Canning Marathon - Preserving Meat for the Pantry - by Sunscape

I wasn't planning on canning this week, but a large wholesale store was having a 42nd-year sale on meat and produce. Well, of course I took advantage of the 42% off. I purchased 20 lbs. of 80% ground beef and 10 lbs. of chicken breasts. Plus a large pork roast to make pulled pork.

The first thing I did was put the roast in the crockpot with seasonings and onions, as it would take most of the day to cook.

Once it cooled down that afternoon, I got it all shredded and added a little homemade bourbon BBQ sauce. We had some for dinner that night, and the rest went into the freezer for future meals.

I browned 5 lbs of the beef and canned that with just salt into pint jars. That way I can use it in a variety of ways.

I decided to make chili with 5 lbs, and that will be a nice addition for the pantry.

This is the first time I've made chili like this, so it will be an easy meal. I still had 10 lbs of beef to do something with. I ended up weighing the beef into 1 lb. packages and just froze them. I had a large cabbage to use, so the rest of the beef went into the stuffing.

On the following day, I made stuffed cabbage. It takes some time to get the cabbage steamed enough to remove the leaves layer by layer. I made it work by putting a large pot on top to trap the steam.

I was able to remove two leaves every 5 minutes or so while I was browning the beef and preparing the rice filling.

Dinner was made for that night, and the rest was put into freezer containers.

Three meals for us and one sent to our 99-year-old neighbor. He loves it when I send meals over to him; he especially loves desserts, too!

I still had another day where I needed to can up the chicken. By now, I'm getting pretty tired, but I was almost done.

It took a while to trim and cut up all the chicken. Then it had to be par-boiled before filling the jars.

Needless to say, the pantry shelves are loaded for the winter months. I've totally run out of room in both freezers and the shelving units. I guess it is time to put the pressure canner away for the season.

I still had the middle of that cabbage left to use. Soup was on the menu. Add some onions, celery, potato, and chicken stock, and dinner was done for another day. Nothing goes to waste in this house, lol.

Have a great weekend, everyone!